Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies rank right up there with my all time favorite white chocolate chip cookies. The secret to those cookies is the instant vanilla pudding, while the secret to these ones is the ground up oatmeal. Guess its not really a secret anymore since I just told all of you! I love that when you bite into these cookies there is a slightly crunchy outer layer followed by a super soft inner layer! And the softness remains hours after being baked. Wanted to make sure to test that for guys :)


Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups finely ground oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces chocolate chips (I used half chocolate and half white chocolate chips)
4 ounce chocolate bar, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (I left these out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Add the eggs. Stir in the ground oatmeal. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Gradually add to mixture. Stir in chocolate and nuts. Form dough into tablespoon size balls. Bake for 10-11 minutes.

Linked to: Tidy Mom's I'm Lovin' It

Banana Oatmeal Gems

The other day I was looking for a new recipe to use up some of my old brown bananas. I was trying to stay clear of my usual, banana bread and banana crumb muffins. Here's a recipe for cookies that use ripened banana. While it only called for one banana, it was a welcomed change from my usual recipes.

1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg 1 banana, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cups dates, chopped
3 cups quick oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together butter and sugar until light and airy. Beat in egg, banana and vanilla. Combine spices, salt, baking soda and flours. Add to butter mixture. Mix well and stir in dates and oats. Dropped by rounded teaspoons onto greased cookies sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes for a chewier cookie or 11-12 minutes for a crisper cookie. Cool on a wire rack. Store in a covered container.

Here are a few changes that I made to the recipe: I used about 1-1.5 cups of raisins instead of dates. I also added a package of instant banana pudding to the recipe. Jess and I have learned from experience that adding a pudding mix to cookies makes them super soft and chewy...just what a cookie should be. Well, this was just another perfect example of that. They had that slightly crispy outer layer and were chewy and soft on the inside. Perfection. I didn't have enough quick oats for the recipe and so I ended up using a combination of quick cooking and old fashioned oats which worked out just fine. I found no need to grease my cookie sheet. I had no problems with the dough sticking to the pan.

When my husband tried them he said: bananas+oatmeal+raisins=a winning combination. I just loved that you could almost pass this off as a breakfast food. Bananas and oatmeal. Come on. Perfect breakfast on the go. :)

Source: Banana Oatmeal Gems

Bake on!
Michele

Heart Cookies

I'm guessing that some of you were wondering why Jess didn't include the recipe for these cookies in her post First Attempt at Royal Icing. Well, it's because I have the recipe. So, if you were looking for the recipe for the cut-outs with royal icing that we used as cupcake toppers, here you go...

Honey Christmas Cookies

1 cup sugar

1 cup strained honey

1 cup shortening

2 tsp hot water

1/4 cup chopped almonds (we didn't include almonds)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

~3 1/2 cups flour +additional for rolling out dough

Cream sugar and shortening together. Mix baking soda, cinnamon, and vanilla together. Add honey and hot water to sugar and shortening mix. Mix both mixtures together, adding in enough flour to make a very stiff dough, about 3 1/2 cups. Cool mixture (I let the dough chill in the fridge for about an hour) and roll very thin, cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Don't let the name deceive you. This cookie isn't limited to the Christmas season. It is perfect anytime. In my experience cut-out cookies are dull, boring, and have an undesirable texture. I will admit that in the past I only made them so that I could decorate them with lively colors and sprinkles to jive up my cookie trays. Well, these cookies look good and taste better. Enjoy!

Bake on!

Michele

First Attempt at Royal Icing

Michele and I have been saying for many, many months that we have wanted to try decorating cookies with royal icing. And after our recent struggles with fondant we decided it was time to take a little break from fondant and try something new. We had a cupcake order for a bridal shower this weekend and rather than making fondant decorations we decided to top the cupcakes with a simple heart cut-out cookie with royal icing.


First of all, the taste of these little cookies is out of this world. They remind me of the store bought animal crackers with pink icing. And best of all, they are soft and fluffy! Like little cookie pillows.

We were both absolutely amazed at how fast and easy the whole royal icing process was. And we actually had fun doing it! Not a single moment of frustration (which is not the case when we work with fondant!) Cookies with royal icing are our new craze! Bye bye fondant and hello royal icing!

No-Bake Cookies

I immediately think of my Grandma H. when I have one of these cookies! Without fail, every time we went to visit my grandma she would have a container of these cookies sitting on the counter. And they were the first thing I would go for when I walked in the door!


