Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my opinion you can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes. You need your basic one and then you need those “special” ones that have some fun ingredients that really make them stand out. I came across the recipe for these Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine. Not only do they have cookie butter in the dough, but they also have sprinkles. I made them twice around the holidays using red, green and white sprinkles and just recently again for a friend and her family using rainbow sprinkles. Oh, and in case you are wondering, cookie butter is similar in consistency to peanut butter but is made with speculoos cookie crumbs, a fat, flour and sugar and it’s quite tasty.

To make the dough I whisked together my dry ingredients in one bowl and my wet ones in another. After combining them, I folded in the chocolate chips and sprinkles. The dough was quite soft so I refrigerated it for about 2 hours so it could firm up. Now, if you are thinking of freezing the dough to make it later, you could skip refrigerating it and scoop it out and place it on a wax-paper lined baking sheet and freeze until hard and then place the dough in resealable bags in the freezer until you are ready to bake it. You will just need to add a minute or two to the baking time.

Once the dough was firm I scooped and dropped it onto my prepared baking sheets and pressed some additional sprinkles into the dough before baking them. I believe you can never have too many sprinkles. Whenever I get vanilla soft serve in a cup I ask for sprinkles in the cup before the ice cream is added and then more sprinkles on top. Yum!

After removing the cookies from the oven, I let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. The rainbow sprinkles gave the cookies a nice fun look. With Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter just around the corner you could really customize these for each of those holidays or any other occasion.

Cookie Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 30 cookies
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Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup smooth cookie butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons sprinkles (or jimmies, not nonpareils), plus more for topping

Directions:

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter, cookie butter and both sugars with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, then beat in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low beat in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and sprinkles until combined and evenly distributed throughout the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, until the dough is slightly firm, but still easily scoopable.

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a standard cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets 2 inches apart. Press additional sprinkles onto the dough.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes, until the cookies are set around the edges, puffed, but still soft in the middle. Let cool on the sheets for 3 to 5 minutes until transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Recipe slightly modified from Food Network.

Chocolate & Banana Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

While these cookies may sound like they have a lot going on they are essentially just a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. And we all know that peanut butter and chocolate are a match made in heaven. I honestly didn’t get any banana flavor from the banana chips (nor did anyone else who tried them). What the banana chips did offer was an extra crunch to the cookie, which you also get from the peanuts added. If you are looking for that banana flavor though you could add a mashed banana to the dough. Next time I make these though I will be omitting the banana altogether. I honestly don’t think they need that extra layer of flavor.

Chocolate & Banana Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Servings: 12 Large Cookies
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Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup flour

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup roasted & lightly salted peanuts, chopped (plus more for topping)

1/3 cup banana chips, chopped or 1 banana cut into 1/4-inch pieces*

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (plus more for topping)

*Can omit to make a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In large bowl, using a hand mixer on medium speed, cream together the peanut butter, both sugars and the butter until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue beat until well combined. With the mixer on low add in the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda until just combined. Add in the peanuts, banana chips / banana (if using) and chocolate chips and beat on low until combined.

Using an ice cream scoop (or 1/4 cup measuring cup) drop the dough on the prepared cookie sheets. Pat down the cookies to create 2-inch disks. The dough may be a little sticky. Sprinkle the tops of each cookie with additional chopped peanuts and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Bake for 10-11, or until the edges are golden but the centers still soft. Let cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe from Christina Tosi

A Bake ‘n Fill Fail

Recently while doing a little cleaning and organizing I came across something I purchased years ago and never used… A Betty Crocker Bake ‘n Fill Cake Pan. The pans were still in their plastic wrapping. Not really sure why I never used it, but having come across it I figured there was no time like the present to try it out. And obviously from the title of this blog post I wasn’t that successful! The cake part was fine, the fail was the filling… So, we’ll say it was a Bake ‘n Fail!

In case you have no clue what I am talking about. These pans were sold in a set by Better Crocker years ago. They first came out in the early 2000’s. Below is a link to the infomercial if you are curious. The whole idea was that you are able to create cakes with fillings (ice cream, fruit, another cake, etc.) or make a cool design like a baseball or a lady bug.

