Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add in the vanilla.
3. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt.
4. Remove bowl from stand mixer and stir in flour and chocolate chips.
5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.

6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°Prepare cookie sheets with silicone mat or parchment paper.

7. Using a cookie scoop remove dough and drop them on prepared cookie sheet. If you don't have a cookie scoop take 1 spoonful maybe a tablespoon of dough roll into a ball with your hands instead.

8. Bake for about 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are JUST barely browning. These cookies are best when slightly under done. Super soft and chewy!

Chocolate Buttercream

1. With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy – about 2 minutes.

2. Add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder,3 tablespoons heavy cream or milk, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Add 1/4 cup more confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder if frosting is too thin or another tablespoon of heavy cream or milk if frosting is too thick.

3. Spread the frosting onto the flat side of one cookie and sandwich with the other. You can pipe the frosting or just add as much frosting as you like with a spoon. Repeat with remaining.

Instructions

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk and lastly the vanilla extract.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. Add the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. 

4. Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight. Chilling is mandatory. I highly recommend chilling the cookie dough overnight for less spreading.

5. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.

6. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. 

7. Roll the dough into balls, about 1 tablespoon of dough each. Roll the cookie dough balls to be taller rather than wide. This will allow the cookies to be on the thick side. Place 12 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet. 

8. Bake the cookies for 11 minutes. The cookies will look under baked. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

2. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute on high speed until creamy. On medium-high speed, beat in the brown sugar and only 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar until completely creamed and smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and beat on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix on high until combined.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Cover and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. Also, make sure there is room in your freezer because they will later need to be placed inside to prevent the chocolate kisses from melting on the warm cookies.

5. Scoop and roll cookie dough, about 1 Tablespoon of dough each. Roll each ball in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. *If you want to make your cookies festive, replace the regular sugar with the red sanding sugar. Arrange on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until the tops begin to slightly crack. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

6. Press a chocolate kiss candy into each cookie on 1 of the baking sheets until it sticks. Place the baking sheet in the freezer so the chocolate does not melt. Remove after 10 minutes in the freezer. Repeat with 2nd baking sheet of cookies.

1. You will cut the recipe in half so please keep this in mind when you are preparing your batter. Two bowls will be required. I made the white batter first and then the pink batter to make sure I kept everything separate.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

3. Remember, use half the ingredients in each bowl!
   

4. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar, vanilla and egg together.
5. Sift flour, cornstarch, salt. Mix until incorporated.

6. In the second bowl, add a few drops of red/pink food coloring to the sugar/butter mixture. Mix until a desired color is reached. Sprinkle ¼ cup pink sanding sugar to this bowl.

7. Transfer both batters to plastic wrap, separately.
   

8. Roll each batter into a disk and chill for about 1 hour.

9. Take some white batter and some pink batter and mix together to make a white and pink mixture. Don't mix together too much or the batter will look pink, you want some white batter showing. Roll the batter to a 1/4 inch thickness.

10. Cut cookies with a heart shaped cutter.
11. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat.

12. Bake for 10 minutes and watch them closely, you don't want them to brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

Buttercream Frosting

1. In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy - about 2 minutes.

2. With the mixer running on low, add 2 and 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, 2 Tablespoons heavy cream, and the vanilla extract. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes.

3. Add 1/2 cup more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin; 1 more Tablespoon cream if frosting is too thick.

4. Yields about 2.5 cups of frosting

5. Pipe frosting using a tip of your choice onto the cooled sugar cookie.

1. Heat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer with a paddle attachment until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, beating until incorporated, and scraping down the bowl as needed. Beat in salt (fine sea or table) and baking soda until combined. Add the flour on a low speed until just mixed. The dough will look crumbly. Stir in the chocolate chunks.

3. Using a cookie scoop, if you don't have a cookie scoop it's about 1 tablespoon mounds, spacing them apart on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle each with a few flakes of sea salt. 

4. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden on the outside but still very gooey and soft inside. Once out of the oven, let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.

1. You will cut the recipe in half so please keep this in mind when you are preparing your batter. Two bowls will be required. I made the white batter first and then the pink batter to make sure I kept everything separate. 

2. Preheat to 350 degrees F.

3. Remember use half the ingredients. 

   In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar, vanilla and egg together.

4. Sift flour, cornstarch, salt. Mix until incorporated.

5. On the second batch add a few drops of red/pink food coloring to the 2nd batch of sugar/butter mixture. Mix until a desired color is reached. Sprinkle ¼ cup pink sanding sugar to one batch. 

6. Transfer both batters to plastic wrap. 

7. Roll into a disk and chill for about 1 hour.

8. Roll out each batter to a 1/4 inch thickness.

9. When you roll out the pink dough place more sanding sugar on top and place plastic wrap over the dough and re-roll so the sanding sugar sticks to the dough. The plastic wrap helps the sanding sugar stay off the rolling pin. 

10. Using a ruler and a sharp knife, cut ½ inch strips of each color batter.

11. Layer pink and white stripes so that they are touching.

12. Roll to create a seal. I use plastic wrap over the batter so it won't stick to the rolling pin. 

13. Cut cookies with a heart shaped cutter.

14. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone mat. 

15. Bake for 10 minutes and watch them closely you don't want them to brown. Let cool on a wire rack. 

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, then the egg yolk. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, yet thick. Fold in the chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to combine them. Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or up to 3-4 days. Chilling is mandatory. I highly recommend chilling the cookie dough overnight for less spreading.

3. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

5. Grease the bottom of your skillet with olive oil. You don't need much, a tablespoon is plenty. Use a paper towel to spread the oil on the bottom and sides of the skillet. Add your chocolate chip cookie batter to the skillet and spread evenly. 

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Use a toothpick to make sure the center is done to your liking. Serve warm.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Make sugar cookies directed on back of package. Use the cut out option if using Betty Crocker.

3. Roll out the dough and cut out circles.  I used a measuring cup for my circles. You can use a round cookie cutter, glass or anything in your kitchen that is round.
   

4. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or grease the sheet if you don’t have a mat. Position one circle on the cookie sheet and place a Reese’s peanut butter cup in the middle of the dough. I suggest cutting the peanut butter cups in half. You can keep the peanut butter cup whole but the cookie will have a larger bump instead of a minimal one.  I tried it both ways and I like it better cut in half.
5. Add another circle dough right on top and press the dough circles together.  I used a cake pop stick to dent the edges of the cookie. If you don’t want the dents just firmly press the edges together. I also added some coarse sugar to the top of the cookie.
6. Bake for 9-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

7. Let the cookies completely cool on a wire rack and drizzle with melted chocolate. I used Wilton Candy Melts for the chocolate.