Dreamy Cookie Dough Cream Pie

Yes, you read correctly. Cookie Dough Cream Pie! What…you don’t believe such goodness exists? I’ll prove it:

Hmmm…let me back up a bit. I should probably show you the pie before I cut into it.

 

Tell me that doesn’t look good already! Now, for some more pictures of the sliced pie.

Want me to break down all of these luscious layers for you? Observe:

From the bottom up:

• chocolate cookie crust
• real cookie dough (eggless, to be safe!)
• cream filling
• homemade whipped cream
• homemade mini cookies to garnish

If you don’t want to take a bite of this by now, I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, how can this not look divine?! And let me tell you something: it is divine! Heavenly! Dreamy! Luscious! Perfect! Cookie dough bliss!

So it goes without saying that I encourage you to make this. It’s goooooood.

Dreamy Cookie Dough Cream Pie

from Love & Olive Oil

For pie crust:
7 ounces chocolate wafer cookies (not the wafer cookies with the frosting)
6 tablespoons butter, melted

For cookie dough:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/8 cup granulated sugar
3/8 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 tablespoons whole milk

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

For cream filling:
3/4 cups light brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For whipped cream topping:
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahreneheit. In a food processor, make the cookies into fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and combine (still in the food processor). Firmly press the mixture into a 9″ pie pan (cover the sides and bottom of pan). Bake for 8 minutes and remove from heat. Set aside and allow to cool completely. Don’t turn the oven off.

For the cookie dough: beat butter and sugars in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Mix in chocolate chips (try not to overmix, but make sure everything is efficiently combined). Using some of the dough, make 8-10 small, 1/2″ in diameter, balls (make however many cookies as you want servings of pie). Place on a non-stick baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are lightly golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. These will be used to top the pie. Reserve remaining dough.

In a large saucepan, mix sugar, flour and salt. Stir in 1 cup of the milk, mixing until smooth, and then bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to stir until smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Beat the egg yolks with the remaining cup of milk. Add a teeny-tiny amount of this mixture to the mixture you heated previously. Mix to combine. Again, add a teeny-tiny amount of the egg mixture to the thickened mixture. Mix to combine. Repeat this a few more times, and then add the remaining egg mixture, mixing well to combine. The purpose of doing all of this is to make sure the cold egg mixture doesn’t “cook” upon touching the hot, thickened mixture. Be patient with this!

Return the saucepan to the heat and bring to a boil again, stirring constantly. Lower heat and simmer until mixture is the consistency of thick pudding (if it doesn’t seem to be reaching this consistency, but you’ve had it on the heat for awhile, you may still remove it from the heat…it should firm up more in the fridge later). Remove from the heat and quickly stir in butter and vanilla. Set aside.

While filling is cooling, break off pieces of cookie dough and press them into the cooled pie crust. You want an even layer of dough approximately 1/2″ thick (if you want the cookie dough to really be tasted in the finished pie, go for this full 1/2”, or maybe even thicker). You may have left over dough…eat it! It’s eggless, after all!

Pour in the cooled filling on top of the dough layer, leveling the top with a rubber spatula. Filling should come up about 1/2″ from the top of the crust. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

Whip cream until it begins to form soft peaks. Add sugar and vanilla, and beat until cream holds stiff peaks. Gently spread over the cooled pie, smoothing top into a slight dome. Garnish with the mini cookies, made earlier, setting them evenly around the circumference. One cookie per piece of pie is a great way to go!

Enjoy this luscious treat!

 *Note: Although I was happy with the end result, when I make this again I might experiment with a couple of things: one) I might add more cookie dough (I indicated this in the recipe); two) I might try a vanilla wafer crust…just because I think it might be good. But really, following the recipe exactly as I have it now insures a luxurious treat you’ll love. So what are you waiting for? Go make it!

Fine print: I reposted this recipe and several of the corresponding pictures at my other blog, The Style Connoisseur.

