Soft Chocolate Cookies

Sunshine Mom is feeling great (after beating H1N1) and could not stay in bed for one more second. I promised brownies, but was out of unsweetened chocolate so I made cookies instead. These cookies are my kids absolute favorites. Even Tink, my low-tolerance-for-sweets eater, ate four of these cookies at one time. In fact, although I still have some oatmeal cookies in the freezer, the soft chocolate ones are gone. These cookies stay fresh for days because they are so soft and moist.

You will need:

1 cup Smart Balance (melted, but not hot)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
2/3 cup cocoa (I used Hershey's Dark)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt



Add the sugar to a large mixer bowl and pour the melted (but not hot) butter on top. Mix together until it lightens, but before it gets fluffy.



Add eggs, one at a time mixing after each addition.



Then add the vanilla.



In another large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.





You can size these cookies any way you like them. I use a large soup spoon and make a big ball with the dough. They aren't perfect. My cookies never look like they were made in a factory. Imperfect and definitely homemade, and that's the way I like them! If you want a more polished look, refrigerate the dough for an hour and then make perfect 1-inch balls. You don't need to flatten them with a fork.



Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. (If you don't line your cookie sheet with parchment, give it a very light greasing with cookie spray.) Take them out when they still look slightly underdone in the middle. They need to set five minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to a wire rack. They seem like they will fall apart, but when they are completely cool and they stay together perfectly.





Melt in your mouth!! Super soft (but still holding together). After the first day I store them in a freezer bag in the freezer. I'm sure they would last a month in there, but we are lucky to make it three days.



Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cookies

Does anything smell better than oatmeal cookies baking in the oven? I made oatmeal cookies for the girls over the weekend. I wrapped them up and stuck them in the freezer so that they can come home to cookies and milk all week. I just take out a couple an hour or so before they get home and they are as fresh as the day I baked them. I did put a healthy spin on the cookies, though. Can't help myself!

You will need:

1 cup Smart Balance, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
1 small box raisins (optional)



Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and line a few cookie sheets with parchment.

Soften your butter for cakes, melt it for cookies. So, add your melted butter and both sugars to a mixing bowl.



Mix until the batter starts to lighten in color.



Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Then mix in the vanilla.



Next add your flours, baking soda, and cinnamon.



Mix together and then add the oats. Mix again. The dough will be a bit stiff, but not dry. If you find it is very dry add a tablespoon of milk.



Now is the time to add your raisins. Or, if you have one kid who likes them and one who does not, now is the time to split your dough into halves and add the raisins to just one half. You can omit this step altogether if you aren't a raisin fan. Me, I don't care one way or the other. I'm an equal opportunity cookie eater. :)



I use a heaping soup spoon to measure out the cookies and get 9 per sheet.



Bake for 12-14 minutes and then allow them to set on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes before removing.






Warm oatmeal cookies. Mmmmmmmm. Perfect on a cold day or a warm day or even a hot day! If you haven't tried baking cookies at 325 yet, please try it with this recipe. I never, never bake cookies at any higher temp. It makes a world of difference!!




Most oatmeal cookie recipes call for a full cup of white sugar in addition to the full cup of brown. I found these cookies to be perfectly sweet (with or without raisins) without all that extra white sugar. In fact, I think you could leave out the white sugar altogether as long as you use a full cup of brown sugar. (You could also substitute a cup of white sugar mixed with a tablespoon of molasses if you don't have any brown sugar.) I think the whole wheat flour gives the cookies just a hint of a nutty flavor.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies were a huge hit in our house. They seem to have the perfect combination of peanut butter and chocolate. Peanut butter cookies are dense and do not cook evenly, which is the original reason for pressing the tines of a fork into each one. With the addition of the chocolate chips, it is not necessary to do so.




1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter (2 Smart Balance sticks)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips



Using the paddle attachment of your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, beating after each addition.



Add vanilla and peanut butter...



and beat just until combined.



Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and add just half of that to the cookie mixture. Mix for 30 seconds on a medium low speed, then add the rest of the flour and mix until incorporated.



At this point you can refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes, a few hours, or even overnight, but it is not absolutely necessary. Refrigerating cookie dough gives you a chewier cookie texture, but these cookies are great either way.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them. I use a rounded scoop of a soup spoon for cookies and am not at all concerned with uniform shape. Use a cookie scoop or small ice cream scoop if you like every cookie to look alike. It's important to use basically the same amount so that they will cook evenly, but I like the uneven shape of homemade cookies.



Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned on top.



Let them set on the cookie sheets for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool...if you can leave them alone that long! They are amazing while still warm from the oven. I stored the very few leftover cookies in a plastic bag in the fridge overnight. I don't know what happened to them after that...they had mysteriously disappeared by the time I got up the next morning.