Cookie Recipes
Here are five of my all-time favorite cookie recipes! Some of them are holiday-related, but some of them are just really good recipes. They have all been personally tested by me because they’re from our giant dessert recipe binder at my house. Enjoy!
Chocolate-Mint Thins With Candy Cane Crunch
Ingredients for the cookies:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
½ teaspoon of kosher salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon of peppermint extract
1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
¾ cup of unsweetened cocoa
Ingredients for the coating:
8 to 12 candy canes
16 ounces of semi or bittersweet chocolate
¼ to ½ teaspoon of peppermint extract
¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
To make the cookies:
In the bowl of a mixer, cream sugar and butter together until very fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Add salt, egg, peppermint extract and 1 tablespoon water, and mix until smooth. Mix or sift flour and cocoas together, then add to bowl and mix until combined. The dough will be very stiff.
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Using your hands, break off pieces of dough the size of walnuts and roll into balls. Place 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Use the bottom of a glass to flatten each ball into a round, ⅛-inch thick.
Bake about 15 minutes, until cookies are flattened, firm and beginning to crisp. Remove from cookie sheets and let cook on wire racks.
To make the coating:
Place half the candy canes in a thick, sealed plastic bag and use a heavy skillet or rolling pin to pulverize them into a mix of pink candy-cane dust and striped red-and-white bits. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with remaining candy canes. Set aside in a cool place.
To coat the cookies, melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over barely simmering water. When smooth, stir in ¼ teaspoon of each extract and the coconut oil. Taste and add more peppermint extract if needed. Keep chocolate warm and fluid, over hot water.
To coat the cookies:
Working 1 cookie at a time, use a spatula or shallow slotted spoon to submerge the cookie in chocolate, gently pressing it down to the bottom of the bowl. Slowly lift it out, letting chocolate drip evenly off the sides to make a smooth, thin coating on top. Gently shake off excess chocolate and place cookies on a rack to cool. After about 15 minutes, start checking to see if the chocolate has set. Touch the center with a finger; when chocolate is firm, almost cool, and only a faint mark remains, sprinkle tops evenly with candy cane dust and bits.
Store in the refrigerator in airtight containers, in layers separated by parchment paper.
2. Candy Cane Cookies
Ingredients:
1 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of salt
1 stick of unsalted butter at room temperature
¾ cup of sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons of fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3 drops of red food coloring
3 drops of green food coloring
Steps:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add egg and lemon juice and continue to mix. Add dry mixture incrementally to wet mixture until fully incorporated.
Divide dough into 2 separate bowls; add 3 drops red food coloring to 1 bowl and 3 drops green food coloring to the other. Stir until colors are prevalent throughout.
Roll out both doughs on flour-dusted parchment paper to about ⅙-thick. Trim edges with a butter knife or pizza cutter to make a solid rectangle. Cut each color dough into 10 even strips, twist and wrap green dough with red dough and form candy cane shapes.
Place twisted dough on a parchment-lined cookie sheet ½-inch apart and bake for about 6 to 8 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown. Remove and cool.
3. Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Ingredients:
1 ⅔ cups of all-purpose flour
½ cup of unsweetened cocoa
1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder
½ teaspoon of kosher salt or half as much table salt
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 ¼ cups of sugar
2 eggs at room temperature
½ of vanilla
½ of bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips
¾ cups of powdered sugar
Steps:
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar at medium speed for 3 minutes.
Add your eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. On lowest mixer speed, add dry ingredients, beating gently until just incorporated. Refrigerate dough for 2 to 3 hours.
Sift powdered sugar into a bowl. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, adjust the racks so they are in the center of the oven, and line cookie sheets with silicone liners or parchment or grease them with butter.
Roll dough into 1-inch balls, slip a chunk of chocolate into the center, then coat cookie dough balls thoroughly with powdered sugar. Place on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
Bake about 10 minutes until cookies are just firm on the outside but still soft on the inside. Let cool 10 minutes on cookie sheets.
4. Cowboy Cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of baking soda
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt
1 ½ cups of butter at room temperature
1 ½ cups of granulated sugar
1 ½ cups of packed light-brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
3 cups of semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups of unsweetened coconut flakes
2 cups of chopped pecans
Steps:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
In a very large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually beat in sugars, and combine thoroughly.
Add eggs on at a time, beating after each. Beat in vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, oats, coconut and pecans.
For each cookie, drop ¼ cup dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing 3 inches apart.
Bake 15 to 17 minutes, until edges are lightly browned; rotate sheets halfway through. Remove cookies from rack to cool.
5. Peanut Butter Blossoms
Ingredients:
1 ¾ of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
½ teaspoon of salt
4 ounces of butter at room temperature
½ cup of smooth peanut butter
½ cup of granulated sugar, more for rolling
½ cup of light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
5 dozen Hershey’s Kisses, foil removed
Steps:
Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream together butter, peanut butter, ½ cup granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat until well blended. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing thoroughly. If the dough is very soft, refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray, oil or line a cookie sheet with nonstick liner and set aside. Roll dough into 1-inch balls.
Roll cookies in sugar and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake until very light brown and puffed, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and lightly press a candy kiss into the center of each cookie, allowing it to crack slightly. Return to oven until light golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from oven, cool completely and store in an airtight container.