Crème Brulée Cookie Bars

I have had this cookie saved for quite a while, likely because I look at the recipe and think that I must have already made these bars! Well, I hadn’t made these bars so now is the time. I have quite a supply of white chocolate chips, so this is the perfect recipe. White chocolate can be fussy and burns easily, so when you are melting the butter and white chocolate, watch it carefully. You aren’t going to get a smooth mixture, but it will smooth out when you add other ingredients.

Finding the right toffee bits can be a challenge. You can get plain toffee bits (bits o’ brittle) and toffee bits with chocolate (usually called English toffee bits). I wanted the plain bits for this recipe, but I only had the ones with chocolate. Stores almost universally have one type or the other, but I can never remember which store carries which variety. After visiting a few stores, I was able to get the ones I needed. 

I melted the butter and white chips, and it wasn’t smooth, which is scary! I let it cool then mixed all the other ingredients and added the melted white chocolate mixture and you get a thick, sticky dough. It isn’t all that cooperative when trying to smooth it in the pan; do your best. The bars cut nicely, although the toffee chips want to fall everywhere. These have a beautiful smooth cake base, topped with the sweet toffee crunch. Very tasty indeed!

Crème Brulée Cookie Bars
½ cup butter, room temperature
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 ¼ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup toffee bits

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick spray. 

In a medium bowl over low heat, or in the microwave, melt the butter and white chocolate chips, stirring frequently to ensure that the mixture doesn’t burn. The mixture won’t be completely smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. 

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, sugar, vanilla, salt, and eggs. Mix on medium until smooth. Add the melted white chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the partially baked bars from the oven and top with the toffee bits. Bake for an additional 10-12 minutes until browned along the edges. The center may still be slightly soft, but you do not want to over bake the bars. Allow the bars to cool in the refrigerator; the bars will set as they cool. Cut into bars once cool.

Recipe from Crazy for Crust

Cherry Marzipan White Chocolate Cookies

My husband and I had a weekend away, and one of the things we did was visit the Pike Place Market. There are usually lots of people, but it is fun to look at the vendors and the items they offer. We stopped at the Woodring Northwest booth, which offer honey and preserves and other interesting things. They had White Chocolate Marzipan spread, and I was fascinated. It is similar to Nutella, and I wanted to use it in some cookie recipe.

This recipe was found by my husband, and I thought that it would be a good starting point. Instead of adding the white chocolate marzipan spread instead of other ingredients, I was inspired by a cookie where you added a swirl of Nutella, so that was my goal. I did use dried cherries, and I didn’t add sliced almonds, as I didn’t seem to have any on hand. I really need to sort through my baking ingredients!

The dough is very thick, so I mixed the spread into the dough. I figured that the dough would be different with the addition of the spread, so I wanted to chill the dough before baking. I made the dough, refrigerated it during the day and then baked them up. The cookies are thinner and a little lacy, but I didn’t have any significant issues with the dough. The spread adds a nice marzipan flavor, even without added almonds. I liked the dried cherries and think that there should be more cherry things in the world. These are great, and it was fun to find a workable recipe and try something new. 

Cherry Marzipan White Chocolate Cookies
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
2/3 cup white chocolate marzipan spread

In a large mixer bowl, add the butter, sugar, and brown sugar; beat on medium until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and oats. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture to the dough. Stir in the dried cherries and white chocolate chips.

Drop spoonfuls of white chocolate marzipan spread onto the dough and mix/swirl the spread into the dough. It won’t be fully incorporated, but that’s ok. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Shape the dough into 1-1/4” mounds on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until browned along the edges. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Lovely Little Kitchen. Additional inspiration from Creations by Kara

Berry Cheesecake Cookies

For different occasions, I do try and pick a recipe that is fitting for the holiday. It is nearly Valentine’s Day, not something that we typically celebrate much, but still, it is nice to make something appropriate. I came up with the idea of berries and cream cheese. I had one recipe saved, but when I looked more carefully, I feared that it was one of those AI recipes. I had no faith that the cookies would look like the image, so I looked for a new recipe. 

This recipe had similar elements and was posted by a known blogger several years ago, so I wasn’t worried. Is that what AI has done? It makes me trust nothing that is current, as so much can be created. It is so frustrating. These cookies start with a cake mix, then contain freeze-dried berries and cream cheese, which were elements from the original recipe I had found. 

