These are a bit tricky and it takes some work to keep the caramel inside the dough. I don’t know what difference the Nutella makes as they didn’t taste too much like hazelnut to me.

Recipe By:

My sister-in-law sent this to me. She got it at http://barbarabakes.com

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups flour all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup Nutella
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
36 caramels, unwrapped and frozen
1/3 cup granulated sugar for rolling, optional

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa and baking soda.

2. In large mixing bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in Nutella, eggs and vanilla until well combined.

4. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined.

5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour  or more so the dough is easier to handle.

6. Heat oven to 375º.

7. Shape a tablespoon of dough into a ball. Press a caramel into the center of each ball and reshape into a ball. Roll in granulated sugar and place on parchment-lined cookie sheets, then place the cookie sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking.

8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set and slightly cracked.

9. Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 Notes:

Don’t over bake.

Recipe Adapted from:

Home-Tested Cookie Recipes

Ingredients:

3 ½ cups flour, 15.75 ounces
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon soda
½ cup butter, at room temperature
½ cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ teaspoon coconut flavoring
½ cup caramel topping
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees.

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

3. Cream butter, shortening and sugars until creamy.

4. Beat in eggs, vanilla, coconut flavoring and ice cream topping until fluffy.

5. With mixer on low, gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture until just combined.

6. Stir in nuts, chocolate chips and coconut.

7. Drop in 2 tablespoon balls on parchment-lined baking sheets.

8. Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until just golden brown.

Notes:

The caramel sauce and cooking them at low temperature give these tasty guys a very nice texture and chew. The idea of adding coconut flavoring came from my Aunt Mabel June. Makes about 60 cookies.

Recipe Adapted from:

Home-Tested Cookie Recipes

Ingredients:

2½ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1½ cups pistachio ice cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
1 small box instant pistachio pudding
1 large egg
12 ounces chocolate chips
4 ounces pistachios, coarsely chopped

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

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

3. Beat butter, ice cream, vanilla, sugars and pudding mix. It may look kind of curdled at this point. Don’t worry. Stir in eggs.

4. With mixer on low, stir in flour mixture until just combined.

5. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

6. Drop in 2 tablespoon balls in prepared baking sheets.

7. Bake about 10 minutes until brown. This is one of those recipes where they look over-done when they are not. Even when brown, they are still soft.

8. Cool on wire racks.

Notes:

Original recipe called for vanilla pudding and had no nuts. They really were not very pistachioy. I changed the pudding and added the nuts which helped a lot. I was thinking of adding some green food coloring. Maybe next time.

Again, another cookie with a signature weird ingredient. When baked for 12 minutes, they were cooked but not browned. In fact, look at the pictures and it is hard to tell the raw from the cooked!  They have a dense texture.

Recipe By:

Capitol Cookies, Munch Your Way Across the U.S.A. Shari came across this little book while we were shopping at RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers.)

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups brown sugar
½ cup shortening
2  large eggs
2 cups flour, 9 ounces
1 teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound orange slice candy, diced
½ cup flour
½ cup flaked coconut
½ cup oats
½ cup nuts, chopped, optional

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Cream sugar, shortening and eggs.

3. Sift 2 cups flour, soda and salt. Blend into sugar mixture.

4. Mix orange candy and ½ cup flour. Stir into sugar mixture.

5. Stir in coconut, oats and nuts.

6. Form into 2-tablespoon balls. Place balls on parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten with fork.

7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Notes:

Consider adding some orange and/or coconut flavoring.

Recipe By:

Nob Hill Magazine

Serving Size:

60 cookies

Ingredients:

1 pound butter, softened
1½  cups  brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups  chocolate chips, melted and cooled
2½  cups  flour, 11¼ ounces
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
4 cup  oats
2 cup  chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

3. Stir in melted and cooled chocolate.

4. Set aside.

5. Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

6. Gradually stir flour mixture into butter mixture.

7. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

8. Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Notes:

These came out very moist but are more oaty than others I have tried. They also have a good chocolate balance for those of us who are not really crazy about really deep, dark chocolate. Don’t over-bake them. Keep them soft and moist.

When you have a famous restaurant with interesting food, your recipes and knock-offs appear all over the Internet. I have never been to Momofuku so I can’t say anything about the originals. As I compared several of the recipes for these cookies, the base was similar but what they recommended putting in them varied so much that it is clear you can put anything in them you want. This version was in the San Jose Mercury News but is in many other places on the web as well. I went out and bought a huge scooper to make them just as recommended here but they don’t have to be so large and you just have to adjust the baking temperature accordingly.

Yield:

12 large cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 egg
½  teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
½  teaspoon baking powder
¼  teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup mini-chocolate chips
½   cup mini-butterscotch chips
½   cup Graham Crust (see following recipe)
1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 ½  teaspoons ground coffee
2 cups potato chips
1 cup mini pretzels

Directions:

1. Combine the butter, sugars and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7-8 minutes. (Yes, that long.)

2. Reduce mixer speed to low; add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix just until dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

3. Still on low, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch, graham crust, oats and coffee; mix until just blended, about 30 seconds. Add the potato chips and pretzels and paddle, still on low speed, until just incorporated. Be careful not to overmix or break too many pretzels or potato chips.

4. Using a 2¾-ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature — or skimp on the chilling time — or
they will not bake properly.

5. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for about 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle and spread. After about 15 minutes, start checking them. They should be browned on the edges, yet still tan in the center. Give them an extra minute if that’s not the case.

Notes:

You can throw in anything you want. Other items recommended are marshmallows, cut up candy, corn flakes or other cereals. One that came up frequently was marshmallows, chocolate chips and corn flakes. Go for it!

