Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to start out by saying Oh. My. Gosh. I was not a chocolate chip cookie fan. And then I discovered this cookie, and I have to admit that I am SO glad I did. It combines the perfect amount of crunchiness edge of cookie along with staying incredibly chewy in the middle (although it is cooked completely.) I even forgot and left them out overnight once... and they were still as if I'd made them 10 minutes before. No change in texture or chewiness.(They havent been tried at lower altitudes)

(adapted from Cooks Illustrated) 

2 C plus 2 T flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
12 T. butter (1 1/2 sticks) melted and cooled until warm
1 C. brown sugar (light or dark)
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
Mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients;mix until just combined. Stir in chips.
*If for some reason your dough is too soft to form balls at this point, DON'T add more flour.  Just cover and place bowl in the fridge until dough firms. I promise. The less flour keeps the cookies light and moist, adding more flour... you will regret. Possibly for the rest of your life.
Take about 1/4 C dough and form into a ball.  Break ball in half and place dough on cookie sheet with broken edge facing up (tearing the cookies like this gives the top that store bough "textured" look. Or just use a standard sized cookie scoop if you don't care or don't have the time.) Bake until cookies are set around outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 10-13 minutes.  I cook them JUST until I barely see any golden brown start to form around the edges. These cookies finish cooking as they cool on the pan. And they are also incredibly forgiving, so if they aren't to your desired "doneness" after they cool you can pop them back in the warm oven for another minute or two. Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store inairtight container.

Ginger Crinkles

2 1/4 c. flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. ginger
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
1/4 t. salt
1 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. molasses
1 egg

Mix together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. In a separate bowl cream the brown sugar, shortening, molasses and egg. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Roll the dough into 1" (or slightly bigger) balls. Roll the balls in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.

Snickerdoodles

1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 2/3 c. sifted flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into small balls and roll in a cinnamon/sugar mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Russian Tea Cakes (Nut Butter Balls)

1 c. butter
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. almond extract or 2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 c. finely chopped walnuts

Mix all ingredients together well. Roll into balls. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake cookies until light brown (about 15 minutes.) When slightly cooled, roll in powdered sugar.  Then promptly stuff your face :)

Lemon Drop Cookies (Cream Cheese Cookies)

1/4 c. butter
1/4 t. vanilla
1 (8 oz) cream cheese
1 egg yolk
1 box cake mix (LEMON)

This can be done with several different kinds of cake mix (devils food, chocolate, lemon, rainbow chip, etc.) However, lemon stands to be my favorite! Cream the butter, cream cheese, egg yolk, and vanilla together. Add cake mix and mix together. Cover in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Form the dough into tsp sized balls, and then roll in granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet (if it is an old pan grease it really lightly.) Press down on cookies lightly. Bake cookies 10 minutes---DO NOT OVERBAKE. These are also fun to make several different flavors at a time!

Girl Scout Samoa Cookies

Cookies:
1 c. butter softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
2 c. flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Topping:
3 oz sweetened shredded coconut
12 oz bag of caramels
3 T milk
1/4 t salt
12 oz bag semisweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together and then add the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well with mixer. (I split this part into 2 or 3 batches--->) Roll the dough into between wax paper until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out cookies using 1 1/2 inch cookie cutter (or just the top from one of your spice bottles). Use the end of a straw to punch holes in the center of cookies. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until bottoms are light brown.

Make topping by spreading coconut evenly on a baking sheet. Toast the coconut at 300 degrees for 5 minutes and then stir it. Put it in for 5 minutes again and then stir. Repeat 2 more times until the coconut has been in for roughly a total of 20 minutes until it is light brown. Let it cool.

Unwrap caramels and add them to a bowl with the milk and salt. Microwave high 3-4 minutes until smooth, stirring each minute. Stir in toasted coconut. Use a spatula to spread caramel coconut on each of the baked cookies.
When the topping sets up, then melt the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds. Dip the bottom side of each cookie into the chocolate and place it on wax paper with chocolate coated side down. Add remaining chocolate into a bag with the corner snipped off, or a pastry bag if you have one. Drizzle the chocolate over top of the cookies. Let cookies set. Enjoy :)

Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies

I don't know about you... but I used to be a girl scout so long ago. I have to admit... my favorite thing about it was the cookies. So, I've found a way to make a girl scout cookie thin mint (oh yes) recipe :) And I'm so excited about it that I had to put it on here. Yum Yum Yum. These are awesome broken up in ice cream by the way!

Chocolate Cookie Wafers:
1 (18.25 oz) Pkg Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
3 T shortening, melted
1/2 c. cake flour, measured then sifted
1 egg
3 T water
Non stick cooking spray

Coating:
3 (12 oz) bags of semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 t. peppermint extract
6 T shortening

Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water a little bit at a time. When mixed and dough forms cover and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick (you know how thick they are :) )To cut, use the top of a spice shaker, or another top with a 1 1/2 inch diameter cutout. Put the cookie dough rounds on a lightly coated with cooking spray cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the wafers from the oven and cool completely.
Combine the chocolate chips with the peppermint extract and shortening and heat in the microwave, stir gently in 30 second intervals until smooth. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so extra chocolate drips off, then place the cookies side by side on a wax paper lined sheet. Refrigerate until firm. Makes roughly 100 cookies

Cabe's Sugar Cookies

or

This is my younger brothers recipe for sugar cookies, they're pretty much the softest best sugar cookies to ever cross my taste buds.

4 c. flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
2 t vanilla
1 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
5 eggs

Frosting:
6 T butter
3T milk
1 1/2 t vanilla
15 oz powdered sugar

Cream the shortening, sugar, and eggs together. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add in the vanilla. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured board and cut into little shapes with cookie cutter. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes. Cool. In the mean time mix all of the frosting ingredients with a mixer... and dye your favorite cookie color. frost cookies.