The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few weeks back Cole went with his buddy to their summer home for a long weekend. I want to make something special as a thank you for letting him come along. His friend's mom said earlier that she was a fan of chocolate chips cookies.  I found this recipe for The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies on A Pinch of Yum. I must say they were very soft and I got rave reviews from them.

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons of salted butter 

½ cup white sugar 

¼ cup packed light brown sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 egg 

1½ cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda 

¼ teaspoon salt 

¾ cup chocolate chips (I used a combination of chocolate chips and white chocolate chips) 

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Microwave the butter for about 40 seconds to just barely melt it. It shouldn't be hot ­ but it should be almost entirely in liquid form. 

2. Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, beat the butter with the sugars until creamy. Add the vanilla and the egg; beat on low speed until just incorporated ­ 10­ to 15 seconds or so (if you beat the egg for too long, the cookies will be stiff). 

3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until crumbles form. Use your hands to press the crumbles together into a dough. It should form one large ball that is easy to handle (right at the stage between "wet" dough and "dry" dough). Add the chocolate chips and incorporate with your hands. 

4. Roll the dough into 12 large balls (or 9 for HUGELY awesome cookies) and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for 9­ to 11 minutes until the cookies look puffy and dry and just barely golden. (DO NOT OVERBAKE. This advice is probably written on every cookie recipe everywhere, but this is essential for keeping the cookies soft). Take them out even if they look like they're not done yet. They'll be pale and puffy. 

5. Let them cool on the pan for a good 30 minutes or so. They will sink down and turn into these dense, buttery, soft cookies that are the best in all the land. These should stay soft for many days if kept in an airtight container. 

Notes The 3 most important things about this recipe are 

1) melting the butter

2) adding enough flour

3) not baking for too long. If you find that the dough is wet and it REALLY sticks to your hands, you probably need a little more flour. This is important otherwise you'll have flat cookies. 

ALEXIS NOTE: List to her notes above I found that when I made this recipe just like she said they came out perfect!

Thanks for Stopping by!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Nanner's are the Thing ... Banana-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Continuing on my banana theme this week I show these super yummy Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies on My Gourmet Connection.  These cookies were so yummy that they had to leave my house right away.  My bestie got these in her house.

• Ingredients:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1-3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 medium)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth, then add the yogurt, eggs, vanilla and mashed bananas. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer on medium speed, about 1-1/2 minutes.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine thoroughly. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined cookie sheets, about 2-inches apart. Bake until firm to the touch and very lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Makes 3-1/2 to 4 dozen

Thanks for stopping by

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE. 

Despicable Me Birthday ... Cookie Robots & Vector's Coconutties

Now on to the cookie portion of our menu!  I found two very simple recipes and made these 2 fun cookies.  

First off I wanted to make the robot cookies and found a few ideas on pinterest the best one was on Rachelle Chase Blog.  Since we were having a party with a bunch of little kids I made one robot with the legs and a few with just the little bodies.

What you Need:

Chocolate Chip Cookies (I used Absolutely the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe)

Paper Clip (for the Legs)

Tootsie Roll

Red Hot

Red Food Gel

These cookies were the best and went the fastest at the party.  To make the robots I took a tootsie roll added a little red food gel to hold on the red hot candy.  For the legs I broke up a paper clip to make the legs. Two long ones in front and two short ones in the back.

The set up on the table

To Make Chocolate Chip Cookies:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter flavored shortening 3/4 cup white sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons Mexican vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the butter flavored shortening, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla .Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3.	Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until light brown. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Then I made Vector's Coconutties (remember it's the cookies he bought in the first movie).  I made some very yummy Easy Sweet Coconut Cookies I found the recipe on All Recipes.  These drop cookies were simple to make and came out perfect!  I even had a taste of one.

On the Table

For the Coconut Cookies:

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup sifted all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sifted all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup flaked coconut

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets.
2.	With an electric mixer, cream together the sugar, vegetable shortening, egg, and vanilla extract in a bowl until light and fluffy. Sift 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of flour together with the baking powder and salt in a bowl, and stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture; mix in the coconut until thoroughly combined. Drop the dough by teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets.
3.	Bake in the preheated oven until very lightly browned, about 10 minutes; allow cookies to cool on sheets for about 1 minute before removing to finish cooling on baking racks.

I served the cookies in the classic dog bowl that Gru served "food" aka candy in for the girls in the first movie.

My Despicable Me Printables I put together click HERE.

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

Despicable Me Birthday Done:
Minion Invites
Minion Treat Gift Bags
Minion Paper Cups
Minion Cupcakes (2 Versions)
Minion Cake
Vector's Coconutties and Cookie Robots
Despicable Me Perler Bead Characters
Despicable Me Snack Bar and Food Ideas
Despicable Me Goody Bag Items
Despicable Me Minion Bucket
Box of Shame
Squid Launcher's and Welcome Sign

We All Need Something Sweet .... S'More Cookies

On our last day this week of cookies on parade we feature a fun cookie I made to put in a summer camp care package I put together for Cole (you'll see that next week).  Since he is at camp I wanted to do something camp like.  I went on the search and found these S'More Cookies on Foodbeast.

