Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread

I'd been wanting to make these for a while and finally got a chance to. Very easy although a little time consuming to make, and very delicious with tea or even alone! I made them for the people working on our roof--probably wasn't the ideal thing to serve them, since they probably would have been fine with big simple chocolate chip cookies, but I really wanted to make these!

Espresso Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours
Found on Use Real Butter

1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1 tbsp boiling water
8 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped OR 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

Dissolve espresso powder in boiling water. Set aside to cool to tepid.

Beat butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in vanilla and espresso, then reduce mixer speed to low and add flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate or chips with a sturdy rubber spatula.

Using the spatula, transfer dough to a gallon-size zip-loc bag. Put bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point (I didn’t do that either – I bake one sheet at a time). The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Coconut Cookies

After finals period at my college, we had this thing called "senior week". For a week, seniors just chill out: there are events, some free & some expensive. There are friends with no obligations or work so you can just hang out. It was still pretty stressful, because I felt like there were an overwhelming number of people to see and things to do before it was too late. The first day of senior week was actually the last friday of exams, a couple weeks ago. Our college version of "prom" was that night, and my friends decided that was too expensive (I was going to go, but you have to be 21, and my boyfriend wasn't 21 yet) so they threw their own and invited everyone. Their twist on it was that everybody who came had to bring something to show: a song, a skit, food. Of course I brought food. I made these cookies and they were gone in a second. They were super delicious and super easy, I'll definitely make these again.

Coconut Cookies
Recipe from allrecipes.com

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then mix in the coconut. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly toasted. Cool on wire racks.

Almond Cookies

I made these a couple weeks ago...I can't really remember why anymore, but it was after my final final exam of my undergrad college education. I brought them to my boyfriend--I think he was studying for an exam--and left a couple for my roommates. I think they were pretty good, definitely an almond taste (I think I added a little more than the 1 teaspoon though) and they came together quickly and easily.

Almond Cookies
Recipe From allrecipes.com

1 stick butter
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.

Beat together the butter and 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix into the butter mixture until just incorporated.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and arrange on the prepared baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.

Bake in the preheated oven until firm, about 10 minutes. Cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Spread the 1/4 cup confectioners sugar on a plate; roll the cooled cookies in the confectioners' sugar to coat.

Snickerdoodles

I've made a couple versions of the classic snickerdoodles before, but so far I think these are my favorites! Of course I still think these Chai Snickerdoodles are something you HAVE to make, but they have a different flavor for the regular snickerdoodles. Definitely I'll make these again as my current go-to snickerdoodle recipe!

Snickerdoodles
Recipe from Food.com

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

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.

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

Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.

Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.

Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.

Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture.

Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.

Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.

Remove from pan immediately.

Vanilla-Rich Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yes, I do already have a favorite chocolate chip cookie. But when my mom visited me over about a month ago, she brought me a huge, costco-sized bottle of vanilla extract...so what was I going to do? Find recipes that call for a LOT of vanilla.

And I found this recipe.

So I tried it, despite already having a favorite CCC. My favorite didn't change, but these are definitely a good one to try! They aren't as big but they're very flavorful. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. They were also very easy to make! If you want a new CCC recipe to try, these are easy and tasty to make!

Vanilla-Rich Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe by My Tasty Treasures
Found on Ice Cream Before Dinner

3¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1⅓ cups butter, softened
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1 package (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars in large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons (I used a 1 1/2 Tablespoon cookie scoop) about 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until barely beginning to brown at the edges. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (again!)

Yes, I've made these before. But I made them again. To stress the importance of how good these are.

This time I used a dark brown sugar because that's all I had, and salted macadamia nuts because that was also all I had, and I didn't increase the quality of the white chocolate chips and there were definitely a lot of them. But either way, they were just as good as the ones I made last year, so make these! This year I made them for my friend Sophie's birthday and they are so good!

Nutella Thumbprint Cookies

I didn't get to try any of these either! You can probably tell we had a lot of nutella when I was at home this winter...I made these for, not my mom's this time, but my dad's work. They finished it all so they must have been good! I can't imagine they wouldn't be...basically a chocolate chip thumbprint cookie base with nutella swirled in the middle? Mmm. These were easy to make, too!

