Ganache Filled Cookies

These cookies are a wonderful twist on a classic chocolate chip cookie. They take a bit longer to make than a normal chocolate chip cookie, but overall they are straightforward, easy to make and wonderfully delicious. A great concept and wonderful cookie, these are certainly a fun way to reinvent a classic.

Ingredients
Source: Sing for your Supper

1 batch chocolate chip cookie dough, without the chocolate chips (any recipe you want)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup (approx. 6 oz.) chocolate chips
pinch of sugar
salt for sprinkling (I omitted)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat heavy cream and sugar in a small pan over medium heat until boiling; pour over the chocolate chips. Let sit for a few seconds then stir to combine. Chill for at least one hour.

Make the cookie dough according to desired recipe. Chill.

To assemble: using a small cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop out some dough (a small amount. My first batch I made the size of a normal cookie but after I baked it it got HUGE. So definitely make the pieces of dough on the small size) and liberally sprinkle your palm with flour- flatten the dough on the palm of your hand and place a small spoonful of ganache in the center. Cover with another piece of flattened dough and seal the edges (you’ll have a small disk), then gently roll into a ball. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sea salt. Place each cookie at least 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown. Makes aprox. 30 cookies.

Spooky Sugar Cookies

I made these cute little cookies in honor of Halloween. They are simply sugar cookies (my favorite recipe) cut with a round biscuit cutter, and iced in royal icing. Making black icing is a bit tough (because you have to use so much coloring) so a tip I learned is to first 'dye' your icing with cocoa powder. Then add in as much black gel food color as you need.

Happy Halloween!

Grandma's Molasses Cookies

First let me preface this by saying this is not my grandma's recipe. I have no idea who's grandma's recipe this is to be honest. I found this recipe in a local church cookbook that my mom gave me, and all this recipe said was "Grandma's Molasses Cookies." This is just a simple cookbook, so there were no photos or descriptions. Just a compilation of some good ole' tried and true recipes.

I have to admit, halfway during the mixing process I had serious trepidations about the recipe. When you add the water to the batter, everything just starts looking weird. The shortening separates from everything else and it just looks, well, not normal. But I kept on with the recipe because I was sure that grandma wouldn't steer me wrong.

And I was right! These cookies came out great! They were wonderfully spiced, big, thick, soft cookies. My husband and I really enjoyed these - and they'd be great on a Christmas cookie tray!

Ingredients
Source: Local Church Cookbook

1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1 cup molasses
1 cup cold water
3 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
5 cups flour

Directions
Cream sugar and shortening together. Add eggs, molasses, baking soda and water (this is when the mixture got weird). Mix together. Add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and flour and mix. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

This is my wonderful mother in law's recipe. My mother in law is an awesome lady...kind, loving and she can bake a darn good cookie. This recipe is simply wonderful and I was so excited to recieve the recipe as part of my Christmas gift this year! My husband and I just go crazy over these cookies...they are soft, chewy and have the perfect amount of chocolatey sweetness. They are by far our favorite cookie.

This is certainly a recipe I'll cherish forever, and I hope you will love it as much as our family does!

Ingredients
Source: My mother in law

1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups unsifted all purpose flour
3/4 cups cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips or chunks
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup finely chopped nuts (optional...I don't use them because my husband doesn't like nuts)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter until light and pale in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add sugar and continue to mix well. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mix toghether with a spoon. On low speed, add flour mixture into the creamed egg mixture just until it comes together. Stir in chocolate chunks and nuts (if you are using them). Drop by teaspoon onto the lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until soft and puffed up. Cool on cookie sheet until set up, about a minute or two. Then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Crinkles

These cookies were a delicious addition to my Christmas Cookie tray this year. They have just the right amount of sweetness and a lovely look with the crinkled top. They were also easy to make which is always important to me this time of year when everything is so hectic.