Betty Crocker Bake ‘n Fill Pan

I decided to follow a recipe for a Chocolate Mocha Cake with Chocolate Mousse Filling that was in the recipe book that came with the pans. I began by prepping two of the pans – the inside of the tall pan and bottom of the insert pan (this is the pan that makes the cavity in the cake so it can be filled). Normally I spray my pan with baking spray, but, I decided to follow the directions and greased them with shortening and then coated them with flour. Next, I prepped the batter. I added all of the ingredients for it into a large bowl and beat them with a hand mixer until they were blended together. I then poured it into the tall pan.

Next, I placed the insert pan over the tall pan and locked it into place and then baked it in a 350 F preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Thankfully the insert pan has small holes in it, which I am assuming is to allow the cake to “breathe” while baking, but, I used them to insert a cake tester to see when the cake was done.

After removing the pan from the oven I let it cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes…

And then I removed the insert pan and let the cake cool completely in the pan for about an hour.

Next I made the filling. In a saucepan I combined heavy whipping cream, sugar and coffee liqueur. I cooked it over medium heat until the sugar dissolved. After removing it from the heat I stirred in semi-sweet chocolate chips with a wire whisk until they were melted. And finally I stirred in vanilla extract before transferring the mixture to a large bowl to cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a chilled medium bowl I beat additional heavy whipping cream with a hand mixer until stiff peaks formed. I then folded the heavy whipping cream into the cooled chocolate mixture.

And finally I spooned the whipped chocolate mixture into the cavity of the cake and then refrigerated the cake thinking that the filling would firm up. It never did! I even put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes and that did nothing to it as well. So, I gave up and decided to invert the cake out of the pan and do my best not to make a mess. Well, taking the cake out of the pan was no easy feat. I had to pry a flexible spatula between the cake and the pan to loosen the cake. I was FINALLY able to invert the cake out and surprisingly didn’t make a complete mess with the mousse filling that was definitely not mousse-consistency.

While I thought about throwing in the towel at this point I decided to go ahead and make the frosting for the cake. I added additional heavy whipping cream to a small saucepan and heated until it was hot. I then stirred in semi-sweet chocolate chips and stirred the mixture until the chocolate was melted. After letting the mixture cool for a few minutes it was the perfect consistency to frost the cake.

I won’t show you what happened when I sliced into the cake. As you can imagine the filling just, I hate to use the word ooze, but, that’s pretty much what it did. It did taste good though! And I was able to spoon it over the cake after slicing myself a piece so it wasn’t a total loss. So, will I attempt to use the pan again? Absolutely, but, I think the next filling will be something like whipped cream folded with some fresh berries, or, I will use the filling I normally make for my other cakes. Oh, and yeah, I will be using baking spray next time. It hasn’t left a cake stuck in a pan for me yet!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

It seems like I am on a muffin kick… Last week I brought you Blueberry Crumb Muffins and this week I am bringing you Chocolate Chip Muffins. The real reason why I made these muffins… I was going on a road trip and thought they would be a good snack/treat/breakfast for the road. When you have chocolate chips in a muffin they can be for anything I think. While this recipe was written for 12 servings (aka a cupcake size muffin) I opted to make 6 large ones as I didn’t want that many muffins for the road.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Servings: 12 small or 6 large
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Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425F and line a muffin tin with liners and then spray it with baking or cooking spray. This is just in case the muffins bake onto the pan so you can easily remove them.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips, set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Slowly add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and fold together until just combined.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake at 425F for 5 minutes and then lower the oven to 375F and bake for another 12-15 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

Recipe from Little Sweet Baker

Cookie Palooza: Cannoli Wafer Sandwich Cookies

For today’s Cookie Palooza recipe I bring you a cookie you don’t have to bake! What could be better than that? No flour to measure, no oven to turn on… Anyone can make this cookie. So, what is it? It’s a Cannoli Wafer Sandwich Cookie! And let me just tell you that I brought these cookies to a friend’s house and they were a hit with everyone.