Nutella Thumbprint Cookies
Recipe from Eyes Bigger than my Stomach

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large yolk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup plus 2tbsp flour
1/3 cup chopped chocolate
Nutella for filling

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy

Add egg yolk, vanilla, salt and mix

Add flour and beat on low speed

Add chocolate

At this point, you can freeze the dough for up to a month if you want

Form dough into balls

Place on parchment paper or a silpat baking sheet

Make a “thumbprint” depression and fill with Nutella

Place in freezer for 15 minutes

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

While I was still at home, I made these for my mom to take to work. I didn't try any but apparently they were a big hit! The nutella was hard to mix in, though. I think I added more than the recipe called for, and some cookies got more nutella than others. The nutella also made it hard to do the criss-cross fork pattern...but other than that they were pretty easy to make!

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies
Recipe from Delightful Bitefuls
Found on Lovin' in the Oven

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
Approx. 1/4 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Gradually add the flour, baking soda and salt. Drizzle Nutella on top of the dough then swirl it through the dough with a butter knife.

Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes. Roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls and use a fork to gently flatten the balls and create a criss-cross pattern. P

Bake for 7-10 minutes.

Almond Joy Cookies

Some of my friends liked these, but I thought they were a little too dark-chocolate for my taste...I didn't get the flavor of almonds or coconut. I don't think I'll make these again but they were fine if you like dark chocolate. I guess they just didn't do well against the other two chocolate cookies that I made as part of the four batches of cookies I made for my friends before winter break!

Almond Joy Cookies
Recipe from Can you Stay for Dinner?

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set it aside.

In a small bowl, microwave the chopped chocolate and butter for 1 minute at high power. Stir and continue to microwave at 15 second intervals until the mixture has melted. Be careful not to burn your chocolate.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar and vanilla until well blended, about 3 minutes. Stir in melted chocolate mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to mix well. Stir in flour mixture. The dough will be thick. Add chopped almonds and coconut and stir to incorporate.

Cover the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. This will allow it to firm up and rest, for a chewier cookie center.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. Shape the dough into balls roughly 2 tablespoons in size. Roll them between your palms and flatten them slightly with your fingertips. Space two inches apart on the baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, until they’ve puffed and begun to look dry and cracked on top. Remove to cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Long time no post! Sorry--Winter break came around and I got really busy, things happened, and suffice to say I got really distracted from posting on this blog. But I do have a lot of new recipes to post now! I didn't bake too much, but I have 8 recipes to share, and planning on trying a new recipe next week.

Right before I left for Winter Break I made four batches of cookies in one day, separated them onto foiled pieces of cardboard, and delivered them to a lot of college friends. I tried three new recipes (this is one of them) and then Chocolate Crinkle Cookies which I made last year.

Here are the Chocolate Truffle Cookies! I think I liked these best of the four I made (the other two I'll post about later!). The original recipe suggests I cover them in powdered sugar but they were already pretty sweet so I kept them plain. Maybe not the prettiest cookies, but they definitely melt in your mouth and taste like truffles!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies
Recipe adapted by What Megan's Making from Baking Bites

1 1/4 cups butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups chocolate chips
approx. 1/3 cup cocoa powder (for rolling)
approx. 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar (for rolling) (I didn't add this)

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Sift in cocoa powder and salt, and mix well. Beat in sour cream and vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, blend in flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll in the cocoa powder and place on baking sheet. (If the dough is hard to handle, refrigerate the dough for 30-60 minutes before shaping the cookies.) Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are just barely set. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

When cookies have reached room temperature, after about 30-45 minutes, roll in powdered sugar until completely coated (I didn't think it was necessary). Store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Happy Halloween!!
Sorry I've been neglecting this blog! School & lack of ingredients happened...I have this recipe which was super easy to find the ingredients for. It was pretty good, pretty basic, everybody likes chocolate chip cookies and everybody likes bars, so it was good. Plus, I got to use not only the new pan my mom sent me (I now can bake recipes in a 9x13 pan!! instead of using 2 9-inch rounds, heh), but I also got to use the fall-themed sprinkles. I wasn't sure how they'd turn out on the bars, so I only sprinkled them on half (I didn't use the sea salt suggested in the recipe) but obviously could definitely have put sprinkles on the whole batch.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod

2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips
Sea salt, for sprinkling over bars-optional

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted butter and sugars together until combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour cookie dough into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the spatula. Sprinkle cookie bars very lightly with sea salt, if desired. Bake cookie bars for 25-30 minutes or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature. Cut bars into squares and serve.

Whoopie Pies (again!)

