chocolate cookies

Peppermint Chunk Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies

December 19, 2019

Peppermint Chunk Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies- soft, chewy cookies that are easy to make with just a few ingredients. Perfect for the busy holidays.

Ho Ho Ho! Santa will be thrilled when he is greeted with a plate of these Peppermint Chunk Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies! They are soft, chocolaty, and loaded with peppermint chunks. Yum!

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Chocolate Mint Chip Sandwich Cookies

December 9, 2014

I’ve put in my time off requests for the holidays (and for our upcoming cruise in January)!! Once it was all signed off (by 4 diferent people) I almost danced around the office.

I am taking Christmas week off for some ME time… lots of PJ wearing, garlic noodle making, You’ve Got Mail watching, with some scrapbooking in the mix. Damn, I really miss scrapbooking. I could have a sob fest about it right now, but I will soilder on and focus on how I get 2 whole days to myself (the others will be with Miss Autumn) to make a mess with pictures, washi tape, stamps, and such. Bliss.

In the 9 days from when I leave work to return from the holidays I’m sure I’ll do some baking as well. Or plan on it and maybe I’ll just scrapbook instead. I dunno. I’m trying to stay quite focused on that so that I can zen out while I watch Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan exchange witty emails back and forth while I work on our 2014 project life.

I am thinking about making these babies again though. They are perfect. Minty. Chocoately. They scream winter to me. And there is plenty of minty frosting smack dab in btween 2 cookies. Aren’t cookie sandwiches the best?

I have a funny story about making these cookies.

It involves a thief (Price) who snagged a cookie while they were cooling before I had put a generious amount of frosting between the paired off cookies. So when I was a nearly done with the sandwiching, I noticed I was off. I searched the counter. I recounted. I looked on the dining table. A cookie was missing. I knew had made 13 pairs. And then I asked…

“Yeah, I took a cookie. Why?”

UGH!!! And that is why you must notify other thieves in your house when making sandwich cookies. ha!

I’m starting to think that all cookies should come in pairs with frosting in between. The world needs more cookie sandwiches. Def.

I brought they babies into work to share so I cut them up. They cut in half pretty easily as the cookies are delightfully soft, and yet dense to hold up to the frosting filling.

If you don’t feel like making sandwiches cookies then at least the cookies since they are so Christmasy good.

What are you doing for the holidays? Any movie marahons? Crafting? Cooking and baking? Traveling? Stuffing your face with cookie sandwiches and spiked nog?

Chocolate Mint Chip Sandwich Cookies

Makes 12-13 Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients

For the Cookies

2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 Cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (10-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels

For the frosting

1/2 Cup butter, at room temperature
4 Cups of powered sugar
10-12 drops green food coloring
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1-2 Tablespoons milk

Process

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper/ use a silpat.
Wisk the flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl to combine. Set aside.
Combine the butter and sugars in bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and beat until combined.
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until a dough as formed. Once the dough has combined add in the minty chocolate chips and continue to mix.
Divide the dough in half. From each half, scoop out even sized cookies until you have made 12 or 13 cookies (24 or 26 total).
Bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove cookie sheets from oven when the center of the cookie is still soft to the touch. Let cool and set up for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet prior to removing.
While the cookies are baking, make the sandwich cookie filling by beating the butter until light in color and fluffy in texture. Add the powdered sugar in small amounts and beat until combined. Add the food coloring, and extract. Add a bit of milk until you have reached your desired consistency, which should be thick but spreadable.
Once the cookies have cooled completely, put a big dollop or pipe the frosting on the underside of a cookie. Add another cookie to sandwich it off.

No-Bake Snickers Pie

July 11, 2014

No-Bake Snickers Pie – A rich creamy peanut butter pie with Snickers candy bar dessert and caramel topping. Perfect for warm Summer nights!

We’re going camping tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Yeah, we might be a bit crazy to tackle that with a dog and a 7 month old but we are up for the challenge. Plus we are approaching it cautiously by only going 1 night and going to Pillsbury State Park, a campsite that we have already been to so we know exactly what to expect there.

One of the things that I am really looking forward to is being able to walk all around the camp grounds with Autumn and get to show her the lake, streams, and a waterfall too. We did a hike there last year when I was 6 months pregnant so it will be fun to do it now with Autumn. Hoping to be much faster this time!

While we’re roughing it this weekend, you should be cutting yourself a slice of this pie. You can easily whip it up while not turning your oven on in this summer heat! Isn’t that just the best thing ever? Pie and you don’t even need to get your kitchen hot!!