So, here’s what you need for these cookies; vanilla wafers, whole-milk ricotta, confectioners’ sugar, sugar, vanilla extract, white candy coating and miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips.

I began by making the cannoli filling by mixing whole-milk ricotta with confectioners’ sugar, sugar and vanilla extract.

Next, I spread a teaspoon of the filling on the bottom half of the vanilla wafers and then topped them with another wafer.

Once I had used up all of the cookies in the box….

I dipped each of the sandwich cookies halfway into melted white candy coating – I used White Wilton Candy Melts. I dipped about five cookies at a time and then sprinkled mini chocolate chips on them. You don’t want the candy coating to set too much or the chocolate chips won’t stick to the cookies. Once I dipped all of the cookies I placed the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes so the candy coating could set.

And finally, I dusted the cookies with confectioners’ sugar. How simple is that!?!?

While these cookies are delicious and you might be tempted to save a few for the following day, they are best eaten the same day they are assembled.

Cannoli Wafer Sandwich Cookies

Servings: 36
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Ingredients:

1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus additional for dusting the cookies

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 package (12 oz.) vanilla wafers

12 oz. white candy coating, melted

1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, confectioners’ sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract until well blended.

Spread 1 scant teaspoon filling on half of the vanilla wafers and then top with the other half of the cookies.

Dip each of the sandwich cookies halfway into the melted candy coating and place on wax paper. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and let the cookies stand until set, about 10 minutes. Alternatively you can place the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes to speed up the process.

Refrigerate the cookies until serving. Dust with confectioners’ sugar prior to serving.

Recipe from Taste of Home

Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend filled with love and laughter amongst family and friends and of course some delicious food! My Thanksgiving was good and while there was plenty of scrumptious food to be had there was also plenty of yummy desserts… Including this Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie.

To begin, I made the brownie batter portion of the pie by melting a stick of unsalted butter and a 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips along with light brown sugar over medium heat in a saucepan. Once the butter and chocolate were melted I removed the saucepan from the heat and whisked in two eggs and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl I whisked together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and then added this flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisked it until the both were combined and smooth.

Following that I transferred the brownie batter into a measuring cup to ensure that I would pour the right amount – a third of the batter – into the prepared pie plate.

While the brownie was baking in the oven I made the pumpkin filling by whisking together pumpkin puree, heavy cream, an egg, granulated sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl until it was smooth.

By the time I was done with the pumpkin filling the brownie was ready to come out of the oven.

I immediately poured the pumpkin filling over the brownie. I stirred a tablespoon of water to the remaining brownie batter and then spooned the batter onto the pumpkin filling. Using the back of the spoon I then pulled the batter into the filling.

After baking for about 40 minutes in a 350 F preheated oven the Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie was ready to come out. Unfortunately it did end up cracking a bit but luckily it didn’t affect the flavor one bit!

Pumpkin and chocolate is definitely a winning combination! The sweetness of the brownie is such a nice complement to the mellow taste of pumpkin spiced with pumpkin pie spice (a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & allspice.) I took half of this pie to a friend’s house for dessert and one of the guests commented that I needed to go home and get the other half. You can’t beat a complement like that!

Pumpkin-Brownie Swirl Pie

Ingredients:

For the Brownie Filling:

1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the pie plate

1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

2/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Pumpkin Filling:

1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter the bottom and side of a 9 1/2 – inch deep-dish pie plate. Make the brownie filling; Heat the butter, chocolate chips and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the butter and chocolate are melted. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla, whisking until smooth. Whisk in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until combined.

2. Pour about one-third of the brownie batter into the prepared pie plate; set aside the remaining batter. Bake until just starting to set and the top is shiny, about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, make the pumpkin filling: Combine the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, egg, granulated sugar, flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a medium bowl; whisk until smooth.

4. Pour the pumpkin filling over the warm brownie layer. Stir 1 tablespoon water into the remaining brownie batter, then spoon the batter (in about 6 scoops) onto the pumpkin filling. Use the back of the spoon to pull the brownie batter into the pumpkin filling and create a swirled pattern. Bake until the pie is set, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.