These come together quickly, and the dough is fairly thick. I was worried that I would crush the freeze-dried berries too much, but they held up well. I couldn’t find freeze-dried raspberries, so I used a berry mixture. I think I liked it more, as it gave the cookies some variations in colors. These are soft, so it can be difficult to gauge that they are baked, so I did bake mine on the longer side. They remain soft, which is ok. The cream cheese gives these a hint of cheesecake flavor, and the fruit adds bites of sweetness.

Berry Cheesecake Cookies
1 vanilla cake mix
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1.25 ounces freeze dried berries/raspberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the cake mix, cream cheese, butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat on medium until well combined. Stir in the freeze dried berries and white chocolate chips with a spatula. While the berries will break somewhat, be gentle so that they don’t completely turn into powder.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” mounds. Flatten the top of each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. 

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until set. The cookies will look undone, but will continue to set as they cool. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Recipe from Practically Homemade

Cranberry & White Chocolate Shortbread

I have had this recipe saved for a long time and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t made them previously. This is a Canadian recipe, from Robin Hood Flour, which is a big vendor there. They also sponsor the Canadian Baking Show, so I am also familiar for that reason. I really like the Canadian Baking Show, it’s similar to the British show, but with different hosts and judges. And the challenges are a bit different and reflect the mosaic that is truly Canadian.

I haven’t made anything with dried cranberries recently, but it’s one of those things that I always have on hand. The ones that I have are a bit different, and while they are dried, they look almost like they are freeze-dried. The berries are whole, and not wrinkly like a raisin. Different, but I don’t recall that they tasted different last time I used them.

I followed this recipe as posted, but my bars were super crumbly. I know they are shortbread, which is always a bit crumbly, but these were extreme! I think I baked them for a couple of minutes longer than needed; it’s hard to tell as they don’t brown much. I also didn’t cut them after 30 minutes- it’s busy this time of year and I was doing something else! So these don’t look as polished as I had hoped, but they are still very tasty.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Shortbread
1-3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla on medium until creamy. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. 

Pat evenly into the prepared pan. Prick the top of the bars with a fork.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the bar begin to turn golden along the edge. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Lift the bars from the pan and peel away the foil. Cut into squares while still warm. Dust with additional powdered sugar before serving.

Recipe from Robin Hood Flour

Boston Cream Pie Fudge

Since I became the designated fudge maker in the family, I don’t always choose very traditional fudge recipes. My dad used to make about 20 different varieties of fudge and molded chocolates, and I simply don’t have the time for that. I have long looked at different recipes, but I was hesitant to share them as I didn’t want my dad to feel compelled to make them. Now I am choosing to make them.

One that I have wanted to make for a while is this recipe for Boston Cream Pie Fudge. It uses a variety of ingredients: marshmallow fluff, custard powder, white chocolate chips, but you also have to cook the butter/sugar/cream to soft ball stage. An interesting combination and one that made for a very thick mixture! I certainly got a workout with this recipe.

Since the fudge was so thick, my effort to swirl the batter wasn’t very obvious. You make the base fudge then cut it into pieces and dip in melted chocolate, which I hadn’t done before. Thankfully the fudge was easy to cut and dipping in chocolate was no problem at all. The chocolate adds a nice flavor to this fudge, which has the subtle flavors of white chocolate and custard.

Boston Cream Pie Fudge
2 cups sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup heavy cream
2 cups white chocolate chips
7 ounces marshmallow cream
3 tablespoons Bird's Custard Powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
3 tablespoons cocoa powder

6 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, and heavy cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan and lower the temperature to medium low. Cook until the thermometer reads 234 degrees, which was about 10 minutes. 

Remove from the heat and add the white chocolate chips, stirring until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Stir in the marshmallow crème, then the Custard Powder and vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Pour 2/3 of the fudge into the prepared pan. To the remaining 1/3, stir in the cocoa powder, mixing until combined. Pour the chocolate 1/3 on top of the remaining fudge in the pan. Swirl the two fudges together with a flat knife. Chill the fudge for several hours.

Remove the fudge from the pan and cut into squares. 

