Showing posts with label Cookie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cookie. Show all posts

Monday, August 19, 2013

Hosting a Cookie and Candy Exchange

A NEIGHBORLY cookie and candy exchange saves you lots of time in the kitchen while giving you a chance to gather with family and friends. Hosting such an event is easier than you think with these timely tips:

Select a date and send out the invitations about 6 weeks in advance. Weekday evenings or weekend afternoons work well because people may be less busy. Schedule the party to be about 2 hours long so guests aren't required to set aside a lot of time.

Invite 8 to 12 people, keeping in mind that having more guests results in more variety of treats. Make the same kind of cookie or candy, allowing 1 dozen for each person participating. You might also encourage them to bring an extra dozen for sampling at the party.

Ask what each person is making to avoid duplicates. Theres no point to the exchange if everyone arrives with sugar cookies.

Have participants bring empty containers or resealable plastic bags to collect their goodies. If the gathering is small, they may want to bring the batches already individually wrapped. Also have guests bring a copy of their recipe for each person.

You can keep your menu to a minimum by focusing on the sweet treats. Simply serve a selection of beverages and the extra cookies and candies. Or if you prefer, offer a few hot and cold appetizers.

As people arrive, set out the cookies and candies on a long table, leaving enough room for folks to walk around. Label the containers with the recipe name.

Near the end of the party, have guests fill their containers with a dozen of each kind of cookie and candy.

For party favors, gather all the different recipe cards into bundles, tie with festive ribbons and hand them out as guests leave.


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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Shaping a Peanut Butter Cookie

Add festive color to each place setting at your Thanksgiving table. Wrap wribbon around an ear…

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Place roast with rib bones to one side of a cutting board to serve the roast with the rib bone…

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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks

by Averie Sunshine on June 10, 2013

Just when I thought I had run out of ways to make chocolate chip cookies, I got an idea.

Cookies in stick form.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

One of the best parts of these cookie sticks is that they’re ready in under a half hour from start to finish.

Stir the dough together in one bowl, no need for a mixer, just press it into the pan and bake.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

Because they’re baked in a pan, there’s no need to worry about spreading so you don’t have to chill the dough.

The baking time is brief and before you know it, you’re eating cookies. Or sticks.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

To make them, I combined my recipes for Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies, my go-to Blondie base recipe, along with Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups and Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars.

So many cookies and versions on a theme, but chocolate chip cookies never get old.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

There’s no butter in them and instead I used canola oil. I used canola oil when I made Molasses Triple Chocolate Cookies.

And baking with coconut oil has produced some of my favorite cookies ever, including Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

Oil keeps cakes and muffins softer and moister than butter, and it kept the sticks soft, pliable, tender, and moist. I didn’t miss the butter flavor because I was too distracted by all the chocolate, but if you prefer melted butter, go for it.

There’s plenty of chocolate chunks lining the entire length of the sticks because I want chocolate in every bite.

The chocolate chunks remind me of lane dividers on roads.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

They’re very soft with just a bit of chewiness. I kept them on the underbaked side because I prefer smooshy and gooey to crispy and crunchy.

Although the words crispy and cookies are mutually exclusive in my world, for firmer sticks, bake them for an extra couple minutes.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

They’re so fast and easy to whip up and are perfect for lunch boxes, car snacks, or to toss in your purse for those you-never-know moments. I seem to have plenty of those.

Since they’re the same shape as granola bars, I pretended they were healthy granola bars instead of a cookies.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

Remember the children’s game Pick Up Sticks?

These are the kind of sticks I want to pick up.

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks - Recipe at averiecooks.com

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These sticks are a fun twist on chocolate chip cookies, but are much less fussy than cookies and are very fast to make, and ready from start to finish in under a half hour. They're soft, moist, tender, and have plenty of chocolate to satisfy your chocolate chip cookie cravings. They're portable, make great snacks, and you can't go wrong with chocolate chip cookies, in any form.

