Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have tried several oatmeal chocolate chip recipes over the years.  I have never really LOVED one that I've tried.  Until this one!!!  I found it at ourbestbites.com and I'm including the recipe below in case the link is ever broken, not because I don't want to give them all the credit.  The only changes I made were in the chocolate chips and the size.  I used a 10 oz bag of mini m&m's baking chips and then 1 1/2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips. I also made mine slightly smaller.  It made about 2 1/2 dozen and I baked them for 9-10 minutes.  This is an absolute win and I will make them over and over again!!

Here is the recipe copied from Our Best Bites. (Please use their link if it is still available.) None of the recipe below is my original work.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife (very high altitudes may want to try adding 2 additional tablespoons of flour)
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon table salt)
• 3 cups (or 18 ounces) chocolate chips (I use 1 bag of the Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and then make up the difference with semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325. If desired, line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
2. Beat the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips). Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.
4. Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, drop the dough by the scoopful onto the prepared baking sheets. You should be able to get about 6 cookies per sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to turn light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely (or don’t…no shame…) Makes 18 giant cookies.

Sand Dollar Sugar Cookies

For teacher appreciation week we gave all the staff a message in a bottle with these attached.  Yummy and easy.  The recipe comes from http://www.mamamiss.com/2012/07/31/eats-sand-dollar-cinnamon-sugar-cookies/

(All the notes in the recipe come from her.)

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (15 sec in the microwave & another 5 sec will get you there, if you don’t want to wait for butter to soften on its own – HA – it is like watching paint dry – it’s simply fascinating ;)

2 cups powdered sugar (mmm mmm mmm…can taste the sugary goodness already!)

2 eggs whole

2 eggs separated (yolks in one bowl/whites in another – c’mon it’s fun!)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 pinches of kosher salt

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

cinnamon sugar (this gets sprinkled on top)

sliced almonds

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and powdered sugar; Mix until very creamy. (I may or may not have taken a lick after this step – HA! ;)
3. Add the 2 whole eggs and 2 yolks only (reserve the whites for later from the egg separation above); Beat until well combined.
4. Add vanilla and salt; Blend well.
5. Add flour and baking powder; Stir until the dough is very soft.
6. Form a ball with the dough; Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours (I left mine in the fridge overnight).
7. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Roll out the dough to 1/4" thick on a floured surface and cut out 2 5/8” circles.(A mason jar lid is the perfect size.)
9. Brush the circles with the reserved egg whites.
10. Sprinkle each circle lightly with cinnamon sugar and press 5 almond slices into the center of each circle to make a sand dollar (like the pic above).
11. Bake at 350° F for 3 minutes.
12. After 3 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and press the almonds in again, making slight indentations in the circle.
13. Add more cinnamon at this point too, if need be, to adjust the overall coloring of the final cookie.
14. Place the baking sheet back in the oven and bake until the edges are golden brown, another 10 minutes (this time will vary depending on how thick you cut the circles, so just keep an eye on them around the 7 minute mark).
15. Remove from oven; Let rest on baking sheet for 3 minutes.
16. Transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.
17. Dig in!!!
18. Store in an airtight container to keep up to 5 days (Yeah right, these won’t last 5 minutes!)

Notes

Makes 4 dozen

Adapted from Delicious Inspiration

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies

 Image and Recipe from here 

These are not my original work at all.

I found them online, baked them up and want to save them forever.

They are going out to friends and teachers this year.

They are easy, tasty and look festive!

Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening
1/2 c. real butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
optional: 1 tsp peppermint extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 12 ounce bag dark chocolate chips
48 Hershey’s Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped (one 10 ounce bag)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream together softened butter, shortening, brown sugar, and white sugar for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. Meanwhile, combine the baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

To prevent cookies from flattening out, refrigerate dough for 30-60 minutes.  Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until just set, but centers are still soft, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Use a metal spatula to transfer cookies to cooling rack.  Top each cookie with an unwrapped Candy Cane Kiss.  Allow to cool completely, long enough for the Kiss to harden. If necessary, after the cookies have cooled, they can be placed in the refrigerator or freezer to re-solidify the Kiss.

Yield: 4 dozen cookies