(Literally!) Melt-In-Your-Mouth Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

I’ve got another Baked recipe to share with you today! On a side note, before I get to today’s actual topic, I should mention among the other items I’ve made from the Baked cookbooks, I’ve made the Grasshopper Bars. Holy. Moly. Those things were divine. I brought them to a party, and they were quickly decided to be the favorite thing there. I was asked for the recipe countless times. Seriously…they were amazing. And as if I haven’t already pushed you enough to do so, I want need you to get these Baked cookbooks! Think of me not sharing the Grasshopper Bars recipe as an extra nudge to do so!

But you came today for Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies, didn’t you? If you look in either of the Baked cookbooks, you actually won’t find such a recipe. These are a slight adaptation of one of the recipes, created not because I had little faith in the original recipe, but rather due to the ingredients I had on hand. You see, these were originally supposed to be Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks (not semi-sweet…milk chocolate, the recipe description clearly states!) But who doesn’t love a good Peanut Butter Kiss Cookie?!

These were great. Like, really, really, really, really, really great. Melt in your mouth great. No, seriously, they literally melt in your mouth!

The description in the cookbook says that they’re “the type of cookie you will have to hide or lock down if you want [them] to remain in your cookie jar for more than a few hours” (Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, page 140). Sadly for your waistline, I’m here to report that this is only too true. These cookies will disappear faster than you can believe.

And now, I encourage you to make these delightful cookies. Then, I dare you to control yourself by not eating more than one at a time. Sorry, but you won’t be able to do that. They’re just that good!

(Literally!) Melt-In-Your-Mouth Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch cubes (softened=out and cut up in cubes for about   

15 minutes)

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup creamy peanut butter

*chocolate kisses (one per cookie)

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each until incorporated. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, beating just until incorporated.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour and mix until just incorporated; you don’t want to overmix.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (in a pinch, you can refrigerate for less time, or freeze for some of the time…I did a bit of both so I could get the cookies in the oven and into my tummy faster!).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll the dough into equal balls. Place on prepared sheets, leaving at least 2 inches around each dough ball. Very gently press each cookie dough slightly, but do not press too hard, and do not press it flat! Sprinkle the tops lightly with granulated sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies just begin to brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and immediately place a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie. Let cool on the pans for about 5 minutes or so, and then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely (well, you can eat them before that point if you wish!).

Enjoy!

*If you wish to make cookies as in the cookbook, instead of putting chocolate kisses on top, fold in 6 ounces good quality milk (not semi-sweet!) chocolate, coarsely chopped, into the cookie dough before you chill it.

Super-Duper Yummy Conversion-Worthy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I’ve mentioned before how I’m just not a big chocolate person. I know, GASP! I guess I shouldn’t mention then how I’m also not a big frosting person (DOUBLE GASP!). But before you lose total faith in me, can I tell you something that will soothe your pain?

I think I’m being converted.

I mean, I’m still not a chocoholic, and I’m even less a frosting person (although cream cheese frosting is. the. best.), but baby steps, right?

And these cookies certainly are helping with the chocolate conversion. They’re not one bit light on the chocolate flavor, but man, I kind of love them.

Tell me they don’t look delicious. I dare you. Okay, admittedly maybe they aren’t going to win a prize for world’s most appealing cookie, but can you still admit they look superb?! And they taste divine. Bonus!

What was that? You want even more incentive to make these? How about the fact that they’re pretty darn easy. Don’t you love cookies because of that?!

Go! Make these for the people in your life who you’re trying to convert to chocoholics. And when you, yourself, gobble them up, I won’t tell anyone. ‘Cause really, they’re that good.

Super-Duper Yummy Conversion-Worthy Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

makes about 20 cookies…so you’ll probably want to double it!

(recipe highly altered from Picky Palette)

Cookies:

½ cup butter
½ cup white sugar
3/8 cup brown sugar
1 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
5/8 cups all-purpose flour

2/8 cups bread flour*
5/8 cups cocoa powder (I had a special extra dark on hand, but any kind will do!)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups chocolate chips

sea salt for sprinkling

Drizzle Topping (optional, but highly encouraged):

¼ cup chocolate chips (doesn’t have to be exact)

about ¼-½ teaspoon vegetable oil

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.

In another, small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Carefully add to the wet ingredients. Stir in chips.

Roll the dough into balls and place on cookie sheets. Sprinkle the tops with a bit of sea salt (don’t overdo it!). Bake in 350 degree (Fahrenheit) oven for about 10 minutes, until cookies look firm, but not overdone.

As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, put chocolate chips and oil in small, microwave-proof bowl. Melt in microwave until chocolate is just melted.

Using a fork, drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. Make it as artistic as you wish!

Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely, and then enjoy the chocolate bliss of these cookies!

*If you don’t have bread flour, don’t sweat it…just substitute by using entirely all-purpose (so 7/8 cup flour total).

Dare-I-Say-Genius-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-With-Cookie-Dough-Cream-Cheese-Filling

I’d like to give myself a little pat on the back for this one….because I can take credit, can’t I? Afterall, I came up with the idea to mesh two great recipes into one.

Buuuut…back to the title. Genius? Wanna see the proof that I’m not lying? People, these MAY be genius material!

Yep. Maybe you’re not convinced yet. Well, let me show the math it takes to get to the end result. Maybe that’ll help you.

TWO (2) of Alton’s chocolate chip cookies

+

a slathering of cookie dough cream cheese filling

=

ONE (1) perfect Dare-I-Say-Genius-Chocolate-Chip-Cookie-With-Cookie-Dough-Cream-Cheese-Filling (and let me answer the question posed in its name…yes, it’s genius!)

Still not convinced? Maybe some more pictures will do the trick.

Still not convinced? Well, I do have an answer for you. It’s one word – therapist! Seriously, if you aren’t convinced, I don’t know what’s wrong with you (with all due respect!)!

I made these lovely creations for a party Rachel was attending. When she tasted the finished product, she said I had out-down myself. Now that’s a compliment. When Rob tasted them, his eyes nearly rolled back…they were that good! But now I ask you, how could they not be?! I mean, cookie dough lovers rejoice…this recipe is for you!

*As a note, if you really wanted to, you could just make these cookies (if so, don’t freeze-roll-freeze-slice-bake, but rather freeze-scoop-bake). I’d venture to say they’re better than the (Supposedly) Perfect Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Actually, I’d say they are. And of course, you could also just make this filling and use it as a dip, as it was originally created to be used for. And if you did either of these options, I’d still respect you. Because they’re perfectly good on their own, of course. But why would you do that when you can combine them?!!?!?!?!? Really, it’s not even a choice, if you ask me. But do as you please (but really?!?!?!?!?!).

Dare-I-Say-Genius-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-With-Cookie-Dough-Cream-Cheese-Filling

Adapted from Food Network and How Sweet It Is

 

For the cookies:

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

For the filling:

½ cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

8-oz cream cheese, softened

½ cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cups chocolate chips

Make the cookies: Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat, swirl the butter to make sure it doesn’t burn. You don’t want to overcook it. Remove from heat. While butter is melting, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in your main mixing bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Let sit for a couple of minutes to let the flavors blend. Mix again. Let sit another minute. Add the egg, yolk, milk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Take out of the freezer, and using waxed paper to wrap the dough in, form about 1.5 inch logs out of the dough (you will have several logs). Chill in freezer for 15 more minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, meanwhile.

Slice off evenly cut rounds of dough from the logs (if you aren’t using a log, keep it in the freezer). Place on baking sheets and bake until just golden brown (4.5 minutes in convection oven was perfect). Let cool on sheets for several minutes and then transfer to wire racks. Before placing more dough on sheets, let the sheets cool (place in fridge, if you want).

Make filling: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture starts to bubble. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and let cool a bit.

Cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. With mixer on low speed, add in brown sugar and butter mixture. Mix until combined.

In food processor, crush chocolate chips slightly (the chips, for the most part, will still hold their shape). Beat crushed chocolate chips into cream cheese mixture.

When cookies are completely cooled (you may refrigerate them to speed up the process), take one cookie and slather on some filling (the amount, my friend, is up to you!). Top with another cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies to make the rest of the sandwiches.

*For the cookies: If you don’t have bread flour, use all-purpose. You can also use 2 tablespoons milk in place of the combination of 1 tablespoon milk and 1 tablespoon heavy cream if need be.

Enjoy these genius cookie creations!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mmm….Nutella. How can you not love it?! So, in a desire to whip up some cookies for a friend’s birthday, I googled “Nutella cookies.” To a bit of my surprise, I was given tons of choices! I don’t know why it took so long for me to search for a Nutella cookie recipe…I mean, really! But anyway, I settled on a recipe, and made the cookies.