Finally, make the topping: in a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate and vegetable oil. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Dip the top of each piece of fudge into the chocolate. Allow the chocolate to set before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

Recipe from Sweet Recipeas

Lemon Crunch Oreo Cookies

I was looking around for cookies to make with our sunnier weather and I came across a couple of variations of this Lemon Crunch Cookie. The recipes vary a little bit, but most are flavored with lemon and white chocolate chips, then include chopped vanilla or lemon Oreos. That couldn’t possibly be bad, right? I picked this recipe and thought it would be great. I figured I might change the ratio of white chocolate chips and Oreos, but that’s not too significant.

This is a pudding cookie, which means you add pudding mix to the dough. The original recipe calls for lemon pudding, but there was a note in the recipe that lemon flavor may be difficult to find. That was true in my case, and I ended up using vanilla pudding mix and added the zest of a lemon. I guess I never look too closely at the variety of puddings available for purchase, but I suppose they are somewhat interchangeable.

This dough comes together easily, and I ended up using about a cup of white chocolate chips and 14 of the Lemon Oreo thins. I don’t know if they make non-thin lemon Oreos, but these were pretty good and I am happy to report that there are lemon Oreos left over for eating. The dough is soft and sticky, but that isn’t uncommon for a puddling cookie. These cookies browned quickly, so you do have to watch the timing, Other than that, they are a lovely cookie that makes a generous amount.

Lemon Crunch Oreo Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
3 ounce instant lemon pudding mix
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
14 lemon lemon Oreos, chopped
1 cup white chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium until
incorporated. Add the pudding mix, salt, and eggs and stir again to combine. Stir in the vanilla. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour and baking soda, mixing until the dough forms. Fold in the chopped cookies and white chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Press additional chopped lemon Oreos to the top of the cookies if desired.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until lightly browned along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Shugary Sweets

Strawberry and Cream Cookies

I was looking for summery cookies to bake and when I start looking, I can find all sorts of interesting recipes that I want to try! I have to balance my desire to bake with the fact that I have more free time and also the fact that the house is fairly warm. I try to find recipes that I can bake first thing in the morning, before it is too hot, and that will only use the oven for a short time.

These strawberry and cream cookies sounded perfect for summer, which was exactly what I had been looking for. There is an abundance of fruit in the summer, but it is difficult to use fresh fruit in cookie baking as fruits contain so much liquid. Once in a while you can make a quick jam with fruit, but that’s about it. These cookies use freeze-dried strawberries, which are now readily available at the store. They add the flavor of strawberries without some of the other complications.

I ended up making half a recipe (again, making sure the oven wasn’t on too long), and you do want to note the freeze-dried strawberry quantity. The half recipe used the smaller bag that I got at the store, about 25 grams. It seems like it should weigh more but it doesn’t, and you don’t want to have too many strawberries. I also had slightly less than the quantity of cream cheese, as I thought I had more on hand than I did, but it didn’t make much of a difference. These cookies are soft, but the flavor of the strawberries can’t be beat!

Strawberry and Cream Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups freeze-dried strawberries (about 45 grams)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium until smooth. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and add the egg and vanilla, stirring to incorporate.

With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until the dough almost comes together. Add the white chocolate and the freeze-dried strawberries and turn the mixer on and off to distribute them into the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Scoop the dough into 1 1/2 tablespoon balls of dough and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are slightly browned along the bottom edges. Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Irish Cream Chocolate Cookies

I have been keeping this recipe for a little while, and I have some Irish Cream liqueur that is specialized and might not keep as long as other liqueurs. My folks had made this recipe a while ago, and raved about how wonderful the cookies were. They were super rich, but what do you expect with a cookie that is chocolate and filled with Irish Cream liqueur?

This cookie doesn’t call for uncommon ingredients, but it contains quite a few different elements that add to their richness. I know that some people will balk at including coffee powder, but that simply makes the chocolate taste more chocolatey. The coffee flavor is not prevalent at all. Somehow, in the rush of holiday baking, I had run out of white chocolate chips. I used milk chocolate chips in the dough and then topped the cookies with a few additional white chocolate chips.

These cookies have you make the dough, then shape the cookies, and refrigerate for several hours. The dough is too sticky to use at this point, and even shaping the cookies was challenging! I refrigerated the dough for about six hours, and they were much easier to work with. Since these are rich, I am very glad that I made them small. They have a wonderful chocolate flavor with the subtle addition of Irish Cream.

Irish Cream Chocolate Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Irish Cream Liquor
2 ⅔ cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing until the ingredients are incorporated. Add the Irish Cream, a little at a time, to the dough.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, coffee powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. When the flour mixture is almost incorporated, stop the mixer and add the white and milk chocolate chips. Finish mixing the dough with a spatula.

