Tag Archives: cookies

Homemade Halloween Oreo Cookies

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Halloween OreosI love Oreos. Lately, every time I go to the grocery store I see Halloween Oreos on display. The kids beg for them, but I say no. I am so tempted to buy them but I resist because I have a problem with this cookie. I can’t have just one. I need to have many usually with a cold glass of milk. I am not sure if it is the processed cream filling or the perfectly crunchy cookie that gets me every time. Either way I avoid them.

Months ago I found a recipe for homemade Oreos in Joanne Chang’s Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Café and I thought this could be dangerous. Typically, for this holiday, I make sugar cookies, pull out the Halloween cookie cutters and let the kids go nuts. This year I decided to try something different because sometimes I have to shake things up a bit. When C watched me put a few drops of orange food dye into the cream filling, her eyes widen and she asked me “are you making Halloween Oreos?” When I told her yes, she nearly collapsed with excitement. She couldn’t wait to try them and neither could I.

Chang’s recipe for homemade Oreos is not nearly as sweet as the store-bought version but they are delicious. I mean really, really good. This is a very rich chocolate cookie with a fresh buttercream filling. The cookie itself is perfectly crunchy and the buttercream is not overly sweet but works so well with the intense chocolate flavor of the cookie. They are easy to make though do require some planning ahead. The dough needs to firm up at room temperature for about an hour and then rest in the fridge for another two hours.

The cookies taste best the day they are made but still taste dam good for several days if stored in an airtight container. I think nothing is better than a fresh cookie with a glass of milk. Actually, watching the kids eat them, as they tell me about their day totally unaware of the Oreo mustache that has formed around their sweet little lips is better. It’s the little things.

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I made the vanilla buttercream filling first and added a few drops of Americolor food coloring. The filling will last at room temperature for up to two days or refrigerated for a week. If refrigerated bring to room temperature before spreading on the cookies.

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After making the cream filling, I made the cookie dough. Both melted and cooled semi-sweet chocolate chips and Dutch-processed cocoa powder are added to the melted butter sugar mixture. So good!

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After the cookies baked for about 20 minutes and cooled a bit, I assembled them. I added a heaping tablespoonful of filling but feel free to add more! C’mon, treat yourself this Halloween. The cookies can be stored in an air tight container for several days but I bet they won’t last that long!

Homemade Halloween Oreos

Recipe from Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery and Café

Make about 18 sandwich cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup or two sticks of unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled a bit

1 egg

11/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Vanilla Cream Filling Ingredients:

1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

12/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp. milk

pinch of kosher salt

a few drops of orange food coloring

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until well mixed. Whisk in the vanilla and melted but cooled chocolate. Add the egg and whisk until thoroughly combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda until well mixed. Stir the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture. The dough may seem like it won’t come together. If necessary use your hands to finish incorporating. The dough will seem thick and a bit dry. Let it sit a room temperature for about an hour.

Transfer dough to large square of parchment paper and use your hands to the shape the dough into a 10 inch log about 21/2 inches in diameter. Roll the parchment paper around the dough and roll the log into a longer smoother log, still keeping it at 21/2 inch diameter. Refrigerate for about 2 hours or wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for about a week.

Pre-heat your oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the dough into 1/4 inch slices and place them about an 1 inch apart. Bake for about 20 minutes but start checking them after 16 minutes. When they feel firm remove them from the oven. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet to slightly warm or room temperature.

Do not fill the cookies when they are hot!

While the cookies are cooling make the vanilla cream filling. Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on low-speed until totally smooth and creamy. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the milk, salt and about 3 drops of orange food coloring and beat until smooth. The filling can be stored at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for about a week.

Select two cookies and fill with a heaping tablespoon of filling to make a sandwich. Continue with remaining cookies. Share with family and friends, if you can!

The Hunt for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

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I love chocolate chip cookies. In fact if my last dessert on this earth was a warm chocolate chip cookie with a cold glass of milk, I would die happy.

When I come across a new recipe for the “best chocolate chip cookie ever” I usually try it. All across Pinterest, the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe keeps popping up. I read the recipe a couple of times and thought about trying it but pushed it aside mainly because the dough needs to rest for 24-72 hours. I am not a patient woman, especially when it comes to cookies. A couple of days ago the recipe appeared on the blog Tidy Mom. I felt oddly patient that day and very curious to see if this is indeed the best chocolate chip cookie ever. It is. The outer cookie has a nice crispness and the addition of the sea salt sprinkled on top of the cookie before it bakes highlights the sweetness of the chocolate. It was almost too much happiness for my taste buds to handle at once but then I got to the middle where the chocolate melts and the crumb is soft and I felt ecstatic.

If you don’t have cake and bread flour already, go out now and buy it. If you don’t have sea salt; get it. It requires a lot of chocolate but it is so worth it! Set aside time for the dough to rest. Be patient. It is worth the wait. Once you bake the cookies and they have cooled a bit share with the people you love with a cold glass of milk. Sit back and smile.

_KH10003Be sure to cream the butter and sugars for about 5 minutes, scrapping down the bowl once or twice.

_KH10005I used a combination of Guittard’s super melt chips and dark chocolate chips. The super melts are large and flat and melt nicely into any cookie, brownie or blondie.

_KH10021I used an ice cream scoop to get consistent golf ball sized cookies. Be sure to sprinkle sea salt on the cookie before they bake.

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The cookies should bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

barely adapted from NY Times Recipe found on Tidy Mom

makes about 3 dozen

**Cookie dough chills for 24-72 hours. These cookies are worth the wait!**

Ingredients:

2 cups minus tbsp unbleached cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4lbs dark chocolate ( I used Guittard)

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt or Sea Salt

Directions:

Sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl once or twice while creaming the butter and sugar mixture. Add your eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add your dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate.

Place dough in an air tight container with plastic wrap pressed against the surface, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but up to 72 hours.

After the dough has rested for 24-72 hours, pre heat your oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out golf ball size rounds of dough. I used an ice cream scoop for this part. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt and bake until golden brown, about 15-18 minutes. Transfer entire cookie sheet  to wire rack and allow to cool for about 10 minutes and then place on wire rack to cool a for little longer. Enjoy the cookie warm with a glass of cold milk.