Her Modern Kitchen

Eating & Living in Austin, Texas

Cookies

Everyday Peanut Butter Cookies

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These Everyday Peanut Butter Cookies are my Mom’s peanut butter cookie recipe made with creamy peanut butter and the classic criss-cross markings.

Everyday Peanut Butter Cookie plated

It’s National Peanut Butter Cookie Day so I thought I’d pop in for a quickie recipe post and share my Mom’s peanut butter cookie recipe.

This is one of those no-fuss peanut butter cookie recipes. It’s straightforward, delicious, and easy to make but requires you to use classic peanut butter for it to bake up properly.

Everyday Peanut Butter Cookie

It’s really all about the peanut butter.

Now, I’m all about natural PB or crunchy PB or PB with flax, chia, or coconut mixed in.  But this is NOT the recipe to use your $10 jar of natural, organic, super-powered-up peanut butter.

It just won’t taste right.  The texture will be all wrong, the fat ratio will be all sorts of screwed up, and you’ll be unhappy.

So whip out your Jif or Skippy or Peter Pan or heck, even your store-brand peanut butter, and put it to use in these Everyday Peanut Butter Cookies.  Personally, I grew up a Peter Pan & Jif girl but since moving to Texas, I really love the HEB brand peanut butter.  It just does it for me and it’s what I used when making this recipe.

Love peanut butter?  Try my Peanut Butter Lover’s Monster Cookies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats, or Peanut Butter White Chocolate Scone recipe!

Bakery-perfect criss-cross marks.

IMO, an everyday peanut butter cookie has to have the classic criss-cross made with a fork.  The key to making these marks is to use a standard dinner fork, dip it in some flour then push straight down on top of your cookie ball.  Dip the fork again in flour,and turn the fork perpendicular to the marks you just made and again, push straight down.

Everyday Peanut Butter Cookie

Whatever you do, do not drag the fork across the cookie dough.  This will not make the perfect little checkered square I know you’re looking for.

Happy baking! And tip, these everyday peanut butter cookies are best enjoyed warm with a glass of milk.  

Everyday Peanut Butter Cookie Pin

 

Everyday Peanut Butter Cookies
 
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Serves: 3 dozen
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup butter flavored Crisco
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 1/12 cups flour
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats*
  2. Beat the butter and Crisco together in the bowl of a stand mixer for 2-3 minutes.
  3. Once light and fluffy, add in both sugars and beat another 1-2 minutes.
  4. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating with each addition.
  5. Mix in the vanilla extract and peanut butter.
  6. Mix in the salt, baking soda, and flour until fully combined.
  7. Scoop into tablespoon-size balls (or use a medium cookie scoop) and place on a prepared baking sheet.
  8. Use a floured fork to make criss-cross designs on top (see tips in the blog post above).
  9. Bake for 10-minutes.
  10. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
  11. Store in Tupperware for 1 week at room temperature or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
*I bake on the convection setting, adjust the temperature accordingly for your own oven.

 

Everyday Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Everyday Chocolate Chip Cookies are the classic chocolate chip cookies from my childhood.  It’s the recipe my Mom made my entire life and in honor of Mother’s Day, I’m sharing it with you.

To perfect these cookies, be sure to use brand-specific ingredients as listed.

Every Day Chocolate Chip Cookies warm on the table

Some recipes aren’t meant to be changed. In fact, changing them, modifying ingredients, attempting to make them healthy, might actually be WRONG.

Case in fact: my Mom’s chocolate chip cookie recipe and what I consider, my Everyday Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Every Day Chocolate Chip Cookies warm on the table plated

When you want your mother’s chocolate chip cookies, you may be craving chocolate….but you may also be craving comfort.

And during this time of uncertainty, I’m sure we can all use a little comfort. 

Some of us are away from family, worried about the future, concerned about jobs, or stressed because we’re balancing the needs to homeschooling with work, finances, and this new everyday life.

In those cases, we need some comfort.  And these Everyday Chocolate Chip Cookies are just that. Comfort.

Every Day Chocolate Chip Cookie Bite

Food Evokes Memories

My mom’s chocolate chip cookies are my comfort food.  I specifically remember a time in college when I came home one weekend, devastated and upset by an event that happened [something that I look back on now as trivial but at the time viewed as detrimental].

When I arrived home that morning, my mom was in the kitchen baking chocolate chip cookies.  I sat at the kitchen table with a glass of milk, ate warm chocolate chip cookies, and cried while I talked to my mom about what was bothering me. And afterward, I felt better.

Everday chocolate chip cookie dough

Yes, sharing my thoughts with my mom while eating her warm, fresh out of the oven chocolate chip cookies, made me feel better.

It’s often stated that you shouldn’t comfort yourself or hide your feelings with food – but there’s always an exception.  And in those cases — like as today in this pandemic, isolating world, my mom’s chocolate chips cookies are love in the physical form.

Me, Mom & Dad

They are comfort and they make people feel better.  I mean, they aren’t magical but I’m damn sure you’ll feel better after eating them.

