Cookie Butter Cookies

Gainesville just got a Trader Joe's!!!  It's awesome.  Mr. T and I went the first Saturday that they were open.  It was so crowded that we didn't get a chance to really look around but one of the things I did manager to grab was a jar of Cookie Butter.

Cookie Butter is the consistency of peanut butter but is made up of gingersnaps (and other stuff).  Alone it's pretty amazing but made into a cookie it transforms into... COOKIECEPTION!!

I want to give this cookie another chance.  I think my downfall was using a super basic cookie recipe.  Mr. T liked them fine but I felt that the lack of flour in them made the sugar granules more obvious.

Cookie Butter Cookies:

1 cup cookie butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a mixing bowl mix the sugar, egg, and vanilla together.  Add the cookie butter and mix until the mixture just comes together.

Spoon onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

** I used a fork to make cross hatches in my cookies (just like you would regular peanut butter cookies).  You don't have to though.

Chewy Ginger Cookies

I love ginger cookies.  The older I get the more I lean towards lovely ginger cookies instead of chocolate peppermint cookies for the holidays.  (I still love a chocolate peppermint cookie... make no mistake about it)

These are not ginger snaps.  These are soft and chewy... and delicious.

Chewy Ginger Cookies:
(King Arthur Flour)

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Sugar for coating: I used regular granulated sugar but sparkling white sugar would be pretty

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they're light and fluffy.

Add the molasses, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Mix well.  Add the eggs, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.

Add the flour and scrape down the sides again.

Scoop the soft dough into 1 ½" balls and roll them sugar.

Space the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 ½" between them.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. The centers will look soft and puffy.  Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool them on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fall = Pumpkin! I was in the fall spirit (even though it's still 90 degrees outside) and decided to make some awesome pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  It has to be the most homey cookie ever.

I like to make a big batch of these cookies and freeze the dough.  You never know when you're going to need a pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookie... and you need to be prepared.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ingredients:
1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2  cup granulated sugar
2  eggs
1  teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2  teaspoon sal
3  cups quick or old fashioned oats
1  cup chocolate chips
1 can pumpkin, not pie filling

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt; mix well.

Add oats, chocolate chips, and pumpkin.  Mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack.

Pecan Praline Cookies

I've been in a fall frame of mind and I needed to make some cookies for a friend's birthday so I combined everything and pulled this recipe out of my "need to try" box.  I'm glad I did because they were delicious!

I think that I might go ahead and add these to my Christmas Cookie Exchange list.  I love the icing on top of these; it makes a lovely difference of texture on the cookie.

Pecan Praline Cookies:
(My Own Sweet Thyme)


1 cup butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup finely chopped pecans
Brown Sugar Frosting (see below)
Pecan halves for garnish

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer. Gradually add sugars, mixing well. Add egg and vanilla; beat well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, soda and salt. Gradually add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture, stirring after each addition. Stir in the chopped pecans and chill dough for 30 minutes.

When chilled, remove from the refrigerator. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place the balls of dough on ungreased cookie sheets or sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

After the cookies cool spread the brown sugar frosting over the tops of the cookies and top each cookie with half of a pecan.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.


Brown Sugar Frosting:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup half & half
1 Tablespoon butter
1½ cups sifted powdered sugar (plus a little more if needed)

Combine brown sugar and half & half in a saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Boil 4 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in butter. Add 1½ cups powdered sugar. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add a little more powdered sugar, if needed, to achieve a desired spreading consistency.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

I've been looking at a picture of these cookies for a couple of months.   I love the fact that these cookies only have a few ingredients and are a great gluten and dairy free option for people that need those options.  For the people that just like chocolate cookies... these are great for that too.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies:
(King Arthur Flour)

2 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional but good
1 cup cocoa powder, Dutch-process (European-style) preferred*
3 large egg whites
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets. Or line with parchment, and grease the parchment.

Stir together all of the ingredients till smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and stir again till smooth.

