Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies

FW and LM go to school early in the mornings, and on the days I work from home, GM and I have about 45 minutes to an hour to kill before he goes to preschool. On those days, sometimes we go for walks, sometimes I start working, sometimes we read together, and other days – we bake! With Teacher Appreciation Week coming, GM said he wanted to make some cookies for his teachers. I started showing him several pictures of different types of cookies, and when I showed him photos of chocolate cookies, he immediately said he wanted them. I decided to add white chocolate chips because I love white chocolate and they were a hit! Each of my kids liked them – and that doesn’t happen often. They’re brownie-like goodness with milk and white chocolate inside. Yum! Make them for you, your kids, your teachers – or just because.

chocolate cookies with white chocolate and milk chocolate chips

Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here’s what you need:

  • 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Here’s what you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a large baking sheet – I like to line with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix butter and sugars until smooth (about 2-3 minutes)
  4. Add eggs and vanilla to butter/sugar combination and mix until well combined.
  5. Gradually add the flour mixture to the stand mixer ingredients, about 1 cup at a time. Beat on low until just combined — do not overmix!
  6. Add in chocolate chips and stir with a spatula.
  7. Scoop up the dough with a tablespoon and place on the prepared baking sheet. At this point, I like to place a few more chocolate chips on the cookies so they look clean when they come out of the oven. Mine made about 3 dozen and I cooked 1 dozen a time on the baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 10 minutes; the cookies will be soft in the center. Cool on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
  9. Enjoy! They freeze well, too.

Some questions for you:

  • Are you a chocolate chip cookie lover?
  • Thoughts on white chocolate?

Bite-Size Sea Salt Chocolate Fudge Cookies

I’ve been doing a lot more baking (and running) during this time. It’s not that I have more free time – like many others working from home with  kids, my free time seems to be less than ever … but on the weekends, I take a break from work and enjoy baking. I don’t feel guilty if my kids don’t want to join me (though sometimes they do), because I’m with them all week. So instead, I enjoy baking something and we all enjoy it Sunday evening for dinner.

A few weeks ago, a coworker of mine shared that she had some extra masks from a friend who had made them. We have yet to get any cloth masks, and she offered to share some with me. She loves anything chocolate, so to thank her, I baked some of these cookies to share with her. If you like chocolate, and slightly salted chocolate, I highly recommend you try these out. They’re easy, don’t require and dough sitting, and require one bowl to make. And, if you make them the size I do, they’re small and you can easily enjoy more than one at a time.

Bite-Size Sea Salt Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Bite-Size Sea Salt Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Here’s what you need:

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup white granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt + pinch of sea salt for topping
  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Here’s what you do:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.
  2. In a large bowl, melt the butter in the microwave (you can also melt the butter over the stove top, being careful to not let it burn).
  3. Add in the cocoa powder, sugar, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla. Mix well.
  4. Gradually add the flour, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Mix until just combined and the dough has formed — do not overmix.
  5. Scoop out the dough, and make rounded tablespoon-full size balls (for larger than bite-size, you may want to do about 2 TBs of dough) Press them down slightly (they don’t really spread, so this will be how they look), and add 3-5 chocolate chips on each dough ball. Sprinkle sea salt on top of each cookie.
  6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will be soft and may look undercooked when they come out of the oven, but you don’t want to overcook them. Cool on a cooling rack and then enjoy.
  7. Makes about 2 dozen bite-size cookies.

Put them in a tupperware and share them with a friend! Or just eat them yourself.

Bite-Size Sea Salt Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Some questions for you:

  • Are you a salted chocolate fan?
  • Do you have masks? What kind?

 

Chocolate Fudge Thumbprint Cookies

It’s Christmas Eve! If you’re like me, that means lots of relaxing, eating, and spending time with my family. And maybe some last minute (yes, now it’s really last minute) baking.

If you’re seeking a relatively quick, very easy, festive holiday cookie, look no further. These are great for the chocoholic (sorry, not me) in your family. Or a chocolic friend, because who doesn’t like to be surprised with a plate of cookies this time of year?

Chocolate Fudge Thumbprint Cookies-icrashedtheweb

Chocolate Fudge Thumbprint Cookies

from Cafe Mom

Here’s what you need

  • 2 sticks + 2 tablespoons of butter, softened
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ⅓ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 heaping cup powdered sugar
  • 2­ Tablespoons hot water
  • 1 Tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • holiday sprinkles

Here’s what you do:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter, sugar and ⅓ cup cocoa powder. Mix well until one thorough mixture.
  2. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a separate bowl. Add to the butter mixture by thirds and mix until combined.
  3. Roll the dough into small balls, about one-inch in diameter. Indent each ball with your thumb or a small spoon in the center.
  4. Bake for 7-8 minutes until cookie dough is lightly cracked on the surface but still soft.
  5. When they come out of the oven, don’t be surprised if your thumbprint is gone!  You’ll likely need to press the center of each cookie down again to make your frosting well. Cool completely.
  6. While cookies are cooling, make the frosting: mix the cocoa powder, powdered sugar, hot water, and vanilla. Spoon the frosting into the centers of the cooled cookies and add festive sprinkles while frosting is still wet. Allow frosting to set before putting away.

Enjoy! I’m not a huge chocolate fan and even I enjoyed one (or a few). They’re not MY favorite (again, not a big chocolate fan) but they were definitely a hit. For simple modifications, I may play with the filling, adding peppermint or peanut butter in the future.

Chocolate Fudge Thumbprint Cookies

Questions for you:

  • Chocolate lover or not?
  • What are some thumbprint cookies you enjoy? I love jam cookies!