Cookie Butter Blondies

Cookie Butter Blondies - made April 9, 2021 from Butternut Bakery

I'm really kicking up the baking these days, mostly on my Friday days off and the weekends. So prepare to see a flurry of posts in the coming weeks as I can't keep up with baking, picture-taking, packaging, donating or mailing and blogging.

So I will keep this short because you just want to get to the recipe, right? Blondies are easy to make, just watch the bake time so you don't overbake it.

This is the equivalent texture of "fudgy" if this had had any chocolate in it. It doesn't but it was still excellent because cookie butter....

I also think it's a stroke of genius to crumble the Biscoff cookies on top before baking. Genius.

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup cookie butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

6-8 Biscoff cookies, broken into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8" baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. 
2. Beat together melted butter, cookie butter and dark brown sugar until combined. Add egg and vanilla extract; mix until blended.
3. Add flour, cinnamon and salt; beat until just combined. Spray in an even layer in prepared pan. Top with Biscoff cookie pieces.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies - made April 9, 2021 from Kid Friendly Things to Do 

This is the kind of bar cookie I like to send in care packages to deployed military service members for Soldiers Angels. Bar cookies are easier to make and better to pack and ship plus the oats in these give the impression of a hearty healthy snack. Er, just ignore the butter and sugars.

The pictures don't do this bar cookie justice. Because it has so many oats in it, it looks dry. It's anything but. The addition of cinnamon adds the perfect component to these bar cookies and complements the oats nicely. It also has a nice chewy (but not dry) texture.

8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined.
3. Add flour, baking soda and cinnamon in 2 additions, beating after each addition until just combined. Add oats and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Spread batter in an even layer in prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Cookie Dough Oreo Brownies

Cookie Dough Oreo Brownies - made April 9, 2021 from If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen

This is a brownie made popular some time back, partly because one of its names is Slutty Brownies. Not sure why and I didn't care to find out much more about it. Because regardless of what it's called, it's essentially a chocolate chip cookie layer topped with Oreos and covered with a brownie layer. All good things and, separately, certainly what I like to bake and eat.

Put together, however, I'm not sure I loved it. There's nothing wrong with it and, in fact, this is great in flavor and texture regarding the chocolate chip layer and the brownie layer. It's rich and fudgy.

But for me, I think I'm not in love with it because the Oreos got lost in it. I've learned over and over (yet I seem to need to keep learning) that baking Oreos into something loses what I like best about Oreos, not just their flavor but also the crispness and crunchiness of the chocolate sandwich part of the Oreo. Because the Oreos get sandwiched (haha) between the chocolate chip layer and the brownie layer, it softens and blends into the brownie. You can also tell from the pictures that you can hardly tell there's an Oreo in the middle. That's because I (wrongly) ignored the original recipe to use Double Stuff Oreos. I used regular Oreos and the sandwich filling got mostly lost in the brownie. So if you want the oreo filling to be more pronounced, use the Double Stuff version. 

Cookie layer

7 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Brownie layer

5 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/4 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

16 Oreos (use the Double Stuff Oreos)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8" baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Cookie layer: Cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; mix to combine. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Evenly spread cookie dough in bottom of prepared pan. Smooth top.
4. Brownie layer: melt chocolate chips and butter in the top half of a double boiler until melted and smooth. Whisk in cocoa powder.
5. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs and granulated sugar. Add vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Add melted chocolate-butter mixture and mix to combine. Add salt and flour; beat until just combined.
6. Arrange Oreos in 4 x 4 rows on top of cookie dough layer. Cover with brownie batter and smooth top.
7. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted at an angle in the brownie layer comes out with moist crumbs, not raw batter. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Rice Krispie Cookies with butterscotch and chocolate chips

Rice Krispie Cookies - made dough April 8, 2021 from Yellow Bliss Road 

One of my favorite sweets is Rice Krispie treats, the homemade kind, not the ones in the storebought packages which I find (*whispers*) too sweet. I know, irony. The homemade version is the best. Like I-can-eat- the-whole-pan best. But the downside, besides a tighter waistband if I do eat the whole pan, is there's always some leftover Rice Krispies in the box. Not enough for another batch of Rice Krispie treats but too much to let it go to waste. Which it will if you don't use it soon enough. So I tried out this recipe which uses some in a butterscotch chocolate chip cookie. This seems somewhat like a standard chocolate chip cookie with Rice Krispies and butterscotch chips added to it. The nice thing is the Rice Krispies do still stay crispy in it so it's a good way to use up the rest of that box.

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/4 cups flour

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

2 cups crispy rice cereal

1. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until combined.
3. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and crispy rice cereal. Portion into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw or shiny. Cool on baking sheets for 2-3 minutes then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Toffee Coffee Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars

Toffee Coffee Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars - made April 7, 2021 from Baker by Nature 

I only had a sliver of these before I packaged them and mailed them off in military care packages but it was a pretty good sliver. 

