Guittard Shortbread Rounds with jumbo Chips

 Little Cookies with big chocolate chips that melt in your mouth!

Here's another recipe I recently picked up, and which found success at work.  I took it from the outside packaging of Guittard Chocolate Baking Chips.  These chips are jumbo sized, and seemed the perfect remedy (i.e. comfort food) to the cold I was coming down with.  They turned out different than I was expecting, but extremely easy to make.  Think of the shortbread cookies with almonds pressed down in the center, and you will have the foundation flavour that these cookies are built on.  Sprinkle them with powdered sugar when they are fresh out of the oven, and it's a tasty alternative to the traditional Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (6 oz.) jumbo Milk Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
2. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at low to medium speed until light.
3. Gradually add flour until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
4. If dough seems dry or crumbly, it will stick together when shaped with your hands.
5. Using the palms of your hands, roll rounded teaspoons of dough into 1-inch balls.
6. Place dough balls on ungreased cookie sheets and bake 13 - 15 minutes.
7. Cookies will still be pale.  Let stand 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheet.
8. Dust with powdered sugar for a touch of sweetness.

Yield:  3 dozen 1-inch round cookies

Oatmeal Cranberry (Craisins) White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Here is a delicious recipe for White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies!  I came across this earlier this year (2015) when in the mood for white chocolate chip cookies with a fruity burst of extra flavour.

This is more of a gourmet cookie recipe, but without the difficulty often associated with such confectionery delights.

Not fully content with the original recipe, I modified it some, but have unfortunately forgotten what each of those modifications were.  I added vanilla, of course, and some wheat flour.  I do recall that this recipe was an instant success with my entire family, and my colleagues at work were raving about the cookies all day long.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1½ cups white flour
• 1/4 cup wheat flour
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 2/3 cups Craisins (aka dried Cranberries)
• 2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 365 degrees 
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.
4. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate mixing bowl.  Combine the oats.
5. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition.
6. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
7. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top, and the edges are set.
9. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes, and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies.

The baking time is very important with this cookie recipe. You must watch the cookies closely! Take the cookies out of the oven at between 9 to 12 minutes. The cookies will appear soft and undone in the centers, but will eventually firm up as they set.  Allow the cookies to cool for 5-10 minutes on the baking sheet after you remove them from the oven.

Additional Notes:

If you have them, use silicone baking sheets!  We acquired our first silicone baking sheet as a gift sometime around 2010.  The difference in baking was incredible!  I quickly purchased a second baking sheet the next summer.  The cookies will not flatten out as much, the sheets do not require greasing, and the bottoms of your cookies will bake to the perfect firmness without burning.

NOTE:  I have located the other recipe I had referenced when I first baked these cookies, and attempted to recreate the perfect recipe from both.  I will test and update my own recipe the next time I bake it, as I will likely remember what I changed.  This recipe is close.  The extra wheat flour accounts for altitude, and add a smidgen of healthiness.  ;-)

Katie Richey's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

Here is a great recipe from a friend in our BYU 93rd Ward... where Mary and I attended while newly married.  Celeste was less than a year old at the time.  This easy-to-make treasure is from a friend of ours, buried in our Ward Cookbook all of this time.

Although the recipe calls for a chocolate cake-mix, it has the consistency of brownies, similar to most other "bar" confectioneries you may have tried.

Ingredients:

• 1 Chocolate Cake Mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Chocolate Chips (semi-sweet)
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Chunky Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup Water

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix together cake mix (dry), eggs, and oil.
3. Mix in Peanut Butter
4. Stir in Chocolate Chips
5. Pat the mixture into a 9" x 13" pan.
6. Bake 14 - 17 minutes or until golden brown!

Please note that I added water to the mixture, which the original recipe did not ask for.  Depending on elevation, cake mix, and size of your eggs, this may not be necessary.  If you don't like how it turns out, try dropping/altering the amount of water you use.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chippers

Cream: 2 cups butter 1 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 cup sugar Add: 4 eggs 2 t hot water 2 t vanilla Add: 3 cups flour 2 t salt 2 t soda Add: 4 cup oats 12 ounces chocolate or butterscotch chips Bake at 350 degrees about 8 minutes.

Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Cookies

1 c. canned pumpkin (one small can contains 2 cups) 1 c. white sugar 1/2 c. vegetable oil 1 egg 2 c. flour 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda mixed with 1 tsp. milk 1 TBSP vanilla 1 c. chocolate chips In one bowl, mix together pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda and milk. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients bowl and mix. Add in vanilla and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Serve with a glass of milk!

S'Mores

8 c. Golden Grahams
5 c. marshmallows
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. corn syrup
5 TBSP margarine
1 tsp. vanilla

Microwave marshmallows, chocolate chips, corn syrup, and margarine for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour over golden grahams and stir quickly to coat well. With buttered hands, spread mixture into a 9x13" pan. Cool, cut, and serve.

Cottage Cheese Cookies

Makes 8-10 dozen.

Cream:
2 c. shortening
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. brown sugar

Blend:
4 t. vanilla
4 eggs

Add:
2 c. cottage cheese - small curd

Sift and Add:
5 1/2 c. flour
1 c. cocoa
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

Add:
1 c. chocolate chips

Mix well and chill until firm (2 hrs.) Place a tablespoon of dough in powdered sugar. Place in ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350º for 12-15 minutes.