Shape the dough into 1-1/4” balls and place on a plate covered with parchment. Refrigerate the cookie dough balls for at least 4 hours.

Heat the oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Reroll the chilled cookies into a ball and place on the prepared baking sheets, ensuring that there is plenty of space between the cookies.

Bake for 9-12 minutes, until the cookies are set. Do not over bake. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Confessions of a Baking Queen

Sticky Toffee Spice Cookies

Sticky Toffee Pudding is a classic British dessert, but I suppose this time of year it is more common to have a Christmas pudding with a festive meal. I like both, but honestly, you can’t eat too much Christmas pudding as it is so rich. One time when my husband and I were in England we went to Betty’s Tearoom and got a Christmas pudding. It was absolutely wonderful, and it is traditional to light it afire. Nothing says Christmas like lighting something on fire!

I love Sticky Toffee Pudding just as much, although it uses dates rather than a mixture of dried fruits. I did have chopped dates (because you certainly don’t want to cut dates yourself!) but I had the mix of dried fruits used for fruitcake right on the counter, so I used that. The fruitcake blend has a lot of dates, so I figured I would be good. This recipe is flexible so you can use what is available to you.

I also changed the spices somewhat. I don’t like cardamon, so I used ginger instead. I also used Chinese Five-Spice in place of garam masala. Again, use what you like! I ended up making a double batch of these, about 60 cookies, so my husband could take some to a lunch gathering at work. These cookies are SO GOOD! They do taste like the holidays, and they were good with the mixed dried fruit. I’m glad there were a lot of these left, as they are tasty and you just keep eating them.

Sticky Toffee Spice Cookies
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon Chinese Five-Spice
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup caramel bits
1/2 cup chopped dates (or dried fruit)

1/2 cup white chips
1 teaspoon shortening

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place the oats into a food processor and finely grind the oats. Combine the oats in a medium bowl with the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and the Chinese Five-Spice.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until light. Add the egg, molasses, and vanilla and stir until blended, about one minute. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the oat/flour mixture. Fold in the pecans, toffee bits, caramel bits, and dates with a spatula.

Shape the dough into 1-1/2” balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, until beginning to brown along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, make the drizzle: in a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the white chips and shortening. Melt in the microwave, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cookies.

Recipe from Go Bold with Butter

Snickerdoodle Bars with White Chocolate Ganache

Snickerdoodles are the first cookie I remember making, and they are my favorite. I have baked a number of different snickerdoodle items, and sometimes they are more “snickerdoodle” but at other times it seems like other call any item with cinnamon a snickerdoodle. This recipe does fall more in the latter category, but they are excellent any way you look at them.

This recipe is assembled in an unusual way! I picked up a new jelly roll pan, 10” x 15” x 1”. Many pans are about that size, but so few of them have the full 1” sides. You need some depth when you’re making a bar cookie or a jelly roll. You bake the cookie in the pan, and once cooled, cut the rectangle into smaller rectangles, which become the bottom and the top of the cookies. And you sandwich the two rectangles together with white chocolate ganache.

I have made ganache, but I also know that white chocolate can be fussy. I used my regular method, of putting hot cream on white chocolate chips and letting it sit, then whisking until it’s a proper ganache. It’s too thin at this point, so you have to let it cool for about an hour before it works as a filling. I really wasn’t sure, but I assembled the bars and then chilled them before cutting. They turned out perfectly, just like the photos in the original blog post! I was thrilled! These bars are very rich, but very much worth making.

Snickerdoodle Bars with White Chocolate Ganache
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 10” x 15” jelly roll pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. (Use baking spray with flour if you have it.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt; set aside. In a large mixer bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar and beat on medium until light, about three minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir on medium until combined. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture, stirring until the mixture forms a dough. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan. It will be sticky, so do the best that you can. Try to ensure the dough is spread as evenly as possible.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the bars are golden. Allow the bars to cool completely before proceeding.

While the cookies cool (or later), make the ganache: place the white chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat the heavy cream until almost boiling. Pour the heated heavy cream over the white chocolate chips and allow to sit for five minutes. Using a small whisk, whisk the mixture until the chips and cream becomes a smooth and consistent ganache.

