The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I’ve been searching for YEARS for a recipe like this. YEARS, I tell you. They are perfect in every way. Flat and crispy on the outside and buttery and chewy on the inside.

However, I know everyone’s different…and some people like big, fluffy cookies. But not me. To me, these are perfection.

Matt even likes these cookies. So much, that when I told him yesterday that I was thinking of making them again, he came home from work all excited, only to give me the biggest, saddest face when he realized that I hadn’t gotten around to making them yet.

And he doesn’t even like dessert!

I made them today though…and he’s proceeded to eat close to half the batch. Yeah. They’re that good.

So, if you’re going to make anything on this blog, make these cookies. They are perfect. There is really nothing more to say.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Recipe from Iowa Girl Eats)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1½ tsp salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugars until it’s the texture of cornmeal. Add eggs and vanilla and then mix until combined.


In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in three batches. Add chocolate chips last and mix briefly.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Monster Cookies

I got nostalgic this weekend. I wanted monster cookies. I don’t normally make them as I kind of think that once you pass the age of 12, you look kind of silly eating cookies with Smarties in them…

Who am I kidding? No one ever looks silly eating monster cookies.

Speaking of which, I’ve always wondered why they are even called “monster cookies”. If anything, they should be called, “recycle cookies” or “everything-I-have-in-my-baking-cupboard cookies”. Cus that’s basically all they are. Aside from the standard peanut butter, oatmeal and Smartie components, you can really throw any sort of mix-ins into these cookies. You can even mix up different types of peanut butter and oats. They are mish-mash cookies at their finest.

So go ahead, clean out your cupboards, make some cookies and feel like you’re 12 again! It really is the best – and not to mention, most delicious – way to recycle.

Monster Cookies
Usually, these cookies are made without flour. However, I was experimenting today with a mix of a few different recipes and found the dough wasn’t stable enough, so I added a bit of flour to stiffen it up. However, you could always up the oatmeal instead.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp maple syrup
1 cup peanut butter (I used 1/2 creamy, 1/2 crunchy)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3½ cups oatmeal (quick cooking or old fashioned)
1/2 cup flour
2 cups of add-ins (I used Smarties, chocolate chips and Skor bits)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter with the brown and white sugars until blended. Add eggs, vanilla and syrup. Beat until combined.

Add peanut butter, baking soda and salt. Beat until combined.

Slowly add oatmeal and flour (if using). Blend and then fold in mix-ins.

Drop dough onto baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes until light brown and just set around edges. Cool on wire racks.

Soft & Sweet Peanut Buttery Goodness

We have a bit of a peanut butter epidemic in our house. For some reason, we just keep buying jars of it well before we’re out and consequently, they’ve been seriously piling up…which is surprising considering how much peanut butter I consume.

So, I decided to put our overstock of peanut butter to good use and make peanut butter cookies! It was also my reward for surviving a ridiculously long and stressful day…

Just so you know – these cookies are DEADLY. I ate about 8 right out of the oven…then, I had the dangerous idea to spread Nutella on one…then I decided to make a Nutella sandwich, with the cookies as the “bread”.

Please don’t try this at home if you value your figure.

Peanut Butter Cookies
(Adapted from Joy the Baker’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies)
I omitted the chocolate chips from this recipe simply because I didn’t have any…however, they would still be amazing in these cookies. The cookies themselves are softer than normal peanut butter cookies with just the right balance of sweetness and peanutty taste. They are a nice change from the chunky, hard, super peanut buttery cookies we’re used to.

Ingredients:

2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup peanut butter- crunchy or smooth, but not natural
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs

1/2 cup additional granulated sugar (for rolling cookies)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F . Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or aluminum foil).

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Working with a stand mixer (or hand mixer) in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for a minute or two, until smooth and creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat for another minute. Add the sugars and beat for 3 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and, on low speed, add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they just disappear. You’ll have a soft, pliable dough.


Pour the 1/2 cup of sugar into a small bowl. Working with a level tablespoonful of dough for each cookie, roll the dough between your palms into balls and drop the balls, a couple at a time, into the sugar. Roll the balls around in the sugar to coat them, then place on the baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between them. Dip the tines of the fork in the sugar and press the tines against each ball first in one direction and then in a perpendicular direction- you should have a flattened rough of dough with crisscross indentations.


Bake the dough for 10-12 minutes. When done, the cookies will be lightly colored and still be a little soft. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a minute before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.

Friday Night Cookies

Some people go out on Friday nights. Out with friends, out to dinner, out to the bar, out on a date…me, when I have a free Friday night, I usually bake. I might have a glass of wine…or two. I might also make a spontaneous trip to Homesense and buy ridiculously adorable teacups that I really don’t need. I might also put on yoga pants and a Team Jacob t-shirt and search online for the best oatmeal cookie recipe known to man…

I did all of these things tonight. And it was glorious.