These were pretty easy to make and they looked so pretty coming out of the oven.  They smelled so great, I didn't take a bite but Caden my little taste tester had to make sure what I put in Cole's box was good.  OR I should say he said it's NOT FAIR Cole get's all this what do I get? LOL so of course some had to stay home to share with Caden and enough to take to my women's group too since we have a birthday girl in the group.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash of cinnamon
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups miniature chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
• 2 Hershey bars, chopped (I used 4 bars)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, salt, and dash of cinnamon. In a second larger bowl beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto un-greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes (My oven runs hot so I was 6-7 minutes), and remove from the oven. Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of Hershey bar into each cookies. Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes (again mine was 2-3 minutes) until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

I just love how the marshmallow was toasted!

Don't forget to see the parties I link up to HERE.

St. Paddy Day ... Pot of Gold Cookies

On our last item made for our St. Patty's day celebration is the cookies I made for each of the boys room.  I found these really cool Pot of Gold Cookies on What's Cooking Love.  They were super easy to make and I think they turned out so cute!  Her recipe used a store bought cookie mix and I made my chocolate chip cookie dough and followed her recipe.

First we start with the cookies (IF you want to make cookie dough you can use the store bought mix).  I found a recipe for The BEST EVER Chocolate Chip Cookies on Savory Sweet Life.  The recipe was very simple to make.  After I made the dough I picked up from her recipe on Step 3.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER!

Author: Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• 1½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2¾ cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour *If at all possible, please weigh the flour
• ¾ tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• 2¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes on medium-high speed on a K-5). Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated. Finally add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick. Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface.

(NOW since I was making the Pot of Gold's I ONLY made the dough, but I wanted to make sure you had the whole recipe if you want to make cookies).

Pot of Gold Cookies

1 pouch Chocolate Chip Cookie mix
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 egg
3 tablespoons peanut butter chips

10 yellow Reese's Pieces (per cookie)

(Alexis Notes: Either use Cookie Mix or Make your own.)

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Stir the chocolate chip cookie mix, butter, and egg together in a large bowl until soft dough forms. Then add the peanut butter chips and stir to combine.  

3.  Roll the dough into a rounded teaspoonful and place one ball in an ungreased muffin tin pan.  Repeat for the rest of the cookie dough balls.   Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Cool the cookies for 5 minutes, then gently press 10 yellow Reese's Pieces into the cup of each cookie. Cool for an additional 5 minutes then gently remove from the cookie sheet onto a cooling rack.  

(Alexis Notes: I didn't add peanut butter chips. I also used my silicone mini cupcake pan instead of the muffin tin.)

Enjoy, these are so cute and the boys loved them.  Can't wait to share with their friends.

And for the anonymous (because you don't want anyone to call you out with a real name). I'm not an idiot for saying Patty not Paddy, I know it an age old argument, I did some research and switched my post to Paddy ONLY because it tells me the Irish call it that way and I want to be respectful.  Call me an idiot all you want, but I address people with my name so they can talk with me if they would like to disagree with me!! 

Championship Chocolate Chip Bars (Condensed Milk Recipe)

Our Tuesday friends came over for dinner and I wanted to add a yummy dessert for our meal.  They turned out perfect, I didn't take a bite but it sure smelled delish!  The Boys told me they really enjoyed them.  This was a pretty easy recipe and I love anything in a bar form since it's time saving and easy to serve.  I found this recipe for Championship Chocolate Chip Bars on the Hershey website.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
• 1  egg , slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup (1 stick)cold butter or margarine
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips , divided
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

Directions

1. 1 Heat oven to 350°F.
   
2. 2 Stir together flour and brown sugar in medium bowl; cut in cold butter until crumbly. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips; press mixture on bottom of ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes.
   
3. 3 Combine sweetened condensed milk, egg and vanilla in large bowl. Stir in remaining 1-1/2 cups chips and nuts. Spread evenly over hot baked crust. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 24 to 36 bars.

I used a smaller square pan to make the cookies a little thicker :).  I skipped the nuts since we're not big nut fans here.

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend, We had the stomach bug going through our house.  Feeling a bit like had a little person in my stomach doing zumba and kickboxing!  Today is better but stomach still hurting!  

Pinterest Halloween

So My Spooky Halloween Must Do's folder on Pinterest was getting rather full and I decided it was time to try some of these items!  So hold on this will be a LONG post of many fun ideas!

