Chocolate caramel-filled thumbprint cookies

Caramel-Filled Chocolate Espresso Cookie Cups
(adapted from Baking Bites who adapted it from Demolition Desserts)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp instant espresso powder (I used 3 tsp of Baker's Brew spice from Savory Spice)
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a mini muffin cup with paper liners (or grease well).
In a medium. bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Blend in instant espresso powder, egg and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, gradually blend in the flour mixture. Mix until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake for 10 minutes. Press centers of cookies down and then cool cups in the pan for 10 additional minutes. Remove from pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Soften ~1 cup Nutella and ~1 cup dulce de leche/caramel in the microwave, scoop into a plastic bag, snip off the end and squeeze into cup holes.

Sprinkle with dark chocolate curls if desired

Makes about 3 dozen.

Coconut Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel (and/or Cookie Butter)

This recipe was featured in this month's Martha Stewart Living, and tried out by a few helpful blogs online.

The dough is really crumbly and hard to get into ball form (and impossible to thumbprint until they have cooked halfway), but the cookies turned out well overall.

I think the salted caramel is the way to go (Martha makes her own of course...I used a jar of Dulce de Leche), but I was caught up in the Cookie Butter craze and wanted to use that for these too, so I did half and half.

Both are good...these must get frozen before I am carrying all 54 cookies around on my thighs.


Makes 54 cookies

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs beaten
12 ounces sweetened flaked coconut

44 small soft caramel candies (12 oz.) 
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 jar Dulce de Leche

Flaky Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together butter and sugar with  mixer on medium speed until it is pale and fluffy, then add vanilla. Setting your mixer on low, gradually add flour and 1/2 tsp salt and beat to combine (some other bloggers have suggested adding 1 - 2 eggs to the butter/sugar mix...the dough seemed incredibly dry, but the cookies did turn out). Using plastic wrap, press dough together, and roll into 1 1/4-inch balls (I recommend rolling all of your balls and setting aside before you dip).

Working in fours (I found that worked best), dip each ball into the beaten egg, and then roll in coconut. (Yes, it is messy.)

Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheet and press and indentation of your thumb into each cookie (I couldn't do this til they had baked for 10 min or so). Bake for 10 minutes, then remove sheet from oven and re-press indentations. After that, put the sheet back in the oven and bake for another 9-10 minutes or until golden. Let cool on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

Dump caramel/dulce de leche/cookie butter into a sandwich bag, and microwave for ~10-20 sec if you need to soften it a bit. Cut off a small corner of the bag, and pipe your filling of choice into the indentations of each cookie and sprinkle with sea salt. (Store in airtight containers for up to 2 days.)

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living Feb 2012

The cookie butter filled version...

Coconut Macaroons

From my mom's Christmas cookie collection this year:

2 egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. almond extract
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. shredded coconut

Start slow oven 300 degrees. Cover cookie sheet with waxed paper. Beat egg whites, salt and tartar together until soft peaks form. Beat in almond extract and sugar until peaks are very stiff. Fold in coconut. Drop by teaspoon, 1-inch apart on waxed paper sheets. Bake for 25 minutes (light golden brown). Let cool slightly before removing from paper. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

Big Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made these based on a Baking Bites recipe, and overall, I think they turned out pretty well!
Scott says the verdict is still out on the cornflake crumb addition though, so I'm thinking for next time I would keep all else the same, but substitute food-processed oatmeal instead, to still give the cookies some heft but less corn-grain-y crunch.
Anyway, I thought they turned out pretty well, not going flat or spreading too much. I added about a 1/4 cup extra of AP flour and reduced the baking soda a little for altitude (prob used ~3/4tsp), so if making this at sea level, back off the flour by about a 1/4 cup. You can also use all AP flour, though I mixed mine up a little to play with the cookie texture (and a little added nutrition never hurts!)

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour (1 3/4 if at sea level)
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda (3/4tsp at alt)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups crushed corn flake crumbs/rice krispies/puffed rice cereal (or oatmeal "flour"?)
2 cups chocolate chips (I used the large ghirardelli 60% cocoa ones...SO good)

Preheat oven to 350F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugars and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Stir the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, followed by cereal crumbs and chocolate chips.