Before you can use the ganache for the filling, it needs to cool until it is a spreading consistency. If the mixture is too thin it won’t work for filling the cookies. Whisk the mixture every 15 minutes, and the ganache will reach a spreadable consistency after 50 minutes to an hour.

To assemble the cookies: remove the bars from the pan, and cut into two rectangles, about 7”x 10”. One rectangle will become the base of the bars, and the other will become the top. Spread the cooled white chocolate ganache on one of the bar cookie rectangles. Spread the ganache evenly, almost to the edges of the rectangle. Top with the remaining bar cookie rectangle. Refrigerate the bars for at least an hour to set.

Once thoroughly chilled, remove the cookie rectangle from the refrigerator and cut into bars.

Recipe from Cookies and Cups

Goji Berry, White Chocolate, and Pistachio Cookies

I still have a quantity of goji berries, so I keep looking for different recipes that use these berries. When the weather starts getting warmer here, refrigerator cookies are ideal for me to make. I can make the dough, which takes about 10 minutes, and then keep the dough into the refrigerator for a day or two and then bake them up when it is convenient. This recipe, which combines goji berries, white chocolate chips, and pistachios, sounded great.

When I made these cookies, I had little issue. The dough was dry so I added an egg yolk to help it come together. It makes just under two dozen cookies, so I made the dough and shaped it into a log, ready to bake at a later point. Now, I guess I have gotten less discerning in choosing cookies, as the rule for refrigerator cookies, which need to be sliced, is to make sure none of the elements are too large. That proved to be tricky for these cookies!

When I tried slicing these cookies, they were very crumbly. Every cookie I had to press together and reshape, but in the end, they looked fine. I think I would chop the goji berries, but I think the pistachios were fairly hard and the white chips were large, so I am not sure what I could do there. Do they make mini white chips? That would be handy. These cookies have a good crunch, and if you don’t have goji berries, almost any dried fruit will work. These cookies aren’t overly sweet, which makes it perfect to pair with your morning tea.

Goji Berry, White Chocolate, and Pistachio Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup goji berries
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup pistachios
Egg yolk, if needed

In a larger mixer bowl, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium until light. Add the flour, goji berries, white chocolate chips, and pistachios and stir on low until the dough comes together. If needed, add an egg yolk to help the dough come together.

Shape the dough into a log, about 1-1/2” in diameter. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or longer.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Cut the dough into ¼” slices and place on the prepared baking sheets. Reshape the cookies as needed, if crumbly.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Paint, Pencil, Pastries

Cinnamon White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

It can be hard to pick the right cookies to make each week, and that is especially true in January. While I don’t really know anyone on a health kick, which seem futile, people aren’t all that interested in lots of sweets. While I plan to make cookies so I can take them to work, once again this week got away from me and I ended up making them later in the week than planned. I do love the days I can work from home, but there are challenges!

There are times when I am happy to take on a more challenging cookie, with multiple steps, but that was not what I was looking for this week. My selection process involved me picking a couple of recipes and making something that needed no extra ingredients. Yes, I could have gone to the store to get a lemon or something, but that wasn’t in the cards.

These cookies are similar to other oatmeal cookies I have made. At some level, how much can you change up cookies? I guess you can a lot as I have been posting on this blog for so long! Cinnamon, oats, and white chocolate seemed like a good combination and it certainly was. They are so buttery and just melt in your mouth. I did like them straight out of the oven, but they are also tasty after they’ve cooled.

Cinnamon White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon flour
12 ounces white chocolate chips

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until fully combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again to combine. Stir in the oatmeal and stir on low to begin to incorporate. Add the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and flour and with the mixer on low, stir to combine. Fold in the white chocolate chips.

Shape the dough into 1-1/2” balls and place on a cookie sheet or large plate. Refrigerate the formed cookies for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Place 12 cookies on each baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until lightly brown. They may look slightly wet and under cooked, but they will firm up at they cool. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Great Taste Buds

Chocolate Swirl Thumbprints

It was so nice getting back into the swing of things with baking. I found a great cookie that I couldn’t wait to try, they weren’t too tricky to make, they turned out well, and they are super tasty! I edited the recipe ever so slightly, where I used chocolate sprinkles rather than ground coffee. I didn’t want a strong coffee flavor, and I had the chocolate sprinkles already. I used what they called dark chocolate crunch for these cookies.

