Strawberry Shortcake Cookies.

I have a problem. 

I kind of love strawberries.

In a normal day, I will consume: a big cup of Dunkin Donuts strawberry shortcake coffee, wild strawberry-flavored water, a small bowl of fresh strawberries, sometimes frozen, because I'm weird, sometimes with strawberry yogurt, cuz that just seems more healthy, more strawberries snuck throughout the day when no one's looking because I'm convinced I'm starving, & sometimes, if my own wiggling isn't enough, strawberry Jello.

So it was only a matter of time really before strawberries found their way into my cookies too. 

I immediately fell in love with the idea of these and was so, so excited to try them. What could be more perfect than a strawberry shortcake cookie? 

I mean, unless, somewhere in the world, a strawberry shortcake cheesecake exists. Because we all know how I feel about cheesecake.

These bitesize cookies reminded me more of a strawberry muffin top or miniature scone: tender and soft and cakey on the inside & slightly crisp and golden brown on the outside. They were everything I love about shortcake, light, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth, and bursting with springtime flavor (and strawberries!). You can even see the flecks of lemon zest in them. 

They're best eaten the day that they're made... or for breakfast the next.

Especially with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream sandwiched between two fluffy cookies. 

Or crumbled warm over ice cream. 

Or covered in whipped cream. 

I love spring.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Printable Recipe

12 ounces strawberries, hulled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces (2 cups)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup heavy cream
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling over the cookies

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together the strawberries, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of the sugar; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon zest and remaining sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until moist and fragrant.

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the zest/sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Using a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbs. Add the cream to the bowl and stir until the dough starts to come together, then gently fold in the strawberry mixture.

Use a small cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) to drop dough onto the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. Transfer the pans to wire racks and let the cookies cool. The cookies are best the day they're made, but can be kept in an airtight container for 1 day.

Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Source: From Pink Parsley Catering.

Food That Should Exist.

Or if it does exist, should find its way to my doorstep.

1. Peanut butter cup frappuccinos.

2. New flavors of chocolate chips: raspberry (I know I've seen these before), mocha, triple chocolate (milk, dark, and white), ooooh... and a white chocolate chip with raspberry swirls. 

And am the only person who thinks Lindt should make chocolate chips? 

3. Chocolate-covered marshmallows, the size of M&Ms. Or just marshmallow M&Ms! Imagine the s'mores cookies you could create with those. Bonus points if the marshmallow bits have a graham cracker layer too. S'mores M&Ms! 

4. Anyone work in M&M research & development? Because there should also be a peanut butter pretzel M&M.

And a peanut butter white chocolate.

No, really. Why is there no white chocolate?

I heart M&Ms. Have you noticed?

5. Ice cream cones made out graham crackers. I've wanted these ever since I fell in love with strawberry cheesecake ice cream. 

6. Deep fried cake bites. Mmm. Like red velvet bites drizzled with cream cheese icing. Better yet, fried strawberry shortcake bites... little cubes of pound cake, maybe with a layer of strawberry buttercream, fried & served with strawberries & powdered sugar & whipped cream. The type of food you can only get away with eating at a summer fair.

... maybe what I'm really craving is french toast?

7. Lucky Charms marshmallows. Like... bags of just the marshmallows. 

8. Chocolate-flavored heavy whipping cream. I use whipping cream in my coffee... is that weird? This would be a convenient way to make a mocha without using real chocolate. 

9. French toast made with zucchini bread. Or cranberry-orange bread. Banana bread. Croissants!

10. Extra thick, extra fluffy pancakes slit open like a pita bread and stuffed with scrambled eggs & bacon.

Bonus points if shaped like baby elephants.

I'm hungry.

Chocolate Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I love chocolate chip cookies. Can you tell? This being my third post about them this week and all.

I'm sorry. You love me.

If it helps, I promise to post something so different in the next few days that you'll wonder if it's the same blog.  

But for now... these.

The thing I love most about chocolate chip cookies is the possibilies.  

You can bake them onto graham crackers like s'mores. 

You can stuff them with Oreos. 

You can mix and match them with other cookie doughs to make them pretty and marbled.

You can fancy them up with oats and M&Ms and pecans or make mini frosting-stuffed cookie sandwiches. 

Or... you can stuff them with even more chocolate.

In the original recipe from Picky Palate, Jenny, who I am personally blaming if I go up a pant size this week, stuffed her cookies with Reese's and Kit Kats and Snickers. Because I lack the willpower to let these sorts of things in my house, I used what we had on hand: bite-size special dark and milk chocolate Hershey bars...

... and mini Heath toffee bars. 

You know. Cuz that's just so much easier to resist than a peanut butter cup.  

Speaking of Kit Kats... did you know there are other flavors besides chocolate? Like blueberry, baked corn, sweet potato, and apple? I know. My mind was blown too.

Anyway. These were amazing. I love that they look like regular, deceitful chocolate chip cookies on the outside...

but were full of secret awesome on the inside. They'd be the perfect cookies to make to use up any leftover Halloween candy.

You know. If it was October and not the beginning of spring. 

Chocolate Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
10-ounce bag of chocolate chips
Assorted mini chocolate bars or snack-size candy bars

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a cookie scoop, take one scoop of dough and place on top of a mini chocolate bar. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of chocolate bar. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until candy is completely enclosed with dough.

Place onto a parchment lined or greased baking sheet and bake cookies for 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Source: Picky Palate.

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies.

What's better than a chocolate chip cookie?

A chocolate chip cookie stuffed with even more cookie.

Holy addicting.

There's not much else to say. These are every bit as good as they look- a big bakery-style chocolate chip cookie...

... stuffed with an Oreo cookie that turns cakey and soft in the oven. They're rich and melt-in-your-mouth delicous.

