A real cookie-baking snob wouldn’t even look at a recipe like this, let alone make them and like them. This is as easy as cookie baking gets and they are really fun. I don’t like cake mixes. I don’t like white chips. Yet I really like these. Give them a try!

Recipe By: San Jose Mercury News

Serving Size: 24

 Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix with pudding

2 large eggs

½ cup canola oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)

1 cup coconut

1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all ingredients together.

3. Bake for 12-13 minutes.

 Notes:

Watch out because the chips tend to separate out and go to the bottom. I actually have to dump the dough out of the KitchenAid then mix it up and scoop it from the counter to keep the chips evenly distributed in the dough.

They are tender and people frequently comment on them being like brownies.

These are really buttery and sweet with a fabulous flavor that reminds me of my Dad’s panoche or See’s Bourdeaux. I got this recipe from Sandy, my son’s mother-in-law. She found it at americastestkitchen.com

Ingredients:

20 tablespoons butter

8 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

4 cups flour, 21 ounces

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Heat 20 tablespoons butter in light colored skillet, swirling constantly, until dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma. Stir in remaining 8 tablespoons butter. Set aside to cool.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Mix together sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Set aside.

4. Mix together flour, soda, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

5. Mix together 3 1/2 cups brown sugar and cooled butter just until combined.

6. Stir in eggs, egg yolks and vanilla, just until combined.

7. Stir in flour mixture, just until combined.

8. Form into balls about 2 tablespoons in size. Roll dough balls in sugar/brown sugar mixture.

9. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until edges are just browned and set but centers are still soft.

Notes:

1. I have browned the butter in a skillet, as they recommend, and in a sauce pan and the skillet it better.

2. I never looked for “dark brown sugar” but just used the brown sugar from Costco.

3. Consider dipping them in the same chocolate/shortening mixture used in the Cocoa Puffs recipe.

This recipe came originally from Bev, a clerk in our department for many years. The glaze is a bit of a pain and covers up the interesting texture but the tangy zing really makes these cookies.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

½ cup shortening

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon extract

zest from one lemon

4 cups flour, 18 ounces

1 ½ teaspoons soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

9 ounces lemon drops, cracked*

juice of 3 large lemons, about ¾ cup

3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. Beat butter and shortening until fluffy.

4. Beat in sugar until fluffy.

5. Beat in eggs, vanilla, lemon extract and zest.

6. Slowly add flour mixture. Stir until combined.

7. Stir in lemon drops.

8. Form into balls on prepared baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes until edges just starting to brown.

9. Cool completely.

10. Prepare glaze: Combine lemon juice and powdered sugar. You may need to adjust the amount of juice or sugar depending on how big the lemons are.

11. Dip tops of cookies in glaze and let them dry on wire racks.

 Note:

To crack candy I put the lemon drops in a quart-sized Ziploc bag. I place the bag on a hard surface and hit each candy with a single hit, just hard enough for it to crack. This allows for relatively large pieces.

I am always looking out for a new cookie recipe to try. One thing that will catch my attention is a weird ingredient. That is what caught my attention in this recipe.

Adapted from: Raley’s/Nob Hill Magazine

Serving Size: 24

 Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg

1  1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

2 cups Cocoa Puffs Cereal

2 cups chocolate chips

2 teaspoons shortening

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. With a mixer on high, whip peanut butter and butter. Stir in sugar. Stir in vanilla and egg. Mix until creamy.

4. Combine flour and baking soda. Stir into sugar mixture.

5. Stir in cereal just until combined.

6. Shape into balls and place on prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.

8. Remove to racks to cool completely.

9. Place chocolate chips and shortening in double boiler over boiling water.

10. Stir while heating until melted and smooth.

11. Remove from heat and continue to stir while it cools some more.

12. Dip half of cooled cookie in chocolate, scrape the excess off the bottom and place on wax paper to dry.

 Notes:

Original recipe called for microwaving the chocolate and shortening which does work. I just like the control of the double boiler better.

I have made these buy just throwing in the unmelted chocolate chips with the cereal and omitting the shortening. They were good but the were much richer and more impressive to look at and eat when dipped in the melted chocolate.

People in ED went crazy over them though no one could guess they had Cocoa Puffs in them. I tripled the batch for ED.

I don’t remember where I got this recipe but it is one of our favorites. The chocolate is rich but not too dark. They are nice and sweet but the tartness of the cherries contrasts the sweetness very nicely. They have a great texture. I buy several bags of the dried cherries at Costco when they have them. They don’t spread out too much and are firm enough to survive the trip to the emergency department.

Serving Size: 60 cookies

 Ingredients:

3 cups flour, 13 1/2 ounces

1 cup cocoa, 2 3/4 ounces

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon vanilla

3 large eggs

2 cups dried cherries, 14 ounces

2 cups chocolate chips, 14 ounces

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. (I like to do this with my fingers. It just feels good.)

3. Place sugar and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended.

4. Add vanilla and eggs. Beat well.

5. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until combined.