Sometimes, I get a hankering for oatmeal cookies. Plain and simple. So tonight, I made some. I omitted the raisins though. I just wasn’t feelin’ them.

However, the cookies did turn out pretty awesome. I may have eaten about 6 or 7 right out of the oven…

Yeah. They’re that good.

So if you’re a nerd like me and not out being social and sexy on a Friday night, you should make these cookies. Just sayin’.

Oatmeal Cookies
(Adapted from The "BEST" Oatmeal Cookie recipe)

Ingredients:

3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a small bowl, combine the eggs and vanilla. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until all of the dry ingredients are absorbed. Next, stir in the egg and vanilla mixture, then stir in the rolled oats and pecans. Dough will be stiff – you can add a little bit of milk at this point if you like to moisten it a bit. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet.


Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are golden. Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Festive Sugar Cookies

I know I’ve been seriously slacking in the recipe department this past week…one would think that because it’s Christmas and I have time off to bake, I would be baking. And in all honesty…I have been baking. However, I keep forgetting to take pictures. Or I’m out fighting the crowds at the mall or driving all over town to holiday get-togethers and parties.

But enough excuses!! Here is a traditional holiday cookie recipe: sugar cookies!! These are Matt’s favourite cookies so I tend to make them a lot…they’re good for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, birthdays, when your lover-man is away doing a show in southern Alberta for 4 months…they’re just always appropriate. And so simple. And delicious.

So, enjoy!!

Sugar Cookies
*Note: These cookies call for margarine and I have made them with butter and they just weren’t the same…normally I would stress the use of butter, but these are an exception.

Ingredients:

1 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
2¾ cups flour

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (my oven is super old and these tend to burn at 400 if I’m not careful, so I bring it down to 375, just to be safe).

Cream margarine & sugar. Add egg, baking powder and vanilla – mix well. Add flour.

Roll out and cut using festive cookie cutters.

Bake for 6-7 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes a crapload of cookies. I wouldn’t recommend doubling it, unless you have A LOT of time on your hands to ice them.

Ice with royal icing – or any basic icing of your choice. I kind of always make mine up…

Feed to the people you love!

Gingerbread Frenzy

I went back to work last week…and that, in combination with meetings, rehearsals and seeing a show left me with very little time to bake. Consequently, I started getting a little restless.

So, I went on a bit of a gingerbread frenzy this weekend. I tend to get hooked on a certain flavour and do whatever I can with it for as long as I can...or at least until I get sick of it. You’ll learn this about me.

It all started when I made gingerbread men yesterday for me and the boyfriend’s annual Christmas card pictures…then all I wanted was dark, gingery, spicy molasses-filled goodness. All the time.

This morning I made gingerbread pancakes…and they were kind of amazing. They screamed Christmas all over the place.

And so…I have thus begun my Christmas baking. It’s happening. I hope you’re ready.

Gingerbread Men
(Taken from my Better Homes and Gardens 2007 Christmas Cookies magazine)
These cookies are pretty standard, I like how soft they are, however I’m hoping to tweak the recipe and make some with fresh ginger sometime before Christmas and see how they turn out!

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and ground cloves; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter for 30 seconds with an electric mixer. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add molasses and egg, beat until combined. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Cover; chill dough about 3 hours, or overnight, or until easy to handle.

Preheat oven to 350 F (the original recipe called for 375 F but they burned in my oven on that temp so I turned it down). On a lightly floured surface roll dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut dough using 5-inch gingerbread people cookie cutters. Arrange the cutouts about 1 inch apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 7-8 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are light brown. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

I threw together a basic icing (water, icing sugar, vanilla, butter) to pipe on these cookies however royal icing works best.

Royal Icing: In a small bowl combine 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 4 teaspoons meringue powder, and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. Stir in 1/4 cup warm water. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, then on high speed 7 to 10 minutes or until very stiff. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons additional warm water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until of glazing consistency.

Gingerbread Pancakes
(Adapted from Joy the Baker’s Gingerbread Pancakes)
The original recipe called for 1 cup of sour cream but I did have any so I decided to use plain yogurt…which I just barely had a full cup left of so I filled the rest with buttermilk. Thankfully, it all still turned out alright.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3 Tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
3 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter, plus additional for brushing the griddle

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200 F.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk together molasses, egg, yogurt, buttermilk, milk and butter in a small bowl, then add the flour mixture and stir just until combined.

