Tag: baking

The ultimate cookie – Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

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All throughout my childhood I HATED mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I’m not sure why, perhaps it was the sickening green color or the bite of the mint flavoring – but I was simply not a fan.  I always preferred the big chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough or the sweetness of strawberry cheesecake.  However, as I grew up my tastes shifted and in my late teens I discovered a new found love for all things mint chocolate! 

the face of pure love
the face of pure love

That’s why, when I stumbled upon this recipe idea I knew I simply had to try it!  Mint chocolate chip cookies!  What a treat!  And I must say in all honesty that out of everything I have made so far, these cookies are one hundred percent my favorite.  The recipe called for a lot of butter and less sugar than I was expecting.  The result was an extremely creamy texture that makes you want to go back for seconds, thirds, and maybe even sevenths or eighths!

I won't tell ;)
I won’t tell 😉

I probably accidentally used too much green food coloring and so my cookies came out EXTREMELY green – but that in no way effected the delicious sweet mint flavor (and it gave me a good idea for a St. Patricks day treat!)

I made 33 cookies with the recipe (probably would have made 36 if I could have stopped myself from eating the dough!)  Less than 5 hours later there are only 10 left!  My dad literally licked the bowl of dough clean. 

I would say this was another enormous success.

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

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The ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
green food coloring

The method:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, food color and peppermint extract; mix well.
5. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Drop by heaping tablespoons about 1 inch apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
8. Bake 10 minutes

A scrumptious union – Red Velvet Shortbread Cookies

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Do you love shortbread cookies?  Do you love red velvet?  If the answer to both of those questions is yes, then you are probably my soulmate.  Shortbread cookies are always my favorite Christmastime treat and so I knew sooner or later I would need to bake my own version!  When I was looking for baking inspiration online I found a Buzzfeed post about red velvet and finally educated myself as to what a red velvet baked good actually entails. (Basically it’s just vague chocolatey flavoring and some red food dye).  That’s when the idea for these cookies was born: Red velvet shortbread cookies!  Doesn’t that combination just sound like a match made in heaven?

 rvsblove

Making these cookies was a little more complicated than I anticipated.  I used the electric mixer (which is a life saving tool) but the dough took a long time to form and I ended up having to knead it with my hands a lot.  This led to my hands looking bloody and scary for the next day because of all the food coloring that was in the dough!

nobody died in the making of these cookies… I promise.
nobody died in the making of these cookies… I promise!

Regardless, the cookies did eventually come out!  I had mixed reviews of this recipe, some people LOVED it and chowed down a few in a row (myself included) while some people let me know that they were, “good… but not your best ever”.  I think it all comes down to a personal preference for cookie types so I wasn’t too offended by the objectors.  Personally, I think they were delicious!

The real fun part of this recipe came when I decided to “drizzle” white chocolate on top of the cookies once they cooled.  This is where my inexperience in the kitchen definitely revealed itself.  I melted white chocolate in the microwave and made several valiant efforts to “drizzle” it on the cookies, but the chocolate just would not cooperate!  No matter how much I willed it to be melty and yummy looking with gentle coaxing, the chocolate did not want to come off the spoon and instead stayed solid like a stubborn child.  In the end I decided to just put a little button of white chocolate in the center of each cookie, it kind of looked artsy so I pretended that it was my plan all along… (shhhh don’t tell!)

RED VELVET SHORTBREAD COOKIES

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The Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
Red liquid food coloring
1/4 cup white chocolate

The Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. In an electric mixer combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder and salt
3. Cut in butter and add in food coloring (until desired redness is reached), it will start to have a crumb-like texture
4. Knead with hands until the dough forms into a round ball
5. Roll out the dough to a 1/4 inch thickness and cut out cookies with a cookie cutter (or the top of a glass if you lack supplies like me)
6. With the scraps continue to roll out the dough until you have used all of it
7. Bake cookies for 18-20 minutes
8. Once cooled, melt your white chocolate and attempt a pretty “drizzle” (good luck!)