Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies

December 19, 2013 by 1 Comment

Things have been so quiet around here and I would like to apologize, but since I’ve been spending my time cuddling the world’s cutest baby instead of posting I’m kind of sorry not sorry. One day I hope to be able to better balance baby cuddling time with food blogging time, but until then, can I make it up to you by sharing a picture of the world’s cutest baby?

Are still trying to decide what kind of cookies to leave out for Santa? Can I make a suggestion? How about these Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies? They are soft, chewy, giant, with the perfect touch of crunchy M&M chocolate. The oatmeal isn’t overwhelming, but it adds a nice texture to the cookies.

 

Giant Chewy Oatmeal M&M Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp milk
1 cup M&M candies, plus a few extra for finishing

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or a silpat baking sheet.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then add the egg, vanilla, and milk and mix until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Use a spatula to stir in the M&Ms.

Roll a quarter cup of dough into a ball  and place 3 inches apart on a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges.

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Adapted from recipe as seen here, originally found on Apple a Day

 

 

Filed Under: Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Week of Christmas Cookies Tagged With: , , ,

Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

December 8, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Do you know what is no fun at.all. Sick babies. They’re a real bummer. I would know because our sweet 3 month old had her very first cold over Thanksgiving. Poor baby. Then Jesse and I both got colds! It was not the best week at the Sunny Side house. Thankfully we are all feeling much better!

Usually around this time of year I’m posting a week of Christmas cookies. This year it’s been a little harder for me to organize my holiday baking, so I decided not to commit to a full week, instead I’ll just post things as I have time to make them!

These delicious little cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction popped up on my Facebook feed last week and the timing was perfect. I don’t usually have boxed cake mix but I was going to make something for Thanksgiving that called for it so I bought some. I never got around to making what I had originally planned so there it was, just sitting in the pantry waiting to be made into these cookies.

What’s cool about these cookies is that they taste like a cupcake but have the chewy texture of a cookie. It’s the best of both worlds! Plus, you can use festive sprinkles. Who doesn’t like sprinkles? And this would be a great recipe to make with kids. You don’t even need a standing mixer (though you can totally use one if you want!).

The only change I made from the original recipe is to use less sprinkles. The recipe called for 1 cup of sprinkles and that seemed like a lot. In the end I used closer to 1/3 of a cup and I felt like they were plenty sprinkle-y. Below I’ll use my measurement and you can just add more if you’d like. Also, I used my medium cookie scoop and didn’t smooth it out at all before baking so my cookies look a little rougher than Sally’s, next time I’ll roll them into balls instead of using the scoop.

Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

Ingredients
1 18.25 oz box vanilla/white cake mix
1 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup sprinkles*

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake mix and baking powder. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and stir well to combine. Add the sprinkles and carefully stir in to the dough.

Place 1-inch rolled balls of dough about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 9 minutes, making sure they do not start to brown! Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with a cold glass of milk.
Source: Sally’s Baking Addiction

 

Filed Under: Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Week of Christmas Cookies Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

December 13, 2012 by 1 Comment

You may have noticed that I have been saying “Week of Christmas Treats” and not “Week of Christmas Cookies“. As much as I love (really. love.) cookies, I can’t ignore the other delicious treats loved by so many this time of year. Fudge is something I’ve ignored for the last few years, but I couldn’t let that crime continue another year.

When deciding what kind of fudge I wanted to make I had a lot of ideas swirling around in my head. Once I finally had it narrowed down to 2 ideas, I started searching for good recipes. The problem I came across is that a lot of recipes call for marshmallow fluff or sweetened condensed milk, and some even call for Velveeta cheese (seriously?! tell me it’s better than it sounds). I really wanted to avoid those kinds of products, which, luckily I suppose, really narrowed down my search results. In the end the winning recipe contained evaporated milk (something I usually have on hand anyways) and no marshmallow fluff or sweetened condensed milk (something I never have on hand).

Of course, chocolate and peanut butter are a winning combination in my book. But that’s not all that’s great about this fudge! This fudge is also pretty easy to make and the resulting texture is amazing. Smooth and rich without being obnoxiously sweet (which I find some peanut butter fudge to be). The hardest part for me was deciding when to stop beating the fudge after it cooks and sits. I probably could have gone a bit longer, but I wanted to avoid overbeating.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients
2 1/2  cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup evaporated milk (from a can)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by lining with parchment paper (line the bottom and let it over hang the edges, so you can lift the fudge out later) and buttering.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the granulated sugar, cocoa powder, evaporated milk, and corn syrup until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved, add 2 tablespoons of butter and stir to melt. Once the butter has melted, bring the mixture to a boil then put a lid on the saucepan and boil for 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes, remove the lid and, without stirring, continue to cook until the mixture has reached 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Once the mixture has reached 234 degree F, immediately remove from the heat and add the rest of the butter, the peanut butter, and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Walk away and let it stand for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, beat the fudge with an electric hand mixer until it loses it’s gloss. I stopped at 8 minutes and probably could have mixed for 1 more minute, but follow your gut, if it’s lost it’s gloss/sheen, stop!

Immediately pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, to cool down, then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until set. Use the overhanging parchment paper to lift the fudge out of the pan and cut into 1-inch squares. Store in an airtight container in (cool) room temperature.

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

 

Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Chocolate, Christmas, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Week of Christmas Cookies Tagged With: , , ,

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

December 13, 2012 by 3 Comments

Week of Christmas Treats day four and, once again, I’m super excited about this recipe. Funny story, I actually got the recipe from a cookie magazine I bought at Home Depot, of all places. It was a total impulse buy and it wasn’t until I got in the parking lot  and examined the receipt that I realized I had paid $10 for it! Yikes, a little steep for a magazine. Luckily it all turned out well because it was full of yummy recipes.

There is a lot to love about this cookies. First the sweet and spicy cinnamon coating. As the cookie bakes, the sugar coating forms almost a crust. This crust gives the outside just the right crisp, while also sealing in the moist interior. The interior reminds me of a chewy and cakey brownie. If you use the optional cayenne pepper, it doesn’t really affect the flavor, it just adds a warmth. The flavor really reminded me of a Mexican hot chocolate I’ve had in the past. Mmmm….

One last note I need to make. When I wrote out my shopping list for cookie-baking I was sure, SURE, that I had cream of tartar. I could even picture in my mind where it was in the drawer. Fast-forward to cookie-baking time and cream of tartar is no where to be found in my kitchen. Of course I had already started and did not feel like running to the store. So I googled for substitutes and what I found is that there isn’t really one good substitute for it. The best I could find was vinegar, to replace the acidity. So that’s what I used. The cookie texture was perfect and we loved the flavor, so I plan to stick with the vinegar whenever I make these. But I’ll make a note in the recipe that cream of tartar can also be used.

 

Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp white vinegar (OR 1 tsp cream of tartar)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Set aside. In a large bowl, or standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, vinegar (OR cream of tartar), baking soda, salt, and cayenne pepper, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Once well combined and light and fluffy, add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Gradually add the flour and mix just until incorporated. Chill dough for 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Roll rounded tablespoons of dough into balls, then roll the dough ball in the cinnamon sugar. Place 2-inches apart on baking sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are set and the tops are cracked. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: ~30 cookies

Adapted from Better Homes and Garden Special Interest Publication: Christmas Cookies

 

Filed Under: Christmas, Cookies, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Week of Christmas Cookies Tagged With: