White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Easter Cookies

I will never get better at blogging. It's just not going to happen, I've already accepted that fact. Baking is the easy part. It's the taking (good) pictures, experimenting with different ingredients, and actually sitting down to write about it that's the difficult part. Let's be serious, the only reason anyone ever looks at food blogs is because of the pictures. I'm so guilty of it. Sometimes during lunch at work I will browse food blogs looking for the next thing I want to bake, then drool about how amazing everything looks for the next 4+ hours of my day.

Today is Easter. My favorite Holiday of the year. Don't get me wrong, Christmas is awesome, everyone gives and receives gifts, but did you know Jesus' Birthday isn't even in December? There's a lot of people who don't. Easter really means something and symbolizes so much, so I decided today I would take the time and finally blog about something. 

Chocolate cookies made with white chocolate chips, sprinkled with mini egg sprinkles, oh and there's avocado in the batter. Yep, that's right, avocado. I know it sounds crazy, but I've been wanting to try it for a while. You replace the butter in a recipe with avocado, and adjust accordingly. Since you're not using butter, the cookies won't really spread. Avocado doesn't melt like butter, margarine or shortening, so it's important to take the time to flatten the cookies and shape them, or else they will literally look like poo. (That's not a joke)

White Chocolate Chip Chocolate Easter Cookies
1 Medium Avocado (Just under 3/4 c. mashed)
1 tsp. canola oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar 
3 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
3/4 cup flour   
White chocolate chips
Easter sprinkles of your choice 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl (or food processor) mash up the avocado to remove all of the large chunks. Stir in oil.

Mix in the sugar and vanilla until all ingredients are combined. Stir in the vinegar and baking soda. Lastly stir in the flour and cocoa powder until all ingredients are fully incorporated and there are no chunks. I used about 3/4 cups of white chocolate chips and mixed in sprinkles to the batter as well.

 Using a spoon, spoon small 1 tablespoon cookies onto a baking sheet with parchment paper. Gently flatten the tops of the cookies and sprinkle some more sprinkles on top. My personal favorite were these cute pastel eggs. I own sprinkles for every holiday thanks to my mother. I also have cupcake liners for just about every holiday, life event. She knows me really well, what can I say!

 Place in the preheated oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. It will depend how large your cookies are. Cookies are done when tops are firm to touch. Let them cool on the tray for at least 5-10 minutes. Or you can just eat it when its pipping hot like I always like to do.

See they look pretty identical to when they went in the oven. You would literally never know there was avocado in the batter. Would it taste even better with butter? Maybe, but these are pretty great!

Yummm

Enjoy :)

Cocoa Hazelnut Biscottis

Two for two! Yes! I'm sitting here, drinking some delicious cider and just extremely happy that I'm getting my second recipe up here. It's quite an accomplishment for me to be blogging two nights in a row. I honestly don't remember the last time I did that, let's hope I can keep this up. I'm definitely way too excited to be sharing about this new recipe, but that's alright, because if you're reading this you either a. know who I am and are rolling your eyes at my love for baking or b. are actually interested in the recipe, in which case you can skip down a few lines. Either way, let'ssss start.

I've never made Biscottis before but it was definitely worth the task. I started from a recipe for cinnamon and hazelnut biscotttis. I loved the idea of hazelnuts, but one thing was missing... chocolate. I just love chocolate, much like the other half of the world, so I experimented with the batter a little bit. I substituted cocoa powder for some flour. Also, rather than a rough chop for the hazelnuts, i did more of a grind, so I also left out some flour. Last but not least, I drizzled them in milk chocolate. It's the easiest thing but it literally just makes it that much better. 

Cocoa Hazelnut Biscottis
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup toasted hazelnuts
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking liner. Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in medium bowl; set aside. 

Grind hazelnuts in a food processor (I used my magic bullet since I don't yet own a food processor, surprisingly . Combine sugar and butter and mix until fluffy. Add orange zest and vanilla and mix well. Add eggs 1 at a time, blending just until incorporated after each addition. Add flour mixture and mix until just blended. Fold in hazelnuts.  

Turn dough out onto a piece of parchment paper sprinkled with one tablespoon flour and one tablespoon powdered sugar. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 9" x 2" log.

Place the logs on the baking sheet. Flatten each log to 12" x 2 1/2". Bake 25 minutes or until very light golden and firm to touch. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer the logs to a cutting board. 

Using a serrated knife, cut logs diagonally into 3/4-inch-wide slices. Place slices, cut side down, on your baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes. Turn biscotti over, bake about 15 minutes more or until light golden and firm. Transfer biscotti to racks and cool.

Biscottis have a natural crumbly texture to them, so it's okay if you leave them in the oven for an extra few minutes. Cool the cookies completely. Once cool, place about a half a cup of melting chocolates in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave at 30 second increments and stir in between each until chocolate is fully melted (about 1 1/2 minutes). Stir chocolate until it cools slightly. Transfer to either a piping bag or plastic sandwich bag and cut the end off. Drizzle chocolate along tops of cookies. The nice thing about this is that you can put on as much or as little as you like!!

Mmmmm yum!

Enjoy :)

Snickerdoodles

I started writing this post on Christmas day. It's now February 12th and I still haven't posted it. Talk about getting behind in my blogging. I'm not going to try and rewrite this as if I'm writing it today, so bare with me. I can't believe it's been so long. I guess the eggnog is a little out-dated, but delicious cookies to say the least!
__________________________________________________
I've been obsessed with the thought of eggnog lately. Not like I can have a glass considering my lactose intolerance. But I know how much it screams winter and Christmas and of course I've been trying to put together more recipes for winter. In case eggnog isn't in season (ironically when I wrote this, it was, but now it's not!), it can easily be substituted for milk. 

Eggnog Snickerdoodles
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup eggnog
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon for coating


Cream together the butter and sugar with a mixer. Beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Beat the flour mixture with the butter mixture. Slowly add in the eggnog one tablespoon at a time until the batter is uniform. Place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Just before removing from the refrigerator, mix the 1/4 cup sugar and tablespoon of cinnamon in a small bowl. Drop tablespoons of batter into the cinnamon sugar, coat evenly and then place on the baking sheet. 

Gently pat down each cookie. Since the batter is more cake-like, it holds its shape so be sure to pat them down. Place in the oven for 9 to 11 minutes.

My beautiful little Maxi enjoyed baking with me while I was home :)

The eggnog just seems to emphasize the holiday feel of these cookies. I seriously love it. Eat and of course,

Enjoy :)

Gingersnap Cookies

Really they should be called ginger soft cookies, or something like that. There is no snap to them. Just a superrrr delicious soft gingery cookie.  

I literally had to just take it straight from the recipe since they looked THAT good. I think I'm obsessed. Make these for Christmas. I'm not kidding. Make them. No need for gingerbread cookies, because these will for sure do the trick. 

This was actually my first time using molasses. Definitely won't be my last either. Especially since I have that whole jar now! 
I think I love baking a little too much for someone who has a ton of other things to do besides bake.

You can just see all the spices mixed in with the flour. I love that. And the fact that I love that probably justifies my last comment about loving baking too much. I can literally be sitting at my desk at work, and randomly get an idea of something I want to make. I have a list of things... If only I had the time to actually try them out. One of these weekends I'll get around to it.

As for these cookies.. I want to bake another batch right now.

Enjoy :)

Chocolate Peppermint Crinkles

It's December! Where in the world have the last few months gone. I seriously have no idea. Anyway, can you guess what I love about December?! Yup, Christmas. Even more? Christmas cookies! (or just Christmas desserts in general). My goal is to try a couple of different recipes for Christmas BEFORE Christmas, that way, maybe someone can actually bake them this year! And maybe I can decide what I'm going to bring to my family's house... 

This weekend I went to a Christmas cookie decorating party. Totally up my ally. It was awesome and there were just sooo many cookies. I had this chocolate crinkle recipe from high school that I used to make every once in a while. They're covered in powdered sugar so when they bake, they look super festive. Rather than just chocolate, I thought of adding some peppermint! Adding cinnamon to fall desserts is like adding peppermint to winter ones. You can really never go wrong.


I was in Giant and looking at the Christmas candy. I saw some peppermint kisses and I was super intrigued. Not only are they white chocolate and delicious, they have a crunch too! Awesome. Clearly I had to chop these up and throw them into my batter. Oh hey, Holiday cookie #1.

Peppermint Chocolate Crinkles
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp peppermint extract (Don't like peppermint? substitute this for more vanilla extract)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
8 oz. peppermint kisses


Set the oven to 350 degrees. With a large knife, chop up the Hersey kisses. Set aside

In a mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, chocolate, and extracts. In a smaller bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture. Fold in the chopped up kisses.

Cover bowl with tin foil or saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for anywhere from 2 to 24 hours. If you're in a hurry, you can try placing them in the freezer for about 45 minutes. Keep an eye on the batter.

Ah, does that not look delicious?! 

Just before taking the batter out of the refrigerator, sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Take tablespoons of the batter, roll into balls, and then roll them in the powdered sugar.

Place the dough on a large baking sheet at least 2 inches apart and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. After removing the cookies from the oven, immediately transfer to wire racks to cool. 

Ah, I loved the combination of chocolate and peppermint. Definitely a fan of this recipe. For my next Christmas cookie I'm thinking Snickerdoodle? Or maybe ginger snaps. Hmmm so many options!

Enjoy :)

Cookie Cake!

Originally I wasn't going to blog about this since I didn't do too much to the recipe, but a few people asked me how I made it and it was so delicious that it's definitely worth an entry. I got back from work just before 6:30, baked this cookie cake, decorated it, and was out the door by 7:30. I can't believe how quickly it came together and it just goes to show how easy it was. Not to mention it was absolutely the best cookie cake I've made. I will never go back to my old recipe ever again. 

Super Large Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake 

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla

8 oz. chocolate chips (or more :) )

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In the base of a stand mixer, beat the melted butter and sugars together. Add in the eggs once the butter has cooled, followed by the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form out the dough into a circular shape. Of course this can also be rolled out into any shape. You want the dough to be about 1/2" thick as seen below

Place in the oven for about 18-20 minutes. The cookie will puff up in the oven, just as it starts settling is when you'd want to take it out. The cookie will continue to bake for a little while after being taken out of the oven. 

Let it cool completely if possible. Once cool, use a sharp knife to cut off the edges. This is when you can get creative and cut it into any shape. You'll want an even edge for a nice appearance. 

Decorate as desired! I used ready-made chocolate frosting since it was really easy. I placed it into a plastic bag, cut off the tip, and piped a boarder as well as writing "Happy Birthday". It went over really well and was super delicious. I still can't believe how thick and delicious it was :)

Enjoy :)

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, being as behind as I am in blog posts, I completely missed my birthday! Finally 22, woo. That's good for... absolutely nothing. I don't even look any older. This weekend I was asked if I was a teenager. A TEENAGER. And today at work I was told I look like I could pass as a 19-yr old intern. Oh life, how you're just hilarious. 

Anyway, one of the treats I made for my birthday (because yes, I obviously baked for my own birthday... let's be serious, who knows me better than.. me?) were mocha chocolate chip cookies. They were absolutely deeeeeelicious. A couple switches from several recipes made for the perfectttt cookie! At first I thought I may have put in too much espresso powder, but definitely not. If you taste the batter (since I can't NOT taste it), it's definitely strong, but bakes perfectly. Yummm

`

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated chocolate chip cookies

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

2 Tbsp instant espresso powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

8 oz. chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In the base of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together. Add in the eggs once the butter has cooled, followed by the vanilla. Combine the flour, espresso powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least a half hour. I placed mine overnight and they came out perfect. Drop heaping tablespoons onto a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. You will want the cookies to be a little puffy when you take them out. They will continue to cook slightly after you take them out and settle into a super cute cookie.  