Everday chocolate chip cookies cooling

So when I need some comforting and I’m miles away from my mom (which is always or at least has been for the past 10 years) but yearning for her comfort and a hug – her cookies are the closest thing I get to feeling that embrace.

I’ve also learned that in order for them to truly be comforting, they need to be made using the exact same brands of ingredients she uses.  Using an alternate will not deliver the same taste, love, or comfort.  They’ll still be delicious, so go for it, but they won’t be exactly like my mom’s.

 

The Original Recipe

Screen Shot 2014-02-22 at 10.03.45 AM

So, in honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, here’s my mom’s chocolate chip cookie recipe, the Everyday Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with the exact brands you need to make them taste just like my mom’s comforting, loving hug in cookie form.

Tip from mom, for perfectly round and evenly sized cookies, use this scoop, the 1.5 tablespoon which is what’s used for making this recipe.

Enjoy, and Happy Mother’s Day.


Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies
 
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Serves: 4 dozen
Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter flavored Crisco
  • ½ cup Land O'Lakes unsalted butter**
  • 1 cup domino Granulated sugar
  • ½ cup, packed Domino light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract (brown color, not clear!)
  • 2½ cups Gold Medal All-Purpose Flour, sifted
  • 1 tsp Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp salt [table salt, none of that fancy sea stuff]
  • 12 ounces Nestle Semi-Sweet Morsels*
  • 1 cup Nestle Premier White Chocolate Morsels, optional
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (I bake on the convection setting, adjust accordingly for your own oven if you do not)
  2. In a stand mixer, cream together Crisco, butter, sugars, and vanilla until light & fluffy (like really let the combine for 2-3 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl
  3. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
  4. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.
  5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture (in 2 - 3 additions)
  6. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts, if using.
  7. Place 1.5 tablespoon-sized mounds on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat and bake for 10-11 minutes or until lightly golden in color. (It's best to rotate the sheet halfway through baking to ensure cookies are evenly browned.)
  8. Let cookies cool slightly on the tray (1-2 minutes). Then move to a cooling rack to cool completely. These cookies are best eaten warm, minutes out of the oven.
  9. Store leftover cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for a week or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
*My mom actually used 12 ounces Nestle Semi-Sweet Morsels and 1 cup Nestle Semi-Sweet & Premier White Chocolate Morsels but these are often difficult to find. An adequate replacement would be to sub 1 cup of Nestle Premier White Chocolate Morsels.

** If you can't find Land O'Lakes, just be sure to use unsalted butter or if you do use salted butter, adjust the salt to ½ teaspoon instead of 1 full teaspoon.

***My mom would also, sometimes, add in chopped walnuts. If you like nuts in your chocolate chip cookies, add in a ½ cup chopped walnuts when folding in the chocolate chips.

 

Best Ever Bakery-Style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

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Big, delicious, bakery-style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that are soft yet chewy, loaded with plump raisins, warm spices & a touch of molasses. I promise you, someday these will be world-famous.

This post was originally published on November 14, 2016 and updated with new photos in January 3, 2020.

I understand oatmeal cookies may not sound that exciting but I’m gonna to need you to trust me on this one because these truly are the Best Ever Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

Best Eer Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Think big, delicious, bakery-style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

They’re soft yet chewy, loaded with plump raisins, warm spices and a touch of molasses. They’re like a warm hug from your Mom after a bad day at school. They’re like being wrapped in a warm blanket fresh out of the dryer. They’re like sitting in front of a fireplace on a cold winter night.

They are comfort food.

They are Oatmeal Raisin Cookie perfection.

Before diving in to create the Best Ever Oatmeal Raisin Cookie, I did a lot of research. The thing with oatmeal raisin cookies is that they can often lean closer to the muffin-top side of the spectrum rather than the cookie side.

I’ve eaten way too many oatmeal raisin cookies that are too fluffy and too moist.  I knew my oatmeal raisin cookies had to be tender yet chewy. To achieve this, I made sure to load it will rolled oats rather than quick oats. Using rolled oats ensured that even when the oats soaked up some of the wet ingredients, they still maintained a small bite, giving the cookies added texture and chew once baked.

Best Ever Oatmeal Raisin COokies

Hydrate Your Raisins

Oatmeal raisin cookies also tend to have hard little raisins spotted throughout them that have dried out during the baking process. And sometimes, you might only get ONE raisin in an oatmeal raisin cookie which is simply unforgivable.

Scooping cookies

To avoid this, I used one and a half cups of raisins and made sure to plump up my raisins before adding them to the cookie dough. To plump up the raisins, I rehydrated them by letting them soak in a hot water bath while the rest of the ingredients were prepped. This ensured the raisins were plump and chewy and didn’t shrink up into hard little dots while baking.

Molasses & Warm Spices

I also wanted an oatmeal raisin cookie that was rich in flavor while being warm and toasty. I achieved this by adding a greater portion of brown sugar than white, granulated sugar and upping the toasty notes with a tad of molasses.