How easy could it possibly get! No baking necessary! You literally plop them on some wax paper and let 'em do their thing!

The biggest trick is to have all of the ingredients measured out before you start the whole process. Because once the chocolate mixture starts to boil you will be throwing in ingredients left and right. And there will be no time for measuring at that point. If you don't move quickly the mixture will begin to cool and they won't stick together when placed on the wax paper. Then you will be left eating it by the spoonfuls straight from the bowl! Actually, not such a bad idea!!


No-Bake Cookies

1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 cup flaked coconut

1. Measure out the oatmeal into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Measure out the peanut butter and coconut and leave in their respective measure cups.
3. In a medium saucepan, bring cocoa, sugar, margarine, and milk to a boil. Boil for one minute-and not any longer. Remove from heat and immediately stir in peanut butter and vanilla.
4. Add cocoa mixture to oatmeal and stir until combined. Mix in coconut (1/2 cup walnuts can be substituted for coconut if desired.)
5. Drop mixture by the tablespoonful onto wax paper. Let set for about an hour, or until firm, before placing in air-tight container.

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies

Peanut Butter. Yum. Butterscotch. Yum. Peanut Butter + Butterscotch. Double Yum.

These cookies are mighty tasty! Crunchy around the outside, but soft and gooey on the inside! My only disappointment was that they came out of the oven as little fluff balls and within minutes of cooling the flattened into mini pancakes. Dang. They looked so much more appealing when they were round and plump looking. The looks may have disappointed, but the taste did not!

I think the next time I make these I am going to try adding butterscotch pudding mix instead of melting butterscotch chips. My mom has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses vanilla pudding and those are the softest cookies ever. Maybe butterscotch pudding would do the trick for these cookies as well! Worth a shot.


Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter
1 cup melted butter scotch chips
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter scotch chips (next time I plan to add a little extra)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butterscotch chips. Stir every thirty seconds until smooth. Add melted butterscotch chips and peanut butter to creamed mixture. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift together flour and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to mixture. Pour in butterscotch chips and mix until evenly distributed.

Roll into one inch balls. Roll in sugar. If desired, press top of cookies with tines of fork. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before placing on cooling racks.

Makes approximately four dozen cookies.

Source: Picky Palate

Peanut Butter Snickers Suprise Cookies

Love, love, love these cookies. How can you go wrong with the combination of peanut butter cookies and snickers? Chewy peanut butter cookie, sweetness of the chocolate, gooey caramel, and the crunch of the peanuts! Yum-O!

The only downfall about these cookies is the numerous steps it takes to reach the finished product. Unwrap miniature snickers, shape dough around snickers, bake, cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and drizzle with chocolate. Whew! That is the exact reason why we make these at our annual mother-daughter baking day while the guys are gone hunting. Definitely need three of us working on these. Especially because we triple the batch and make over a hundred.

Peanut Butter Snickers Surprise Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 pkg (13 ounces) miniature Snickers
1 pkg Dove milk chocolates, melted

Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugars using a mixer on meadium speed until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda. Cover and chill dough for 2-3 hours.

Unwrap all of the miniature snickers. Take approximately one tablespoon of dough and flatten in the palm of your hand. Place a snickers in the middle of the dough and form the dough into a ball around the snickers. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

After cookies have cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar (works well to use a fine mesh sieve) and drizzle with melted dove chocolates.

Classic Sugar Cookies

These classic sugar cookies are perfect for dunking in a glass of ice cold milk. They are perfect choice to leave for Santa on Christmas eve. They can be decorated with sprinkes to match any season. So, grab your kids and have them help out with this one.

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup oil

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups and 4 Tbsp flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and sugar. Add oil. Beat in the eggs. Mix the dry ingredients. Rolls in balls. Press down on the balls with a glass dipped in sugar (perfect for your child to do). Decorate with your favorite colored sprinkles (another good way to get the kids involved). Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown.

Bake on!

-M

Chips Galore

Oh, were these cookies ever ooey, gooey, soft, and chewy! At first I was a little worried that they were undercooked, but that wasn't the case since the edges were turning golden brown! They were just that perfect all on their own!

The picture in the magazine showed them to be thick and round cookies, well mine turned out the exact opposite. Thin and Flat. Not exactly sure why this happened, but think it is probably because I omitted the nuts. I'm just not a nuts in cookie person.

