Chocolate Chunk Cookies

There's nothing unique or special about these cookies- they are pretty basic but of course super delicious.  The reason I'm posting them is because I want to have a collection of all recipes I love and know I will make again so I can easily reference them without searching through cookbooks or websites.  So, until I come across a better recipe this will be my go-to for chocolate chip cookies.  We used semi-sweet chocolate chunks instead of chips, and the cookies are soft and chewy rather than crispy.   This is a simple desert, but when you are craving chocolate chip cookies, it hits the spot every time!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (two sticks) softened to room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (we ran out and used half bread flour, and they came out fine)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.

Next, add the eggs and vanilla, and mix until well combined.

Add the baking soda and salt.  Stir to make sure there are no baking soda lumps.  Then, add flour one cup at a time.

Once you have incorporated all of the flour, fold in the chocolate chunks until they are evenly distributed.  Place even-sized spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 9 minutes or until the edges have started to brown.  The middle of the cookie won't look like it's cooked all of the way through, but once they cool they will be fine.  This keeps the cookie chewy and soft. (we let ours go a little too far in the batch shown below on the baking sheet)

Move the cookies to a cooling rack and serve warm with a glass of cold milk.  Store in an air-tight container.  So yummy!

Cookie Dough Truffles

I've never branched out too far from my usual truffle recipe, but when I saw this I knew it would be the perfect treat to make for Sean.  He's been begging me to make cookies recently, but these are much more indulgent.  Everyone loves cookie dough, but you've been taught it's bad to eat because of the raw egg, plus you want to save it to have enough baked cookies.  This dough is made with milk in place of the egg, so it's guilt-free in that respect.  The balls of dough are coated in melted chocolate to make the perfect bite-sized morsel.  I decorated these with some white chocolate, melted and dyed pink for Valentine's Day, but you could do any number of other non-holiday decorations like sprinkles or crushed nuts.

Ingredients:

3/4 cups butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 T milk

1 t vanilla

1/4 t salt

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used regular size)

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 T vegetable oil

Directions:

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the milk, vanilla, and salt and stir until well combined.

Next, add the flour and mix until it is all incorporated.  Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.  Make tablespoon sized balls of dough and place them on a baking sheet covered with wax paper.  Refrigerate for at least one hour before dipping them in the melted chocolate.

 When the cookie dough is almost done chilling, melt your chocolate chips.  I always do mine in the microwave, but you could also use a double broiler.  Stir in the vegetable oil with the melted chocolate to thin it out a bit.  Coat each ball in the chocolate and place them back on the baking sheet.  Place the tray back in the fridge to chill until the outer shell dries.  If you are adding nuts or sprinkles, do this while the chocolate is still wet. 

I melted some white chocolate chips and added pink food coloring to make "frosting" to decorate the truffles.  I piped it through a zip lock bag.  It was a little thick but it did the trick.  Serve in mini-cupcake holders.  Enjoy!