Heat griddle or 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot enough to make drops of water scatter over the surface. Brush with butter. Working in batches of 4 to 6 (depending on the size of the griddle), drop 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes with a spatula and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer pancakes to a heatproof plate and keep warm in oven while you cook remaining batches.


Serve with more butter and syrup – or anything your heart desires! (Joy recommends sour cream)

Note: The batter is very soft and delicate, so make sure you let them cook for at least a full minute, before you attempt to flip them for the first time.

Vegan Baking Adventures with Jess

Vegan baking used to frighten me. I couldn’t imagine how any dessert could even come close to tasting good with the absence of butter. I love butter. I love it more than most things in life.


However, a very close friend of mine eats vegan. Her name is Jess. She is beautiful, talented, ridiculously energetic and a great vegan cook. But sadly, she does not have an oven in her house.

So, I kindly offered up my own kitchen today in exchange for a vegan baking lesson. And let’s just say that the results were surprisingly delicious.

There were some crazy shenanigans along the way…but that’s bound to happen when the two of us get together in the kitchen.

We made vegan brownies and (mostly) vegan pumpkin cookies.

And I gained an entirely new appreciation for coconut oil. I might start cheating on butter.

Vegan Tofu Brownies

Tofu is great because it absorbs flavours so well. It also gave the brownies a nice moist texture. P.S. You can make this recipe gluten-free by eliminating the carob chips.

Ingredients:

1 12 oz (300 g) package soft tofu
½ cup water
½ cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup spelt flour
½ cup carob chips


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 inch square baking pan (once again, we had to use a circle pan…I really need to eat that casserole).

Blend tofu in a blender or food processor to smooth (I used my Magic Bullet). Whisk tofu in a large bowl with water, oil and vanilla.

Add cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda and flour to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle chips on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Cool, cut and serve.


Supposed-to-be-Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

We had big plans for these vegan pumpkin cookies until we realized we had no flax seeds (to act as an egg substitute). Therefore, we just used real eggs…so these cookies are dairy-free, but not animal-product-free.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil, softened
1 cup pumpkin puree
1½ cups sugar
½ cup flax seed, blended (or 2 eggs)
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups oat flour (we used 1 cup each of oat, spelt and whole wheat flours)
1 cup rolled oats
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix coconut oil, pumpkin puree, sugar, flax seed/eggs and vanilla in a large bowl.

Add flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. (We added the remaining carob chips to the cookies as well)

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.

*Note: These cookies are pretty fluffy…we’re going to work with the recipe some more to perhaps make muffins with it. They would be great muffins.

DELICIOUS!!

Doodles that Snicker

Snickerdoodles. I probably love the name of these cookies more than the actual cookie itself. Though, I do love these little disks of cinnamon heaven quite a bit. And so do a lot of people.

Seriously. I’ve made these cookies for many casts of many shows I’ve done over the years and with each occasion, I’ve had instant friends. INSTANT, I tell you. People just love ‘em.

The secret is…well, there is no secret, they’re actually pretty easy. So, here’s the recipe.

Want people to love you? Make these cookies.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

cinnamon & sugar (for rolling)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and cinnamon.

Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.


Mix additional cinnamon and sugar in a separate small bowl (about a 1 tablespoon sugar to 1 teaspoon cinnamon ratio). Roll dough into small balls and then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. (You can also put the cinnamon and sugar in a paper bag and shake the ball of dough in it. That’s how I used to do it when I was little – it’s more fun.)

Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.


Let them cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.


My boyfriend loves these too. They never last in my house.

A Classic: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ahhh…chocolate chip cookies. There really is no other dessert as nostalgic and heart-warming as chocolate chip cookies. As a baker, they are a staple in my “recipe repertoire” and I’ve experimented with many different recipes over the years but these are probably my favourite. Mind you, I am, and always will be, a fan of the famous Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but these are a little bit more unique and suited to my own personal tastes.

I like a good chocolate chip cookie that is browned on the outsides, soft in the middle and not cakey. The addition of dark chocolate chips and sea salt make this recipe just a bit more sophisticated too.

They’re pretty yummy…so, I suggest you go make some. Right now. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a big bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg, syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add the baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients, mix, and then add the flour and stir until almost combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir just until blended.

Drop spoonfuls of dough on a non-stick cookie sheet (or line one with aluminium foil – that’s what I always do). Sprinkle the tops with coarse sea salt. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Sea salt is kind of my secret ingredient in nearly all my baking. I truly believe that it makes a significant difference in the taste. I will also always splurge on good vanilla – none of that “vanillin” stuff or artificial vanilla extract.


You can also alter this recipe by adding nuts or other types of chips. Sometimes, I like to use half milk chocolate and half dark (or semi-sweet). Play around with it – make it your own!