October 6: Noodle Cookies

Noodle Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups chow mein noodles
1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup unsalted or lightly salted peanuts
2/3 cup butterscotch chips
4 oz dark chocolate, or about 16 Dove or Hershey's Bliss squares

1. Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil or parchment paper. Make sure it's one that's small enough to fit in the fridge.
2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the noodles, marshmallows, and peanuts. Set aside.
3. In a small, microwave-safe bowl, combine the butterscotch chips and chocolate; heat at 50% power, stirring every 60 seconds, until melted and smooth. With a rubber scraper, scrape the chocolate into the noodle mixture and stir to coat the mixture. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Chill until firm.

Dry ingredients

Chocolate and Butterscotch Chips

Before...

And after...

Thoughts: Anytime there is a no bake cookie, its easy. The most difficult part was properly melting the chocolate. I used roasted peanuts and 1.25 Dove chocolate bars. Patrick thought they were pretty awesome....I thought they were just ok.

September 13: Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Ingredients:

6 1/2 oz good quality dark chocolate, chopped
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
2. Melt the chocolate: Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir well. Repeat, heating at 50% power and stirring at 30-second intervals until smooth. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large, preferably metal, mixing bowl using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks just start to form. Beat in the vanilla. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high, until glossy. With a rubber scraper, fold in the melted chocolate. Using a heaping teaspoon, drop batter 2 1/2 inches apart on one of the prepared baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies appear set. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate hardened to the side of the bowl...an omen to what was to come?

AHH!

Thoughts: Obviously a complete freakin' disaster. I have no idea what happened. My first guess would be that the peaks weren't stiff enough before adding the rest of the ingredients. Maybe the chocolate didn't cool enough, maybe the eggs weren't at room temperature? I don't know but I threw the whole thing out.

September 2: Granola Chocolate Chip Cookies

Granola Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 oz) all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups granola, lightly crushed after measuring
1/2 cup extra-dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
2. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt together in a bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and egg and continue beating for another 30 seconds. Add the flour and stir on the lowest speed of the mixer until the flour is almost fully absorbed, then add the granola and chocolate chips. Stir well.
4. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and arrange about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press down to make rounds about 1/2 inch thick. Bake one sheet at a time for 11-13 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Addition of vanila

Addition of the egg

Addition of the flour mixture

Addition of granola and chocolate chips

Thoughts: Another easy straightforward recipe. I baked them for 11 minutes. The only thing I had trouble with was finding extra dark chocolate chips. I admit I didn't spend too long looking for them so I just used "dark chocolate chips". These cookies got really hard upon cooling. Patrick wasn't crazy about them and they were ok to me, however, I was starving at the time.

April 21: Tex-Mex Chocolate Chipotle Cherry Cookies

Tex-Mex Chocolate Chipotle Cherry Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
2 cups extra dark chocolate chips
2/3 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
2. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, chipotle powder, and nutmeg together in a medium-size bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter, both sugars, honey and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Reduce the mixer speed slightly, and then add the eggs, one at a time. By hand or using the lowest speed of the mixer, slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the batter. Stir in the pecans, chocolate chips, and cherries. Chill the batter for about 15 minutes.
4. Scoop up tablespoonfuls of dough and shape into balls a little over 1 inch in diameter. Arrange about 2 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies appear set. Let cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dry Ingredients

Butter, sugars, vanilla, honey

Adding egg

Mixing in the dry

Adding in the extras

Pop in the fridge for 15

Thoughts: These cookies yielded a lot! In the book it says 32, but I got 67 cookies! In the recipe it says "tablespoonfuls" and I used one tablespoon scoop. So I have 2 large and 1 small container full of these. So far at work, there are mixed reviews so I may have to toss some. I couldn't find "extra-dark" chocolate chips so I just used "dark" chocolate chips. The bag of chips in the picture wasn't enough for the 2 cups required but I had some extra in the pantry. The cookie definitely had a small kick, but it tastes more like a spice cake cookie. Patrick and I both liked it.