This also increased the chewiness of the cookie when combined with the rolled oats. Lastly, to bring it on home, rather than simply adding cinnamon to the dough, I used cinnamon along with a hint of nutmeg and clove to round out the warming spices and add depth to the overall flavor.

Best Ever Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Bakery Style Means Extra Large

For maximum cookie enjoyment, I also made sure to weigh out the cookie dough into 2-ounce portions prior to baking. These resulted in cookies that were about palm-size once finished, just like you’d find at a local bakery.

Once baked, these oatmeal raisin cookies turn golden brown from the molasses, the oats become slightly chewy and the raisins stay soft and plump. They’re perfect for dunking!

In my opinion, these are the Best Ever Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. And, although you may think 1 is enough, I won’t judge you for sneaking a 2nd or 3rd, I know I did!

Looking for more bakery-style cookies? Check out my favorite Monster Cookie recipe.

Best Ever Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

5.0 from 4 reviews
Best Ever Bakery-Style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
 
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Big, delicious, bakery-style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that are soft yet chewy, loaded with plump raisins, warm spices & a touch of molasses.
Author:
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon molasses*
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups rolled oats**
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups raisins
  • 2 cups boiling water
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350* and line cookie sheets with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper, set aside
  2. Place the raisins in a small bowl and pour boiling water on top. Immediately cover with plastic wrap to keep in the heat and set aside while you assemble the dough
  3. In a mediums size bowl, mix together flour, oats, spices, baking soda, and salt, set aside
  4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy
  5. Add in the vanilla extract and 1 egg at a time until fully combined with the mixer on medium-low
  6. With the mixer on medium-low, drizzle in the molasses until fully combined.
  7. Scrape down the sides and prepare to add the dry ingredients
  8. Add in the dry ingredients (the oat-flour mixture) in three separate additions, ensuring each is fully combined before adding the next
  9. Strain the raisins to remove the water and using the back of a wooden spoon, lightly press down on the raisins to squeeze out as much of the water as you can***
  10. Add the raisins to the cookie dough and gently combine with the mixer on low or by hand using a wooden spoon.
  11. Using a 2-ounce scoop, place mounds of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, allowing about 2 inches between each dough placement
  12. Using the palm of your hand or the flat bottom of a glass, press down on the cookie dough mounds until they are about half their original size
  13. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes until golden brown
  14. Once baked, let the cookies cool for an additional 1-2 minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
  15. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months
Notes
* Be sure to use dark molasses but not blackstrap molasses. I prefer Grandma's molasses to cook with.

** Ensure the oats are Rolled Oats. These are not the same as Quick Oats and they are not Steel Cut Oats.

*** You don't want to add water to your cookies so removing as much excess water from the raisins prior to adding them to the cookie dough is extremely important

 

Easy Shamrock Sugar Cookies for St. Patrick’s Day

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These Shamrock Sugar Cookies are an easy St. Patrick’s Day made with a no-chill sugar cookie dough and a simple royal frosting.

Shamrock_Sugar_Cookies

Happy Wednesday, y’all! I’m popping in with a quick post this week to share some easy but impressive St. Patrick’s Day cookies.

These Shamrock Sugar Cookies are easy to make, require just three main colors to decorate and are something anyone can do!  It’s just lines & dots — nothing more.  The color combination is what makes them appear so impressive.

I love Sugar Belle’s sugar cookie recipe. It’s my go-to.  The dough does not require refrigeration or resting time, though you can choose to make the dough ahead of time and put it in the fridge for a 2-3 days if you’d like, just let it sit out on the counter for 10-20 minutes before rolling.

My royal frosting recipe is below and is one shared by Mindy’s Bakeshop during a cookie decorating class I took that I modified slightly to fit my needs and decorating style.  It’s easy to make and simple to work with. I also learned from Mindy to use tip-less decorating bags.  These were life changing, saving me lots of clean-up time.  I highly suggest you invest in these bags for decorating purposes.

Here’s what you need for decorating:

  • 1/2 cup dark green frosting
  • 1/2 cup kelly green frosting
  • 1/2 cup white frosting
  • 3 tip-less decorating bags
  • wooden skewer

Shamrock_Sugar_Cookies_2

Below you’ll find step-by-step instructions for creating each of the decorated Shamrock Sugar Cookies pictured above.

