Black and White Cookies

This was Day 11 of the Food Network Cookie recipes. I always see these cookies at bakeries and wanted to try making them. I never found a good recipe to use until now. These cookies look amazing and taste even better. I think of them more as a cross between a cookie and a cake since they have that lighter texture. No matter what the name though, you must try these!

The cookie:

• 1 tbsp dry yeast


• 1 cup milk


• 2 sticks butter, room temperature


• 1 3/4 cups sugar


• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract


• 1/4 tsp lemon extract


• 2 1/2 cups cake flour


• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add and combine the yeast mixture, and the extracts.

In a separate bowl whisk together the cake flour, all-purpose flour and salt and gradually
add them to your mixture. Caution: Do not over mix, but make sure to keep your mixture
homogenous.

Prepare a cookie sheet with pan spray and drop spoonfuls of dough 3 to 4 inches apart.
Bake until the edges begin to brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool to room temperature before decorating.


The Black and the White:

• 1 lb good dark chocolate, chopped


• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream


• 1 lb good white chocolate, chopped


• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Place chocolate into 2 separate bowls, 1 for dark and 1 for white. Slowly boil the cream in 2 separate pots. Pour 1 pot cream over the dark and 1 pot over the white and let chocolate melt. Whisk each until smooth.

While the ganache is slightly warm, dip one half of the cookie in one of the chocolate mixtures and the other half in the other chocolate mixture. Place the cookies on wax paper and let cool until the chocolate cools. You will get a little messy, so I have to apologize for the yummy chocolate that ends up on your fingers :)

Original recipe courtesy of Food Network

M&M Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

I am always looking for cute new ways to make cookies that aren't just the classic flat circle. These are so adorable and perfectly bite-sized. The original recipe comes from Picky Palate but I changed a couple things to make it easier and so that I could just use ingredients already in the pantry.

• 1 cup peanut butter


• 2/3 cup sugar


• 1 egg


• 1 cup chocolate chips


• 3 tbsp heavy cream


• 1/4 cup mini M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place peanut butter, sugar and egg into a large bowl and mix until well combined. Scoop dough evenly into a 12 count mini cheesecake pan or mini muffin pan. Cook for 15-18 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Place chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted smooth. Stir in heavy cream until silky and smooth. You can return back to microwave for 15 seconds to get a thinner consistency. Spoon chocolate over top and sprinkle with mini M&M's.

Snickerdoodles

This is one of my Dad's favorites -- I make a plate and its usually gone in a day. These cookies are nice and soft on the inside and sugary and slightly crisp around the edges. Although you have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands a little dirty, they are definitely worth it!

• 1 stick butter, softened


• 1 1/2 cups sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1 tsp vanilla


• 2 3/4 cups flour


• 1/2 tsp baking soda


• 1 tsp Cream of Tartar


• 1/4 tsp salt



• 4 tbsp sugar


• 3 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400F.

In a mixer, cream butter and sugar together until well-combined. Add eggs and vanilla. Slowly add in flour, baking soda, salt, and Cream of Tartar. Mix until just combined.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough into small balls about the size of a ping-pong ball and then lightly press them to be in the shape of a thick, flat disc. Cover both sides with the cinnamon sugar mixture and place onto a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart from each other. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until barely golden-brown. Let cool for about 3-5 minutes and then remove from cookie sheet and place on cooling rack. Store in an airtight container after completely cooled.

Makes 2 dozen large cookies.

Original recipe from Pillsbury.

Coconut Macaroons

Every year I am dying for some new cookie recipes to add to my Christmas cookie list and so I am part of the Food Network 12 Days of Cookies recipe special. Basically every day for 12 days beginning December 1 they email you a cookie recipe from one of their chefs.

This was Day 1 and I thought it was perfect because NO FLOUR! And although I am usually not a huge coconut fan, in dessert I always make an exception.

• 15 oz shredded coconut


• 2 oz sweetened condensed milk


• pinch kosher salt


• 1 tsp. vanilla


• 4 egg whites


• 5 oz sugar


• 12 oz chocolate chips


• 1 oz shortening

Preheat oven to 325F.

Combine the coconut with the sweetened condensed milk, salt and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to whip the whites until medium peaks form, 6 to 7 minutes.

Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds onto a parchment-lined half sheet pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately transfer the parchment with the macaroons to a cooling rack. Cool completely before topping.

Fill a 4-quart pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the side, set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Combine the chocolate chips and shortening in a small metal or glass mixing bowl and set over the simmering pot. Stir occasionally until melted, then remove from the heat.

Dip the cooled cookies in the chocolate mixture. (I added mini chocolate chips to the top too!)

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

Christmas Treat Platters

Every single year I want to put together treat plates that have lots of different cookies, bars, treats, and snacks to give out to family and friends and every single year I get so busy and so I usually make two different cookies and call it a day. This year I am going to try to make a lot of different recipes ... some new and some that I can recite off the top of my head.

These recipes will be coming in the next week or so as my I bake my heart away ...

• Coconut Macaroons


• Classic Sugar Cookies


• Chocolate Peanut Butter Bark


• Eclairs and Cream Puffs


• Snickerdoodles


• M&M Peanut Butter Cookie Cups


• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars


• Black and White Cookies


• .... and maybe a few surprises too .....

I hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are great classic chocolate chip cookies. I saw it on the Food Network show "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. This was my favorite of his cookie recipes because it makes the cookies puffy, fat, and chewy ones instead of the thin, crispy type.

• 1 cup shortening


• 1 cup brown sugar


• ¾ cup white sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla


• 2 ¼ cups cake flour


• 1 tsp. coarse salt


• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder


• 2 cups chocolate chips

Cream together shortening and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until well-mixed. Add vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients slowly to creamed mixture. After ingredients are fully combined, stir in chocolate chips.


Refrigerate cookie dough for at least an hour. Drop a heaping tablespoon of dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375ºF for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown around the edges. Cool completely before storing in a sealed container.


Recipe can be modified for white chocolate or peanut butter chips or whatever else your taste buds desire.

Note: I sometimes make a double batch of this and keep the extra dough in a sealed container in the fridge for an extra couple days so that you can just scoop it onto the baking sheet and cook when friends or family visit.

TWD: Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters

These were a hit with everybody at a Labor Day picnic that I attended this past weekend. A lot of people asked for the recipe and said that they could taste all the major ingredients (oatmeal, chocolate, and peanut butter). I added a little more peanut butter than the recipe called for since a lot of people said that the peanut flavor didn't come through as much as they liked.

Definitely a recipe that will be made again soon! Great choice by Stefany from Proceed with Caution