Using a 1/4 cup measure as a spoon, drop 1/4 cup scoops of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Leave at least 4 inches between cookies to allow for spread (I put 5 or 6 on a sheet). Cookie dough should be shaped in the 1/4 cup measure, not in a round ball (as this results in the most even baking). Refrigerate dough mounds for about 30min to reduce spreading.

Bake for 13-16 minutes, until cookies are golden at the edge. Remove from oven and let cookies set on cookie sheet for 6-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes 18-20 large cookies...but then again, I ate a lot of dough :-)

Chocolate Chunk Bacon Cookies

Quick recipe I just threw together with some leftovers from other baking projects:

Favorite chocolate chip cookie dough
candied bacon
1 bacon chocolate bar, crushed into chunks
sea salt

Prepare batter as directed, stir in desired amount of bacon chocolate and candied bacon. Sprinkle with small amount of sea salt.
Bake until golden brown on edges.

St. Patty's Day Minty Green Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This is a recipe I threw together based on combinations of others -- feel free to tweak according to your taste for mint!

1 batch favorite chocolate chip cookie dough batter
2 cups dark chocolate chunks
1 tsp sea salt
1 - 2 Tbsp creme de menthe
1/2 - 1 tsp green food coloring

Make chocolate chip cookie dough according to directions
Mix in desired amount of creme de menthe, to taste.
Stir in green food coloring to desired color.
Gently stir in chocolate chunks and sea salt.
Roll into balls and bake til firm on edges; top with a sprinkle more of sea salt if desired.
(~350/9-11min at sea level, add another 2Tbsp or so of flour, 325/10-12min at altitude...timing depends on size of cookie)

Salted Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This recipe is another that comes from Baking Bites -- it is fairly basic in preparation, but the dark chocolate and sea salt combo gives it a little something extra. I also like the addition of the finely ground oatmeal -- give the cookies a good/more substantial consistency without have huge oatmeal pieces in them.

Salted Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1/4 cup oatmeal
1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup salted dark chocolate, chopped or 1 bag dark chocolate chunks + 1/4 tsp coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place oatmeal in the food processor and whiz until very fine.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, ground oats, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla extract and egg until smooth. With the mixer on low speed or working by hand, gradually add in all the flour mixture, stopping when the dough has just come together and no streaks of flour remain. Stir in chocolate chips.Place 1-inch balls of dough on baking sheet.Bake for 9-11 minutes, until just golden around the edges (don't overbake -- looking slightly uncooked in the middle is about right).
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 3 dozen.

Pizzelles v2.0

I made pizzelles again today, using a different recipe this time, adapted from Food Blogga.
These are thicker than those from the first recipe, which were lighter and more airy/crumbly. I tend to like these a bit more, but I think a lot of people prefer the thin and crispy versions. Either way, you can't go too wrong.
I divided the dough in half and tried two flavorings -- vanilla, and 5-spice/anise. My taste for these things obviously aren't too discerning, as I have been enjoying them both way too much.

Ingredients
6 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), melted
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp baking powder
5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1 tsp anise seed

2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Preheat pizzelle iron. Coat with cooking spray and wipe off excess with a paper towel. You do not have to re-apply.
Beat eggs and sugar. Add cooled melted butter, and vanilla extract. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl and add to the egg mixture. Batter will have a dough-like consistency.

Split dough in half, and move one half to another bowl. Add Chinese 5 spice and anise seeds to one bowl, and vanilla bean paste to the other bowl, blending evenly into dough.

With your hands, roll into one-inch round balls and place in the center of the pizzelle iron grids. Close the cover of the iron and bake for about 45 seconds, or until golden brown. Remove from iron and place on a cookie rack to cool.Dust with confectioner's before serving, if desired.Pizzelle will last for a couple of weeks if stored in an air-tight container and kept in a cool area.

