I was making a different recipe and had taken extra butter out but didn’t need it so I decided to make this shortbread recipe instead. It was so, so good. Simple in ingredients, but complex in flavor. They aren’t overly sweet either so if you have someone who doesn’t like super-sweet desserts this would be just the thing. Recipe and photo courtesy of houseofyumm.com.

• 1 cup salted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup toffee bits
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl add the room temperature butter and sugars. Beat or mix together until combined. Add in the vanilla extract and egg. Mix to combine. Stir in the all purpose flour. Fold in the toffee bits and chopped pecans. Divide the cookie dough in half. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the counter. Place one half of the cookie dough on the plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap, roll the dough into a long round shape. Roll it against the counter to get the dough compact and round. Make sure the cookie dough is completely wrapped in the plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill. Do the same with the second half of the shortbread cookie dough. Chill the cookie dough for at least 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Using a large knife slice the cookie dough into 1/2 inch rounds. Place the shortbread cookie rounds on a large baking sheet that is lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Press the edges of the cookies in to smooth out from cutting. Bake the cookies for about 12-14 minutes until cooked through. Cookies will be slightly golden on the outside. They will not spread much or rise. Store the cookies in sealed containers at room temperature.

I started out wanting to make Anzac cookies, but the recipe I found called for desiccated coconut which I don’t have so I decided to sub shredded coconut. After a little research I realized that there is a big difference between desiccated and shredded coconut so I decided to add pecans and make a new cookie! I have started dipping my toe in the recipe creation pool and this was my first attempt. I’m proud to say that these turned out delicious! Chewy, not too sweet, and just the right size. I’ll definitely make these again.

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter, salted
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 boiling water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda*

Combine all your dry ingredients into a bowl. Melt your butter and corn syrup in a saucepan over low heat, then mix together the boiling water and baking soda and add it to the butter/syrup mixture. Mix into the dry ingredients until the dough comes together. You want it to be scoopable but not too wet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until brown.

For high altitude baking, use 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda.

These cookies are from the Bon Appetit’s website and are billed as the perfect chocolate chip cookie. I had found the recipe about a month ago, and when I realized it was National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day last week I knew I needed to make them. These are much bigger cookies than I usually scoop but they are really delicious. There is no mixer or chilling required so if you are in the mood for immediate gratification from a homemade chocolate chip cookie then this is your recipe.

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp  kosher salt
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) salted butter, divided
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (60%–70% cacao), coarsely chopped, or semisweet chocolate chips

Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Cook ½ cup (1 stick) butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, swirling often and scraping bottom of pan with a heatproof rubber spatula, until butter foams, then browns, about 4 minutes. Transfer butter to a large heatproof bowl and let cool 1 minute. Cut remaining ¼ cup (½ stick) butter into small pieces and add to brown butter (it should start to melt but not foam and sizzle, so test with one piece before adding the rest). Once butter is melted, add both sugars and whisk, breaking up any clumps, until sugar is incorporated and no lumps remain. Add egg and egg yolks and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Whisk in vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold reserved dry ingredients into butter mixture just until no dry spots remain, then fold in chocolate. Using a 1½-oz. scoop (3 Tbsp.)*, portion out 16 balls of dough and divide between 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. Bake cookies, rotating sheets if cookies are browning very unevenly (otherwise, just leave them alone), until deep golden brown and firm around the edges, 8–10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.

*I used a scale to weight out 1 1/2 oz balls of dough because my cookie was only 1 oz

These cookies came together very quickly and were so delicious. Make them today! Recipe and photo courtesy of twosisterscrafting.com

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups grated or chopped raw carrots
• 1 batch cream cheese frosting
• 1  cup chopped pecans

Grate and chop 2 cups of raw carrots. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in cinnamon, baking powder, baking sold and salt and mix well. Add flour and mix until combined. Add in 2 cups of carrots. Bake the cookies in a 375 degree oven for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Allow cookies to cool. Frost with cream cheese frosting. Apply chopped pecans around the edges of cookies.