Look at those speckles! Mocha flavor at it's finest. This is the best textured cookie I have tried to date. I'm a chewy cookie fan, and these are definitely chewy!

Please ignore my mom's awesome Hawaiian themed serving tray... I guess bursts of color can be fun

Enjoy! :)

Irene cookie dough

Yes, Irene, I'm naming my cookie dough after you. Why? Because you are the reason I have now been out of power for 3 days. Also not expected to come back on anytime soon due to this awesome tree...

Oh yea, complete destruction. Anyway, I'm stressed out of my mind with no power, making it nearly impossible to look for apartments. Why Irene, why. Anyway, my stress makes me want to bake. But oh right, i can't use my oven, or my stand mixer. Ugh, issues. I'm sitting here thinking to myself, do i really want to bake? Or do I really just want cookie dough. Both are highly likely, but the first choice is a no-go. So yup, for dessert I want cookie dough. The trick is that I have a gas stove and was able to melt butter on top, maybe a candle would work otherwise? Hmmm...
This miniature recipe make 4 nice sized balls of cookie dough. Share with 3 friends or family members, or save it for yourself.


Irene Cookie Dough
4 Tbsp + 1 tsp flour, whole wheat, white, whatever you have
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar
1.5 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla
Dash of salt
2tbsp of your favorite mix-in, obviously mine was crushed M&Ms


Melt butter over the stove. Once slightly cooled whisk in the sugars and the vanilla. Whisk in the water. Finally, mix in the flour and salt  followed by your mix in. My butter was still on the warm side so it ended up melting some of the chocolate from the M&Ms... awesome.
Classic taking picture of my makeshift baking during a blackout. Oh and blogging from my phone! Just started day 4. Seriously hope it comes back soon...

Enjoy?

Pretzel M&M Brownie Cookie Wedges

For my fourth and final dessert, since 3 clearly wasn't enough, I wanted to make a bar like dessert. I didn't have any plain cookies, and I had nothing with just plain chocolate either. Why not combine the two? I used a whole brownie recipe and halved a cookie recipe. I was able to fill two round baking pans. One was 9" and the other was a 6" pan. You can use one large rectangular pan with about the same volume. I also wanted to use a topping and mix-in with the recipe. I chose chocolate chips and pretzel M&M's. Yup, I finally found a recipe to use my beloved pretzel M&M's with. Let's get started...

Super Moist Brownie
3 squares (3 ounces) semi-sweet baking chocolate 
2 sticks butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup crushed pretzel M&M's and chocolate chips!


Melt butter and chocolate in a large bowl in the microwave or using a double boiler. In another bowl, mix together together the sugar and vanilla. Beat sugar with the chocolate and butter mixture until fluffy. Add in eggs one at a time beating until each is incorporated. Add in flour and mix on the lowest level until everything is even throughout. Fold in the extras! Place on the side while making the cookie batter adapted from Baking Illustrated.


Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl and place aside. Using a whisk, mix together the butter and sugars until well blended. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Mix in chocolate chips.


Other Ingredients
3/4 cup crushed Pretzel M&M's
5 Oreo Cookies (for the small pan only)


Now this is the fun part, I swear. Spread the brownie batter in a greased pan. The large 9" pan was used for the party, the 6" pan was to give to some friends, so it worked out well. On top of the brownie batter, sprinkle about 1/4 cup of Pretzel M&M's evenly. Now with a small spoon and your (well washed) hands, take bits of cookie dough and scatter it on top of the brownie base.

Yea it will look pretty delicious. Now crush up the 5 Oreo cookies and sprinkle them in the smaller sized pan. 