This is a great little cookie that is perfect for the holidays or any time of year

Ingredients
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

4 eggs
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1/2 cup cooking oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup demerara sugar or turbinado sugar (I used granulated)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, granulated sugar, melted chocolate, oil, baking powder, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Gradually beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours or until dough is easy to handle.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a large cookie sheet; set aside (I didn't grease a cookie sheet but instead lined it with parchment paper). Place demerara sugar in a small bowl. Shape one portion of dough into 1/2-inch balls. Shape the remaining portion of dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in demerara sugar to coat generously. Place balls 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. (I did not make two difference sized cookies. I did them all the same size, about 1 inch, which worked great for me.)

3. Bake small cookies in the preheated oven about 8 minutes or until edges are set and tops are dry. Bake large cookies about 10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are dry. Do not overbake cookies. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool. (Cookies will deflate slightly upon cooling.) Makes about about 72 small and 36 large cookies.

4. To Store: Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Christmas Sugar Cookies

Since taking the Wilton class this past year, I've become much more comfortable with royal icing. So this year, I decided to decorate my Christmas cookie cut-outs in royal. For the snowflake design, I was totally inspired by these Gingerbread Snowflakes on Good Things Catered which are stunning. Overall I am pleased with the results, but doing so many different shapes and using so many different colors made this project very time consuming. Next year I still plan on using royal, but I think I will cut down on the quantity of different shapes and will allow more time for decorating. For my sugar cookies, I used this recipe which really has turned into my favorite in terms of taste and texture. They also freeze really well.

Candy Cane Cookies

When I saw these cookies on Good Things Catered, I knew I had to make them for my cookie tray this year.

While they were a bit on the time consuming side, I thought that they were totally worth it. They were nice and light with the perfect amount of peppermint. Not to mention they are totally adorable and add beautiful color and whimsy to any cookie tray.

These are now officially on my yearly Christmas cookie recipe list!
Ingredients
Source: Good Things Catered

1 1/4 c. sugar
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint extract
3 ½ c. all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp red food color (plus more to the color you desire) (I used gel color)

Directions
- Cream together sugar and butter
- Add egg, then milk, vanilla, and peppermint extract.
- Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.
- Divide dough in half.
- Stir food color into one half.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. (I chilled overnight)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- For each candy cane, shape one rounded tsp dough from each half into 4-inch rope by rolling back and forth on clean surface. (don’t use flour or it won’t stick to the other half) (I had to work on a very lightly floured surface because the dough kept sticking to my counter. This worked fine.)
- Place one red and white rope side by side; press together lightly and twist.
- Place on prepared cookie sheet; curve top of cookie down to form handle of cane.
- Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until set and very light brown.
- Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack and cool completely.

Autumn Sugar Cookies

After making 95 cookies for a baby shower, I had some dough left over so I decided to make some cookies for work. Don't mind my shaky lines, but after doing 95 cookies I was a little beat.

However, my coworkers ate them all up with their morning coffee so I was definitely glad I made them!

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Cookies were decorated in Royal Icing. Here is a great tutorial on how to decorate beautiful sugar cookies: Good Things Catered

Pea Pod Baby Shower Cake & Cookies

A month or two ago, a family friend asked if I would do a cake for her daughter's upcoming baby shower. The theme of the shower was "A Pea in a Pod" which gave me a lot to work with. However I was nervous at first since this would be the first cake that I would do for someone other then family, and the first one that I'd actually get paid for.

But the cake ended up coming out great and the proud mom and grandmother to be were just so happy and pleased with the end result which made the labor and stress totally worth it. To see the smiles on their faces and their continual praise upon seeing the cake made me feel so beyond happy I can't even express it. I'm so glad they provided me with the opportunity to do my first "real" cake and am grateful that they loved it just as much as I loved making it.

The cake was an almond scented white cake with fresh raspberry filling. I topped that with homemade butter cream and homemade fondant. I made the pea pods out of fondant and the cake topper was also made of fondant (I added in some gum tex to strengthen it).

This was such a fun cake to do and again I was so happy that the mom-to-be loved it!

"World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies"

I printed this recipe out last year after a super-original google search entitled "World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies". I mean, everyone is on the hunt for the best chocolate chip cookies right?! Well if you're not, I sure am. Since then, this recipe has been my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Do I think that they are the world's best? The verdict is still out. I think that they are very good, but I'm hesitant to give them the "world's best chocolate chip cookie" title. But until (or, if) I find a recipe that is better, this is a great go-to recipe that results in one fantasticly chocolatey, chewy, soft and delicious cookie...and they always get major compliments!

