Sugar Cookies!

I'm not sharing the recipe I used because it was FAR from perfect. It was a great attempt though, and my grandmas sure appreciated them. One is christian, the other a Jew, so I was forced to go with the innocuous "snowflake" design which only evokes thoughts of winter. Ain't they pretty?
Definitely keeping sugar cookies on my list of things to perfect. Expect to see another post on this soon...

THE Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

... & I'm VERY picky with chocolate chip cookies!

They were probably the first thing I learned to bake "from scratch"-- following the ingredient list on the back of a bag of TollHouse milk chocolate chips. This is just a variation of those same ingredients (minus any baking powder), yet the ratio makes a much more perfect cookie.

Perfect, to me means they get that good molasses flavor, and turn out slightly crispy on the outside yet still soft in the middle.

These are the perfect cookies.

ingredients:

1 cup flour
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (the real stuff)
1 egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips




1. whisk together dry ingredients in small bowl; set aside.

2. cream butter for two minutes. add sugars and cream until well blended. add vanilla and egg.

3. slowly blend whisked flour mixture into the butter mixture.

4. stir in chocolate chips, refrigerate for half an hour.

5. place in rounded balls on parchment paper or a well greased cookie sheet.

6. bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Faux-reos

Okay! So yesterday was a lazy Saturday and I decided to indulge my sweet tooth. There's two recipes I've been wanting to try- one for homemade oreos over at the Smitten Kitchen blog, as well as a "cookies from cake" recipe from allrecipes.com. I decided to combine the two- instead of making the chocolate cookies from scratch, I made them from a box of cake mix. The EASIEST cookies EVER, and they turned out perfectly! I used to be a huuuge oreo fan (I ate them not by the cookie but by the "sleeve") but now, I can't bring myself to eat even one. Something about the trans-fat laden animal lard in the center... throws off my appetite. Well, these are still pretty fatty and sugary but nowhere near as disturbing to think about! So indulge!



What You Need


1 box chocolate cake mix (dark chocolate is preferable)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

8 oz cream cheese
1-2 cups confectioners sugar



The cookies! First, preheat your oven! 325 degrees F. Combine the cake mix, eggs, and oil in a bowl and whip it up! Since the full amount of cake batter is used with fewer eggs and less oil than the actual cake would call for, the batter will be SUPER thick and sticky! Place teaspoon-sized balls of chocolate-y gooey goodness on either a VERY greased baking sheet or parchment paper. Now, unlike regular butter cookies, these will not melt into shape in the oven. Gently flatten the balls with either a greased spoon or wet fingers as they will be sticky! Then bake 10-12 minutes or until slightly firm. They will firm up when they cool off so don't overcook them! Let them cool on a baking rack.

The filling! I was initially going to make a butter icing, but that is so plain and I've done it too much. So I decided to make a cream cheese frosting, it turned out quite nicely! Blend 8 oz of cream cheese with 1-2 cups confectioners sugar, depending on how sweet (or not!) you want them. Then, put a glob in the center of one cookie and press down with another. Voila! Creamy sandwich cookie.

try not to eat them all!