Salted Chocolate Cookies

Hey folks.

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen my kitchen table without cookies, which must mean we’re getting close to the end of this challenge, right?

My newest approach to 30 Days of Cookies has been begging my friends to find new recipes or flavor combinations for me to play with, since I’m just not that creative. Luckily, my friend settled on salted chocolate and I found this great Brown Eyed Baker recipe to play with. All in all, these were delicious – and more importantly, super easy.

Salted Chocolate Cookies

1¼ cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
11  tablespoons salted butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt (I used kosher salt)
1 teaspoon vanilla

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2) In a stand mixer, combine butter and both kinds of sugar. Mix in vanilla.

3) In a separate bowl, combine cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and sea salt

4) Mix dry ingredients into the stand mixer – the dough will be crumbly

5) Roll into balls, and cook for 12 minutes. Let cool slightly, then sprinkle with additional kosher salt

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Fudge sandwich cookies

As you may know, I had my family in town this thanksgiving, and so I let my brother pick out a recipe to try.

He, not surprisingly, went for the one with sprinkles.

(Recipe lightly adapted from the Food Network magazine).

Fudge sandwich cookies

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup heavy cream

8 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped

sprinkles

1) In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until soft and fluffy (about 3 minutes)

2) Add egg and vanilla to mixer, and mix until just combined

3) Mix dry ingredients in a bowl (flour and baking powder), then add to the mixer.

4) Divide the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, and form into disks (approx 3/4 inch thick). Refrigerate for an hour

5) Bring heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, and pour over the chocolate. Mix until fully combined, set aside.

6) Preheat oven to 350, and roll  out the dough as little as possible (seriously, this is important). Use a glass to cut out equally sized round cookies. Cook for 12 minutes, then let cool completely.

7) In a stand mixer, whip the chocolate for 45-60 seconds, or until thick.

8) Build your sandwich – put the chocolate between two cooled cookies, and add sprinkles as desired. Enjoy!

Chocolate thumbprint cookies two ways

After the successful thumbprint cookies the other day, I figured I’d try them with chocolate and see what happened.

I wasn’t disappointed with the results.

The first option have a cream cheese frosting center and red sprinkles:

The second have a peppermint glaze and candy cane chunks:

Both are delicious and wonderful and amazing…and you should make them right away.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

18 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) In a stand mixer, combine butter and sugar, then mix in cocoa powder.

3) Add baking powder and baking soda to flour, then mix into the batter.

4) Roll into small balls, and cook for 7-9 minutes. When they come of the oven, use your thumb or a melon baller to create indents in each cookie. Let cool before adding center.

To make cream cheese frosting: Combine 3 oz cream cheese, 3 tablespoons butter, and 3-4 cups powdered sugar – mix until smooth.

To make peppermint glaze: Combine 1/3 cup heavy cream, 3-5 dashes peppermint extract, and 3-4 cups powdered sugar. Top with crushed candy canes.

Thumbprint cookies three ways

Confession: I’d never made thumbprint cookies before, but I was craving salted caramels, and figured this was a good way to combine that craving and get a daily cookie recipe.

These can be easily adapted with any type of filling – I’ll include recipes for the fudge and the caramels, but you could put almost anything else you wanted.

Thumbprint cookies

10 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) In a stand mixer, combine the sugar and butter until completely mixed, 2-3 minutes. Stir in vanilla.

3) Slowly add flour, and mix on increasingly high speeds until it’s combined.

4) Roll cookies into balls, and place on cookie sheet. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove from oven.

5) Using a melon baller or a coffee scoop, indent each cookie (this is where the “thumbprint” comes from). Bake for another 7-8 minutes, and let cool slightly.

6) Before cookies cool completely, fill the center with the topping of your choice – two recipes are below, or you can use jam (my third choice). Let cool completely before eating.

Fudge topping

2 tablespoons butter

2 oz semisweet chocolate

1 tsp corn syrup

Mix in microwave safe bowl, and zap for 30 seconds at a time until fully combined.

Salted Whiskey Caramel topping

Take this recipe: salted whiskey caramels and make it, but only cook the caramel until it hits 234 degrees. Let cool slightly before adding to cookies – then sprinkle with sea salt.

Chocolate pomegranate cookies with mini chocolate chips

A new grocery store opened in my neighborhood – just a few blocks from my house – and when I went to check it out, they had beautiful pomegranates in a display that called out my name.

I haven’t ever baked with pomegranates before, so I checked out How Sweet it Is, and of course she had a recipe I could adapt. My tip – don’t buy the whole pomegranate unless you have some time to kill. Just buy the arils…worth the extra dollar or so.

 

Chocolate pomegranate cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup pomegranate arils

1) Preheat the oven to 350

2) Mix the butter and sugar in a stand mixer, then add eggs and vanilla.

3) In separate bowl, mix cocoa powder, flour, and baking soda – then add to the mixer bowl.

4) Mix in the mini chocolate chips and pomegranates – you may need to do this by hand, I couldn’t get the stand mixer to really incorporate the seeds.

5) Cook for 8-10 minutes, then let cool completely before eating.

Bourbon balls

Sometimes, the holidays are stressful – too many people traveling, in crappy conditions, to eat a highly emotionally packed meal together. Plus, there’s always the awkward family member, or the topic of conversation you’re all trying to avoid, or maybe just the fact that you’re all trying way too hard to make everything perfect.

All I’m saying is, sometimes the holidays make you want a drink. Or chocolate. Or both. This is your recipe.

Bourbon Truffles

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

3 cups mini chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 tablespoons bourbon (I used buffalo trace)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1) In a medium saucepan, combine sweetened condensed milk and mini chocolate chips, and heat over medium heat until fully melted.

2) Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla and bourbon.

3) Chill in fridge for 2-4 hrs (I left them overnight, but that’s not necessary).

4) Roll mixture into 1 inch balls, and roll in cocoa powder. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours to set.

Pumpkin cookies with drunken cranberries and a bourbon glaze

To be honest, these cookies sort of came out of nowhere – I was sitting, hanging out with Kyle and Asher, and brainstorming ideas, and then all of a sudden….there they were.

They combine all my favorite things: pumpkin, cranberries, bourbon, and more bourbon.

Warning: These cookies are not for the faint of heart. Or expectant moms. But everyone else….enjoy!

Pumpkin cookies with drunken cranberries and a bourbon glaze

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup bourbon (give or take)
• powdered sugar (2-3 cups)

1) Take 2/3 cup dried cranberries, and about 1/3 cup bourbon (you can improvise here). Let the cranberries soak for 30-60 minutes.

2) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

3) In a mixing bowl, combine butter, pumpkin, and sugar. Mix in the egg and vanilla.

4) In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients, then mix into the wet ingredients. Add cranberries, and a splash (2-3 tablespoons) of the bourbon the cranberries were soaking in.

5) Roll cookies into balls, and cook for 16-18 minutes.

6) Meanwhile, make the bourbon glaze – add the remaining bourbon to powdered sugar until desired glaze consistency – I’d start with two cups, and add from there. Mix until completely combined.

7) Let cookies cool completely before glazing.