And as if there's not already enough in this dessert, go back with more cookie dough. It will help the Oreo's stay part of the wedges...

If I do remember correctly, this is precisely the time I texted my boyfriend to tell him that I think I lost my mind, because well it doesn't stop here. Bake for 35 minutes. After this time, remove and sprinkle with the remaining Pretzel M&M's. Place back into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until a toothpick is removed clean. 

Since there are so many layers, it's a little hard to tell. I put in my toothpick and it came out blue, thanks, M&M! My suggestion is go for the middle and leave yourself a little area to access the brownie. If it still seems too moist, throw it back in the oven for another 5 minutes. These are really dense so that's why there's a longer cooking time. 

Talk about an all-in-one dessert. Seriously delicious if I do say so myself. Just look at how beautiful those pretzel M&M's look! Beautiful, I know. 

Use a knife and spatula to help you cut the oh-so-cute wedges

So after hours of baking my 4 different desserts for my graduation party, as well as my mothers birthday, turns out that Long Island decided it would be the best day for record rainfall. Yup, 12 inches in my town. The entire extended family was over under some tarps that my dad fixed up rather well, if I do say so myself. Maybe I get some of my brains from him. Anyway, I'd say the desserts went pretty well. And the leftovers, my family had some, and the boyfriend got the rest... let's just say he's a happy camper.

Enjoy :)

Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cookies

Who bakes for their own graduation party? Oh yea, that would be me. But let's be serious, I'm obviously not complaining. My mom gets to pay for all the ingredients and I get to go crazy and bake for 30+ people. Yup, perfect. These deserts will probably span multiple posts just so it's easier to categorize of course :)

I knew I wanted to make a cupcake and a cookie and possibly something else. Let's start with the cookie since it's super easy and super delicious. It's actually just a variation on the peanut butter cookie that was used with the chocolate covered candied bacon. Since there's no guarantee that everyone would like the ridiculousness of chocolate covered candied bacon, I opted for a simple chocolate chunk instead. I was telling my super-fantastically-awesome boyfriend that I loved the peanut butter cookie, but I just wasn't a huge fan of bacon (surprising that I baked with it then, right? Guess I must really like the other people in my life :) ). Well anyway we decided that it would be awesome with just chocolate, or maybe Reese's cups chopped up? That will be for my next experimentation. I went with the chocolate for this one.

I bought a 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped them up even smaller so it would create large pieces as well as small pieces and when it becomes a fine powder, it mixes in with the batter for some yummy chocolate surprises. This is usually why I chop up my M&M's in any recipe. Using them whole would be fine too. It's also possible to purchase chocolate chunks in the baking isle. I also went with creamy peanut butter and dark brown sugar for this recipe as a change up. Delicious, of course...

Now on to the recipe...

Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars together with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mixing until combined. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until a firm dough forms. Chop up chocolate chips and fold into batter. Drop large tablespoons of batter onto baking sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes. This made about 30 smaller sized cookies.

The dark brown sugar gives an added richness to the cookie, and you can barely tell it has peanut butter in it. But it's surely delicious! And they look super cute too

Enjoy :)

No-Bake Rice Krispie Cookie Dough Bars

I can't believe how much I've been baking and posting lately, but I guess there's nothing like scrubbing your kitchen floor on your hands and knees then sorting through and packing your entire food supply to give you inspiration, or ingredients. What did I find this time? A box of Rice Krispies, some marshmallow fluff from my FlufferNutter cupcakes, and an assortment of peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, Reese's pieces, and M&M's. This was only leading to one thing - Rice Krispie treats. I then remembered my can of sweetened condensed milk that I originally bought to make cookie dough truffles, and just never got around to it since I was always baking something else. Well here's all of it made into one bar of ridiculousness - with no need to turn on the oven.

You'll need two 9x9-inch baking pans or the equivalent of such. 


