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Posts Tagged ‘best cookie recipes’

Peach-Oatmeal Cookies

Posted in About me, Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Peach-Oatmeal Cookies Luscious sweet summer peaches won’t be around forever, so try to serve them in as many ways as possible. For me, that means peach cookies! To assuage my guilt for craving cookies, I decided to try this recipe; it contains rolled oats, two types of fruit, less fat, and less sugar than an average cookie recipe. One bite of these cookies and everything will be just “peachy.”

Peach-Oatmeal Cookies
Martha Stewart Living Magazine, July/August 1996

INGREDIENTS
3 large peaches, or 1¼ pounds frozen peaches, thawed and drained
1 T fresh lemon juice
3 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
6 T granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 T pure vanilla extract
1½ cups plus 1 T rolled oats
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sun-dried cherries, chopped

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Pit, peel, and dice two of the peaches. (If using frozen peaches, set aside 3/4 cup). Place diced peaches in a saucepan; add lemon juice. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until the peaches are broken down, about 20 minutes. Using a whisk, mash peaches; let cool.

3. Meanwhile, dice the remaining peach or reserved frozen peaches and set aside.

4. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on high until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in mashed peaches. Add diced peaches; stir in by hand.

5. In a bowl, mix oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cherries. Stir into the peach mixture by hand until well combined.

6. Drop a heaping tablespoonful onto prepared sheet; dampen finger (with water) and gently flatten. Repeat, spacing 2 inches apart.

7. Bake until very golden brown and crisp around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cookies on wire racks.

Makes about 3 dozen

LINNELL’S NOTES
1. Most recipes call for 1 tsp of vanilla extract, so make note that the 1 T of vanilla extract specified is not a typo.

2. Because of the peach juice, this is not a thick batter.

3. One recipe yielded 42 medium-sized cookies for me.

4. The introduction to the recipe states,”If you want these cookies crisp, leave them overnight uncovered; for moist cookies, wrap them well once they’ve cooled.”

Enjoy!

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Chunky Lola Cookies

Posted in In The Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Chunky Lola Cookies The lyrics from the Broadway song, “Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets,” plays in my head while I make these cookies. In the musical Damn Yankees, Lola is a seductress hired by the devil. I don’t have a clue who the Chunky Lola of this famous recipe is, but she must be a seductress in her own right to have a devilishly delicious cookie named after her. With its dark chocolate chunks, sweet coconut, crunchy toasted pecans, and chewy oats, this cookie is so exceptional that you’ll say “the devil made me do it” as you reach for another one!

Chunky Lola Cookies
Recipe by Joanne Chang, owner and pastry chef at
Flour Bakery + Cafe

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons (1-3/8 sticks/156 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (140 grams) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (150 grams) packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1¼ cups (175 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup (70 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick cooking)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
9 ounces (255 grams) bittersweet chocolate (62 to 70 percent cacao), chopped into ½-inch pieces
1¼ cups (125 grams) pecan halves, toasted and chopped
1 cup (120 grams) sweetened shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS
1. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a handheld mixer or wooden spoon), cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is light and fluffy. (This step will take about 10 minutes if using a handheld mixer or spoon.) Stop the mixer a few times and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and the paddle as necessary.

2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until thoroughly combined. Scrape the bowl and paddle again to make sure the eggs are completely incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate, pecans, and coconut and toss to combine.

4. On low speed (or with wooden spoon), slowly add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and then mix just until the flour mixture is totally incorporated and the dough is evenly mixed.

5. For the best results, scrape the dough into an airtight container and let rest in the refrigerator overnight (or for at least 3 to 4 hours) before baking.

6. When ready to bake, position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350℉.

7. Drop the dough in ¼-cup balls onto parchment paper or Silpat lined baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand.

8. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown on the edges and slightly soft in the center. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are cool enough to remove with a spatula. Then transfer them directly to the wire rack to cool completely, or enjoy them warm.

9. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. The unbaked dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Makes approximately 18 large cookies

LINNELL’S NOTES
1. As Joanne Chang recommends, I weighed the ingredients that had weight equivalents listed.

2. I used Plugra unsalted butter and Lindt 70% Cocoa Smooth Dark chocolate with superior results.

3. I appreciate the notes that the author includes in her cookbook. Most of us home bakers do not cream butter and sugar together long enough. Of that Chang says, It’s best to beat together the butter and sugar for longer than you might think: as long as 6 to 8 minutes on medium speed with a stand mixer in some cases. Watch for the transformation from a yellow, sandy mixture to an ivory, fluffy mixture—the sign that you have properly creamed them together. When you are creaming butter with brown sugar, you’ll see the mixture go from muddy looking to pale brown, and creamy.

4. Even though I refrigerated the dough overnight, the cookies still spread quite a bit. To prevent the cookies from touching as they bake, next time I will space them farther apart than specified or make the dough balls smaller.

5. This cookie recipe is a 10 in my mind. However, because it requires a minimum of 3 to 4 hours of chilling time, it is not a cookie you can make in the spur of the moment.

Enjoy!

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The Elvis: Chocolate Chip, Bacon, Banana and Peanut Butter Cookies

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on August 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The Elvis Cookie Elvis? Elvis Presley? Make no mistake. These cookies must be named after “the King,” because while you watch them bake, you’ll feel your temperature rising, and after one bite, you’ll scream, Just a hunk, a hunk of burning love! These cookies boast the most interesting juxtapositions: salty bacon and sweet chocolate; crunchy nuts and chewy bacon; fruity banana and peanut butter. What’s not to like? Make these cookies and if you are not sighing, I can’t help falling in love with you . . .  as you savor every bite, you should get your taste buds checked.

The Elvis: Peanut Butter, Banana and Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Claudia Sidoti for Cooking Channel

INGREDIENTS
10 slices bacon
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chunks
1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts
1/2 cup sweet dried banana chips, roughly chopped

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, then drain on paper towels. Once the bacon is cool, roughly chop it (you should have about 1/2 cup).

2. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter, mayonnaise and sugars with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Add the peanut butter and vanilla and beat until combined.

4. At low speed, add the flour mixture in batches, beating until just combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chunks, bacon, peanuts and banana chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

5. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 muffin tins with paper liners.

6. Fill the muffin tins about halfway full with the batter (a 2-inch, 2-ounce ice cream scoop gives you just about the perfect amount, and helps prevent spilling).

7. Bake until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. (Keep in mind that the cookies won’t rise and form a dome like a cupcake.) Let cool in the muffin tins on wire racks for about 10 minutes, then unmold the cookie cups and transfer them to the racks to cool completely.

Cook’s Note: The mayonnaise in this recipe makes these cookies especially tender.

Yield: About 24 cookie cups

LINNELL’S NOTES
1. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the suggested chocolate chunks. They were the perfect size for distribution throughout the dough and thus provided enough chocolate “hits” as one ate a cookie.

2. I used silicone cake cups instead of paper liners. Because of the thick sticky dough, I gently tapped the dough to the edges of each container with a finger moistened with water. After the cookies were baked and cooled, they popped out easily. I did try baking a few cookies in paper liners and they worked fine. They were not as pretty when the paper was removed and they resembled cupcakes more than cookies.

3. In my oven these were golden brown in about 20 to 24 minutes. Since oven temperatures vary, keep an eye on the cookies when they reach the 20-minute mark.

Enjoy!

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