6. Stir in cherries and chocolate chips until just combined.

7. Place scoops of cookie dough 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.

8. Bake for 12 minutes or just until set. Remove from oven. Cool on pans until set.

I love caramel. I have been trying for years to make good cookies containing or tasting like caramel. I have tried caramelizing the sugar, which was a huge pain and changed the flavor but didn’t give that wonderful chew that caramel candy has. I bought caramel-flavored syrup, which was horrible. I added caramel ice cream sauce in place of maple syrup, which tasted good but I was not pleased with the texture. The best I have ever been able to do is buy a Peter’s caramel log from Cash and Carry, cut off pieces and plop one on top of each cookie a couple of minutes before they come out of the oven. This was especially fabulous with the coconut version of Tad’s Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

This recipe is fun because the marshmallows melt and caramelize while they bake.

Recipe adapted from: Raley’s/Nob Hill Magazine

Yield: 48

 Ingredients:

20 ounce chocolate chips, divided

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 large eggs

3 cups flour, 13.5 ounces

2 tablespoon coffee grounds or espresso powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups miniature marshmallows

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt butter and 10 ounces of chocolate chips in microwave until melted but not hot. Stir to combine. Set aside.

3. Stir together sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.

4. Stir in chocolate mixture.

5. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and coffee.

6. Combine butter mixture and flour mixture.

7. Stir in remaining chocolate chips and marshmallows.

8. Scoop onto prepared baking sheets.

9. Bake 10 to 12 minutes.

Note:

The original recipe called for refrigerating the dough. When I did this, it came out hard as a rock. If you are going to refrigerate them, you need to scoop them first.

I don’t really like butterscotch chips or pecans but they are fabulous in these wonderful cookies!

Source:

This recipe was forwarded to me by my daughter, McKenzie. It was originally from King Arthur Flour Company

Yield:

4 dozen 3″ cookies

 Ingredients:

1  1/3 cups pecan halves

2/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon espresso powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon butterscotch, vanilla-butternut, or butter-rum flavor

1 teaspoon vinegar, cider or white

1 large egg

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 9 ounces

1  1/3 cups butterscotch chips, 11 ounces

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1) Heat the oven to 375°. Prepare two baking sheets.

2) Place the pecans in a single layer in a pan and toast until darkened a bit and smelling toasty, about 8 to 9 minutes. Set aside.

3) In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, 2/3 cup sugar, butter, shortening, salt, espresso powder, baking soda, vanilla, second flavor and vinegar. Beat until smooth and creamy.

4) Beat in the egg, again beating until smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything is thoroughly combined.

5) Mix in the flour then the chips and nuts.

6) If you’re going to refrigerate the dough, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 4 to 5 hours or overnight. Cookie dough refrigerated for 3 1/2 to 4 hours will spread moderately; chilled overnight, it will spread much less.

7) Mix the second 2/3 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons salt for the coating in a bowl. Scoop 1 1/2″ balls of dough into the sugar/salt mixture, rolling to coat. Transfer to the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2″ between them on all sides.

8 ) Bake the cookies for 10 to 11 minutes. Their edges will be chestnut brown and their tops a lighter golden brown. (For dough that’s been refrigerated, add 30 seconds to 1 minute to those baking times.) Remove them from the oven and cool on the pan until they’ve set enough to move without breaking.

 Notes:

I used regular, all purpose flour. I used raw sugar for the coating, which made them a bit crunchier. I didn’t refrigerate the dough and they came out great though the balls were a bit dicey to handle while dipping and placing on the baking sheets.

I bought the vanilla-butternut flavoring on line from, who else but King Arthur Flour Company

Recipe from: San Jose Mercury News

Serving Size: 60

Ingredients:

3  1/2 cups flour, 15.75 oz

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup butter

2 cups brown sugar

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup real maple syrup

4 teaspoons vanilla

3  1/2 cup oats, 10.5 oz

3 cup dried cranberries, 14 oz

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and set aside.

3. Whip butter and sugars.

4. Stir in eggs, syrup and vanilla.

5. Blend in flour mixture until just combined.

6. Stir in oats.

7. Stir in cranberries.

8. Bake 13 minutes or until the edges and bottoms are just turning light brown.

Notes:

Caramel Sauce Option: Substitute caramel sauce for the maple syrup. Substitute chocolate chips for the cranberries. They taste great but the wonderful texture suffers a bit.

White Chip Option: Decrease the oats to 3 cups, add 1 1/3 cup white chips and decrease cranberries to 2 cups.

Pumpkin Option: Try pumpkin puree in place of maple syrup and increase sugar. (I have not yet done this but doesn’t it sound good?)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream shortening, butter and sugars until fluffy.

3. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

4. In separate bowl, sift together flour, soda and cinnamon.

5. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture.

6. Stir in chocolate chips and oats.

7. Form into balls on cookie sheets.

8. Bake 13 minutes or until just turning brown on the bottom and around the edges.

Notes:

Alternative: Add 3/4 teaspoon coconut flavoring with the vanilla and 1  1/2 cups shredded coconut with the chocolate chips.

Another thing to try: replace the shortening with coconut oil. Good flavor and creamy texture. Very good.