Pioneer Woman's Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/malted-milk-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I wanted to make something new so I visited my old friend Dr. Google. He led me to this recipe that produced some super yummy cookies! I used my good ol' 10-year old hand mixer for the majority of the mixing. While combining the wet and dry ingredients it started struggling so I gave it up and mixed by hand.


Ingredients
* 1 cup butter
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
* 1 cup smooth peanut butter
* 2 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
* 2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed, cream butter and sugars until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix until combined; then add eggs and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

2. In another medium bowl, whisk together oats, flour, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture and mix on low until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon.

3. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons 1 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, switching position of pans halfway through baking, or until lightly browned but still soft in the center. Transfer cookies to racks to cool.

Cookies Galore!

I'm busy this evening making cookies for our faculty meeting tomorrow. Just finished 2 batches (6 dozen!) of Pumpkin Spice Cookies and I'm finishing up with a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies- another simple recipe. I loooooove these too- I've been making them since college and they are so good right out of the oven with a glass of milk! Jason was feeling left out since I was making all these cookies to take to work tomorrow, so at his pleading I made him a batch of his favorite no-bake cookies. Also very very good! Of course you can't lose with a combo of peanut butter and chocolate!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
vanilla (I don't measure it out and I'm a little heavy-handed because I LOVE vanilla. Probably around 2 tablespoons)
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl mix butter, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time until fully mixed. Add flour 1 cup at a time, then add the last 1/4 cup. (If dough is still very sticky add approx. 1/8 cup flour.) Stir in chocolate chips. Place heaping spoonfuls (or use a scoop to keep things even) onto cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper. Bake for approx. 9-11 minutes depending on size and desired texture of cookies. Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies.

No-Bake Cookies

1 stick butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa
vanilla (around 1 tbsp.)
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups quick oats

Before starting, line cooling racks or cookie sheets with foil or parchment paper. Measure out peanut butter (you'll need it fairly quickly when cooking). Melt butter in pot using low heat . Stir in sugar and milk, then cocoa. Heat until boiling. STIR CONSTANTLY! Boil 1 minute and immediately remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and mix. Add peanut butter and stir until well mixed. Add quick oats 1 cup at a time. Drop by heaping spoonful onto prepared surface. Allow time to cool before serving. Makes approx. 2 dozen cookies.

Note: Notice the excessive use of the words mix and stir. Very important!

Cooking Fail

In the past I have made some things before that looked horrible, but tasted just fine. This might just be the first time that the exact opposite happened. Looked fine, tasted awful!

So a little while ago we finished up a late lunch/early dinner of the crock-pot taco soup, topped with a few crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream- super YUM! I was feeling pretty energetic so I thought I'd get back in the kitchen and whip up some no-bake cookies for Jason since he's not feeling well. While I was gathering my ingredients I saw the big bag of granulated Splenda in the pantry, and thought "Hmmm... you can use Splenda in baking and such- why not in no-bake cookies? Let's give it a whirl."

...

So I continued making the cookies as usual, substituting the Splenda for sugar. Everything looked great- the cocoa mixture cooked up just fine, smelled fine, looked fine. Mixed in the vanilla, peanut butter and oats. Spooned it all out on the cookie racks. Everything was peachy.

Then I licked the spoon. MISTAKE! Argh! I can't even descibe what they tasted like- nothing remotely edible. Jason came in the kitchen looking for his favorite cookies and all I could do was laugh. He was like, "What? Do they taste different?" I said, "Well see for yourself."

Let's just say I let him do the honors of laying the cookies to rest in the trash can. And the worst part is now he is sad that there are no cookies, and I can't muster up any motivation to make them the right way. Maybe later on...

The Easiest Cookies Ever!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 can pumpkin
1 box spice cake mix
1 bag chocolate chips

Mix pumpkin and cake mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper- however they look now is how they will look after they are done- not very glamorous :-) Bake at 350 degrees for approx. 18 minutes. YUM YUM!