Drop the soft, batter-like dough onto the prepared baking sheets in 1 1/2" circles; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.

Bake the cookies for 8 minutes; they should spread, become somewhat shiny, and develop faintly crackly tops.

Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool right on the pan.

Toffee Butterscotch Cookies

I'm on vacation but Mr. T is working this week.  I love being able to sit around and watch trashy tv (Real Housewives of Everything!!!) but I just can't do it all day.  I get anxious and there are only so many chores that I'm going to do on vacation.

This leads to me making a mess in the kitchen and experimenting.  I found a recipe in my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook for a White Chocolate Butterscotch Cookie and decided to work with it since chemistry isn't really my thing.














Toffee Butterscotch Cookies:
(adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe)

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup toffee bits (chocolate covered or plain)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  In the bowl of a stand mixer mix the butter, shortening, and brown sugar until it's a light color, around 2-3 minutes.  Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix, scraping down the sides as needed.

Once the wet ingredients are mixed slowly add the flour mixture.  Once the flour is incorporated add the butterscotch chips and toffee bits and fold in with a spoon or spatula.

Spoon the batter on the cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.

Shortbread Candy Bars

Yay for candy! I have a ton of candy pieces in my pantry and I need to start using them.  This is one of the easiest ways to use up candy pieces and make something delicious.

This is a basic shortbread recipe.  I used these toppings but you could very easily switch them out.  I've made shortbread with strawberry jam and white chocolate chips before.  It's delicious.  Try new things, it's good for you.  ;-)

Shortbread Candy Bars:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, chopped
1/2 cup butterscotch chips, chopped
1/2 cup toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8 square baking pan with aluminum foil.

In a bowl whisk the flour with the salt.  In a bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the flour mixture and mix until everything has just come together.

Spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until the shortbread is golden brown.  Remove from oven and scatter the chocolate and butterscotch chips over the hot shortbread. Return the shortbread to the oven for a couple of minutes (until the chocolate softens). Take a knife or small spatula and spread the chocolate chips out.  Sprinkle the toffee bits over the chocolate and place the pan on a rack to cool.

Once the chocolate has set remove from the pan and cut into 16 squares.

Coconut Macaroons

We have just finished up the spring holiday season.  Passover and Easter were the same weekend this year and everywhere I looked there were coconut desserts galore, especially coconut macaroons.  I decided that this, and the fact that I had every ingredient needed to make these little desserts in my panty, was a sign... so I whipped up a batch.

I looked at quite a few macaroon recipes and they were all pretty similar.  I decided on this version from Ina Garten because she used a can of sweetened condensed milk, which is awesome. I think I'm going to add these into my dessert rotation.  They were really easy to make and the ingredient list is small.

Note:  If you are looking to make these for Passover I can't attest to the Kosherness (is that a word?) of them.

 

Coconut Macaroons:
(Ina Garten)

Ingredients:
14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons.

 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Cranberries are awesome. These cookies are awesome.  They're a basic cookie recipe and perfect for sharing. The batter for these cookies also freezes really well.  I like to go ahead, make an entire batch of batter and just cook off what I need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies:
(adapted from Ocean Spray)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. 

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
 

Apple Cider Caramel Cookies

It's time for Christmas Cookie Exchanges!  I love participating in them and enjoying what others bring.  Here is one of the cookies I'm bringing to a cookie exchange this year. I found in on pinterest through the Six Sister's Stuff blog.

Apple Cider Caramel Cookies:
(Six Sister's Stuff)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, nearly melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (7.4 ounce) box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix *Not sugar free*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 (14 ounce) bag Kraft Caramels

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt, and all 10 packets of apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract, then mix in the baking soda and baking powder. Add the flour and mix until just combined.

Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough scrapping off the excess as you go up the bowl. Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place a caramel in the center. Work the dough around the caramel sealing well. Place the cookies two inches apart on the sheets.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. After baking, carefully slide the parchment with the cookies onto the counter. Let cool until they are no longer soft but still slightly warm. Twist gently to remove, and cool the rest of the way upside down on the parchment or on a cooling rack.

