Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies

by Averie Sunshine on June 30, 2013

I’ve been wanting to make chocolate sugar cookies for awhile.

But not just any sugar cookies because I don’t even really like sugar cookies.

Sugar cookies are usually too crispy, crunchy, and dry. Those adjectives don’t belong with cookies.

These cookies are moist, soft, and chewy. And thick. So you can really sink your teeth into them.

And I didn’t want white-sugar sugar cookies. Way too boring.

So I made them dark in two ways. With dark cocoa powder and dark brown sugar.

If you don’t have dark cocoa powder and run into snags trying to find it like I did for over two years, order it to save time and a headache. Or use regular unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Your cookies just won’t be as dark.

I tested and wrote the recipe with dark brown sugar rather than light, and recommend it. If all you have is light brown sugar, you can make dark brown sugar by stirring in about 1 or 2 teaspoons of molasses into the 3/4 cup dark brown sugar. It’s not a perfect conversion, but it’ll work.

The recipe has a very short ingredients list and the batch size is small, only making about 15 cookies.

The dough comes together in no time. Make sure to chill it before baking so your cookies bake up thick. Baking with unchilled, warm dough will result in thinner, flatter cookies.

Although they’re thick, the cookies stay soft from using cornstarch. I have written about cornstarch so many times and why I love it. It’s my secret weapon for creating super soft cookies that stay soft, but not cakey.

They’re fudgy, rich, intensely chocolaty, and not overly sweet.

I try to judge a cookie overall by the quality of the dough. These aren’t loaded up with add-ins, candy, chocolate chips or chunks, or anything else. Just boldly chocolaty dough.

Cookies with Reese’s Pieces and M&M’s are destined to be good. It’s what you get when you strip that all away and focus on the dough, sans fillers. And these cookies deliver.

They’re the cookies I recommend for bad days, PMS days, or when the chocolate monster is calling your name and nothing else will do.

I imagine some people would like to wash these down with a big glass of milk or a cup of coffee. I recommend red wine, Homemade Baileys, or champagne. It’s a holiday week, after all.

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These cookies are the dark ode to sugar cookies. They're rich, fudgy, intensely chocolaty, soft, and chewy. Both dark cocoa powder and dark brown sugar add depth of flavor, richness, and these not-too-sweet cookies are perfect for serious chocaholics. Pour a glass of milk, cup of coffee, or glass of red wine and enjoy an uber-thick and dense cookie.

Yield: 15 medium cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 2+ hours, for dough chilling

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (I have not tried using light brown sugar)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened natural dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark; regular cocoa powder or Dutch-processed may be substituted)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speedy until just combined, about 1 to 2 minutes.Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping 2-tablespoon mounds (I made 15). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart although they don't spread much. I bake 8 cookies per sheet.Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set. It's hard to tell with dark cookies when they're done, but do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool; baking longer causes cookies to set up too crunchy and crumbly. (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

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.

Nutella Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (GF) – No butter, No white sugar, and No flour used

Soft and Chewy Brownie Cookies – A soft, scrumptious, and nearly flourless brownie-like batter is baked into cookies that are rich, decadent, and lined with hidden chunks of dark chocolate

Quintuple Chocolate Fudgy Brownie Cookies – For the ultimate chocolate lover and supremely rich. Chocolate is used five times: Cocoa powder, melted bittersweet baking chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate chips, diced chocolate and caramel-filled truffles, and chocolate-filled Oreos

Mounds Bar Chocolate Coconut Cake Mix Cookies – Chocolate and coconut is a winning combination and I baked both chocolate chips and Mounds Bar candy bars into these easy, goofproof chocolate cake mix cookies that turn out soft and moist every time

Dark Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies Stuffed with Chocolate Covered Strawberries – Any dried fruit may be used but there’s something about the combination of chocolate and chocolate-covered strawberries that is especially good

Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies

Chewy Sugar Sprinkles Cookies

Homemade Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies

Thanks for the 25 Buttery and Cheesy Recipes and Kerrygold Giveaway entries

What’s your favorite chocolate cookie recipe or dark chocolate recipe?

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Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Averie Sunshine on June 23, 2013

I’ve been wanting to bake cream cheese into cookies for ages.

I finally did. And I’m in love with the results.

In my cookbook, I have a recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies with cream cheese baked in, but I’ve never tried it with chocolate chip cookies or as a way to substitute for butter until now.

I adapted my favorite Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookie recipe and replaced some of the butter with cream cheese and am in love with the results.

My favorite recipe calls for 3/4 cup of butter and for these cookies, I used a combination of 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup cream cheese.

You wouldn’t think that just a simple quarter-cup swap of butter for cream cheese would effect results that much, but it did.

They’re so soft, moist, and with a richness to the dough like no other cookies I’ve tried.

The dough seems more buttery, which is ironic since there’s actually less butter used, not more.

I can’t taste the cream cheese, but it adds depth, density, and richness that my regular chocolate chip cookies don’t have.

Don’t use light, fat-free, or a whipped cream cheese because your dough will become runny. I tried the recipe with some light cream cheese I had on hand, and the cookies baked thinner and spread.