I've made whoopie pies before but wanted to try them again. I used the same cake/cookie recipe as last time, but changed up the frosting to be the same cream cheese frosting from the Red Velvet Cupcakes I made this summer. They were great! I loved this combination probably better than the buttercream last year, not that I remember that very much. I definitely want to try making different flavors of whoopie pies in the future, but I was just making them off what little variation of ingredients I have. I'm reposting the recipes below even though they can be found elsewhere on my blog.

Classic Chocolate Whoopie
Recipe from Whoopie Pies
Found on Bakerella

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, sift together, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

In another bowl, beat butter, shortening and sugar with a mixer on low until just combined. Increase speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes.

Add egg and vanilla and beat for two more minutes.

Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk and beat on low until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and milk and beat until combined.

Using a tablespoon, drop batter on baking sheet two inches apart. Bake for about 10 minutes each or until pies spring back when pressed gently.

Remove from oven and cool for about five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

1 Tbsp of batter should make about 48 two-inch cakes or 24 pies.
2 Tbsp of batter should make about 30 four-inch cakes or 15 pies.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from Annie's Eats

8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

Chai Snickerdoodles

I cannot begin to tell you how delicious these cookies are. I like chocolate, but not as much as something different. Snickerdoodles in general are okay. But these are snickerdoodles with a chai twist, and they are SO. SO. Good. And easy. So if you want something different from the regular chocolate or the regular snickerdoodle, try these.

Chai Snickerdoodles
Recipe from My Madison Bistro

1 ¾ cups granulated sugar, divided
½ cup room temperature unsalted butter*
½ cup non-hydrogenated shortening*
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 400*F

Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Cream 1 ½ cups sugar, the butter, and shortening on medium speed. Add eggs, 1 at a time, until mixed.

Reduce speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until just combined, scraping down the bowl with a spatula as needed.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining ¼ cup sugar with the spices

Form dough into 1 ¼ inch balls and roll in sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes; cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before removing to wire rack to thoroughly cool.

*You can use all butter for this recipe, or substitute coconut oil for the non-hydrogenated shortening.

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

I was trying to think of something to do with my friends (I live somewhere where there is never anything to do) and came up with cookie decorating. For this, I use a recipe I've used before (to make pokeball cookies) and baked a variety of shapes, and then one of my friends brought over frosting and we mixed colors and decorated. The best thing about these cookies was how they were decorated--the recipe itself was okay, but personally I prefer my mom's christmas sugar cookies, which are a little crispier. The frosting was store-bought. Below, the 3rd picture (first of the decorated ones) were decorated by me. The last picture (the one below that) are cookies decorated by my friend Kristin.

Sugar Cookie Cutouts
Recipe from Allrecipes

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

My mom tore this recipe out of her Penzey's magazine and said she was going to try to have time to make them. So I made them for her. They were okay straight out of the oven, but I think I like them better after having cooled, maybe best a few days after they are baked.

Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
Recipe from Penzeys Spices

1 Cup butter, softened
3/4 Cup sugar
3/4 Cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
1 1/2 Cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1to 2 tsp CINNAMON (we used CHINA)
3 Cups cooking oats
1 6 oz pkg Craisins
1/2 Cup mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Cream the butter and sugars until well blended.
Add the eggs and PURE VANILLA EXTRACT and blend well.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and CINNAMON. Add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
Add the oats, craisins, and chocolate chips if you opt for them. Stir until mixed well.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are SO. GOOD. So make them. I found the recipe adapted from another recipe and ended up making some changes (had no mini chocolate chips so I made it all normal size, and then added a whole cup. Also, I didn't have unsalted butter so I used salted and then omitted the extra salt...and then accidentally added the whole stick of butter instead of 7 tbsp, but they turned out GREAT). I made them for my friend Rose's graduation (congrats yayy) party, but she didn't even get to eat any! One second they were there, sitting on a plate unopened on the counter. Next time I looked they had all disappeared. I guess they were a hit. Make them! They're so good, and so easy!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Sugar Cooking, who adapted it from Alpineberry

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt, if using unsalted butter
1 stick butter, at room temp
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Mix together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.
Cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in Nutella and vanilla extract. Mix in egg.

Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add chocolate chips.

Chill for 1 hour. (This step can be skipped if you want, but I always chill my cookie dough because I think it makes a huge difference).

Drop tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 for about 11 minutes until the edges look set. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then carefully remove to cooling racks.