I had planned to make the dough one night and then bake them the next day, but I wasn’t quite that organized. As a result, I ended up making the dough early one morning, and then baked the cookies when I got home that evening. The dough is fairly soft, even after being in the refrigerator all day, so it likely wouldn’t make much of a difference how long you chill the dough.

My version made just under three dozen cookies, and I honestly have no idea how this recipe would make 48 cookies. They must have been tiny! I will say that the dark chocolate crunch didn’t stick to the dough, but that’s ok. Swirling the half-melted chocolate is a skill, and some cookies looked better than others. These cookies are so good, with a slight hint of coffee from the Kahlua and the lovely sweetness of the Hershey’s hug!

Chocolate Swirl Thumbprints
1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon Kahlua (or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles
½ cup sugar
Hershey's hugs (chocolate kisses with stripes)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening and sugar on medium until light. Add the baking powder and salt and stir to combine. Add the egg and Kahlua and mix to incorporate. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, mixing just until the flour is blended into the dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a small bowl, stir together the chocolate sprinkles and sugar. Shape the dough into 1-inch balls and roll the dough in the sugar mixture. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until set and just barely browned. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven press a Hershey’s hug into the center of each cookie. Allow the cookies to set for 5-10 minutes and then carefully swirl the Hershey’s hug with a knife or the back of a spoon. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.

Recipe from Happy Life Blogspot

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m still working through all of the decadent treats that are in the house after the holidays, but I am trying to get back into the swing of baking! I had some pistachios on hand that I wanted to use in a recipe, so I looked to see what I could find. I marked a number of recipes and now I am probably going to have to buy more pistachios to try all these recipes.

I didn’t make changes to this recipe, although I did use a mix of white and semi-sweet chocolate chips. I started out making these cookies with my regular cookie scoop, which holds about 2 teaspoons and the first batch of cookies were so tiny! They are also really puffy, which I wasn’t expecting at all. I was expecting a crinkly cookie, and that was not what came out at all.

The Internet provides all sorts of answers about why cookies may be puffy, but I am not sure. Most of the reasons center around the butter, whether you have too much or too little, and the temperature of the butter. This recipe uses melted butter, which I have used before and didn’t have any problems, so I don’t know. Somehow the ratios weren’t quite right, so they cookies are smaller and pale. While they don’t look perfect, they are very tasty! I like the pistachios combined with the chocolate. Now I just need to find the right ratios for these cookies…

Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped salted pistachios
3/4 cup mixed white and semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and sugar and beat on medium to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Fold in the pistachios and chips with a spatula.

Drop the cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, using 1-2 tablespoons per cookie.
 
Bake the cookies for 10-14 minutes, until lightly browned along the edges. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from 100k Recipes

Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies

Christmas Cookie #10! There are many different ways to add peppermint flavor to cookies. Peppermint extract is traditional and crushed peppermints/candy canes are common. These cookies use peppermint extract and also white chocolate peppermint chips. That lends a good peppermint flavor to these cookies, which is balanced by white chocolate.

The cream cheese in these cookies provides a soft texture, which is nice. If you are unable to find Andes baking chips, you could substitute any sort of peppermint chips, and there are quite a few varieties on the market. I like the Andes chips as the base is white chocolate, but you can adjust as needed. While I admit that white chocolate can be terribly sweet, it pairs beautifully with the sharpness of peppermint.

These cookies baked up nicely. You roll them in sugar before baking, and for half of the cookies I used large crystal sanding sugar and then regular sugar for the remaining cookies. I like the look of sanding sugar, but not everyone likes the added crunch. My biggest challenge for these cookies was melting white chocolate for the glaze. White chocolate is notoriously touchy, and mine did not melt down and wanted to seize into a ball. I was able to decorate a few cookies, but next time I would use a different glaze!

Peppermint White Chocolate Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup Andes peppermint crunch baking chips
Sugar
White chocolate, melted

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and brown sugar on medium until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and peppermint extract.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Stir in the white chocolate chips and peppermint crunch chips with a spatula.

Shape the dough into tablespoon balls and roll in the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until golden. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Once the cookies are completely cool, finish the cookies with a drizzle of melted white chocolate.

Recipe from Completely Delicious

Orange Creamsicle Bars

Sometime last year, I made some orange creamsicle cookies. I hadn’t thought a lot about how they would turn out, but they ended up being one of the best things that I made the entire year. It made a typical batch, but that was one of those cookies that I wished there would have been more to eat. Since then, I have been looking for a similar recipe. I came across these orange creamsicle bars, and knew I wanted to make them.

