cookies | What's Annie Making?

Monster Monday Cookies

10 March, 2013 2 Comments

I live an exciting life people. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that my Friday night was craayyyyy-zyyyyyy!

I have 2 midterms this week so my Friday night was spent studying while watching a House Hunters marathon. And then I baked these cookies to give myself a break for a bit (and also to redeem myself a little bit with Josh. Pretty sure that was not how he saw his weekend panning out).

Luckily, I got lots done. Everyone found their dream house. And the cookies were delicious.

These Monster Cookies were based off the chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies I made a while back. Except with more oats and chips. And don’t worry, I’m not one of those sick people that puts raisins in Monster cookies. Maybe when I’m an 80 year old grandma I’ll make my grandkids eat raisins in their cookies. But not now.

Instead, I’ll load them with dark chocolate, butterscotch chips and peanut M&Ms for good measure. It was a Friday after all.

And now today is Monday, so I think I’m going to go eat another cookie and watch some more House Hunters while I study.

PS – I know it’s The Bachelor finale tonight. I have late class so I have to miss it. Please don’t spoil it for me! Team Catherine all the way

Monster Cookies

by Annie S

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-16 minutes

Ingredients (30 cookies)

3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
8 T unsalted butter
6 T creamy peanut butter
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 c chocolate chips
1/2 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c M&Ms (I used peanut)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Add butter and peanut butter to a microwave safe bowl, and heat in 30 second increments until melted. Let cool completely.

Mix the flour, oats, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the cooled butter/peanut butter and sugars until they are combined.

Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and stir until mixed.

Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms

Fold in chips and candies.

Use a cookie scoop (or form ping pong size balls by hand) and place dough on a cookie sheet covered in parchment, 2-3 inches apart

Bake 15-16 minutes (they will not look done yet, but take them out, trust me!)

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes on cookie sheet

Enjoy!

Filed Under: cookies

Dark chocolate Andes mint cookies

11 February, 2013 3 Comments

Dear Monday. It’s not time for you yet. I’m pretty sure Saturday feels a little jipped. Like it needs another day to live up to its full weekend glory. To sleep in until 7:30, make pancakes for breakfast and play with puppies. Let’s go back and do that one more time. Mmmmkay? Good.

As hard I as I wish that, it’s not going to happen. So I’m going to do the next best thing. Make these cookies.

I shared this lovely teaser photo last week and I suppose it’s time I share the recipe with you all now.

Sometimes I just have these ideas that are so brilliant beyond brilliant I can’t even hold them in any more. I need to run to the kitchen, put on my apron and preheat the oven stat. This was one of those moments.

We were in the middle of watching Modern Family and I completely abandoned the show (I KNOW!) to get these going. I couldn’t even focus enough to watch one of my favorite shows. Lucky for me the cookies lived up to my expectations. And lucky for me, we have Hulu Plus.

These chocolatey pillows of love have just enough mint in them to taste like one of my favorite candies, but not enough to taste like you’re eating toothpaste. I call that a success. Also a success, the fact that I can satisfy my craving for chocolate and mint without having to pay cute little girls with sashes $5 for a box of cookies that will get devoured in 2 days.

Take that Monday!

Dark chocolate Andes mint cookies

by Annie S

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (2 1/2 dozen cookies)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces coarsely chopped dark chocolate
1/2 c dark chocolate chips
1 4.67 oz package of Andes mints – unwrapped, roughly chopped
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Melt coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a microwave safe bowl.

Transfer chocolate mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix on medium speed until combined.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

Fold in chocolate chips and Andes mints.

Scoop batter using a cookie scoop (or make 2 T size balls)

Place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces begin to crack, about 15 minutes.

Transfer on parchment to wire racks.

Let cool 5 minutes.

Filed Under: baking, cookies

peanut butter oatmeal double chip cookies

1 May, 2012 4 Comments

Did you know that yesterday was National Oatmeal Cookie Day? No? Neither did I. I’m not sure where people find out when all of these food holidays are, but I would love to know when they are! I mean, is there a national pickle day? Because I love pickles, and I for sure want to celebrate that.

Lucky for me, I’m a psychic. I made oatmeal cookies without even knowing that it was a holiday. And they were to die for. Peanut butter, oatmeal, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips… Literally, I was celebrating this holiday unknowingly with the grand finale of all oatmeal cookies. OMG. Check out those chips!

I made these cookies to send to a friend who I miss very dearly. I feel like all of my old friends are so far away from me and I need to ship them all things so I can still bake for them. It’s really an unfortunate situation. I’m not sure if cookies still taste as good after going through the post office.

I followed Jessica’s recipe for these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Double Chip Cookies. The only thing I changed was using dark chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips, only because I didn’t have any. If you happened to have all 3 types of chips, you could make triple chip cookies. And then send some to me. Please and thank you.

Now all you need is a glass of (almond) milk for dunking.

In other news, what’s the big to-do about this “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a sixpence in your shoe” thing? I have something blue; I’m thinking about the others. And a sixpence? Do they even make those any more??? Any advice, or clever ways to incorporate these items (without having to carry a large fanny pack down the aisle full of stuff) would be appreciated. It just seems like an awful lot of stuff to me!

Filed Under: baking, cookies

cookies and clutches

17 April, 2012 2 Comments

I did it! I finally did it!!!! I made chocolate chip cookies that are delicious and don’t flatten out like pancakes. For the longest time I’ve been making the recipe from the back of the Tollhouse bag. It’s a classic recipe that always made the softest, chewiest cookies. I always loved the taste of them so I never realized until a few years ago that they really aren’t supposed to flatten out until they’re almost see through. Ever since then I’ve been looking for a recipe that recreated the taste of my beloved cookies, but didn’t fall flat. This is it folks.

I followed this recipe to a tee so I’m just going to post the link and you can check it out for yourself. I’m not sure exactly what the magic is in this recipe. Maybe it’s the 360 degree oven (random), maybe it’s the parchment paper trick at the end. Whatever it is, it works.

from this

to this – in 12 minutes flat!!!!

On a completely different note – I’ve been looking all over the internet for the past month to find the perfect wedding clutch. I want something that is pretty, vintage, and small to hold things like lipstick, gum, and kleenexes for the my big day. I’ve narrowed it down to the following three clutches that I found on Etsy. As my friends, I’d like your input on the subject. Let me know which one you like best, or if you have any other recommendations of things you seen that you think I might also like. If you don’t know what Etsy is, it’s a wonderful free online community that people can go on and sell their handmade goods. I’ve gotten a few things from different vendors and had great success. I love the idea of something handmade that nobody else has. Something that has a story behind it… Here are my favorite clutches. Which one do you like best?