White Striped Shamrock Sugar Cookies

  • Outline and flood the shamrock with your white frosting
  • Using the dark green frosting create green stripes running top to bottom on a diagonal
    • I like to think of the shamrock as a clock and I’m striping it running from 1pm to 7pm
  • Using the kelly green frosting, create lines below the original dark green stripes, mirroring the dark green stripes
  • While the stripes are still wet, use the white frosting to run stripes across the dark & kelly green stripes
    • Think of it as running stripes from 11pm to 5pm

Green Striped Shamrock Sugar Cookies

  • Outline and flood the shamrock with your dark green frosting
  • Using the white frosting create white stripes running top to bottom on a diagonal
    • I like to think of the shamrock as a clock and I’m striping it running from 1pm to 7pm
  • Using the kelly green frosting, create lines running across the white stripes on a diagonal
    • Think of it as running stripes from 11pm to 5pm
  • While the stripes are still wet, using the dark green frosting, create lines below the kelly green stripes, mirroring the kelly green stripes

Zig Zag Shamrock Sugar Cookie

Zig-Zag Shamrock Sugar Cookies

  • Outline and flood the shamrock with the dark green frosting
  • Using the kelly green frosting, create stripes running horizontal across the shamrock about 1/8th inch apart
  • Repeat the horizontal striping process with the white stripes in-between the kelly green stripes
  • Using the tip of the wooden skewer and starting on the far left of the shamrock, slowly drag the tip from top to bottom through the white and kelly green stripes
    • When you reach the bottom of the shamrock, move over about a 1/8th of an inch and pull the tip of the skewer up from the bottom to the top through the white and kelly green stripes.
    • Repeat this process dragging the tip rotating between the top & bottom drags

Polkadot Shamrock Sugar Cookies

  • Outline and flood the shamrock with the kelly green frosting
  • Using the dark green frosting, place the tip into the flooded kelly green frosting and lightly squeeze your frosting bag to create a dot
    • Slowly pull the tip of the bag out of the frosting and repeat the process randomly across the shamrock, creating 8-9 different sized dark green dots, leave room for white dots!
  • Using the white frosting, place the tip into the flooded Kelly green frosting and lightly squeeze your frosting bag to create a dot
    • Slowly pull the tip of the bag out of the frosting and repeat the process randomly across the shamrock, creating 8-9 different sized white dots

So test your luck and whip up these simple, impressive St. Patrick’s Day treats.

Shamrock Sugar Cookies Pin

Royal Frosting Recipe
 
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Serves: 1.5 cups
Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons wilton meringue powder
  • 4 tablespoons warm water
  • 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 4 additional tablespoons water at room temperature, separated
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the meringue powder and 4 tablespoons warm water. Place the mixture into a stand mixer and mix on medium-high until foamy.
  2. Once foamy, add in the confectioner’s sugar and corn syrup and be a ton medium-high for an additional 5 minutes until stiff peaks form.
  3. To make the frosting a consistency suitable for outlining and flooding, whisk in an additional tablespoon of room temperature water one by one until the frosting is the consistency similar to a hair gel.
  4. You’ll know it’s correct because when you drop a spoonful of frosting from about 6 inches it will disappear back into the frosting within 10-12 seconds.
  5. Split the frosting into 3 bowls. Color one dark green, one kelly green, and leave the other white.

 

St. Patrick’s Day Mint M&M & Oreo Cookie Crumb Cookies

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Mint M&M’s and Oreo cookie crumbs come together to making a delicious St. Patrick’s Day treat.

Mint M&M and Oreo Cookie Crumb Cookies

I don’t want to say these cookies are ‘kitchen sink’ cookies but the ingredient combination was a result of what I had hand  — which included an unopened bag of mint M&M’s from Christmas, Oreo cookies that <3M never finished, and a remaining bag of white chocolate chips that I had no use for.

Fortunately, the flavor combination of mint, chocolate cookie crumb, and white chocolate paired together deliciously and resulted in a cookie recipe that was too good not to share!

Mint M&M and Oreo Cookie Crumb Cookies Bite

And, since we were nearing St. Patrick’s Day, I chose to make these cookies St. Patty’s day themed by picking out all the red mint M&M’s from the holiday mix (you on the other hand, can just go buy a bag of the dark & light green mint M&M’s to make these on your own).

If you’re a fan of chocolate chip cookies or adore the Andes mint cookies often made around the holiday season, then you’ll enjoy my mint M&M’s and Oreo cookie crumb cookies.  The recipe base is similar to a standard chocolate chip cookie but the flavoring is a crunchy light mint flavor, mellowed by the bits of white chocolate chips.

Mint M&M and Oreo Cookie Crumb Cookies before baking

Cookies flattened slightly prior to baking.

Mint M&M and Oreo Cookie Crumb Cookies cooling

Before baking the cookies, you need chill the dough for a quick 15-20 minutes then after forming the dough into ball you flatten the cookies to about half their original height. If you choose not to chill the dough before baking (or between batches), I found that the dough spreads a bit too much in the oven resulting in a very thin cookie. Once baked, the cookies should be slightly crisp which makes the Mint M&M’s and Oreo cookies perfect for dunking!

Mint M&M Oreo Cookie with Milk

So, whether you’re looking to clean out your pantry as I did, or looking for an easy St. Patrick’s Day treat, these cookies are sure to please with their mint M&M’s and Oreo cookie crumb flavors.