And, uh, I should mention these are by no means the world’s best photos. I was just trying to quickly snap a few pictures, and admittedly, I didn’t have the best lighting. Oops. Sorry.

The Details:

The Process: Not difficult…pretty much just an average process for making cookies.

The Verdict: Well, to be honest, it’s hard to give a final verdict. I definitely stole quite a few tastes of the dough, and man, it was good! However, I only had a taste of half of a finished cookie (Rob had the other half), because I wanted to give as many as  I could to the friend whose birthday it was. So, yes, I’d say the finished product was good. But….not amazing. Also, these, interestingly enough, have cinnamon.  I would perhaps scale back the amount – or even eliminate it all together in the future. Again though, it’s hard to say whether these feelings about the cookies can be fully trusted considering I did only have half a cookie. The friend, for the record, said they were good. But who knows if she was only being polite!

The idea of Nutella cookies still intrigues me, so it’s something I’ll probably play around with a bit more in the future. I’ll be sure to let you know about it if I do!

You want to try out the recipe for yourself? Please tell me what you think if you do make ‘em…I would love to hear!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Lovin’ From the Oven

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2/3 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mix together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

Cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in Nutella and vanilla extract. Mix in egg.

Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add chocolate chips. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for about 11 minutes until the edges look set. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then carefully remove to cooling racks.

*Note: I didn’t chill for the full hour, because I was pressed for time. I also didn’t have quite the full amount of Nutella.

(Supposedly) Perfect Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know, I know. You’re saying, “Another chocolate chip cookie recipe?!” Yes, it’s true – there are so many chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, for such a seemingly simple cookie. But this is probably unlike any you’ve made before. You see, you brown the butter! Intimidated? Don’t be! In fact, the aroma you get while mixing up these cookies might just be better than the actual cookie. Might. Oh, and did you know so have claimed these to be the perfect cookie?! True fact.

Notes:

These are a bit more time consuming than your average chocolate chip cookie, but didn’t I mention the aroma given off while making these?! It makes it  totally worth the extra time!

Rob, Madison, and I all enjoyed these. Are they the most perfect cookie we’ve ever eaten? Are they the best cookies we’ve ever eaten? Debatable. Probably not. But worth you giving them a try? Yes. Definitely.

 

(Supposedly) Perfect Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie”

Makes about 32 medium-large cookies

1¾ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (1¾ sticks) unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup milk chocolate chips (if you want, use all semi-sweet instead)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes (this may easily take longer, but don’t rush it, and watch it carefully!). Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces) into hot butter until completely melted.

Add both sugars, salt and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips, giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

Drop dough onto cookie sheets, using about 2 tablespoons of the dough per cookie (increase this if you want really large cookies!). Allow quite a bit of room for expansion.

Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10-14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Final advice? Make these! Give them a try! Who knows…they may turn out to be your perfect cookie!

Milk and White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Have you heard of Magnolia Bakery in New York City (I’m hoping that’s rhetorical)? I’ve had the pleasure of going to the original and one of their newer sites, and man, it’s heaven. More specifically, their red velvet cheesecake is heavenly. It’s definitely on my list of things to recreate!

Anyway, I have one of the cookbooks from the creator, Allysa Torey. I found a recipe for oatmeal cookies with peanut butter chips, but the only problem was, I didn’t have any peanut butter chips on hand! So what’s a girl to do?! Improvise! I replaced the peanut butter chips with milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips! The end result? Mmm…tasty.

Notes:

These are easy to whip up on a whim, as I did. If you want, you could follow the original recipe and use only peanut butter chips, but why not try this version?! It works!

Also, the cinnamon flavor is evident, so if you’re not a huge fan of this flavor profile, consider halving the amount.

Milk and White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from More from Magnolia by Allysa Torey

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

 

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 ½ cups quick-cooking oats (not regular, old-fashioned rolled oats)

½ cup milk chocolate chips (if you can’t find, semi-sweet will do)

½ cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenehit.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Stir in the oats and peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Bake for 11-13 minutes, until golden brown around the edges, and soft, but not too soft, in the center.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

My advice? Bake these. Then brag to all your friends that you have a little slice of the world famous Magnolia Bakery in your kitchen (and stomach!)!