Chocolate Rice Krispies
5 cups Rice Krispies cereal
9 ounces Marshmallow fluff
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp powdered sugar
1 cup milk chocolate chips (divided into two 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup Reese's pieces
(1 10-ounce bag chocolate chips needed for the top layer of bars)


In a large bowl combine the cereal, 1/2 cup chocolate chips and Reese's pieces. Set aside. Melt butter and marshmallow fluff in a large pot over medium-low heat. Stir in cocoa powder and sugar until fully incorporated. Pour in the rest of the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Remove from heat. 
Pour the bowl with cereal mixture into the pot with the marshmallow mixture and combine until the cereal is evenly coated. 
Divide the batter among two greased 9x9 pans. Push down and let cool while starting the cookie dough layer.


Edible Cookie Dough
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/8 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (Sorry I had to halve the batch!)
1/4 to 1/2 cup M&M's or chocolate chips... or both 


Cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Pour about half of the flour and alternate with adding the milk. Beat until everything is combined. Mix in chocolate chips, M&M's or other add-ins. Divide batter among the two pans. This will create a thin layer of cookie dough. Spread evenly across the rice krispies.

Place the tray in the freezer and melt the 10-ounce bag of chocolate chips. Place in microwave safe bowl and heat in 20-30 second increments, stirring after each one until all melted. Remove trays from freezer and pour half the chocolate in each pan. Start from the center and work quickly spreading the chocolate with a rubber spatula outward. Since the cookie dough is cold, the chocolate will harden, so it's important to work quick. 

I left this edge purposely so you could see the different layers. Return to the refrigerator and when the chocolate hardens, it's ready! Cut into squares, or whatever shape your heart desired. 

*For storage, keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator*

I have to say, if there's one thing better than following a good recipe, it's improvising your own recipe and having it come out delicious. Then again I may need some taste-testers to confirm this...

Enjoy :) .. Or come over and help me eat these.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Covered Candied Bacon

I may not be the biggest bacon fan (well, I don't really like it much at all...), but I do have some bacon lovers in my life. I was stumbling on the internet looking at recipes and blogs (as always) and came across this insane idea to cover cinnamon-sugar candied bacon in chocolate, chop it up, and throw it in a peanut butter cookie. First of all, I'd like to say that the peanut butter cookie batter alone was just absolutely amazing and is definitely something I will be using in the future. Secondly, I actually enjoyed the bacon. 


Go buy a pack of applewood smoked bacon and make half for breakfast and with the other half, make these delicious creatures..

Chocolate Covered Cinnamon Sugar Candied Bacon
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 sliced applewood smoked bacon (Only 4 needed for the recipe)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. Take each slice of bacon and cover in mixed cinnamon and sugar. Lay each flat across the wire rack. If making these in a pan, be careful because the sugar caramelizes and becomes extremely sticky. In the oven, cook for 20-25 minutes flipping once. For either method of cooking, lay bacon across wire racks to cook down. If you place them on top of paper towels, due to the sticky nature, the paper towel doesn't quite come off too easily (trust me, I found this out through experience)


Let the bacon cool completely in the refrigerator for a couple hours. Melt the 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 20-30 second intervals. After each one, stir and repeat until chocolate is fully melted. Do not overheat. Coat each piece of bacon in melted chocolate and place on parchment paper in the refrigerator to cool. 


For the cookie, I opted for chunky instead of creamy peanut butter and light brown sugar rather than dark brown!

The extra-large cookie is a special 21st birthday treat for my roommate!.. Tempted yet?

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Candied Bacon
(makes about 20-24 cookies depending on size)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup while sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 slices chocolate covered candied bacon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars together with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mixing until combined. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until a firm dough forms. Chop up bacon into smaller pieces and fold into batter. Drop large tablespoons of batter onto baking sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes. 


Cool completely, then devour. 
Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is

Yes, that is in fact a huge hunk of chocolate covered bacon...

Enjoy! :)