Mint M&M and Oreo Cookie Crumb Cookies Pin

St. Patrick's Day Mint & Oreo Cookie Crumb Cookies
 
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Serves: 50
Ingredients
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup min M&M's
  • 1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs*
  • ½ cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of stand mixer, beat the shortening and sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy.
  3. With the mixer on medium, add in the eggs, 1 egg at a time, and mix to combine.
  4. Add in the vanilla extract and combine.
  5. Add in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low to combine, scraping down the sides as needed.
  6. Add in the mint M&M's and white chocolate chips and mix on low.
  7. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and using a spatula, gently fold in the cookie crumbs so they don't break. Place the dough in the fridge to chill for 15-20 minutes**
  8. Using a 1.5 T scoop, place cookie dough balls on to the prepared sheet placing each 2 inches apart. Flatten the cookies to about half their original height. Bake for 8-9 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the bake time. While the cookies bake, place the remaining dough in the fridge to chill.**
  9. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the pan 2-3 minute before transferring to a baking rack to cool completely.
  10. Store cookies at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
*Make the Oreo cookie crumbs by pulsing 1.5 rows of Oreo cookies in the food processor for 8-12 seconds. The crumbs should be more on the chunkier side than the sandy side.
**If you do not chill the cookie dough before baking or between batches, the dough spreads too much in the oven, resulting in very thin and crispy cookies.

 

My Milk Bar Blunder: Chocolate-Chocolate Cookies

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When you rush through a recipe, you might just end up making it wrong. Or in my case, make a completely different recipe all together which is how I unintentionally baked Milk Bar’s Chocolate-Chocolate cookies.

I had every intent on making the Milk Bar Compost Cookies as my final Milk Bar recipe but I accidentally made these Chocolate-Chocolate cookies instead, which means, I’ll still have one final Milk Bar recipe to share at a later date.

But for now, let this be a lesson in reading the recipe.

As I was saying, I fully intended on making Compost Cookies a few Sundays ago. I skimmed the recipe ingredients, made my grocery list and headed off to buy everything I needed to make these cookies — butterscotch chips, pretzels, potato chips.  And upon returning home I got to work making my compost cookies.

Milk Bar Chocolate Chocolate Cookies Cooling Bite

Except, as I skimmed through the recipe one more time, I noticed a call out for graham cracker crumbs. I hurriedly read a little further into the recipe and realized that in order to make the Compost Cookies, I first had to make the Milk Bar Graham Cracker crumbs.

And on top of that, I didn’t have any graham crackers for the Milk Bar Graham Cracker crumb recipe so I hauled myself out to the grocery store one more time to grab a box of graham crackers.

I came home, hurriedly swiped to the graham cracker crumb recipe (swiped because I was using the ) and knocked out the required graham cracker crumbs.  I quickly swapped back to the Compost Cookie recipe and began mixing.

Crack Pie Side Slice View

Other Milk Bar Adventures: Crack Pie

Milk Bar Birthday Cake Holding

Other Milk Bar Adventures: Birthday Cake

In went the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, melted chocolate….

And it’s here where I should have paused..

As I added the melted chocolate something in the back of my mind though ‘Wait, there wasn’t any melted chocolate in the Compost Cookies’ but I brushed it away and continued onward.

I added in the flour, the salt, and baking powder and then read ‘add the chocolate cookies crumbs’

Again, everything came to a halt and I thought ‘Chocolate cookie crumbs? What? I made GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS? What the heck are chocolate cookies crumbs?’

And that’s when I swiped to the beginning of my recipe and saw that in my hurry to make the Compost Cookies after baking the graham cracker crumbs, I accidentally opened the wrong cookie recipe.

I was about 90% of the way through making Milk Bar’s Chocolate-Chocolate cookies so I hit pause. Knocked out MORE cookie crumbs, this time chocolate, and finished the batch of cookies.

Milk Bar Chocolate Chocolate Cookies Cooling

Milk Bar Chocolate Chocolate Cookies Cooling 2

So what was the end result?  A salty, chocolate cookie that I was gloriously unimpressed with.

To be honest, Christina Tosi does note that these cookies are salt-forward but for me, they were too heavily salted resulting in an unenjoyable cookie.  However, I do have leftover chocolate cookie crumbs that are delicious a top vanilla ice cream — one of the perks from my Milk Bar blunder!

The other perk — at least the graham cracker crumbs can be frozen and are now ready-to go the next time I’m inspired to make Milk Bar’s Compost Cookies.

Have you ever had as similar experience where you missed ingredients or made the wrong recipe? I’d love to hear about it just so my own ego doesn’t feel quite as bruised.

The Peanut Butter Lover’s Monster Cookie

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The Peanut Butter Lover’s Monster Cookie is packed full of peanut butter flavor! Using both creamy and crunchy peanut butter plus peanut butter chips, these cookies are made for the PB fanatic.

Peanut_Buter_Lovers_Monster_Cookies_Overhead

I’ve had this Monster Cookies recipe in hiding for a quite a while now but wasn’t inspired to post it until I had a request from someone to make them the Pioneer Woman’s Monster Cookie recipe.