Red Velvet Cookies

Everyone loves Red Velvet cake (well, a lot of people do at least).  I found this recipe for gooey butter cookies through Food Network and Paula Deen.  Her original recipe uses a box of chocolate cake but since it's a box of cake I decided to go with red velvet.

Red Velvet Cookies:
(Paula Deen)

Ingredients:
8oz. (1 brick) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (18-ounce) box red velvet cake mix
Powdered sugar to roll the cookies in.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Beat in egg, then the vanilla.  Beat in the cake mix.

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up.  Roll batter into tablespoon-sized balls and then roll them in powdered sugar.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey."

Pumpkin Cake Mix Cookies

Cake mix cookies have been seen all over the place.  A quick google search will give you a million different recipes.  I decided to make some the other night, because I could.

Pumpkin Cake Mix Cookies:

1 can of pumpkin
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix everything together.  Spoon batter onto a cookie sheet and bake for 15-25 minutes.

Meringue Cookies

I made some Key Lime Pie the other day and had some left over egg whites.  I decided that this was the time to try to make something new.  That something was meringue cookies.  They're easy to make and turn out to be really light and airy.  They almost melt in your mouth.   They also store fantastically.

Meringue recipes call for superfine sugar.  I'm sure it's something you can buy but I just poured it into my food processor and let it whirl.

Here is one more thing to think about when making these.  While they sit in the oven and dry out it's important not to forget that they are in there and turn the oven up to 400* to make some garlic toast.  It will cause them to burn and you'll have the throw the entire batch of lovely meringues that you just spent hours making into the trash. 

I just wanted to throw that out there (not that I would do something like that... i'm just saying)

Meringue Cookies: 

(Joy of Baking)

3 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup (150 grams) superfine sugar

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and continue to beat, on medium-high speed, until the meringue holds very stiff peaks. 

<- It should look like this.




















Beat in the vanilla extract.   

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. You can either use a piping bag or use two spoons to make mounds of meringue.

 

Bake the meringues for approximately 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours, rotating the baking sheet from front to back (about half way through) to ensure even baking. The meringues are done when they are pale in color and fairly crisp. (The meringues will release easily from the parchment paper.) Turn off the oven, open the door a crack, and leave the meringues in the oven to finish drying several hours or overnight. 

The meringues can be covered and stored at room temperature for several days.

Cake Mix Cookies

I found these on the interwebs.  It's a fantastic idea and since cake mixes are BOGO all the time I decided that this would be a good recipe to keep in my "Holy Crap I forgot that I need to bring something to work/school/church tomorrow!" file.

Cake Mix Cookies:
(Pillsbury)

1 (18.9-oz.) pkg. Cake Mix (I used chocolate, because I had chocolate)

1/3 cup oil

2 eggs

Bake at 375 for about 6-8 minutes.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

It's almost Valentines day so I decided it was the perfect time to make some red velvet cake.  I also love whoopie pies and have been wanting to make some more this year.  I found this recipe on Annie's Eats and decided to give it a try.  I loved that Annie piped these into hearts.  It's just so cute.

Everyone that enjoys red velvet knows that you have to eat it with cream cheese frosting, there's no other way.  I used this recipe.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies:
(Annie’s Eats)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 oz. red food coloring

Directions:
 
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Blend in the vanilla.  With the mixer on low speed, beat in about a third of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the buttermilk, beating each addition just until incorporated.  Repeat so that all the buttermilk has been added and then mix in the final third of dry ingredients.  Do not overbeat.  Blend in the food coloring.
 

There are a couple of ways to get these on the cookie sheet.  If you use a piping bag the cookies will have a better chance of coming out even, however... don't worry if you don't have a piping bag or if you don't want to use one.  Use two spoons and just make little balls.

