THE Chocolate Chip Cookie

Recipe courtesy of all recipes.com (with my modifications)

"Crisp edges, chewy middles."

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, cold
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup toffee bits
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)



Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. (Because the butter is cold, this may be a process... let the butter warm a but so you can cream it, but you don't want it "soft".)
Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, toffee bits and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3.Bake for about 11-13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned. Don't overbake!



Recipe can be halved
Dough can be frozen
Original Recipe Yield 4 dozen

Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Recipe Courtesy of Baked Bree

PHOTO CREDIT

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 Tablespoon vanilla
15-20 Oreos, crushed

DIRECTIONS
Put the milk in the bowl of the mixer. Add the sugar and mix until the sugar is dissolved, about 3 minutes.

Add in the cream and vanilla.

Pour the mixture into the ice cream machine and follow manufacturer's instructions. Add Oreos in the last 5 minutes of churning.

Whoopie Pies

Recipe and Photo Courtesy of Omnomicon
Full Tutorial

I searched high and low for the most authentic Whoopie Pie recipe I could find. No marshmallow fluff or frosting on the inside. I wanted the real thing. And I think I found it!

Makes about 15

Cake Outside
Blend
1/4 c Crisco
1 c milk
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Add
2 c flour
1/4 c + 1 tbsp cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Drop by the small tablespoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet—a tablespoon-sized bakery scoop works best. Bake exactly 8 minutes at 375 degrees, see if a toothpick comes out clean, and if it doesn’t, bake another 2 minutes (10 total). Upon extraction from the oven, using a metal spatula, remove from pan immediately to wire rack to cool.

Creme Inside
1/2 c butter (room temp)
1/2 c Crisco
1 c sugar
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c warm whole milk (20 seconds in the microwave should do it)

Beat with a mixer (stand or hand, your choice) for-freakin-ever. It will start out just like, well, lumps of Crisco floating in milk, then bits will get smaller and smaller, then it’ll slosh around for a little bit, and, much like the butter making process, you’ll be wondering if this will ever become anything or if you maybe messed it up somehow. Suddenly, about five minutes later, your mix will look weird for a second, and within moments your slushy mess will turn into a glorious white creme, smooth and perfect.

Assembly
As soon as the whoopie cookies are cool, match each whoopie with its closest brother in size—even if yours didn’t all come out the same size, evenly matched whoopies will look much much nicer. Spread some filling (or pipe it for a cleaner appearance) on the flat side of one, then place the second on top. Repeat. This does not need to be done immediately before serving, as the filling tends to maintain its consistency surprisingly well,.

No need to refrigerate, sealed plastic or plastic wrap will keep them fresh. They are even better the next day!

Magic Cookie Bars

Recipe and Photo Courtesy of Eagle Brand

Yields 2 dozen bars

INGREDIENTS
Cooking Spray
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS
HEAT oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.

COMBINE graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork.

BAKE 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds.

VARIATIONS:
Substitute chocolate chips or nuts with candy coated pieces, dried cranberries, raisins, mini-marshmallows or butterscotch chips.

Pizzookies!

Idea and Photo Courtesy of Our Best Bites, one of the best recipe blogs on the *planet*.


INGREDIENTS
Chocolate chip cookie dough (use store bought or look here for a recipe if you want to make your own)
Vanilla ice cream
Chocolate sauce
Caramel Sauce

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350. Fill ramekins about 1/2 full of cookie dough.

Bake in preheated oven for about 12-14 minutes or until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle.

Remove from oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle with caramel and chocolate sauces.

Triple Fudge Cake

Recipe and Photo Courtesy of Carla

The easiest cake you'll ever make!!

INGREDIENTS:
1 package regular chocolate pudding mix (3 oz - cook and serve)
2 cups milk
1 package chocolate cake mix
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
Cook pudding mix with milk as directed on package. Remove from heat. Blend dry cake mix into pudding. Mixture will be quite thick and spongy. Pour into greased and floured 9"x13" pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato

Recipe Courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis
Photo Courtesy of Food Network

INGREDIENTS
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.

Big Cookies

Recipe courtesy of Amy Nielson

Makes a LOT! :)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 t vanilla
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups corn flakes
4 cups flour
2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder

Optional items: use any combination
1 cup raisins
1 cup coconut
1 package chocolate chips
1 package butterscotch chips
1 cup walnuts
1 cup peanuts

DIRECTIONS
Blend butter and sugars together. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Mix in oatmeal and corn flakes. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Mix thoroughly. Stir in optional items.

Drop by ice cream scoop onto un-greased cookie sheet. Do not put more than 6 scoops to a cookie sheet. Cookies spread a lot during baking. Bake at 350 for about 13-14 minutes.

ENJOY!!

Peppermint Marble Bark

Recipe courtesy of A Wife at Home

INGREDIENTS
12oz Chocolate chips
12 oz White Chocolate
50 peppermint candies crushed*

DIRECTIONS
Melt each chocolate separately in microwave, then stir until melted. Add approximately 1/2 the peppermint to each bowl of chocolate, reserving a portion to sprinkle on top. While the chocolate is still warm, spoon it onto a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Alternate the two colors of chocolate in small mounds. Then take a knife and drag it through the different chocolates so it looks marbleized. Sprinkle the remaining peppermint on top. Let cool (best done in the fridge). Cut with a sharp knife.

*How much you crush the peppermint is a personal preference. You can leave chunks, or crush it to a fine powder. I typically use the food processor and crush the peppermint completely.

Chocolate and Caramel Dipped Pretzel Rods

Recipe and photo courtesy of My Kitchen Cafe

Makes about 40 dipped pretzel rods

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
14 0z. can sweetened condensed milk
dash of salt
pretzel rods
chocolate for dipping and drizzling (white, milk, semi-sweet, or a combination)

DIRECTIONS

Mix ingredients in order over medium heat. Come to a rolling boil to soft ball stage (use a candy thermometer or test in a bowl of cold water - a drop of caramel in the cold water should roll into a soft ball in your fingers). Take caramel off heat and dip each pretzel rod into caramel, allowing the excess to drain back into pan.

Lay the pretzels on parchment paper. After they set for about 10 minutes, roll each one along the parchment paper or between your hands to eliminate the pool of caramel on the side they were laying on.

After caramel has set on pretzels (about 20 - 40 minutes), melt desired chocolate in microwave or in a bowl over simmering water. Pour melted chocolate into a tall glass and dip each caramel pretzel into the glass to coat the caramel pretzel in chocolate. Again, lay the pretzel to dry on a tray covered in parchment paper.

Allow them to set fully before drizzling with more chocolate. For drizzling, use melted chocolate and pour into a Ziploc bag. Cut a tiny tip off one corner and drizzle across pretzels.

Don't worry that there is a flat side to the pretzel or that the chocolate may pool underneath the pretzel. Once the chocolate has set, you can easily shave off any unwanted pooling or excess chocolate for a prettier pretzel using a sharp knife.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares

Recipe Courtesy of Carla Manriquez

Photo Courtesy of thestar.com

Makes 24

INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2.With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

3.Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

4.Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into 24 squares.