I don’t bake with alcohol very often, mostly because I have this notion that you won’t taste the flavor of the alcohol, just the alcohol itself. Well, I’m glad that I put that aside for these cookies because they are delicious. Just be prepared to do some dishes, because while no one step is difficult, you will get a few pans dirty making the different components.

For the Buttered Pecans:

• 1 1/2 cups pecans, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter

For the Cookies:

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted until browned
• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 2 large eggs
• 12 ounces semi-sweet OR dark chocolate chips
• pecan halves, optional

To begin, melt your two sticks of butter in a small saucepan over medium-heat, stirring frequently until the color turns a rich brown and you have lovely brown bits on the bottom of your pan. This always takes me longer than I think, so don’t be surprised if it takes up to 10 minutes. Also, keep a close eye on it because it can go from perfect to burned very quickly. Once your butter has browned, put it in a heat safe container to solidify at room temperature. You can also rapidly cool it in the fridge. You will know it’s ready when you press on the top and it makes a small indention.

After your butter is ready, toast the pecans in a skillet on the stove. Melt the butter and add the pecans, stirring frequently til they are toasted and smell wonderful, about 5 minutes. Now you are ready to mix together the rest of the batter.

Preheat the oven to 375. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda; whisk well to combine then set aside until needed. In a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine browned butter and both sugars and beat on medium-speed until light and fluffy; about 2 minutes. Add in the vanilla and bourbon and beat until combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 15 seconds after each addition. Turn mixer off. Using a wooden spoon or sturdy rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour, stirring only until the flour begins to disappear. Fold in the chocolate chunks and buttered pecans.  Roll 3 tablespoon sized scoops of dough between your palms to form a ball (they should be big; almost a 1/4 cup), then place on prepared sheets (make sure to leave enough room in between each cookie for inevitable spreading). Continue this process until all the dough has been rolled. Press a pecan on the top of each cookie dough mound, if desired. Place baking sheets in preheated oven, one at a time, and bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until golden at the edges but still soft in the middle. (Do not over-bake! When you pull them out of the oven they should look a little raw still. I did 9 minutes and they were perfect.) Repeat with all cookie dough. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire wrack to cool completely.

This recipe is a combination of my mom’s and Martha Stewart. The cookie is my mother’s and the chocolate is Martha Stewart. This cookie is a delicious shortbread with a buttery, chocolatey filling that you can’t eat just one of.

Cookie:

• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Filling:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup

For the cookies, cream the butter and sugar together. Add in egg yolks and vanilla. Incorporate dry ingredients and mix well. Chill for at least an hour. Make balls and press a well in the cookies (I like to use a tablespoon measuring cup). Bake at 300 for 20-25 minutes. If necessary, re-press the wells when the cookies come out of the oven. Allow to cool completely.

For the filling, melt the chocolate, butter and corn syrup either in a double boiler or microwave until smooth. If using the microwave, cook in 30 sec increments, stirring frequently until melted. Allow to cool slightly before filling the cookies.

There are so many recipes out there that claim to be THE BEST. That definition is so different for everyone, especially when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. Some people say that chilling is mandatory, or cake flour, or nuts…the list goes on and on. In my opinion, this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have tried to date. There is no chilling, no super fancy ingredients, but there are a couple steps in here that I feel make this recipe stand out. One is the extra egg yolk. The other is the 4-5 minutes of beating before you add the dry ingredients. I did add about 25 grams more flour to compensate for being at altitude and I have included the US measurements in case you don’t own a food scale. I did weigh my ingredients so keep that in mind when you try this. Recipe and photo courtesy of janespatisserie.com.

• 175 g (1 stick + 6 tablespoons) butter
• 225 g (1 1/8 cup) light brown sugar
• 100 g ( scant 1/2 cup) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 medium egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 300 g (2 cups) flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 325 g (2 1/2 cups) semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375.  Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper. Melt the butter slowly until it is fully melted, leave to cool for a couple of minutes. Once cooled, beat in the two sugars until they are thoroughly combined. With a stand mixer, add the egg, the egg yolk and vanilla and beat the mixture for about 4-5 minutes on a medium speed or until the mixture becomes much lighter in color, is smooth, and has increased in volume. (I literally set a timer for this so I made sure I beat it for long enough.) Add the dry ingredients and beat again until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips. Using a cookie scoop, portion the cookies onto the trays and bake the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes for softer cookies; 14 minutes for soft/crunchy cookies. I rotate my pans halfway through baking to make sure it bakes evenly. Take them out of the oven and let them cool on the pan for 1 minute, then transfer to a cooling rack.

