One of the cookies I made this year is Black and White Cookies: Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Dark Chocolate Brown Sugar, they take some more time than the traditional cookies but in the end they are a tasty treat.
Black and White Cookies:
Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (use cream cheese in a block or spreadable tub; don't use fat-free, light or whipped)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks
Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (light brown sugar may be substituted)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened natural dark cocoa powder ( regular unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch-processed may be substituted)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
Directions:
Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies
To the bowl of a KitchenAid Stand Mixer
fitted with the paddle attachment,
combine the butter, cream cheese (measure it by smooshing it into a
1/4-cup measure), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed
until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an
electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat momentarily to incorporate, or fold in by hand.
Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop
,
form heaping mounds. Place mounds on a large plate or cookie sheet
, flatten
slightly, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours,
or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because
cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop
,
form heaping 2-tablespoon mounds (I made 15). Place mounds on a large
plate or a cookie sheet
, flatten slightly, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at
least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm
dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.After both doughs are made and have chilled...
Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Non-Stick Silicon Baking Mat
or spray with cooking spray; set aside.Smoosh a cream cheese dough ball and a chocolate dough ball together, making sure they're tightly combined. Depending on how chilled your dough is, you may really need to squeeze firmly. Be careful that any chocolate dough that rubs off onto your palm doesn't stain the vanilla dough. Wipe your hands frequently and as necessary. Repeat, combining the doughs, until all dough is gone. You'll likely have about 1 dozen un-matched Cream Cheese Cookie dough balls leftover because that recipe makes a bigger batch. When you're ready to bake the unmatched Cream Cheese Cookies, bake for 8 to 9 minutes. Unbaked dough can be refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 4 months.
Place black-and-white mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. I recommend baking 6 to 8 cookies per sheet, no more. Flatten slightly before baking.
Bake for about 12 to 13 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set. Don't over bake because the chocolate cookie portion is prone to drying out and getting crumbly if over baked. Cookies may look loose and unset on baking tray, but they firm up as they cool. If your cookies stayed domed while baking, tap them gently with the back of a spoon to flatten. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
These turn out to be big cookies and I ended up with extra of the cream cheese chocolate chip ones that didn't have chocolate sugar cookie mates, so I just baked them and those cookies are good on there own. These cookies are more dense than your normal cookie and the chocolate sugar cookie side I think needed something, I suggest maybe adding chocolate chips to that side as well. They take longer to make since you are making two different cookie batters as well as refrigeration time, but the end product is pretty and tasty, could be a great addition to a gift basket or cookie swap!
The next cookie I made was Oatmeal Toffee Cookies, I like regular oatmeal cookies but I wanted something different. I had left over toffee pieces from thanks giving and didn't want them to go bad and I had come across this recipe on Pinterest and thought why not give it a try!
Oatmeal Toffee Cookies
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons maple extract {or vanilla if you don't have maple}
2 large eggs
2/3 cups toffee bits
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in a KitchenAid Mixer
and beat at medium
speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add vanilla and eggs; beat
well. Add flour mixture; beat just until combined. Stir in toffee bits. Drop dough with cookie scoop
2 inches apart on 2 cookie sheet coated
with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Cool on pans for 1
minute. Do not over bake! The cookies don't look quite done when you
pull them out, but they'll be perfect once they're cooled. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.These are very easy to make and take very little time. My husband enjoyed these so much that I was not able to get a picture of the finished product. The toffee bits add some sweetness and a hint of toffee flavor to the cookie, and the cookie itself is soft and very tasty.
I also tried out for the first time Gingersnap Cookies, I've enjoyed gingersnap cookies since I was little but have never attempted to make them myself until now.
Ginger Snaps
Makes 40-50 cookies
2 cups flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
11 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup mild-flavored molasses* (sometimes called 'light' molasses)
1 large egg, at room temperature
optional step: coarse sugar crystals for coating the cookies
Stir together the dry ingredients. In the bowl of a KitchenAid Mixer
, or by hand, beat the butter just
until soft and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until smooth,
stopping the mixer to scrape down any butter clinging to the sides of
the bowl. Stir in the vanilla, molasses and egg. Mix in the dry ingredients gradually until the dough is smooth. Divide the dough in two equal portions and roll each on a
lightly-floured surface until each is about 2-inches around. Don’t
worry if they’re not perfect; you can neaten them up in a second. Wrap each in plastic wrap then roll them lightly on the counter to
smooth them out. Refrigerate, or better yet, freeze the cookie logs
until firm.To bake, preheat the oven to 350 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Non-Stick Silicon Baking Mat
. Slice cookie dough into 1/4-inch rounds with a
sharp knife. Dip one side and press firmly in a bowl of coarse sugar if
you want (you can also use granulated sugar instead), and place sugar-side up on baking sheet, evenly-spaced apart. Leave a couple of inches, about 5 cm, between cookies since they’ll spread while baking.Bake for 10-14 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet midway during
baking, until deep-golden brown. The cookies will puff up a bit while
baking, then settle down when they’re done. Bake on the lower end of the
range for softer cookies, and more for snappier ones, depending on your
oven. Let the cookies cool two minutes, then remove them with a spatula and transfer them to a cooling rack.Storage: The dough can be refrigerated for up to five days, or frozen for up to three months. Once baked, the cookies can be kept in an air-tight container for a couple of days but like anything made with butter, of course they’re best the day they’re baked.
These cookies also take some extra time to make with the refrigeration process, but overall they a simple to make. These aren't my family's cup of tea but I enjoyed them and the dough makes a lot of cookies, so these too would make a great addition to gift baskets or cookie swaps.
The last cookie I made is a tradition in my family, we have made it for years and has been passed along through generations, it is the delicious Cream Cheese Cookies.
Cream Cheese Cookies
Makes 2 dozen1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 oz Philadelphia brand cream cheese
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sifted flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. With a KitchenAid Mixer
or a hand mixercream butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and cream well. Stir in vanilla extract. Slowly, add flour. Mix well, we add a couple drops of food coloring to batches and make Christmas trees, wreaths, etc. Using a Cookie Press
, press cookies out on ungreased cookie sheet (I unfortunately do not have a cookie press so I just use a cookie scoop
and put them on the cookie sheet that way and flatten them some), decorate with sprinkles, if desired, and bake 8-10 minutes, until they start to slightly brown. Transfer to wired rack to cool These are my favorite cookie, its not the holidays without them. They are light and buttery and so tasty. I always double the recipe because just one batch is not enough. My kids love to decorate these cookies, as well as I did when I was a kid. The cream cheese cookies are a big hit with my family!
I hope you all enjoy these recipes, let me know how they turn out! I would also love to hear some of your favorite cookie recipes, maybe I could give them a try! Happy Holidays!