Graham Crust 

Yield:

2 cups

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup milk powder
2 tablespoons sugar
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cups butter, melted
¼ cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Toss the graham cracker crumbs, milk powder, sugar and salt with your hands in a medium bowl to evenly distribute the dry ingredients.

2. Whisk the butter and cream together. Add to the dry ingredients and toss again to evenly distribute. The butter will act as glue, adhering to the dry ingredients and turning the mixture into a bunch of small clusters. The mixture should hold its shape if squeezed tightly in the palm of your hand. If it is not moist enough to do so, melt additional 1 to 1½ tablespoons butter and mix it in.

3. Spread out on parchment sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 7 to 10 minutes. May need more time to brown depending on how much you flatten it out.

4. Eat immediately or deploy as directed in the recipe. If using as a piecrust, the crust is easiest to mold just after mixing. Stored in an airtight container, graham crust will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature, or 1 month in the fridge or freezer.

When I came across Kirschwasser as an ingredient in cookies, I had to try it. Here is one recipe I liked. There are also some that are chocolate. I will share if I find one I really like. I softened the cherries and put them in the Kirschwasser when I came home from work so they soaked all day while I was sleeping. They were nice and soft and had a nice bite from the liqueur. A 200ml bottle was about the right amount for this recipe.

Recipe By:

Allrecipes.com

Yield:

66

Ingredients:

2 cups dried cherries
2/3 cup cherry liqueur, Kirschwasser
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, 13.5 ounces
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsly chopped

Directions:

1. Immerse dried cherries in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and set in a small bowl with the cherry liqueur to soak, the longer, the better.

2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a medium bowl, cream butter with brown sugar and white sugar.

4. Stir in egg, vanilla, and almond extract.

5. Sift together flour and baking soda. Stir into creamed mixture.

6. Gently fold in cherries, with liqueur, white chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and macadamia nuts.

7. Drop cookie dough by 2 tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheet. Leave 2 to 3 inches of space between cookies.

8. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Cookies should be lightly browned.

9. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

As I have said before, an unusual ingredient will often prompt me to try a new cookie recipe. In this case, pomegranate seeds and juice. The dough is just luxurious and a joy to scoop (and eat.) If they are under-cooked, they are, in deed, fudgey but are soft and have no integrity. If cooked enough to hold together when handled, they are over-done and not good. So, to eat in your kitchen with some Breyers Natural Vanilla ice cream, they would be great. They didn’t tolerate the trip to the emergency department very well. In addition, though the idea of pomegranate seeds is appealing, the cookies really are not very pomegranatey and you often finish with some of the woody seeds in your teeth.

Recipe By:

Epicurious.com

Yield:

36

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, 9 ounces
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons pomegranate juice
1 cup chocolate chips
¾ cup pomegranate seeds

Directions:

1. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Add dry mixture to butter-sugar mixture and mix until combined.
5. Mix in pomegranate juice.
6. Fold in chocolate chips and pomegranate seeds by hand.
7. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours or more.
8. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Roll dough into balls and set on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
10. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, then let cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes:

Consider dried pomegranate seeds or chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds.

Recipe By:

King Arthur Flour

Yield:

24

Ingredients:

½  cup butter
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
1 large egg
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons orange juice, optional**
2 cups chips, nuts, and/or dried fruit, optional***

 Directions:

1. Beat together the butter, sugars, salt, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla until well combined.

2. Add the egg, beating until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat again until smooth.

3. Add the flour and oats. Beat to combine.

4. If you’re making cookies using chips, nuts, etc., beat in the orange juice, then the add-ins.

5. Cover the cookie dough. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled: at least several hours, or overnight.

6. When you’re ready to bake, heat oven to 375°F****. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

7. Drop balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2″ apart.

8. If the cookie dough has been refrigerated, bake the cookies for 13 to 14 minutes, until they’re a very light golden brown, and a bit darker around the edges. For unrefrigerated dough, bake for about 11 minutes.

9. Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the baking sheets.

 Notes:

*When I made them with no floaties, I put in triple vanilla and they were very buttery and the extra vanilla flavor was wonderful. They got lots of good comments from the appreciative crowd in the ED.

**If you’re making plain cookies, without add-ins, omit the orange juice.

*** 2 cups of floaties for this much dough is twice too much for me. I put in a cup of Heath chunks and they were very flat and flimsy. They stuck to the parchment so badly it was nearly a catastrophe. I had to cut the parchment and take them to the hospital like that. People had to pull them off the paper in pieces to eat them. They are better plain or with chocolate chips.

****375°F for 13-14 minutes is too long for my oven. I would use 350°F or cook for no more than 10-11 minutes. Watch to make sure they are brown around the edges but not over done.

This is a very basic and easy to make recipe. People went pretty crazy over them in the emergency department Thursday night!

Recipe By:

Taste of Home Cookbook. If you Google this recipe name, you can find many different versions.

Serving Size:

36

 Ingredients:

¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 ¼ cups flour
2 ¼ cups oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 package toffee bits*

 Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

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

3. Cream butter and sugars.

4. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla.

5. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

6. Stir in toffee bits.

7. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until just turning brown in the bottoms and around the edges.

 Notes:

* I think the original recipe had in mind little toffee bits like Hershey’s Heath Bits ‘O’ Brickle Baking Pieces. The cookies are a lot more interesting if the pieces of candy are bigger. I lightly smash a 10-ounce bag of Werther’s toffee candies. I put them in a Ziploc bag, place the bag on my anvil then hit each piece one time. This keeps the pieces pretty large which is what makes these cookies interesting.