Nestle Toll House – Bead Yarn & Spatula

The sayings are that March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb and that April showers bring May flowers, but, what is there to be said about the first day of Spring coming with snow. Well, if you ask a New Yorker… enough already! As I write this the snow is falling and starting to accumulate. Thankfully tomorrow some spring-like temperatures are in the forecast so hopefully whatever falls today will be gone tomorrow. Since the day is gray and gloomy I decided to bring some sunshine into my kitchen with some Spring themed Chocolate Chip cookies. What makes them Spring-y you may ask? Well, pink and yellow chocolate chips that I recently picked up at my local Target. I’ve been known to aimlessly walk around Target and find some pretty cool things. I picked up a bunch of things yesterday to hopefully create an Easter cake that I have pictured in my head, but that’s a post for a later date.

After making the dough for the cookies – I combined flour, baking soda and salt in one bowl and then slowly added that to a mixture of butter, granulated and brown sugars, eggs and vanilla extract which I mixed in a stand mixer and then stirred in a cup of the Spring themed chips – I used a cookie scoop to drop the dough on parchment lined cookie sheets and pressed some extra chips into the cookies and then baked them in a preheat 350 F oven for eleven minutes.

After letting the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes I then transferred them to a wire rack to cool completely. In less than an hour I had some springtime in my kitchen while I looked at the falling snow outside of my kitchen window as I washed the dishes. Fingers crossed this will be the last snowstorm of this season, or I should say since it’s the first day of Spring, the only snowstorm of this season.

Springtime Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 36 cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 2/3 cups (10 oz. package) Nestle Toll House Springtime Morsels

1 cup chopped nuts*

*I opted to omit the nuts from the cookies and added in an extra 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour in addition to the 2 1/4 cups.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

2. Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla extract on medium speed until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add in the flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup of the morsels and nuts (if using.)

3. Drop the dough using a cookie scoop on parchment lined cookie sheets and top the dough with the remaining morsels.

4. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

While pumpkin is the flavor of the Fall, peppermint / mint is the flavor of Winter; especially now during the Holiday season. Peppermint hot chocolate is available almost everywhere – I’m partial to getting mine from Starbucks, already made and topped with whipped cream -, red & green mint M&M’s, mint filled Hershey Kisses and candy canes – just to name a few candies – can be found on store shelves. And I recently came across Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels, which I couldn’t resist picking up. And as luck would have it, there was a cookie recipe right on the back of the package waiting to be made.

To begin I combined the dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt – in a medium bowl and set it aside.

In a large bowl I creamed together butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract and then added in two eggs, one at a time.

Next I gradually added in the flour mixture.

And finally I stirred in the dark chocolate and mint morsels (if you love the smell of mint you’ll be in heaven when you open this bag)…

Which resulted in the casualty of one of my spatulas since the batter for these cookies is so thick and dense – thankfully the cookies turned out completely opposite of that.

Next I drop rounded tablesoonfuls of the dough on parchment lined cookie sheets.

After baking in a preheated 325 F oven for 11 minutes I let them cool on the sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

These cookies are all kinds of delicious and thankfully the recipe yields enough so that you can definitely get your fill!

Mint Chocolate Delights

Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate& Mint Morsels

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by well-rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

3. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.