Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Monday!

Okay, so Mondays usually remind me of the Boomtown Rats song that Tori Amos later covered. I (usually) don’t like Mondays. It is the death of the weekend and all of that. But I made cookies on Sunday and, seeing them on the kitchen counter the next morning, I instantly felt like today would be good. What can be bad when you have cookies with sprinkles!?

Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 20 cookies

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1 stick butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)
1 TB sprinkles (optional)

You’ll need: 2 medium bowls, 1 large spoon, 1 teaspoon, baking sheet, nonstick spray/baking mat, oven

step one: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine first four (dry) ingredients in a bowl and set aside. In the second bowl, combine butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. 

step two: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and sprinkles. Using both spoons, form balls about the size of a golf ball and set on the cookie sheet. Repeat until 12-15 dough balls are formed. 

step three: Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from oven, let sit for 1-2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack or a cool plate. Yummm. 

By the by, check out my Recipage (link at the top right) to see some of my recipes by category/ingredient/etc. I’m adding more each day! Happy Monday!

~Laurel~

Mochanut Cookies

You like that word, Mochanut?

Yeah, I made it up. A LOOOONNNG season of being MIA on this lovely blog means I must come up with a new word. And the definition:

Mo-cha-nut [moh-kuh-nuht, -nuht], noun  
1. the combination of espresso powder, semi-sweet chocolate, and shredded coconut into the perfect  trifecta of awesome happiness for your tastebuds
2. Hawaii, in cookie form
3. If you don’t care for Hawaii, insert your favorite dream vacation land and add “, in cookie form”

But enough about definitions and textbooks and whatnot….let’s make some cookies!


Proof that I didn’t eat ALL of the cookie dough..
 mochanut cookies
barely adapted from Annie
makes 3 dozen small cookies
not too sweet, not too rich. these cookies are breakfast-worthy with a little coffee. they’re also perfect for a grab-and-go sweet treat.
3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
3 tbsp. espresso powder (or fine coffee grounds…no joke)
1 stick margarine + 1 stick butter at room temp
¾ cup brown sugar (not packed)
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut  (I used unsweetened)
step one: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients (flour to coffee). Set aside.
step two: In a second bowl, combine butters, sugars and eggs. Use a mixer if you like. Stir well, until all combined. Add in the two extracts.
step three: Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until combined. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and coconut. Stir! 
step four: Drop by rounded tablespoons on a non-stick baking mat or cookie sheet. 12 will fit on a sheet. If you’d like giant cookies, get out an ice cream scoop. Either size, flatten cookies down with the back of a fork so they’ll cook more evenly. (This dough will be thick, friends.)
step five: Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, or until cookies are cooked through but soft to the touch. Try not to burn your fingers or mouth while devouring. Unleash your inner cookie monster! 🙂 

There you have it. A cookie recipe with the trifecta. Be sure to share with others. And now for some updates…
1. We moved. It’s a fun old house on a church campus. And a new job came with it that I’m really enjoying. And the wonder that is Oregon means that it’s sunny, hailing and rainy all at the same time. But it’s okay…I’m totally distracted by the AMAZING SPRING BLOOMS everywhere! I don’t know what most of the plants/flowers/trees/shrubs are called, but I’m thoroughly enjoying them. Every day I see a new bit of pink, purple, white or yellow that is a new bloom in our neighborhood. Here are a couple of recognizable ones right outside my door…
 2. My mom took me to Israel. Our group was amazing, and it was truly the trip of a lifetime. I’m ready to go back with Matt! It is the only trip I’ve taken that I don’t have words to describe it…a pilgrimage. Yes, that works. I’ll tell more later. And it was beautiful. Here’s the Sea of Galilee (outside of our hotel room): 
Shamrock Shake? Yeah, I had 1/2 of one…those things are huge! Happy (belated) St. Patty’s Day! 
 Okay, that’s enough updating. Bye for now, friends! It’s great to be back.
 

Happy eating! 
Laurel

~Laurel~

Reindeer Noses

Happy Holiday Season, friends!

We’ve been enjoying the lights, the turkey (I mean Thai for turkey day), and the festivities in the Northwest. On many corners, I drive by “Christmas trees for sale” signs, & they’re for gorgeous firs or whatever kind you like. Even Boy Scouts are selling them for $15/tree. There are even tree farms where they hand you a saw and you get to wander the tree farm for the perfect Christmas tree for your home. You choose it and chop it down. You probably know all about this, but it’s a new thing for this lifelong Texan.

We went with our artificial tree this year because 1) I was too excited to wait to I get a live tree and 2) we were trying to be a little greener. But next year…we’ll buy a live tree so grand it’ll make the Griswolds’ tree look like Charlie Brown’s little branch…maybe.

Lets make a festive, happy, sweet cookie. Lets be cute yet quick about it, shall we?

Reindeer Noses
~makes 18 cookies~

2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick margarine, melted (8 TB)
1 egg
Powdered sugar
Red sprinkles

Preheat oven to 340. In a medium bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients (dry stuff).

Add in the egg and margarine. Stir.

Roll into small balls, about the size of a ping pong ball. Place onto a nonstick baking sheet.

Repeat until all of the dough is rolled. Dust with “SNOW” (powdered sugar) or turn them into “Rudolph’s nose” (red sprinkles). Bake for 10 minutes, or until cookies are slightly firm to the touch. let cool a few minutes before gobbling.

Make these Reindeer Noses with the kids in your life, or feel like a kid making them!

Merry, merry!

-Laurel

~Laurel~

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