And the combination of white chocolate, milk chocolate, and peanut butter chips was so so good! Every bite was loaded with chips! Hence the name :)

Chips Galore Cookies
from Taste of Home Best Loved Cookies and Candies of 2010

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon almond extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups each milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and peanut butter chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine the flour and baking soda and gradually sift into wet ingredients. Add the chips and nuts. Cover and refrigerate dough for one hour.

2. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Red Velvet Cookies

I've said it once, and I am going to say it again, I LOVE LOVE LOVE red velvet!

About a week ago I signed up to receive emails for the Taste of Home Cookie Countdown. You know me, always looking for new recipes! The second email I got was for these delicious cookies! I immediately ran to the grocery store for red food coloring and whipped these up that night!


Look at how thick, fluffy, and cakey these cookies are!! Yum Yum!! And the addition of chocolate chips really brings out the cocoa in the cookies.

Cream cheese frosting is the usual frosting paired with red velvet. I was a little surprised when this recipe had a powdered sugar frosting for the cookie. I wasn't ready to be adventurous and try something new so I resorted to the left over cream cheese frosting I had in the refrigerator. So glad I did! Cream cheese frosting with red velvet will never disappoint!

Red Velvet Cookies
from Taste of Home

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs, separated
2 teaspoons red food coloring
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups (12 ounces) Nestlé® Tollhouse® Semi-Sweet Morsels

FROSTING:
1-1/2 cups butter, softened
3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 tablespoons 2% milk

In a large bowl, cream the shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and food coloring. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.


Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Melting Moment Cookies

Every Christmas my mom bakes about fifteen different kinds of cookies and at the start of the baking shenanigans she always asks us kids which kinds we want her to make. And every year these are at the top of my request list! They are by far my ultimate favorite cookie! They have become one of the things I look forward to most during the holiday season!

They are just so tiny! And when you pop them in your mouth, you won't be able to stop at just one! Before you know it you will have had two, three, four, and maybe even more! No need to feel guilty though since they are about the size of a quarter!


The butter and powdered sugar glaze is the perfect compliment to the almond flavored cookie!



And they literally do melt in your mouth within moments!


Melting Moment Cookies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Mix all of the ingredient together until smooth. Chill the dough for about 30-60 minutes. Roll into small balls the size of marbles. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons whipping cream
Powdered sugar

Brown butter lightly in pan. Add whipping cream. Mix in powdered sugar until desired spreading consistency is reached. It works well to leave the kettle in a pan of warm water while frosting the cookies to keep the frosting soft and prevent a hard layer from forming on the top.


Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

This cookie may change your life...

This is perhaps the best recipe I have every come across for chocolate chip cookies. I have easily exchanged the chocolate chips for m&ms and chocolate chunks with equal success. I couldn't even tell you which is my favorite so I just pick whatever I'm in the mood for.
I have my sister to thank for sharing this recipe with me. She made it for her oldest son's first birthday. So, to me, they are simply known as "Rhett's Birthday Cookies". What makes these so delicious...the secret is in the pudding. Give them a try. I know that you won't be disappointed.

1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
3.5oz instant vanilla pudding mix
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 bag chocolate chips

Mix butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in vanilla pudding mix. Add baking soda and flour. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy your sweet escape!

Bake on!
M

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

I love Snickerdoodles. I made these little gems recently. They are always a huge hit. I highly recommend visitings Martha's website and trying these on for yourself.

Bake on!
M

Santas and Snowmen

Once again, I know, a little early. Just couldn't wait until after Thanksgiving. Today was the second day of Christmas cookie baking with Sarah. We ended up with some super cute cookies, scrumptious truffles, and yummy bark. And best of all, some much needed girl time!

The santa and snowman cookies turned out absolutely adorable! At least I think so! I can't help but to giggle a little when I see them.



Now don't you have to agree that they are cute?!?

The cookie part for both of them is a soft and chewy sugar cookie. So we might have cheated a little. We may have used pre-made sugar cookie dough. But don't judge. We were just more into the decorating part for these and didn't want to waste precious time stirring up some dough.

For the Santas: Frost the top third of the cookie with red frosting. Use a miniature marshmallow for the white pompom. Use a piping bag to pipe on the brim of the hat. Pipe on two small dots for the eyes and one small dot for the nose. Use two chocolate chips for the eyes and one cinnamon red hot for the nose. Frost the bottom third of the cookie with white frosting and stick on coconut for the fluffy beard!