If you like coffee chocolate chip cookies with toffee but in an easier-to-make bar format, this is a good option. Just be careful not to overbake them. I always say that about any fudge brownies but you have more wiggle room to err there. Not so with blondies. They tend to dry out faster so err on the side of underbaking and make sure you wrap them tightly to keep them fresh for a longer period of time.

13 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 cup toffee bits

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, dark brown sugar and vanilla extract.
3. Add eggs and beat until combined.
4. Add flour, salt and espresso powder; mix until just combined. Fold in 3/4 cup toffee bits and 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Spread into an even layer in the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup toffee bits and 1/4 cup chocolate chips over top.
5. Bake 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, edges are set and middle no longer looks raw. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Biscoff Oatmeal Toffee Crunch Cookies

Biscoff Oatmeal Toffee Crunch Cookies - made dough March 26, 2021 from The Monday Box 

Back to baking for military care packages with this one. The military service members I was baking these for indicated they didn't have any nut allergies so I was comfortable baking with toffee for these.

This is from The Monday Box, which specializes in recipes that are good for care packages and mailing. I'm also going to say, based on this recipe alone, that she specializes in great cookies as well.

I loved everything about this cookie. The dough was easy to work with, I love cookie butter, the oatmeal gave this cookie a good heartiness and the toffee was a perfect addition for a little sweetness and crunch.

If that doesn't convince you, I also have to say I liked the taste test cookie so much that I had to hurry and vacuum seal the rest of the batch to put in the care packages or else I might've eaten another one or three. I'm definitely making these again.

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup cookie butter

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup toffee bits

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, cookie butter and brown sugar. Add the egg and vanilla; beat until fluffy and combined.
3. Gradually add the oat mixture and beat until just combined. Fold in toffee bits.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls on prepared baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to brown and set. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Kroll's Korner

Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough March 30, 2021 from Kroll's Korner

This is the third of the three cookies I made for the Easter Sunday bagged lunches. Besides always wanting to try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe these days, they're also a safe bet when baking for a crowd.

When I don't know who's going to eat what I bake, I err on the side of caution and make something without nuts (in case anyone has allergies) and you can never go wrong with chocolate chip cookies.

This has all the hallmarks of what I look for in a great chocolate chip cookie. It stayed thick and didn't spread much, the edges were crisp and the middle was chewy. Not to mention the flavor has that buttery, brown-sugar-caramel flavor. Bliss.

Besides the three kinds of cookies, I also made Rice Krispie treats (the recipe on the cereal box) and the fudgy brownie recipe I've been obsessing about (sans Nutella for these), only this time I topped them with chopped up Cadbury mini eggs. That seemed fitting for Easter bag lunches.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and creamy and no lumps remain. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat until combined. Add egg and egg yolk; beat until combined. Mix in vanilla extract.
3. Add dry ingredients in 2 additions, beating until just combined after each addition. Fold in chocolate chips.
4. Portion dough into generous golf-ball-sized balls. Cover, chill or freeze for several hours or overnight,
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls on prepared sheets. Bake cookies at 400 degrees for 5 minutes then reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake another 7-10 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Chocolate Snickerdoodles - made dough March 30, 2021 from Dessert Now Dinner Later 

This is the second of three cookie recipes I made to contribute to the lunch bags being passed out on Easter Sunday.

In keeping with the snickerdoodle theme, I tried out this recipe for chocolate snickerdoodles. This has the hallmarks of a traditional snickerdoodle in terms of having cream of tartar  in the dough and rolling the dough balls in cinnamon sugar before baking.

Beyond that though, this seemed like a chocolate cookie with a touch of cinnamon because of the coating. Maybe that's really what a chocolate snickerdoodle is - a cookie with a chocolate-cinnamon flavor profile. My friend, Annie the Baker, asked me if it was like having a Mexican chocolate cookie and I have to say it does. Mexican chocolate has that flavor profile

Because of my purist taste preferences, I think I would have preferred a straight chocolate cookie or a plain snickerdoodle. But if you like that chocolate-cinnamon flavor combination, this is a good cookie to try. It doesn't spread much, stays thick and has a great chewy texture.

Two tips: one, let the dough balls thaw slightly (if you froze them first) before rolling in cinnamon sugar so the coating will stick better. Two: for additional cinnamon flavor, sprinkle some of the cinnamon-sugar coating on top of the cookies as soon as you take them out of the oven.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Coating

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. Add dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-sized dough balls. Cover, chill and freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon. If dough balls are frozen, let thaw for a few minutes before coating completely in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Even space dough balls on prepared baking sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.