Bake 7-9 minutes or until the tops are set, rotating the baking sheets halfway through.  Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets at least 10 minutes, until they can be easily transferred to a cooling rack.  Repeat with any remaining batter.  Allow cookies to cool completely. 

Pair the cookies up by shape and size.  Pipe frosting onto the flat-side of one of the cookie of each pair. Sandwich the cookies together so the flat sides are facing each other and press gently to help the filling reach the edges. 

Looks like another one I can cross off of my 2011 To Do List!

Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

I love peanut butter cookies.  I also love peanut butter cups.  When my mom was a teacher she would make these for her students.  They are awesome, I'd say that they're in my top 3 for cookies. I think they might be  Mr. T's favorite.

Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies:

(adapted from Paula Deen)

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small peanut butter cups

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet.

In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup sugar replacement, the egg, and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. Take some of the unwrapped peanut butter cups and press one into each cookie ball.

Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and cool slightly before removing from pan.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was a kid my mom would make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for catering events.  Most of the time my sister and I would be able to snag a couple of cookies.  When my mom was making them for something fancy she would melt milk and white chocolate to drizzle over the top.  Who can say no to that?!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
(Quaker Oats)

Ingredients:
1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2  cup granulated sugar
2  eggs
1  teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon baking soda
1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)
3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1  cup chocolate chips

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.

Add oats and chocolate chips.  Mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack.















Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint cookies are perfect for a holiday cookie exchange.  They're small and something a little different.

Thumbprint Cookies:
(adapted from Ina Garten)

Ingredients:
1 cup of butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces), room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 cups of flour
1 cup of chopped nuts or coconut (optional)
3/4 cup of blackberry or strawberry jam
Parchment paper

Directions:

Cream the butter and sugar on high speed for about 3 minutes.

Separate the eggs. Add the yolks and vanilla extract to the butter mixture. If using nuts place the egg whites in a shallow dish on the side and whisk them until bubbly and frothy (the egg whites will be used to keep the nuts on the cookies).

Add the flour and salt. Mix until just combined. Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 350F.


Roll the dough into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place the balls on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Press down with your thumb to make a small well in the center of the cookie. Do not press too hard or the cookie will fall apart. Fill with 1/2 teaspoon of jam.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until slightly firm. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet to firm up before moving them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

I rolled some of the cookies in coconut before I put them in the oven.  Just give them a little bit of an egg wash before you put the coconut on them so it sticks.

Chocolate-Mint Cookies

It's officially holiday time! One of my favorite things during this time of year are cookie exchanges.  My mom threw one at her studio recently and I made these cookies to share.  I love the red and green "chocolate candies" that a certain company puts out at this time of year.  The mint ones are my favorite.

I love the way chocolate cookies look like with the red and green so I decided to skip the chocolate chunks and go with the candies instead.

Chocolate-Mint Cookies:
(Verybestbaking.com- Toll House)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Baking Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups mint candies

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in candies.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers are set but still soft.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

One of the desserts I made this past weekend was Whoopie Pies.  I never grew up eating them but I've seen them a lot on different blogs.  I've seen red velvet, chocolate with peppermint, pumpkin, and chocolate with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting.  

I decided to go with the peanut butter frosting for the workshop this weekend.  They were a big hit, which always makes me happy, especially when it's the first time I've made something.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies:
(Martha Stewart)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a small bowl; set aside. 

 

Add butter, shortening, and sugars to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; cream on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla; beat until combined. Add the remaining flour mixture. Beat together, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. 

 

Drop 12 slightly rounded tablespoons of batter 2 inches apart on each baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes; switch the positions of the baking sheets, and rotate each one. 

**Note: they spread once they start cooking so be prepared for giant cookies from a little bit of batter.

Remove from oven; let cookies cool on baking sheets for about 10 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a wire rack; let cool completely. Repeat the process with remaining batter. 

Assembly:

Spread 1 tablespoon of butter cream on flat sides of half the cookies.

 

Top each with one of the remaining cookies, flat side down, and gently press together.

Holla!!