For the Snowmen: These are super easy! They would be a fun project for the kiddos! Frost the cookie and use two chocolate chips for eyes, one candy corn for the carrot nose, and five or six cinnamon red hots for the mouth!

Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Trying to squeeze in every last possible chance to make anything and everything with pumpkin! I am going to be a little sad when Thanksgiving has passed and the "fall baking season" has ended. Definitely love the fall flavors of apple and pumpkin more than the winter flavors of peppermint and gingerbread.

I have been dying to make these cookies but was waiting for the perfect opportunity! And that opportunity finally presented itself today! This recipe makes a fairly large number of cookies and so I needed several places to be able to take them! We all know I have no self control when it comes to sweets so I needed to get them out of the house fast!

Zach's coworkers gave these cookies rave reviews!! He said they were still talking about them three hours later!! Glad to hear they loved them just as much as I do!

I especially love their "cakey" consistency! They are soft, chewy, light, and fluffy! Definitely better than a flat, crisp cookie :)

White chocolate chips are the perfect addition to the usual pumpkin and cream cheese combo. Adding just the right amount of sweetness!


Pumpkin Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
15 ounce can of pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 bag of white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix in white chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until edges are firm.

Cream Cheese Frosting
6 tablespoons butter
4 ounces cream cheese
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Cream butter and cream cheese until well blended. Gradually add powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached. If needed, add small amount of cream or milk to thin frosting.


Enjoying the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Triple Chocolate Caramel Cookies

A few weeks ago I bought the Taste of Home Best Loved Cookies and Candies magazine and pretty much bought it just for this recipe! Don't get me wrong, there are numerous recipes that I will probably try someday, but these were placed at the top of the "need to make right now" list.

Sarah and I also made these last Saturday during our christmas cookie baking day! Well, lets just say they weren't as easy as they looked and the recipe made it sound. Several times I thought they were a for sure failure. And several times I was only mere seconds away from throwing the whole batch in the garbage. We would solve one problem along the way and then another one would arise. These little buggers gave us quit the battle.

Sure glad we stuck with them to the end though! They ended up turning out beautifully and one would never think we had so many issues! And the best part is...they tasted oh so good! Definitely worth all of the frustrations along the way!



Here is the recipe with our changes and recommendations!

Triple Chocolate Caramel Cookies
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 pkg (12 ounces) miniature chocolate chips
1 bottle caramel ice cream topping (we would recommend using the kind in the jar and not the squeeze bottle. The jar kind is thicker and won't cause a sticky, runny mess)
4 to 6 ounces dark chocolate candy coating, melted

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine flour and cocoa and gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

Roll into one inch balls. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Use your thumb to create a 1/2 inch indentation in the center of each ball. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. After you remove the cookies from the oven be sure to fix any cracks in the cookies that could cause the caramel to leak out of the middle.

Let the cookies cool completely and then fill the center of each cookie with caramel topping. Finish by drizzling the cookies with the melted chocolate candy coating.


Hope you enjoy the sweet escape!
-Jess

S'more Thumbprint Cookies

I know it is only the beginning of November, but today marked the start of the Christmas Cookie baking!! I absolutely love this time of year!! My good friend Sarah and I started the annual tradition of Christmas Cookie baking when we were roommates our junior year of college. Wow, I can't believe that was already five years ago. And I think every year the cookies get better and better. We very rarely make the same recipe two years in a row so the big question is always "what kinds should we make this year?" And then we each go on the hunt for a couple fun and unique recipes.

This year Sarah bought Pillsbury's Best Cookies Cookbook and there are multiple recipes that I am dying to try in the near future! I think I might even have to make a trip to Border's Books to buy this cookbook for myself! The picture of the s'more thumbprint on the cover caught my eye when she showed me the book and apparently it sucked her in too because it was her "pick" for our baking today! And they are definitely unlike anything we had ever made in the past!

I think I could have eaten about a dozen of these cookies in one sitting! Not sure if I have enough self-control to stay out of the freezer and not eat all of them before Christmas even gets here. Might have been a mistake to make these so far in advance!


S'more Thumbprint Cookies
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely crushed or ground graham cracker crumbs
1/8 tsp salt
About 2 cup miniature marshmallows
About 120 rectangles milk chocolate candy

Preheat over to 325 degrees. In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. On low speed, add flour, cracker crumbs, and salt. Beat for about one minute or until still dough forms.