I had high expectations for the Pioneer Woman’s recipe but after one bite, I knew my own recipe was definitely tastier.

So, I offered a challenge to the original requester of the Pioneer Woman’s recipe — I’ll send you the cookies you requested but I’m also going to send MY version of Monster Cookies — the Peanut Butter Lover’s Monster Cookie and she could tell me who’s recipe was better.

peanut butter lover's monster cookie cooling 2

You wanna know who won?

Well….I’m not going to tell you but let’s just say, I was inspired to post my Peanut Butter Lover’s Monster Cookie recipe after the votes were tallied!

So, if you love peanut butter and if you love Monster Cookies, these Peanut Butter Lover’s Monster Cookies were made for you! Oh, and they’re gluten-free, too — made with 100% rolled oats! That’s just an added bonus!

My Peanut Butter Lover’s Monster Cookies are packed with peanutty flavor starting with two kinds of peanut butter — both creamy and crunchy. Then to max out the peanut butter flavor, I added peanut butter chips.

Next up, I mixed in mini M&Ms for that traditional Monster Cookie speck of color and semi-sweet chocolate chips because PB & chocolate are besties.

peanut butter lover's monster cookie cooling

Lastly, for a lit chew, I’ve added soft, sweet raisins — which are totally optional if you’re a raisin hater.

After you make the batter, roll the dough into HUGE balls, flatten them slightly on the cookie sheet and let them bake for 12-14 minutes. Afterwards, your house will smell like the most scrumptious peanut butter-filled palace. Enjoy!

If you’re up for the challenge I’d love to have you weigh in on the Pioneer Woman’s version and my PB Lover’s Monster Cookie recipe and let me know who’s you like better and why!

Happy Weekending, Friends!

peanut butter lover's monster cookie

Peanut Butter Monster Cookie Pin

5.0 from 4 reviews
Peanut Butter Lover's Monster Cookie
 
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Jumbo peanut butter filled Monster Cookies
Author:
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup butter flavored shortening, like Crisco
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
  • ¾ cup crunchy peanut butter
  • 4 cups rolled oats**
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup peanut butter chips
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cups raisins
  • 1 cup mini M&Ms
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350* and line cookie sheets with a parchment paper and set aside
  2. In a mediums size bowl, mix together oats, baking soda, and salt, set aside
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugars until light and fluffy
  4. Add the vanilla extract and 1 egg at a time until fully combined with the mixer on medium-low followed by both the creamy and crunchy peanut butter
  5. Scrape down the sides and prepare to add the dry ingredients
  6. Add the dry ingredients (the oat-mixture) in three separate additions, ensuring each is fully combined before adding the next
  7. Add the peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and raisins
  8. Gently fold in the mini M&Ms (or combine them with the mixer on low) so as not to break the M&M shells
  9. Using a 2-ounce scoop, place mounds of cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, allowing about 2 inches between each dough placement
  10. Using the palm of your hand or the flat bottom of a glass, press down on the cookie dough mounds until they are about half their original size
  11. Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes until golden brown
  12. Once baked, let the cookies cool for an additional 3-5 minutes on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
  13. Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months
Notes
**Ensure the oats are Rolled Oats. These are not the same as Quick Oats and they are not Steel Cut Oats.

 

Holiday String Light Cookies: Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars

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Chocolate sugar cookies serve as a base for these Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars with a thick layer of fluffy, sweet peppermint buttercream and a simple yet adorable holiday string light decoration with mini M&M’s

Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars

It’s the holidays and as much as we all want to do #allthethings sometimes it’s just.not.possible. So when it comes to cookies, bar cookies are an easy way to create a homemade treat with minimal effort.  My Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars are easy to whip up and I’ve given you the cutest yet simplest way to decorate them so you can maximize your holiday fun and minimize your holiday fuss

Here are a few tips to ensure these treats go as smoothly, and as quickly as possible.

The cookies are a chocolate sugar cookie base so they’re lighter than a brownie but slightly crumbly.

  • Tip: When you put the dough into the pan, use your hands and a small rolling pin to gently push the cookie dough into the corners as it won’t spread easily.

Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars

While the Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars bake, whip up the peppermint frosting! It’s my standard vanilla frosting base with just a touch of peppermint extract.  Peppermint extract is dangerous. Even a drop too much can turn your treat from delicious to medicinal.

  • Tip: Measure the peppermint extract away from the frosting bowl and add it to the frost 1 drop at a time, tasting as you go to get your desired flavor.

Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars

Frost your Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars then cut them into squares. Sadly, cutting perfect squares are difficult in a 9×13 inch pan.  To achieve 2-inch by 2-inch squares, once baked, I cut a 1/2 inch of cookie off of each side of the pan before cutting it all into squares. It reduces the size of the pan to 8×12 inches which makes it easy to cut.

  • Tip: Use a ruler and mark every 2-inches (both across and length-wise) before making your hard cuts into the bars. As for the scraps, those are baker scraps that you can nibble on while you work!