So let me know what you think! Try these and report back. Are they really the world's best? Do you have a better recipe? Am I searching for a chocolate chip cookie recipe that simply doesn't exist because these truly are the best thing on earth?! Let me know!

And in the meantime, grab a nice cold glass of milk, a soft cookie (or 2...or 3...) and enjoy!

Ingredients
Source: Recipe Zaar

3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and mix well. Combine dry ingredients together and gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chips. Drop dough by the spoonfull on to an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2" apart. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes.

Green Tea Shortbread

When I first saw this recipe on Tea Spot NYC I bookmarked it right away. Tea is perhaps my most favorite drink, so the combination of Green Tea and Shortbread sounded very appealing to me. I was concerned that I would not be able to find Matcha powder (we all know the issues I have with trying to find specialty ingredients in my country generic grocery stores!) but low and behold, I found Matcha in the health food section of my local Wegmans! It wasn't powdered, but that was nothing a quick trip through my magic bullet blender couldn't fix!

This was a fabulous recipe. The shorbread is buttery, crumbley and has a fantastic flavor. The texture is perfect. I was on the conservative side with the Matcha since I haven't used it before and didn't want the green tea flavor to be too overwhelming, but next time I would definitely use the whole tablespoon and maybe even a bit more! Also, I don't have a tart pan (don't worry, it's now on my list for my Birthday!) but I loved the look of the wedges, so I used my springform pan which worked perfectly! This is a great shorbread cookie recipe. Even my husband who doesn't like tea really enjoyed this cookie, it's a must try!

Ingredients
Source: Tea Spot NYC
Originally from: Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and still warm
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon Matcha powder (Japanese green tea powder)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Turbinado or demerara sugar, for sprinkling

1. Grease a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with removable bottom, or line an 8 x 8-inch baking dish with nonstick foil.

2. In medium bowl, stir together butter, granulated sugar, matcha, vanilla and salt. Add flour and mix until just incorporated. Pat dough evenly into prepared pan and let rest at room temperature at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.

3. Position a rack in lower third of the oven and heat to 300°. Bake shortbread for 45 minutes. Remove pan from oven, leaving oven on. Lightly sprinkle the surface with turbinado sugar, and let cool 10 minutes.

4. Carefully remove shortbread from the pan. Use a thin, sharp knife to slice into wedges or squares and place pieces slightly apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly toasted, then let pieces cool completely on rack.

Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies

I was really debating as to whether or not I wanted to do Sugar Cookies for Valentines day. They are so time consuming and like I said before, I don't even like sugar cookies. However, they always look SO cute and I thought my friends, family and coworkers would enjoy them. I also read this fabulous tutorial on how to ice a sugar cookie on the Hyper Homemaker blog, and I was anxious to try this method out. I have never worked with royal icing before and was excited to try. So I made the cookies this past weekend am freezing them until Valentines Day. I'll post the recipe for Royal Icing here, but for more detailed instructions definitely check out the Hyper Homemaker's tutorial.

Overall I was quite pleased with how they turned out. I still need a lot of practice in order to get the consistencies right, but I had fun working with the royal icing. In addition, I now feel like icing a sugar cookie is just a bit less daunting.

Ingredients
Source: Good Things Catered / The Hyper Homemaker

1 batch of sugar cookies, baked and cooled

Royal Icing
1 lb (4 c.), powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbsp meringue powder
4-6 Tbsp water *

* There is a star here because the amount of water you will need to add to the icing is very much dependent on temperature and humidity of the place you are and the day you make it.

Note: All tools (mixer, bowl, spatula, paddle) must be completely free of any grease/fat or the icing will turn to water and you will have to start over.

Directions:
-In bowl of large stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, add powdered sugar, meringue powder, and 4 Tbsp water.
-Turn mixer on medium speed and slowly add more water as necessary for icing to just come together (about 1 more).
-Turn mixer on high and beat for 7-10 minutes, or until the sheen comes off of the icing.
-Use immediately and place a damp towel over any remaining icing as this stuff dries quickly!