Idea #1 - Pumpkin Lollipop Holder

I started with the Pumpkin Lollipop Holder! NOW here is the importance of READING the post before you just look at a picture and say I can do this on my own.  So the article tells you do use a fake pumpkin!! THAT would have been wise to read, but I didn't so I had a real one that I had Rick do.  Which with my hairdryer and his air gun we dried out the real pumpkin and added the lollipops with out much mess, so all in all it can be done!

For this project, it's best to use a synthetic foam pumpkin. (The moisture found in real pumpkin flesh will turn the lollipops' paper sticks soggy.)

1. Cover every other rib with low-tack masking tape, and then, using a flexible tape measure, make dots every 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches down the side of the pumpkin. Punch through dots with an awl, or use a power drill with a 9/64-inch bit; remove tape.  (I of course just had Rick eyeball it, no tape ... lol)

2. Fill holes with orange and chocolate-flavored pops, alternating flavors from one rib to the next and keeping sticks a uniform length to maintain the spherical shape. Top with a black paper bat bearing a message in opaque ink; place pumpkin on a table outside your front door and in a sheltered spot.

Idea #2 - Cookie Cutter Pumpkin

Next was to try the cookie cuter pumpkin method on Fresh Home Ideas.  I learned that metal cutters are the best.  One of my plastic cutters was sacrificed to try it out (let's just say it had a quick death).

• Step 1: Tap Cookie Cutter
• Step 2: Remove Cookie Cutter
• Step 3: Carve Pumpkin
• Step 4: Remove Shapes
• Step 5: Insert Candle (I used LED candle)

Idea #3 - Vampire Teeth Cookies

We then move on to Vampire Teeth Cookies I found on Just a Pinch.  These were simple to make, they called for soft chocolate chip cookies.  Instead of buying store bought I found a recipe for Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Cookies.  I started with the cookies and then once they were cooled I decorated them.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2.	Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3.	In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4.	Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Then for decorating:

INGREDIENTS

FOR EACH VAMPIRE TEETH COOKIE YOU WILL NEED - 1 soft chewy homemade chocolate chip cookie cut in half - red tube icing

- 6 mini marshmallows - 2 almond slivers

DIRECTIONS

1.   Take your cooled cookie and cut in half, then take a little off the center so it is more like a jaw. This will be the top and bottom of your mouth

2.   Line mouth with frosting and add the front two teeth then the almond slivers then the last two teeth and top with the other half of cookie that also has icing on so that it gives the feeling of gums.

 Step by Step:

Idea #4 0 Edible Eyeballs

Then of course you have to have the edible eyeballs.  These were the simplest item to make and just perfect for Cole's 3rd/4th/5th grade classroom.  

Eyeballs
round or square pretzels
white chocolate disks
chocolate chips
red jimmies

On a baking sheet, place pretzels in a single layer. Put one white chocolate disk in the center of each pretzel. Place in a 350 degree oven for approx 3-4 minutes or until chocolate is shiny but not melted or falling through the pretzel.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with red jimmies (I used red gel frosting). Invert one chocolate chip in the center of each disk. 

 Step by Step

Idea #5 Easy Pumpkin Pretzels

Then I made some Easy Pumpkin Pretzels that I found on Butter with a slice of Bread for Caden's Class.  This was another simple one to make that even the kids could do with out my help.

• 1 bag mini pretzels {you won't use the whole bag, only about 1/4}
• 1 bag M&M's candy, needing only the green ones {Alexis Note: I used jelly beans}
• orange food coloring & White Chocolate (I ended up using Orange Melts)

First step is to melt the chocolate. I took the melts in a microwave safe bowl and belted them for  minute. Coat pretzels in the orange chocolate. Once you've dunked your pretzel, adding a nice coating, lay it out on a piece of wax paper. While it's still wet, add a green jelly bean (or a M&M) and set it in the crook of the pretzel, on it's side.If you see a few bare spots on your pretzels, while they're still wet, dab some more chocolate on them using your finger (but using melts is thicker so I didn't have that problem).

Idea #6 - Spider Cake Pops

And we end with some spider cake pops for Caden's class also.  It was the end of the night so they weren't my cleanest creation but I think Caden's Kindergarten class won't mind.  I started with making a Vanilla Cake Pop recipe found on The baby Cake Shop.  I used my cake pop pans instead of the baby cake pop baker. 

Make Cake Pops

 Make the Spiders

Ingredients:

12 Cake Pops Made

1 Bag Black Candy Melts

1 Bag Wilton Candy Eyes

1 Box Wilton Candy Licorice (cut into legs)

Melt your candy melts in a microwave safe bowl (usually 1 minute). Dip your cake ball in the the melted candy melts.  While still wet add the candy eyes and add on the legs.  You can sprinkle with black sprinkles (but I couldn't find these anywhere).  Let dry and serve!

WOW sorry that was a lot but I wanted to make sure to get this all posted before Halloween was over.  Hope you all have a safe Halloween!