Make them. Now. 

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Recipe

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar 

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

10-ounce bag of chocolate chips

1 bag of Oreos, or about 24 Oreos (Jenny used Double Stuff in the original recipe, I used regular Oreos) 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a cookie scoop, take one scoop of dough and place on top of an Oreo cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.

You know these are going to be good when the dough balls are the size of small grapefruits.

Place onto a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet and bake cookies for 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking.

Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Source: Picky Palate.

Soft, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Earlier this week I realized I'd never posted a recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

Also, I've never made pie.

And I've recently discovered bits of flour, batter, and frosting in the crevices of my camera.

I think this officially makes me a food blogger.

If you like your cookies on the crunchy side with a slightly soft center, I recommend the pretzel M&M cookies I posted last year. It's a similar recipe, using shortening instead of butter, is boyfriend-approved, and has been my go-to recipe for years. 

But, if you're like me, and prefer a soft, thick, chewy, bakery-style chocolate chip cookie with an almost cookie dough-y center that melts in your mouth... this recipe is infinitely better.

And my new favorite.

This is the recipe Jenny from Picky Palate uses in all of her famous stuffed cookie recipes, except I threw in a half teaspoon of cinnamon in to make the chocolate chips really pop. I love the way cinnamon tastes in chocolate chip cookies. 

My knees nearly buckled when these came out of the oven. They were soft and gooey and perfect, like fancy gourmet cookies, but better. 

But instead of shoveling a hundred of them into my mouth like I wanted to, I loyally stacked them onto a plate, hunted down natural lighting in the middle of a rainstorm, and got cookie crumbs all over my camera and lens. 

Food bloggers. We're a crazy special bunch.

Soft, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Printable Recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 (12-ounce) bag of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined. Add eggs one a time and then the vanilla, until well combined.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Slowly add to the butter mixture and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls (I used a cookie scoop) onto a cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are done.

Source: Barely adapted from Picky Palate. 

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake.

Let's talk about this cheesecake.

Oreo cookie crust? Check.

Rich, creamy cheesecake? Double check.

Fudgey bite-size brownies? Addicting. And yes.

A chocolate ganache glaze? Yes.

My mind = blown. 

I could eat cheesecake everyday... except for that nagging little issue of fitting into my pants. It's my favorite dessert. Birthdays, anniverseries, Thursdays, whatever the reason to celebrate, some people do cake, some people do ice cream. I do cheesecake.

You can bet when I get married I'm going to have a cheesecake wedding cake. Is that even possible? 

So it's probably a dangerous thing that I know how to make one now. A cheesecake, that is, not a wedding cake. Especially this cheesecake. This was rich and over-the-top with squares of fudgy, chocolatey brownies mixed into the batter and an addicting Oreo crust that I could have seriously eaten by itself if that sort of thing were socially acceptable. And the ganache over the top was perfect, especially since mine developed a giant fault line down the middle somewhere between coming out of the oven and cooling. Not only did the ganache cover it up, but it seeped into the cheesecake in parts and was super delicious.  

If you love cheesecake as much as me, this is a recipe that I know you'll love. And the best part is you end up with lots of extra brownies it's actually really easy and uncomplicated to make! 

Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake

Printable Recipe

Part One: Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Grease foil.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on high 2 minutes, or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs (do not overbake). Cool in pan on wire rack. Remove brownies from pan using foil handles.

Cool brownies, then cut them into 3/4- to 1-inch squares for use in the cheesecake (using a pizza cutter works best). Loosely measure out 2 cups of brownies cubes and add to cake batter as directed below. Eat extra brownies for breakfast.

Part Two: Oreo Crust

1 1/2 cups finely ground Oreos

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Stir together ingredients and press into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a buttered 10-inch springform pan. Fill right away or chill for up to 2 hours.

Part Three: Cheesecake

3 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of brownie cubes

Make crumb crust as directed above for 10-inch cheesecake. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Beat together cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated and scraping down bowl between additions.

Fold 2 cups of brownie cubes in very gently and pour mixture into prepared pan. Put springform pan with crust in a shallow baking pan. Bake in baking pan (to catch drips) in middle of oven for 45 minutes, or until  cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still slightly wobbly when pan is gently shaken.

When completely cool, top with following glaze.

Part Four: Ganache Glaze

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoon (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Place finely chopped chocolate in a medium size mixing bowl. Scald the butter and cream together in a saucepan (or in the microwave on high for 1 minute). Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in vanilla and then whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Spread over cheesecake while ganache is still warm. Chill until ready to serve.

Source: Brown-Eyed Baker.

Cowgirl Cookies.

Something about the word "cowgirl" makes me feel independent and sassy. Like a pioneer. Like I lassoed these cookies up after churning my own butter and herding some cattle. 

When really these are just cowboy cookies with pink M&Ms thrown in.

... and red. And white. You caught me. They're leftover from Valentine's Day. 

I'm not sure what makes these fancy oatmeal cookies so cowboy, but they remind me of kitchen sink cookies, what with nearly everything in sight thrown into them... M&Ms, chocolate chips, pecans, oats... I reined myself in when I started reaching for the pretzels and popcorn.

A problem.

A solution.

M&Ms masquerading as chocolate chips. Don't tell the others.

And the best part about these cookies is that they're thrown together in one bowl.

Which means one dish to wash. Hallelujah!

Cowgirl Cookies

Printable Recipe

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup M&Ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter, melted slightly in the microwave
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Stir the first ten ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Mix the egg, melted butter, and vanilla into the dry ingredients, using the back of a large spoon to work it all together. You may need to use your hands to get everything incorporated.

Roll the cookie dough into 1 1/2- inch balls, place on a greased or parchment-covered baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.

Makes 26-30 cookies. 

Source: Bakerella.