In looking at this recipe and when I made the bars, the recipe is similar to a cake bar. Just think of these as a cakey bar cookie, and I’m ok with that. They don’t require unusual ingredients, I just needed to pick up an orange at the store, which was easy. I have orange sanding sugar at home, as I use that with my favorite ginger cookies. These cookies use vegetable shortening, or vegan butter, or honestly you could use regular butter. You do melt it and then add all of the other ingredients, which is different for a cookie recipe.

When I baked the bars, the recipe suggested baking them between 20-30 minutes. I checked at 20 minutes, then added a few more, then two more in the end. They didn’t brown all that much, except around the edges, so that isn’t the best way to measure the doneness of these bars. Cutting these into squares, they are very much like cake, but work well as a bar cookie. They have a lovely soft texture, sweet but not too much, with a great orange flavor. These are simple and great for summer.

Orange Creamsicle Bars
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable shortening
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 ½ tablespoons orange juice
1 cup white chocolate chips
Orange sanding sugar

½ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the vegetable shortening and then transfer the shortening to a large mixer bowl. Add the sugar, eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, orange zest, and orange juice to the bowl and mix on medium to combine. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine. Fold in the white chocolate chips with a spatula. The mixture will be thin.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with orange sanding sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center of the bars comes out clean.

Once the bars are cool, lift them from the pan using the foil. Whisk the powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth and drizzle over the bars. Allow the glaze to set before cutting into bars.

Recipe from The Monday Box

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Next up in my menagerie of holiday cookies is this recipe for triple chocolate cranberry cookies. It’s hard to go wrong with cranberries this time of year, and I fondly remember the time my husband and I visited a cranberry bog when we were on holiday. Cranberries don’t grow everywhere, but they do grow here in Washington State. They are wonderful in recipes, and it’s a classic to pair them with white chocolate chips.

I planned to take these to work, as we are wrapping up the quarter. Several of my colleagues have dietary needs, so I decided to bake these cookies with no dairy (except eggs) and no gluten. I used vegan butter and used dairy free chocolate and white chocolate chips. I found Kosher and dairy free white chocolate chips under the King David label, which are a great find. As this recipe only called for ½ cup flour, it was very easy to use the gluten-free flour mixture that I have for that small amount.

This recipe makes a lot of cookies! I ended up making 4-1/2 dozen, which is the largest batch I have made in a long time. I melted the chocolate and butter in the microwave, but you could also do this in a double boiler. Letting the cookies stand before baking was fine, as it took that long to heat the oven. Rotating the baking sheet half-way through the time is the biggest challenge, if you can call it that! These cookies a very fudgy, but that is balanced by the white chocolate and pecans. You can’t taste the cranberries all that much, but you do occasionally get that nice chewy bite.

Triple Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup butter or vegan butter
1/2 cup flour or gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup toasted pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a medium microwaveable bowl, combine the chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolate, and butter. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and espresso powder on medium for four minutes, until thick and pale. Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir on low to combine. Stop the mixer half-way through this process to scrape down the sides of the bowl, as this will help incorporate the chocolate. With the mixer running on low, add the flour and mix for 30 seconds. Fold in the white chocolate chips, pecans, and cranberries with a spatula. Allow the mixture to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Scoop the dough onto the baking sheets, using about 1-1/2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half-way through the baking time. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Bobbie Lloyd, The Magnolia Bakery via People Magazine

Purple Blueberry Cookies

A week or so ago, when my husband and I were trying to plan what to do on the weekend, we decided that we would visit the local farmers market and get some apples for a pie that we planned to make. We had a great time, and it is interesting to see how produce is converting from summer specialties to items that make me think of fall. We got the apples we needed, and since I grew up with blueberry bushes in our back yard, I also got some blueberries. Thankfully they freeze very well.

In trying to figure out how to use the berries, I looked at recipes that I had already saved. I admit that none of them were very unique. My husband found some different recipes, including this one. I have to say I have never made purple cookies, and the point of these cookies is that you do bash the blueberries so that they release their juices and turn everything purple. It’s a very different approach than what I am used to!