Pumpkin Cookies with Salted Penuche (Caramel!) Frosting

I’m baaaaack (for an explanation on my absence, hop on over here!)!!! I can’t tell you how great it feels to be baking again! To be honest, I had planned to start my mini baking extravaganza tomorrow, but today saw a recipe I just had to try. So, naturally (as I’m sure many of you can relate to), I got right to whipping these up!

Penuche. Doesn’t it sound fancy! Don’t let it intimidate you though! But what exactly is a penuche? Well, it’s a type of caramel made with brown sugar and butter (and if you just saw the word “caramel” and freaked out a bit again…trust me…it’s not too tricky!). As I’ve told you many times before, and I’m sure you’ve gathered, I love salted caramel items. When I saw this frosting was a caramel flavor, I immediately realized that a sprinkling of sea salt on top would be just perfect…and what do you know? It was!

Take a look at the pictures. First up…fresh out of the oven!

Then, make some penuche!

Mmm, mmm, mmm! It’s addicting! Now, frost the cookies.

And you know these cookies would be delicious as is, but why not make them even more yummy? Add a sprinkling of sea salt!

Notes:

The Process: These were quick to whip up. The only issue one might have is with the penuche. As long as you watch the sugar and butter very carefully as to make sure it doesn’t burn, it should come out perfectly!

The Verdict: Mmmmmmmmmm. I love the traditional combo of pumpkin and cream cheese, but I’d never really had this flavor profile of pumpkin and caramel. Let me just say that this recipe will definitely be a keeper! Absolutely delicious! Madison adored them, and was puzzled as to why I didn’t make a bigger batch! Lesson to be learned: Make them, but make a lot!

Pumpkin Cookies with Salted Penuche (Caramel!) Frosting

Adapted from Daily Crave

Makes about 48 small cookies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• Extra sea salt for sprinkling

Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease cookie sheets. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.  

In a separate bowl, cream together shortening, brown and white sugars.  Mix in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Add the dry flour mixture and combine.

Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for about 10-14 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Frosting:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the 3 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil and then stir for about 1 minute while it thickens. Be careful not to let it burn at any point! Cool slightly, then stir in the milk little by little, and beat until smooth. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar until frosting has reached desired consistency. Spread on cookies. Sprinkle a small dash of sea salt atop each cookie. Enjoy!

*Note: You can make bars instead of the cookies. To do so, pour the batter into a 9-inch-by-13-inch greased pan and bake for around 25-35 minutes.

Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Let me ask a question…who doesn’t like cookie dough? Everyone’s hand up? If yours isn’t, first of all, what is wrong with you!!???!!!??, and second of all, you might not like today’s recipe. Or, maybe I’ll convert you to liking cookie dough! But don’t worry, readers, I’m not suggesting you eat cookie dough with raw eggs (but, um, *insert my hugely guilty face*, I do admit to doing that everytime I bake cookies once in a while). So, you ask, what do you use instead? Greek yogurt! Yep, you heard me right…Greek yogurt. Let me say though that if someone had made this dough and given it to me, I would have had no idea it contained anything out of the ordinary, let alone Greek yogurt! Let’s start looking through the photos…these aren’t even showing the finished product yet!

Is your mouth watering yet? Now, dipped in chocolate.

Looking good? Well, while I was making the chocolate, I got an idea…what would it be like to drizzle caramel over each dough ball?! I couldn’t resist trying! Observe:

In the end, I didn’t drizzle all of the dough balls with caramel, just so I would be able to taste the variety.

Time for the details!

The process: These are really as simple as making an easy chocolate chip cookie…then you make your dough balls, and freeze. Next, you melt your chocolate, which is again, simple as can be. Dipping your dough balls might just be the most challenging part…and trust me, I think you can handle it. Once again, you freeze ‘em. If you add the caramel drizzle, it will add on a little more time and something a bit more challenging, but once again, it’s nothing too hard. In the end, these are pretty easy to make…they just have some hands off time for freezing that makes them take a little bit of time from start to finish.