When it comes time to decorate the Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars, don’t worry too much about making perfectly strung lights out of the M&Ms!

  • Tip: The less precise you are, the better the string lights will look — just like in real life, sometimes the lights hang a little low or a little high!

Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars

Enjoy these easy, quick treats and have a great holiday with your loved ones!

5.0 from 2 reviews
String Light Holiday Cookies: Peppermint Chocolate Cookie Bars
 
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Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup greek yogurt
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup dutch cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups vanilla frosting, recipe below
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tube black Wilton Decorator's frosting**
  • ½ cup mini M&Ms
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375*F
  2. Line a 9x13 inch pan with a sheet of parchment paper
  3. In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter on medium until creamy, 1-2 minutes
  5. Add in both the sugars and mix another minute on medium
  6. Add the egg, vanilla, and yogurt, beating until combined
  7. Add in the flour-cocoa mixture in 2 additions until all the dry ingredients are fully combined*
  8. Turn the dough out into the prepared pan and using your hands or a small rolling pin, evenly spread the dough into all corners of the pan
  9. Place in oven and bake for 13-14 minutes
  10. Allow the cookies to cool completely before frosting.
  11. To make the frosting combine 2 cups vanilla frosting with ¼ teaspoon of peppermint extract, adding more as desired
  12. Frost the cookies using an offset spatula and cut into bars, remove cookies from pan & decorate
  13. To decorate, use the black frosting and a Wilton 2 tip to draw lines on to the cut bar cookies
  14. Adorn the cookies with mini M&Ms set on their side to look like holiday string lights
Notes
* You may need to use our hands to fully incorporate the dry mixtures as the electric mixer often leaves flour at the bottom of the bowl
** Alternately, you can color a ½ cup of the remaining vanilla frosting black and place it in a decorator's bag with a Wilton 2 tip rather than purchasing pre-made black frosting

5.0 from 2 reviews
Standard Vanilla Frosting
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • ½ cup, 1 stick unsalted butter softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup vegetable shortening
  • 2 pounds confectioner’s sugar
  • 2 tablespoons meringue powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extra
  • 4-6 tablespoons half & half
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and shortening.
  2. Add in 4 tablespoons half & half and the vanilla extract. Combine well.
  3. Add the meringue powder, salt and 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar and combine.
  4. Continue adding the confectioner’s sugar, 1 cup at a time until it’s all combined into the frosting.
  5. Add the additional tablespoons of half & half to achieve the desired thickness.

 

 

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

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Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches pair the classic flavors of vanilla sugar cookies with craveable cake batter ice cream and a mountain of sprinkles to create the perfect summertime treat.

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

There’s seriously something about sprinkles and birthday cake flavored treats that make me so ridiculously happy. Like a little kid who just got a bike happy. Like a 5 year old ON her birthday eating cake and ice cream, happy. And these Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches are just that. They are the definition of ‘You can have your cake cookie & eat it too!’

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches in hand

I’ve taken the classic sugar cookie, loaded it with TWO kinds of sprinkles, a heavy pour of vanilla and stuffed them with cake batter ice cream which is loaded with even MORE sprinkles.

Funfetti Cookies

It’s sprinkles, on sprinkles, on sprinkles! And what better time to enjoy a colorful, ice cream cookie sandwich than in the midst of a summer heatwave!

In addition to sprinkles, my Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches also feature Halo Top Birthday Cake ice cream which has an abundance of sprinkles itself!

If you haven’t guessed by now, I really love cake batter flavored desserts that come loaded with sprinkles (as evident with my Cake Batter Cheesecake and No-Bake Cake Batter Cake Balls) which made Halo Top’s Birthday Cake ice cream an easy choice for this dessert.

Around the web & blogosphere, Halo Top has been promoted as a healthy ice cream and although it does have less sugar & fat and more protein that the Ben & Jerry’s sitting next to it in the freezer aisle, let’s be real here — ice cream is not a health food.

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches Stacked

Is it part of a healthy diet? YES! Eating ice cream is good for your mental health, it’s a food that probably brings you joy and if you like ice cream, you should eat it! If you’re looking for an ice cream that ‘isn’t as bad as all the others’ than Halo Top is your jam.

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches melting

And in my opinion, Halo Top is pretty darn delicious when compared to other lighter ice creams on the market. I’ve tried a few flavors of Halo Top but the Cake Batter flavor is definitely my favorite and it inspired my Funfetti Cake Bater Ice Cream Sandwiches!  The Cake Batter flavor pairs perfectly with the chewy, vanilla, sprinkle-filled sugar cookies and together with the buttery, melty ice cream, creates a (birthday) party in your mouth! 

If you’re really into sprinkles, feel free to roll the Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Sandwiches into sprinkles before serving! Because let’s be honest, there’s no such think as too many sprinkles. 

Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches Pin

 

5.0 from 4 reviews
Funfetti Cake Batter Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup colorful sprinkles
  • 2 tablespoons rainbow nonpareils
  • 2 pints Halo Top Birthday Cake ice cream
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350*F
  2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats and set aside.