Use cream cheese in a block or the spreadable kind. Smoosh it into a one-quarter cup measure and cream it with the butter and sugars.

Make sure to chill your dough for at least two hours before you bake to ensure your cookies bake thick and puffy. Warm, limp dough bakes into limpy and wimpy cookies. I want my cookies to be thick, with puffy centers that are overflowing with chocolate.

I used a combination of 2 1/4 cups of chocolate chips and chunks to ensure plenty of chocolate in every bite.

And then some.

The cookies are super soft without being cakey, and remind me of Softbatch cookies. The edges are slightly chewy, and the thick interiors are soft, tender, and moist.

Cornstarch is my secret weapon for creating super soft cookies.

The reason pudding cookies turn out so soft is because ‘modified food starch’, or cornstarch, is one of the first ingredients in pudding mix. Same principle here, minus using actual pudding mix.

After trying these cookies and not being able to keep my hands off of them, it’s made me wonder what’ll happen if I replace some of the butter with cream cheese in some of my other favorite cookie recipes.

I’ll can’t wait to start taste-testing and make up for lost time.

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Replacing some of the butter from my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe with cream cheese created cookies that are soft, thick, moist, and tender. Although you can't taste the cream cheese, the cookies have a richness and depth of flavor like no other cookies I've tried. Plus there's an abundance of chocolate in every bite. The dough can be made in advance, refrigerated, and baked as desired, up to 5 days later. A great option to have for fresh, warm cookies without having to mix up dough. I highly recommend these cookies!

Yield: about 28 medium-small cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 3+ hours, for dough chilling

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (use cream cheese in a block or spreadable, don't use fat-free, light or whipped)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks (I used 1 cup chips and 1 1/4 cups chunks)

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, cream cheese (measure it by smooshing it into a 1/4-cup measure), sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, optional salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.Add chocolate chips and chunks, and beat momentarily to incorporate, or fold in by hand.Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping mounds (I made 28). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have chewy edges with soft, pillowy centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

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, chewy, tender, moist, stay soft for days, are a snap to make, with two kinds of chocolate. A fuss-free, straightforward recipe for chocolate chip cookies that yields fabulous results every time. and the dough base that Ive adapted over and over

Soft and Chewy Snickers Chocolate Chip Cookies – Of all the candy-bar stuffed cookies, these are my favorite

Twix Bar Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft and Chewy M&Ms Cookies – The exact same cookies as the Snickers and Twix, except they use M&Ms. They’re popular on Pinterest and with readers

Caramel Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies – There’s more add-ins than dough in these extremely well-stuffed cookies. If you like eating caramel corn by the handful, baking it into cookies is even better

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups – No issues with spreading cookies because they’re baked in a muffin pan. They’re dense, with nuttiness and richness from the browned butter and the perfect balance of chewy edges, squishy in the middle, and loaded with chocolate

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks – No butter used in these fast and easy cookie sticks that can’t spread because they’re baked in a pan. It’s faster and easier to make these sticks than individual cookies

Reese’s Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft Batch Dark Brown Sugar Coconut Oil Cookies – One of my favorite cookies, ever. If you’ve never baked with coconut oil, you’re in for such a treat. The cookies don’t taste coconutty, but have a depth and richness that’s unbeatable

Mini Cream Cheese Pound Cakes – Fast, easy, soft, moist and the recipe makes just two little cakes

Thanks for the 20 Favorite Crunchy Snacks and Healthy Chips Maker Giveaway entries and the $500 Apple iPad Giveaway entries

What do you make or bake with cream cheese?

Favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe?

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Wrap Up Cookies and Candies as Gifts

You don't have to spend a fortune or valuable time at the mall in search of perfect Christmas gifts. Quite often the most priceless treasures are your own homemade cookies and candies presented in decorative tins or in one of the pretty packages suggested below.

You'll save a bundle on decorating gifts from the kitchen if you rely on baskets. They come in a variety of styles, shapes and sizes and are commonly found on sale at craft and variety stores—so be on the lookout for them throughout the year. And save any baskets you've acquired either from a gift you've received or from a purchase you've made for yourself. Line the basket with white or colored tissue paper, then top with cookies that have been bundled in plastic wrap. Place the basket on a large piece of clear, colored or patterned cellophane; bring the edges of the cellophane up and tie with a ribbon. Add a decorative bow if desired.

At Christmastime, craft and variety stores sell a variety of papier-mache boxes perfect for gift giving. You can stack star-shaped sugar cookies in a star-shaped papier-mache box that's been lined with wax-coated tissue paper. (Wax-coated tissue paper can be found at specialty cooking stores. It's sturdier than regular tissue paper and won't absorb the cookie's flavor and oils.) If you care to show your creativity, spray-paint the box and/or stamp it with festive designs. Let the box dry completely before adding tissue paper and cookies.

Little dressing up is needed when you fill inexpensive clear jars with colorful snack mixes and individually wrapped candies. Simply tie a festive ribbon and some tiny ornaments around the top for an easy-to-prepare present.