Notes on ingredients used: The recipe called for brown sugar, and I used light brown, as that’s what I had handy. It worked nicely. The Greek yogurt I used was Chobani Plain, Non-fat Greek Yogurt. As I said before, I was beyond pleased. You can also use applesauce or peanut butter…I’m thinking peanut butter might give an interesting flavor that would be worth trying. I didn’t have enough regular chocolate chips, so I used some mini too. The mix of the large and small chips is kind of nice, but I don’t think either one is better than the other…use what you have and it should work out! The recipe calls for walnuts as an optional ingredient and knowing Rob, Rachel, and Madison would not be pleased with nuts in their cookies, I left those out. I think this is personal taste. Because I decided to make the caramel drizzle on a whim, I didn’t have any heavy cream on hand…I looked up a quick substitute online (3/4 cup milk and 1/3 cup melted butter equals 1 cup heavy cream…I only had skim milk, so I added about a tablespoon of flour to thicken it up a bit). I think in the future, the real thing would be best, but this worked out okay.

The verdict: Rachel loved them. She said she liked them both, but the caramel drizzled one was slightly better because it added “a little kick.” She’d be glad if I made either kind again though. Rob and Madison both said, “Oh my gosh!” Then they both didn’t say another word. Trust me though and take my word that it was a good “oh my gosh.” Really, trust me. And what about me? I loved ‘em too. I liked them not long after I finished the caramel drizzle and had frozen them for about 20 minutes, but after trying them again a few hours later (than the last time I tried them)…even better. If that was possible and all. Yep. They’re that good. As to which I like better, the caramel or the plain chocolate? It’s a toughie, because neither are bad, but I’ll have to go with the caramel, for similar reasons to Rachel. UPDATE: This morning (Thursday), Madison declared these were her new favorite dessert. It may seem like a silly claim, but trust me, it takes a lot for her to say that. I’m not sure I wholeheartedly agree, but still, it goes to show you they really are that good!

I think these are easily something you could tweak to your liking. For example, instead of a semi-sweet chocolate topping, how about a rich, dark chocolate? You could also experiment with topping the dough balls with crushed candy bars after you’ve put on the chocolate topping. One other idea would be to infuse the chocolate topping with a mint extract…that could be worth trying! I also think you could use any cookie recipe you wanted and replace the eggs with the Greek yogurt. Play around and have fun!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

adapted from Joy The Baker

makes around 32 balls

1 stick (1/2 cup or 4 ounces) unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar (I used light brown)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup Greek yogurt or applesauce or peanut butter (I used plain Greek yogurt)

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda (for flavor)

3/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (could be mini)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate (for chocolate topping)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment (or with a large bowl and a wooden spoon) cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Beat in yogurt or applesauce or peanut butter along with the vanilla extract and stir to combine.  

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add all at once to the butter and sugar mixture and stir until incorporated.  Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts, if using.  

Form balls any size you like on a parchment lined cookie sheet (roll to get a nice round shape).  If you want, spear each dough ball with a cute plastic fork or a popsicle stick or something of that nature (I did not, but it might be helpful when dipping into the chocolate topping).  Place in the freezer overnight or until frozen, around two hours (it will greatly depend on the size of your dough balls).

When ready to dip the balls, melt chocolate in a double boiler over a low flame.  Remove balls from the freezer and dip into warm chocolate.  *Return to the lined cookie sheet and return to the freezer to harden.  **Serve cold from the freezer.  

*If you want to top with candy, now would be the time.

**If you want to top with the caramel drizzle, drizzle now and freeze again. You should be able to drizzle it over the dough balls simply by using a spoon…but do whatever works for you!

Caramel Sauce Used as Drizzle (optional)

adapted from simplyrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 cup of sugar

6 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Method

First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go – the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don’t work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first – make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes*, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Makes a little over one cup of sauce, which will be beyond plenty for your dough balls. I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out something else to do with the rest of it…perhaps over ice cream? Or maybe a chocolate cake? But hey, if you want to eat it by itself, I won’t judge!

*At this point, it’s ready for drizzling over the dough balls.

My final advice? GO! Make these! You will not regret it (well, regarding your waistline, you might…but they’re so worth it!!).