This cookie is a great example of a simple, yet delicious cookie. There aren’t any fancy ingredients, but it’s hearty and satisfying without being too sweet.  Even better is the fact that the cookies were mixed up and baked in 30 min. Recipe and photo courtesy of hungryhungryhighness.com.

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg, plus 1 yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup oats (I used old-fashioned)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. Line cookie sheets with Silpat or parchment. Cream together butter and sugars for about 2 minutes. Add peanut butter and stir. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla. Combine flour, oats, and baking soda. Slowly mix into the wet ingredients. Add the chocolate chips and mix. Scoop onto the cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

These cookies.  They are my favorite Girl Scout cookie, and when I found a recipe for a homemade version I knew I had to try it.  I had it pinned for probably a year, but then I saw a Tasty video online and it spurred me to make them myself.  While they were amazingly delicious, it was about a 2.5 hour process to get them made, so next time I think I’ll make them into bars and save myself a little bit of time. Recipe and photo courtesy of justataste.com

Cookies:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Coconut Topping:

• 3 cups shredded coconut, sweetened
• 15 oz caramels
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 oz chocolate (almond bark or dark chocolate)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In three increments, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, mixing between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the milk and vanilla extract, blending until combined and the dough begins to come together in large pieces. Wrap the disk securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
Once the dough has chilled, roll out onto a lightly floured surface until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut out as many cookies as possible with a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter. Place the cut-out cookies on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet half-way through, until the cookies are pale golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Make the coconut topping:
Spread the coconut flakes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the coconut for about 10 minutes in a 350ºF oven until toasted, stirring frequently to ensure even browning and so that it does not burn. Remove the toasted coconut from the oven and set it aside. Melt the caramels, milk and salt in the microwave, stirring every 45 seconds until fully melted.  Combine 3/4 of the caramel with the toasted coconut in a large bowl. Carefully spread the remaining 1/4 cup of caramel atop the cooled cookies then press on a portion of the coconut mixture. Let the cookies cool for 30 minutes. If the caramel-coconut mixture thickens too much at any point while pressing it onto the cookies, return it to the double-boiler and warm it until it’s spreadable again. Melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave. Dip the bottoms of the cookies in the chocolate and place them on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Use a fork to drizzle the tops with chocolate. Let the cookies sit until the chocolate hardens fully.

*If you don’t have a doughnut-shaped cookie cutter, you can use two cookies cutters (such as a circular 2-inch and a circular 1-inch) to form the ring shape. Alternately, you can use the caps to any dry spices to serve as cookie cutters.
*If the dough is too firm to roll out after being refrigerated, let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling and cutting out the cookies.
*The shortbread should be very pale golden in color. When in doubt, under-bake it!
*If using dark chocolate chips, 8 ounces is equal to about 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips.
*Coconut burns very quickly, so keep an eye on it and stir often!
*Spreading the cookies with the reserved 1/4 cup of caramel gives the coconut mixture a stickier base to adhere to.

These cookies are, in a word, amazing.  They are 10 times better than their grocery store counterparts because they are chewy, not crunchy.  You should really go make them right now; then give them all away because you will eat them all if left in your vicinity. Recipe and photo courtesy of motherthyme.com

Cookie:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar; packed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• vanilla

Icing:

• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray or line your baking sheets and set aside.  Placed rolled oats in a food processor and pulse for about 10 seconds until coarse.  Mix oats with the rest of the dry ingredients.  Using an electric mixer cream together the butter and sugars.  Add eggs one at a time, then the vanilla extract.  Gradually add in flour mixture until combined.  Roll dough into 2 tablespoon size balls and place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until the bottoms begin to brown.  Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

After the cookies are completely cool, mix together your glaze ingredients and proceed to dip the tops of the cookies into the icing.  Let the glaze dry then store in an airtight container.