Espresso Irish Creme Kiss Cookies

When I found Irish Creme flavored Hershey's Kisses in the holiday candy section, I knew they must be incorporated into the holiday baking line-up. I took the easy way out and grabbed some refrigerated sugar cookie dough, added 1/2 packet of Starbuck's Via using a hand mixer, rolled into balls, baked, and dunked the Hershey's Kiss in the center. After cooling, I drizzled with some chocolate.
They are pretty good, but as Scott noted, these types of cookies suffer from the goodness of the Hershey Kiss never getting distributed throughout the cookie. Also, thanks to high-altitude baking, these cookies got really flat (as most refrigerated sugar cookie dough does anyway), and so the spread was even more accentuated.

Ingredients:
Irish Creme flavored Hershey's Kisses
1/2 packet of Starbuck's Via
1 roll refrigerated cookie dough

Prepare as instructed above.

Brickle

This recipe is a classic first introduced to me by my best friend's mom many, many years ago (Thanks Court and Ms. Jan!)

Regardless of its simplicity it remains an addictive treat that is begged for by many every year at Christmas...

Ingredients

saltine crackers (1.5-2 sleeves)

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

18oz (1.5 packages) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Line jelly roll pan (or large cookie sheet with side walls) with heavy duty aluminum foil.

3. Place layer of of saltine crackers evenly on foil.

4. In small-medium saucepan, melt sugar and butter until bubbly, stirring constantly.

5. Remove from heat and quickly stir in vanilla

6. Quickly pour over crackers, smoothly and evenly.

7. Bake immediate for ~6-7min

8. Remove from oven, pour chocolate chips evenly over butter layer

9. Bake on top rack for another 2 minutes.

10. Spread chocolate over butter and crackers, smoothing with a spatula.

11. Freeze overnight, peel off aluminum foil backing, and break into pieces.

12. Keep frozen or refrigerated.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muddy Buddy Cookies

This was adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe.
It's a little messy, but really good!

Cookies
1 roll Pillsbury refrigerated PB cookie dough

Coating
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar

1. Bake cookies according to directions (i.e., roll into small balls, bake about 7 - 8 min (they'll look underbaked but take them out early!) and let cool completely.
2. In small microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
3. Place 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar in a large shallow bowl or plate; set aside. Place 3 -4 cooled cookies in another large plate or bowl. Pour chocolate mixture over cookies, smooth over/toss cookies gently to coat. Place cookies in bowl/plate with powdered sugar; gently turn and coat cookies. Remove cookies to cooling rack to set. Repeat with other cookies until all cookies are coated, adding additional powdered sugar as needed.

Maple Pizzelles

I finally used my pizzelle maker, and as Scott isn't a big fan of anise, I decided to go with a maple flavor instead. The flavor was good, although the pizzelle consistency will require a little tweaking, as they aren't as thick/crisp as my Uncle's amazing ones!
I see that other recipes call for less flour/baking powder and more butter...maybe that should be tweaked below for next time?

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla paste
2 tsp maple extract

Beat eggs and sugar, mix in butter, vanilla and maple. Mix in flour til just blended.
Make according to pizzelle maker instructions.

Chinese Five Spice Oatmeal Cookies

This weekend I picked up some Chinese Five Spice blend at the local spice shop in downtown Boulder. I wasn't completely sure what I would do with it, but decided to give this recipe a shot, from a blog I just stumbled upon online. I modified it a little bit for altitude, and am pretty happy with how it turned out. The cookies have a great flavor, but aren't overpowering at all, and also aren't overly sweet. They are a nice alternative to some of the other overly gooey and decadent treats that are more common around here during the holidays.

½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
[2 tsp canola oil for altitude correction/anti-drying]
Cream the butter and sugars together well. Add egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Sift together:
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp flour
1 & 1/2tsp Chinese five spice powder
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
½ tsp baking soda [touch less for altitude]

Fold into the creamed mixture.
When the dry ingredients are almost incorporated, add:

1 ½ cups large rolled oats
2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup chopped dried apricots

½ cup chopped pecans, cashews, macadamias, slivered almonds or walnuts (optional -- I omitted)

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart.Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes [7min at 395 for altitude]. Do not over bake or your cookies will lose their chewy texture. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.