Don't limit your creativity to the suggestions shown above. Consider these other ideas:

Decorative tins, plates and candy dishes can often be found at bargain prices throughout the year at stores and rummage sales and at after-Christmas sales. Keep them on hand for last-minute gifts.

Stack cookies in a wide-mouth canning jar, cover the lid with fabric and screw on the band. You may also want to include the recipe for the cookies.

Instead of discarding potato chip cans, coffee tins or shortening cans, wash them, decorate the outside with wrapping paper or Con-Tact paper and fill with cookies or candies. Attach a bow to the lid and close.

Wrap cookies in plastic wrap, place a bow on top and tuck inside a pretty coffee mug or teacup.

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Reese’s Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

by Averie Sunshine on June 17, 2013

I had never baked Reese’s Pieces into cookies until now.

Thank goodness I’ve made up for lost time.

I’m not sure how I managed to write my cookbook Peanut Butter Comfort, filled with over 100 recipes using peanut butter, and have 75+ peanut butter recipes on my site, but have never baked those smooth little discs into cookies.

I’ve used Reese’s cups, mini Reese’s cups, M&Ms, peanut butter M&M’s, and finally now Reese’s Pieces.

The Reese’s Pieces add a wonderful crackly texture to the soft, moist, tender cookies. I prefer my cookies on the underbaked side and these are soft, squishy perfection.

There’s a very slight bit of chewiness to the edges, but these are for soft-batch cookie fans. No crispy or crunchy cookies for me. Ever.

They’re loaded with Reese’s Pieces and there’s an abundance of oozing, melted chocolate chips in every bite.

I almost skipped the chocolate chips and opted to solely use Reese’s Pieces, but I’m glad I tossed in the chocolate chips, too. Cookies just aren’t the same without chocolate.

The peanut butter flavor is distinct and full-on. There’s a hefty amount in the dough and there’s all those Reese’s Pieces.

These cookies are made for those of us who really like the peanut butter in peanut butter cookies. With some recipes you have to wonder if it’s really there, or not. Not an issue here. Very peanut buttery.

They’re a snap to make and the dough comes together quickly and easily.

Use regular, storebought peanut butter. Old-fashioned Jif or Peter Pan Honey Roasted Peanut Butter are my favorites for baking.

Homemade Peanut Butter or ‘natural’ varieties are playing with fire in cookie-baking.

Cookies made with them tend to spread, and I don’t have time to worry about a potential cookie flop or wasted ingredients, so I bake with what I know will give me success, every time.

Every recipe in my cookbook was tested with Jif because it’s universal and I know it works.

Chill the dough so your cookies bake up nice and thick. Warm dough equates to thinner, flatter cookies and I prefer thicker and puffier.

I use my cookie scoop to scoop out the dough, put the mounds on a plate, and refrigerate. When I’m ready to bake, I grab a half dozen and save the rest for later.

I always have plates of dough in the fridge. Cookie dough, bread dough. Somethings always ready and waiting.

Calling all peanut butter (and chocolate) lovers.

These are for you.

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The cookies are soft, moist, with irresistibly tender centers, a slight bit of chewiness to the edges, loaded with Reese's Pieces, and oozing, melted chocolate chips. They're packed with full-on peanut butter flavor and are the perfect choice for soft peanut butter cookie fanatics.

Yield: about 26-28 medium-small cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes

1 large egg
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use homemade or natural peanut butter; use Jif, Skippy, or similar)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt, optional and to taste
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric hand mixer), cream together the first 5 ingredients (through vanilla) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, optional salt, and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute; don't overmix.Add the Reese's Pieces, chocolate chips, and blend until just incorporated.Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping two-tablespoon mounds (I made 27). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly with your palm, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet). Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes because cookies will firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark. They have slightly chewy edges with soft, pillowy centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Adapted from Soft and Puffy Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Cookies and Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

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.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (GF) – My favorite peanut butter cookies on my blog. My other favorites are in my book. There’s NO Flour, NO Butter, and NO White sugar used! Soft, chewy & oozing with dark chocolate. Crazy good!

Soft and Puffy Peanut Butter Coconut Oil Cookies – No butter used in these soft, tender cookies with dough so good you won’t even want to bake them

Thick and Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies – Richly and intensely chocolate-flavored cookies with NO Flour, NO Butter, and NO White sugar used. They’re thick, dense, soft, chewy and almost brownie-like

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups & Peanut Butter M&M’s

 Puffy Vanilla and Peanut Butter Chip Cookies – These cookies are extremely popular on Pinterest

Soft and Chewy M&Ms Cookies – My favorite chocolate chip cookie dough base that I loaded with M&Ms

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Dough Crumble Bars – This bar and the one below it are my two favorite bars of 2013 to date

Peanut Butter Caramel Twix Bars

Homemade Peanut Butter (vegan if plain peanuts are used, GF) – Ready in 5 minutes and you have not lived until you’ve made your own. Just eat it, but don’t bake with it

75+ Peanut Butter Recipes

35 National Peanut Day Recipes

Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes

Peanut Butter Comfort, my cookbook featuring 100+ Peanut Butter Recipes

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Reese’s Pieces fan?

What’s your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe?

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