Plus, it’s LOADED up with pieces of Snickers. SNICKERS!!!

When I was at summer sleep away camp we could buy treats in the afternoon at the general store. ~~Occasionally~~ Every day I would get a Snickers bar to take out to the four square court. As I waited in line I’d eat my melting Snickers and right before it was my turn I’d shove that wrapper into my shorts pocket before I ~~dominated~~ played the game.

Since then I’ve loved Snickers. I can’t keep them in the house because they call to me from the refrigerator. Which is exactly why after Price and I each enjoyed a slice of this pie I emailed our dog walker telling her that there was a pie in our freezer for her to take. I had to hit send on that email quickly before I thought twice and considered eating it all myself. I hope her family enjoys it just as much as we did. And I hope you do too!

No Bake Snickers Pie

Make 1 9″ Pie Ingredients

For the crust

8 ounces chocolate cookies (I used a ‘dutch chocolate cookie‘)
3 Tablespoons butter, melted plus a little extra for greasing the pie plate

For the filling

8 ounces light cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 1/2 Cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 Cup sugar
2/3 Cup smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 Cup caramel sauce

For the ganache topping

6 ounces milk chocolate, broken into small pieces (a mixture of milk and semi-sweet is fine as well)
1/4- 1/3 cup heavy cream
12 Fun Size Snickers bars, chopped up
Caramel Sauce

Process

Butter the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Set aside.
In a food processor, finely process the cookies until you produce a fine crumb. Add the melted butter and mix to combine. Using your fingers, press this mixture into the pie plate and up the sides. Place in the fridge to harden.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the cream until it forms firm peaks. Transfer to a large bowl, and set aside.
Using mixing bowl you had perviously whipped the cream in, beat the cream cheese, sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla extract until it becomes smooth and creamy.
Scoop out dollops of the peanut butter mixture onto the bowl with the whipped cream. Gently fold together until there are no more streaks, but be careful not to over mix deflating the filling.
Remove the pie plate from the fridge and pour a thin, even layer of the caramel over the crust. Scoop the filling onto the caramel and evenly smooth out the top. Return to the freezer .
In the bowl of a double boiler, add the broken pieces of chocolate and heat over low heat until almost melted through. Add 1/4 Cup of the cream and continue to heat until the mixture to fuly melted and smooth. (If the chocolate ‘breaks’ then add a bit more cream until it is smooth again.)
Remove the pie from the freezer and pour the ganache over the top. Smooth the surface with an offset spatula. Spinkle the chopped up pieces of Snickers bars on top, then gently press into the warm ganache. Drizzle the caramel sauce on top and return to the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
Prior to serving, place the pie into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to make cutting and serving easier.

Insprired from Not Quiet Nigella

Caramel Chocolate Kiss Cookies

December 10, 2012

So Price and I are having some issues lately. It all boils down to the impulses I have related to buying tons of candy for cookies and other treats and his impulses to eat every candy that comes into the house. I can barely care that we have baskets full of candies like m&m’s, peanut butter cups, and kisses at arms reach. But for Price and his sweet tooth it’s pure torture. So he stares longingly at the bags and bags of candy that hang around until I get a chance to incorporate them into some baking. And he knows that if he eats that candy before I get around to baking… trouble. ha!

When I got around to making these I thought he was going to do some cart wheels in the living room. Or maybe a Carl Edward’s like back flip off the sofa. I have to put him to work every now and then so I got Pricer involved to squish the kisses into the just baked cookies. And then in a blink he was trying a freshly baked cookie. They are best warm from the oven since the center caramel is soft and melty. To enjoy that after they have cooled just pop them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.

I adapted the Cookie Trio recipe to create the cookie base part. I browsed all of the different cookie recipes on Hershey’s to figure out the recipe to use with the Caramel Kisses. I wanted to keep things simple so I kept with a chocolate base to pair well with the chocolate and chocolate candy. The result are a pop-able bite sized cookie that is perfect for the holidays, cookie swaps, and bake sales.

Caramel Chocolate Kiss Cookies

Makes 48 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine , softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
48 Hershey’s caramel kisses, unwrapped

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Add in the egg and vanilla extract. Gradually beat the flour mixture into butter mixture.
Divide the dough mixture into 4 equal portions. Then from each portion create 12 1-inch balls. Place each ball on the parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are just set. Remove from oven and immediately press a chocolate kiss into the center of the cookie. Cool 1 minute prior to removing to cool on a wire rack.