I have been on a bit of a cookie quest this year. A quest to find the best cookie recipes.
I love to cook and bake all kinds of things! (Pasta is a particular favorite.) But I’ve always really enjoyed baking cookies.
I’d love to say that there’s some deep reason for that, that cookies are so versatile, or that it helps me be more mindful, but there really isn’t. I just like to bake cookies.
Maybe subconsciously it’s because I get to experiment a little bit with cookies.
If you ask my family, they’ll tell you I don’t always follow a recipe exactly. I don’t let things simmer for the whole time, and I don’t worry if a tablespoon is heaping or not. Most of the time what I make turns out fine, or better than fine if you ask me! But some recipes call for a little more precision – too much Italian seasoning can really ruin a pasta sauce.
With cookies, I’ve found that it’s okay to deviate from the recipe a little. A few extra chocolate chips never hurt anyone!
“I just like to bake cookies!”
I have a few favorite recipes that I always go back to, but I’d found myself growing a little restless. I didn’t always want to make the same cookies every time I baked.
So this year, I made it a goal to try one new cookie recipe a month.
I’ve tried some that I will definitely be adding to my recipe book, and some that we took one bite of and threw the rest out.
Let me tell you about some of them!
A lot of my favorite recipes are chocolate based cookies, so I started looking for something different – a really good sugar cookie!
This is something I struggled with. My sugar cookies were either too runny and I ended up with thin cookies, or not sweet enough.
Then I found this recipe, and it’s by far the best ones I’ve ever made!
They’re technically vanilla almond cut-out cookies, but they taste really similar to sugar cookies!
I love that with this recipe, you can cut your cookies into any shape. I made mine way back at Valentine’s day, and cut them into hearts.
But here’s what made them extra special – I made homemade buttercream to put on them.
I added food coloring to dye the frosting pink, and frosted all the cookies.
It made them absolutely next level delicious!
I’m planning on making them again soon – maybe I’ll cut them into turkeys for Thanksgiving or Christmas Trees in December!
Another recipe I tried was a total flop!
I really wanted to find a s’mores cookie recipe. But instead of just looking up an actual recipe, I tried to alter a chocolate based cookie recipe I already have. I took the chocolate dough and added walnuts and mini marshmallows.
It still sounds good, and it should have worked.
But they came out of the oven… and they were So. Gross.
I tried them hot, and when they cooled off.
I tried them with a lot of marshmallows, and some with just a few.
It didn’t matter – they were nasty.
I’m not deterred though! I’ll find a good s’mores cookie recipe before the year is over.
I’ve tried a lot of recipes this year, and as good as some of them have been, none of them quite measure up to my original favorite.
The Pioneer Woman’s Chocolate Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies.
These cookies are ah-maze-ing! Everyone loves them, and the recipe makes SO. MANY. COOKIES.
This recipe is absolutely one of the best cookie recipes ever. But I do have to admit – this is a recipe I alter a little bit.
It already calls for a lot of chocolate chips, but my secret is that I don’t really measure the chocolate chips.
Chocolate chips are meant to be measured with your heart, right?
The recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. I buy the regular size bag and dump the whole thing in.
I always add extra white chocolate chips too!
“These cookies are ah-maze-ing! Everyone loves them, and the recipe makes SO. MANY. COOKIES.”
This recipe is perfect for parties, small get together’s, and even just family dinners!
They are sweet, and a little salty. You can use different colored chips depending on your party theme or the holiday.
And I regularly make 60 good sized cookies from one recipe! (You really have to add the extra chocolate chips if you want to get that many)
