white chocolate & cherry cookies

take a bite! 

I just had to bake today because I hadn't baked in over a week and I was feeling deprived!  I hadn't made cookies in awhile - and usually my go to are chocolate chip or some variation with chocolate chips in them...but in my pantry I noticed a forgotten bag of white chocolate discs which I had purchased from bulk barn awhile ago.  So I decided to go with the white chocolate...which tends to be quite sweet, so the dried cherries are a perfect tart compliment.

what you need:

*makes 18 large cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 3/4 cup white chocolate discs

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Using a paddle attachment of a mixer, or electric beaters, cream together butter and sugars in a large bowl, until smooth and well mixed.
3. Add egg and vanilla, beat for 1-2 minutes.
4. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add rolled oats.  Add these dry ingredients to butter and sugar mixture.  Mix until incorporated.  
5. Chop white chocolate discs into halves.  Add chocolate and cherries to cookie dough, mix.
6. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, drop large spoonfuls of cookie dough, 6 per cookie sheet.  
7. Bake for 10 minutes.  Cookies may look slightly undercooked in the centre, but lightly golden browned on the outside.  Don't worry, this will keep them chewy/soft in the centre and they will continue to cook a little as they cool on the pan.  When they are cool enough to handle, transfer them to a cooling rack.  Enjoy!

perfect for dunking

chunky cranberry chocolate chip cookies

soft, chewy, and loaded with goodies

I probably didn't need to make cookies so soon after Christmas (let's be honest, there was lots of baking and consuming of sweets over the holidays!) - but I couldn't resist baking up these cookies when I got back to my own kitchen and oven:)

what you need:

*makes about 30 cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 egg
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar. 
3. Combine flours, baking soda, salt and rolled oats in a separate bowl.
4. Add egg, vanilla, and milk to butter mixture, then stir in dry ingredients just until incorporated.  Add chocolate chips and cranberries and mix.  
5. Using your hands, form cookie dough balls (about half the size of a golf ball) - and place on lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 10 minutes, the edges will be golden brown but the centres still light coloured (this ensures it stays soft and chewy).  Remove as soon as they are cool to handle and allow to cool completely on a rack before storing in an airtight container.  Enjoy!

double chocolate oatmeal cookies

crispy edges and soft chewy middles...yum

The first thing I did after our stove got installed last week was bake chocolate chip cookies for our neighbour and of course a batch for ourselves.  They didn't last long and I couldn't resist trying another type of cookie today.  Madi is going to have to get used to the fact that her mommy lives in the kitchen!  If you love chocolate these are for you.  We can consider them healthy because of the oats and whole wheat flour...right?;)

what you need:

*makes ~ 2 dozen cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 2 eggs (room temp)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups quick rolled oats
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a large bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix sugars, eggs, and butter until creamy and smooth.  Add vanilla and mix well.
3. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sift in cocoa.  Add this to the butter mixture and mix until smooth, but don't over mix.
4. Add oats, stir to incorporate.
5. Add chocolate chips and stir to mix.  Spoon onto non-stick cookie sheets (~6-8 per sheet) and bake for 8-10 minutes.  (Depends on your oven...check at 8 minutes, you want to underbake them slightly so that the middle stays slightly soft).
6. Allow cookies to cool on cooling rack, then store in airtight container.  Enjoy!

chocolate chunk pretzel cookies

cookies with a salty twist

We were having a few friends over for beers on the deck and didn't have any snacks to put out so I thought I better bake something...but somehow chocolate chip cookies didn't quite fit with beer.  I scrounged around and realized I had some pretzels in the cupboard...but not quite enough to put out (you know, all the broken ones on the bottom!) - then it dawned on me - add them to the cookies.  Thus was born the chocolate chunk pretzel cookie.

what you need:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp golden corn syrup
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup or so crushed pretzels

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.  
2. Combine dry ingredients (except sugars) in a bowl, stirring with a wooden spoon to mix well.
3. In a large bowl, mix sugars and butter with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Add the eggs, vanilla, corn syrup and mix well.
4. Roughly chop chocolate into large chunks.  
5. Add dry ingredients to butter & sugar mixture, mix until batter is smooth.  Add pretzel and chocolate chunks.  
6. Drop round dollops of batter onto cookie sheet and bake for about 10 minutes, until golden brown.  
7. Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack.  Enjoy!

cranberry almond biscotti

enjoy with your favourite tea or coffee...yum

My mom isn't a huge fan of baking (she's a better cook!) but there are a few items she bakes that are absolute crowd pleasers.  This biscotti recipe is one of them!  It's really easy and you can add anything to the base recipe, whether it's walnuts, pecans, chocolate chips, different dried fruits...etc.  I like to make it with almonds, cranberries and raisins.  It keeps well for several days and makes a great little gift (for Christmas I wrapped a few in cellophane tied with ribbon and gave it to my coworkers).  

what you need:

• 1 3/4 cup flour (all purpose)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup dried raisins
• 1/2 cup very roughly chopped almonds 

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix dry ingredients together.
3. Separate one of the eggs into yolk and white.  Reserve a small amount of the white for brushing later.
4. Beat eggs, vanilla, and oil together, then add dry ingredients and mix until a moist dough forms.
5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease it well with butter.  Place dough onto cookie sheet and form into a log.  Press log to about 1" height.  Gently brush the surface with the reserved egg white.
6. Bake in the centre rack for 30 minutes.  Remove and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes, then using a bread knife (serrated), slice log into 1/2" biscotti cookies.  Bake for another 20 minutes (checking at 15 minutes) or until golden brown.  

mom doing step 5

after first 30 minutes

after 2nd round of baking

cranberry fudge oatmeal cookies

crunchy outside, chewy inside, full of flavour and texture

These cookies were a perfect snack yesterday after a few hours of snow shoeing!  

I adapted this recipe from Canadian Foodnetwork host Anna Olson's oatmeal raisin cookies.

What you need:

• 1 1/2 cup dry oatmeal
• 1/2 cup APF, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3/5 cup unsalted butter, room temp (I know 3/5 sounds funny...see how to measure easily in random tips below)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 pinches cinnamon
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 1/2 cup fudge bits (I used PC mini fudge melts) or chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Spread oatmeal onto a cookie sheet and toast lightly in the oven - this should only take a few minutes so keep a close eye on it to avoid burning.
3. Cream together butter and brown sugar until smooth, then add the egg, vanilla and molasses.
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt together.
5. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture, mix with a wooden spoon until incorporated.
6. Add toasted oatmeal and mix. Do not over stir, it will make the cookies tough.
7. Add cranberries and fudge bits.  You can add more of either if desired.
8. Spoon cookie dough onto buttered baking sheet - you may have to gently pack them a little if they seem crumbly. 
9. Bake for about 8-12 minutes, depending on oven and how big you made the cookies.  The cookies will be slightly soft to touch at the centre but golden brown on the outsides when they are done.  
10. Transfer to a cooling rack! Enjoy!

Random Tips

• To get 3/5 cup butter easily: grab a stick of butter with the package still on (the package will indicate 1 cup measurement) - eyeball and score with a knife to divide it into 5, open the package and cut away 3/5 of your 1 cup.

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