Christmas Cookie Trays

Every year I give cookie trays to my friends and family. Here are 3 that I made up last night. One for my parents, one for my in laws and one to bring to work. Everyone always loves them and while they are a lot of work to make, they are so worth it!

I wrap each tray in plastic wrap, and tie with a decorative bow made from some pretty ribbon. I then tie a handmade gift card to each tray, so I know who's is who's!

Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars

I found this recipe in my Real Simple magazine, and knew I had to make it. I loved that I could freeze them first and then bake them when ready. Plus, my husband loves ginger-anything and chocolate, so I knew he'd love them. I baked them from frozen and they turned out just great. Like I thought, my husband raved over them. They had just enough spice to make them the perfect addition to any Christmas cookie tray.

Ingredients
Adapted from Real Simple

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Heat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and line it with 2 crisscrossed pieces of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool completely in the pan, then cut into 32 bars (8 rows by 4 rows).

To Wrap: The tight seal on a take-out container will keep the bars moist and chewy. (Soak containers in warm, soapy water to remove glue from labels.) Wrap with a bow and personalize with a handwritten sticker.

To Freeze: Instead of baking the batter, freeze it in the pan for up to 2 months. To bake, follow the recipe instructions, baking from frozen, and use the upper end of the time range.

Yield: Makes 32 bars

Chocolate Soufflé Cookies

When I saw these on the Noble Pig blog, I was really anxious to try them out. The whole not using flour in a cookie thing intrigued me. I planned on putting these on my Christmas Cookie tray for the office/neighbors/friends but my husband begged me not to...he said I've been baking all these things for the last few weeks and he's been so good not eating all of my cookies but he just loved these so much that he didn't want me to give them away. So I decided that he really has been a good boy so I let him keep them for himself (and me of course)! These cookies were really light and delicate on the outside and gooey and chocolatey on the inside. They were quite decadent for being so fragile. These were great and such a cinch to make.

Ingredients
Adapted from The Noble Pig

6 ounces good quality, bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (omitted)

Directions
Melt chocolate over a double boiler. When completely melted and smooth, set aside.

With a stand or hand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form.

With the beaters running, gradually add vanilla extract and granulated sugar until the egg whites hold stiff peaks but aren't dry.

Pour melted chocolate over the whipped whites, gently folding them into the mixture with a rubber spatula. Try not to deflate the whites and mix until the color is just uniform.

Immediately drop teaspoons of the batter onto two baking sheets covered in parchment paper. Space the drops 1-inch apart. Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Bake until the cookies are shiny and cracked. They will be firm on the outside but gooey on the inside when pressed. Transfer to racks to cool completely. Makes about 22 cookies.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These are a must-have on every Christmas Cookie tray. Nothing too fancy or complicated about them, they are super-simple and everyone loves them. I got the recipe from the Hershey's website.

Ingredients:

• 48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Butter Icing

I wanted to find a great icing recipe for my cookies this year, and I came across this one from www.allrecipes.com. It is really easy, pipes well and hardens nicely. I will be using this one again.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cream
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan, over medium heat, heat cream and butter until butter is melted. Stir in the vanilla and confectioners' sugar. Remove from heat, and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth.

Gingerbread Boys & Girls

Gingerbread Cookies are a must at my house. My husband likes very few cookies but this is one that he just loves so I am required to make them every year! I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com and it was very good. I wish it had a bit more "spice" to it though...next year I will be slightly increasing the amount of the spices. Either way my husband loved them so they are good in my book!

Also, I'm not a confident baker so when it comes to breads/cookies/baked good of any kind I follow the recipe exactly. The only thing I omitted from this recipe was the royal icing. I made my own icing.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 
  
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 egg whites

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and eggs. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger; beat into the molasses mixture. Gradually stir in the remaining flour by hand to form a stiff dough.
3. Divide dough into 2 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes using cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. In a medium bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Blend in egg whites. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat for about 5 minutes, or until mixture is thick and stiff. Keep covered with a moist cloth until ready to frost cookies.