Yield: one 8x8 pan, about 12 to 14 sticks

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 23 minutes

1 large egg
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil (1/2 cup unsalted melted butter may be substituted)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
about 3/4 cup chocolate chunks or chips (I used Enjoy Life Mega Chunks)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil and leave overhang, spray with cooking spray; set aside.In a large mixing bowl, whisk together first 5 ingredients (through vanilla).Add the next 4 ingredients (through optional salt), and stir until just combined; don't overmix.Turn dough out into prepared pan, using a spatula or fingers to smoosh dough into corners. Smooth top lightly with a spatula.Arrange chocolate chunks in rows (if desired) or simply sprinkle them evenly over the surface; press chunks is lightly, enough so they're anchored and bake into the dough or will be prone to falling out of the baked sticks.Bake for 18 to 20 minutes (sticks in photos were baked 19 minutes; for crispier sticks, add 2 to 5 minutes to baking time), or just until set in the center; don't overbake because sticks firm up as they cool. Allow to cool completely in pan before lifting out with foil overhang.Place the large slab of baked dough on a cutting board and with a pizza wheel or sharp knife, cut into sticks. In order to get clean lines and very neat looking sticks as shown in the photos, you must wait for slab of dough to cool completely before slicing. Sticks will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipe from Averie Cooks. All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies

Soft and Chewy Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Molasses Triple Chocolate Cookies

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Crumble Bars

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookie Bars

Funfetti Cake Batter Blondies

Snickerdoodle Cookie Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF)

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF)

Thanks for the entries in the 25 Cookie Jar Favorite Cookies and Cookie Cookbook Giveaway and in the $500 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

What’s your favorite cookie recipe?


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Monday, July 8, 2013

25 Cookie Jar Favorite Cookies and Cookie Cookbook Giveaway

by Averie Sunshine on June 7, 2013

I love cookies and make tons of them. I’m often asked for my favorites and that’s a loaded question.

How can I pick between a tender soft and buttery snickerdoodle, a gooey Snickers-stuffed chocolate chip cookie, or a beloved peanut butter cookie? They’re all so different, but all so good.

I wrote a Favorite Cookies List about 6 months ago, but as I make more cookies and try new recipes, the list changes. As of today, I’d be thrilled to gobble any of the following right off the baking sheet.

f25 Cookie Jar Favorite Cookies - Recipes at averiecooks.com

My current 25 Favorite Cookies, by category:

Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Adaptations

Brown Sugar and Soft, Buttery, Doughy Cookies

Coconut Oil Cookies

Oatmeal-Based Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Fruity and Seasonal Cookies

Chocolate Cookies

1. Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (GF)

2. Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies

3. Quintuple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies

4. Nutella Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Adaptations with my Favorite Dough Base

And also see Cookie #22

5. Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies – Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

6. Soft and Chewy Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies

7. Soft and Chewy M&Ms Cookies

8. Twix Bar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brown Sugar and Soft, Buttery, Doughy Cookies

Also See Cookie #14

9. Brown Sugar Maple Cookies

10. Soft and Chewy Cinnamon Chip Snickerdoodle Cookies

11. White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookies

12. Sugar-Doodle Vanilla Cookies

13. Buttery Sugar Wafer Sandwich Cookies

Coconut Oil Cookies

14. Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies

15. Soft and Puffy Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Cookies

16. Coconut Oil White Chocolate Cookies

Oatmeal-Based Cookies

Also see Cookies #21, 22

17. Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Scotchies Cookies

18. Thick and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

19. Soft and Chewy Spiced Carrot Cake Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Also see #’s 1, 4, 15 for other favorite Peanut Butter Cookie variations that I’ve blogged about

My Cookbook contains 3 of my all-time Favorite Peanut Butter Cookie Recipes

20. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (gluten-free) – Favorite Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe on my Blog

21. Peanut Butter Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

22. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Fruity and Seasonal Cookies

23. Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

24. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

25. Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

There’s always room for more cookie recipes and I’m giving away a copy of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer: All the Good Cookies

cookies

About the Book

“In 2007, Gretchen Holt-Witt set the lofty goal of baking and selling 96,000 cookies during the holidays, all in the name of funding research for pediatric cancer, the #1 killer of kids in the United States and the disease her young son was battling. Armed with the determination of a mom on a mission plus the knowledge that funds for research mean more treatment options, better survival rates, and hope for the future, Holt-Witt succeeded in selling all 96,000 cookies and raising over $400,000 for new pediatric cancer treatments.

Soon after, Gretchen and her husband Larry founded Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national nonprofit that inspires people to host bake sales of all sizes, from desktops and porches to entire corporations and communities, with some raising more than $100,000 in a day. Gretchen’s first book, Cookies for Kids’ Cancer Best Bake Sale Cookbook, raised thousands more for pediatric cancer research. All the Good Cookies gathers a mouthwatering collection of recipes that promise to satisfy any cookie craving, with the author’s profits again going to the charity.”

Using Rafflecopter, enter to win the Giveaway by completing the first three tasks and any optional ways you’d like to enter.

Make sure to leave a blog comment below in response to the first question and follow the prompts for additional entries. Sometimes the widget is a bit slow to load, so please be patient.
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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