Shape dough into one inch balls. Place about two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With thumb, make indentation in center of each.

Bake 10-12 minutes. Lightly press 3 marshmallows in center of each cookie. Bake two to three minutes longer.

Top marshmallows on each cookie with two rectangles of chocolate. Let stand two to three minutes. With tip of knife, gently spread chocolate over marshmallows. Let stand until chocolate is set.


Another Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Snickerdoodles

Let me just say... I LOVE THESE COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are just about the most perfect thing you could put in your mouth. I discovered this recipe a few years ago and have since been baking these yummy morsels for just about any occasion I see fit. Once again, I turned to Martha for the recipe. So again, go to her website for the recipe. http://www.marthastewart.com/

These are the most perfect buttery, cinnamony-delicious bite. They are complete

snickerdoodle-deliciousness. (yes, I like to make up words. My husband says it makes me interesting) Yum. Oh, and I have failed to mention my favorite part....THEY ARE SOFT. I was so surprised when I didn't end up with the typical briquettes. Lets just make this clear... I am a soft, chewy cookie gal. And did I mention that these cookies are perfect, soft and chewy. Yeah, I love them. The dough does keep well the freezer but why wouldn't you want to make the whole batch. I'm just saying. If you love cinnamon, these are for you.

So, my hubby and I recently visited an apple orchard. We just finished hiking and we were famished. We love all things fall so we decided to get some fresh apples and a tasty treat. We bought some apple cookies. Let me tell you, my new mission now involves trying to recreate these little marvels. The reason that I bring this up now is that the basis of the cookies...what made ithem good to the core was that same buttery cinnamon flavor that the Snickerdoodles have. Needless to say, stay tuned for an upcoming post on my attempt to recreate these little babies.

And in case you were wondering if these Snickerdoodles are any good...a coworker of ours, Anne, once took home a bag of the crumbles. See, the cookies are so soft that you can't just put them in a ziplock like you might your traditional chocolate chip cookies. They are so soft that they will literally crumble to pieces. So good, however, that people will want to take home your bag of crumbles.

Bake on!

-M

Look for my next post featuring Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache

Whoopie Pies

It is nightly routine for me to sit in bed with my laptop and browse the internet for an hour or two before going to bed. Usually this consists of checking my email, facebook, and then my favorite baking blogs. A few nights ago I stumbled upon a new blog, A Baked Creation! I love when this happens! Ultimately it means new recipes to try!! The hardest part is deciding which recipe I want to try first!

One of the most recent posts on this blog was for classic chocolate whoopie pies. Zach happened to look over at the computer when I was reading this post and his first words were "those look pretty darn good." I decided to be a nice and sweet wife and make them for him the following day. Plus we were going to Stillwater that weekend with my family and I only like making sweets when I know I have someone I can dump them on! Lord knows I can't keep any sweets around this house because I have no self-control and end up eating all of them!

Michele came over and we had a fun afternoon of baking and girl talk! Nothing could be better!

It worked pretty slick to use my cookie scoop! This way all of the cookies would be similar in size and make it easy to sandwich!

And at this point the house smelt utterly amazing! Nothing is better than the smell of chocolate! The cookies turned out wonderfully but I thought they would be a little more fluffy and cake-like. Don't get me wrong though, they tasted very good!

Now for the fun part, putting the filling between the cookies! Being that I was making these as a special treat for Zach I decided to use my cream cheese frosting as the filling. Zach thinks that my cream cheese frosting should be put on every single cupcake that I make.

Michele was a master sandwicher!

Half way through we decided to switch up the filling a little bit. We melted some semi-sweet baker's chocolate and added it to the cream cheese frosting! Personally I liked this filling the best!!

Well I think it is time to buy the whoopie pie cookbook!!

Best Fricken White Chocolate Chip Cookies....

Man, these cookies are fricken delicious! Especially when they are straight from the oven! They are just oh so soft and gooey. Of course I purposefully bake them a little less than the recipe says so they are extra soft in the middle. As everyone knows, I love the dough and batter more than I actually like the finished product!

I sure do love my cookie scoop! Nothing better than cookies that are all the same size!

White Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 package vanilla instant pudding mix
2 eggs
12 oz white chocolate chips

Cream together butter, sugars, vanilla, and pudding. Beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour and baking soda. Stir in white chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for eight to ten minutes.