One thing to note for these cookies is the chilling time. The original blog shows what the cookies look like if they are or aren’t chilled, and chilling the dough makes a big difference. The look more purple when chilled, and that’s the whole point here! These cookies are so good! You expect a cookie with fruit to be softer, but they have a nice crunch. They aren’t as sweet as you might think, so the white chocolate chips are the perfect addition!

Purple Blueberry Cookies
2/3 cup frozen blueberries, defrosted but not drained
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
Additional sugar

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium until light. Add the thawed blueberries and juices and mix on medium to combine. With the mixer running on low, gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the white chocolate chips with a spatula. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

Scoop the cookie dough into small balls and roll the balls in the sugar. Place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden but not browned. Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Fresh Flavorful

White Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

I will admit that the month is coming to an end, and I am already thinking about fall and Christmas baking! I know that the hot weather likely hasn’t left completely, but it feels different now, and the house doesn’t get so warm. I no longer fear that it will be too hot to turn on the oven, and that’s a good feeling. Still, I won’t immediately jump to maple, pecans, apples, and brown sugar, but those things are coming very soon.

While I don’t know what work will look like this fall, I do hope I will have more chances to bake for my work friends. I’ve been making such small batches and that works for many things, but sometimes you just want to make a big batch of cookies. These bars worked great, as the 8” pan only makes about 15 brownies, plus I was able to use some of the summer fruit that is out there.

This recipe called for fresh raspberries, but I used frozen ones, and they worked great. (Except for the raspberries that somehow stained the shirt I was wearing. What on earth?) This is a British recipe, which is why some measures are in grams and others by volume. Weighing ingredients is easiest, but some ingredients are too light to weigh. This recipe has you place the raspberries between two layers of brownie batter, which has its challenges! Do the best you can. These brownies are extremely rich, so cutting them in small pieces is completely appropriate.

White Chocolate Raspberry Brownies
½ cup butter
110 grams dark chocolate, chopped
2 eggs
225 grams sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
60 grams flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
100 grams white chocolate chips
1 cup raspberries
    
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium microwaveable bowl, combine the butter and dark chocolate. Microwave, stirring frequently, until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large mixer bowl and allow to cool slightly. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer running on medium, add the sugar and mix until no longer grainy. Stir in the vanilla and salt.

Add the flour and cocoa powder and stir on low to incorporate. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the white chocolate with a spatula. Spread half of the brownie batter in the prepared pan, and then top with the raspberries. Carefully cover the raspberries with the remaining brownie batter.

Bake for 28-32 minutes, until baked through, but not dry. Cool completely and then refrigerate before cutting into squares.

Recipe from Kitchen Mason

White Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Blondies

My husband and I have taken very limited trips around the state the past year and a half. One of the places we have visited is Langley, which is on Whidbey Island. To get to Whidbey Island, you can either take the ferry, or drive up and get on the island via Deception Pass. I don’t feel comfortable on the ferry, so we drive to the island, which is honestly not too bad. Deception Pass is beautiful, and it’s a lovely, scenic drive.

Where we’ve stayed in Langley is across the street and down from a grocery store. It’s a fun store, a combination of basic grocery items and specialty items. We don’t like to use the credit card for super tiny purchases, so we saw these orange honey hazelnuts from Holmquist Orchards and picked them up. I often buy hazelnuts from them, so I knew that I would enjoy this different offering. Now, what to make with these orange honey hazelnuts?

In looking through recipes I had saved, I came across this recipe for Blondies with Pistachio and Lemon Zest. I used the orange honey hazelnuts instead and substituted orange zest for lemon. I do think these would work with traditional hazelnuts, or the original pistachios as the recipe originally stated. The method of making these cookies was different, and I added a few more details in my write-up. White chocolate can be fussy, so make sure it doesn’t get too hot! These are very similar to cake bars, and I was a little concerned that the mixing method was strange, but these turned out so well. The hazelnuts and orange flavors come shining through!

White Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Blondies
7 ounces butter
7 ounces white chocolate
3 eggs
6 ounces sugar
4.4 ounces flour
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
3.5 ounces orange honey hazelnuts
Zest of 1 orange

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” square pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter and white chocolate, in 30 second increments, stirring frequently. Once smooth, set aside to cool for 2-3 minutes. In a large mixer bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, flour, and salt on medium until light. Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir on low to combine. Add the hazelnuts and orange zest and stir with a spatula to incorporate.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until set and golden brown on top. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Recipe adapted from Sweet Paul Magazine