  4. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the softened butter until creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
  6. Add in the granulated sugar and beat again until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
  7. Add in all of the vanilla and 1 egg at a time, thoroughly mixing before adding the next egg.
  8. In three separate additions, add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar, and eggs thoroughly combining the flour before the next addition.
  9. Remove the mixing bowl from electric mixer. Lightly grease your hands with a touch of vegetable oil or softened butter and mix in both the sprinkles and nonpareils by hand.
  10. You may need to knead the dough lightly in the bowl to fully distribute the sprinkles throughout the dough and combine any remaining bits of flour at the bottom of the bowl.
  11. Once the sprinkles are fully combined, scoop out mounded tablespoons of dough and place them on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Lightly pat each dough ball down into a half-inch disk. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden and the center is just set.
  12. Remove from oven and let cool 2-3 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  13. To assemble the ice cream sandwiches, place 2-3 tablespoons of ice cream on one cooled Fufetti Cookie and top with the second, pressing down lightly to secure.
  14. If you’re feeling frisky, roll the ice cream part of the sandwich in additional sprinkles for decorations. Serve immediately.
Notes
Cookies themselves will keep 5-7 days at room temperature in a tightly closed container or frozen for 2-3 months.

 

 

 

My Perfect Cookie: Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies

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Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies are cookie perfection — slightly crisp yet chewy, loaded with two types of chocolate and a pinch sea salt.

If I could make a list of my most prized (dessert) recipes, it would be a toss-up between these Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies and my Bakery-Style Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Does the world really need another chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Yes, yes it does because it doesn’t have THIS one. This one, I promise you, will be your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

This chocolate chip cookie recipe is slightly crisp on the outside, chewy in the middle, loaded with two types of chocolate and a pinch of sea salt.

It’s chocolate chip cookie perfection.

Growing up, my Mom had a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. And, as much as I love Mom’s cookie recipe, it wasn’t my to die for chocolate chip cookie recipe. I mean, it’s realllyyyy good, it’s nostalgic, and if my Mom sends me some, I’m definitely eating at least 3 or 4 of them because I miss my Mom and eating her food helps me feel closer to her.

But if I’m craving a chocolate chip cookie and willing to make my own, I’m totally making my recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies. Not only because it’s delicious but because it’s the easiest recipe!

The secret to this recipe is in the eggs & sugar. Rather than using two whole eggs, my recipe uses 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg. The addition of the egg yolks makes the cookies richer and chewier in the middle when baked.

When it comes to the sugar, I use a mix of granulated sugar, powdered sugar and a heavy measure of brown sugar. Much like in my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, using a greater amount of brown sugar (which contains molasses) helps the cookies outer edges become crispy as the sugar caramelizes. These crispy outer edges make my Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies perfect for dunking (because you’re never too old to dunk!) without the cookie falling to pieces in your glass of milk.

The use of powdered sugar in a cookie recipe may sound a bit odd but this smidge of powdered sugar allows for a more tender cookie center. In powdered sugar, the sugar crystals are smaller and finer than granulated sugar. These smaller crystals more easily bind with the protein from the egg yolks and gluten in the flour (hello, baking is chemistry!) creating a softer, chewier cookie. So please, don’t skip the powdered sugar!

It may seem like any old chocolate will do for a chocolate chip cookie recipe but for this recipe, I wanted a mix of flavors and chose both semisweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate chunks. I love the big bites of dark chocolate throughout the cookie with the slightly sweeter, smoother semisweet chocolate chips. And of course, sweet & salty are like the PB&J of cookies so I sprinkled a heavy pinch of course sea salt on top of the cookies before they baked so when you bite into the cookie you get hints of sea salt.

The mix of chocolates, crispy edges, soft chewy centers and touch of sea salt seriously make my Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies love at first bite!

Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies Pin
5.0 from 1 reviews
Double Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies
 
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Serves: 30
Ingredients
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ¾ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 5 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 5 ounces dark chocolate chips
  • course sea salt (about 1 tablespoon)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375*F
  2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats and set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter until smooth.
  4. Add in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and powdered sugar. Cream until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
  5. One at a time, with the mixer on low, beat in the egg yolks followed by the whole egg. Scraping down the sides between each addition. Add in the vanilla and mix until combined.
  6. In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  7. Turn your mixer on low and in 3 separate additions, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar, and eggs, scraping down the side of the bowl between each addition.
  8. Add in the chocolate and mix on low until just combined.
  9. Using a tablespoon sized scoop, scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each mound.
  10. Sprinkle a pinch of coarse sea salt onto the top of each mound, lightly tapping the sea salt into place.
  11. Bake at 375*F for 11-12 minutes, rotating the pan half walk through if you are not using a convection oven.
  12. Once lightly golden around the edges, remove the cookies from the oven and let them rest for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
  13. Store in a cool, dry place for up to a week or freeze for 2-3 months.