Our Best Bites: Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

This completely killed any chance at my diet. (Self, be aware that I'm going to exercise triple time to make up for this.) 

But friends, it was soo worth it. Buttery pie crust + warm, melted chocolate chip cookie = a slice of heaven here on earth. (Get it? A slice? Bahaha.)

Tyler's boss had a game night at their house last night and I brought this. My only concern was that the middle never quite set up completely, making it ooey, gooey, warm chocolate chip cookie dough, almost like a pazookie. We decided it might be the altitude (California, you just scored shiny, gold stars in my book for being at sea-level) so to rectify this, just add some more flour to the recipe below. Maybe a 1/4 cup?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Recipe from Nestle

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust, homemade or store-bought.

2 large eggs

1/2 C flour

1/2 C white granulated sugar

1/2 C packed brown sugar

3/4 C real butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)

1 C chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark works best, you might find milk too sweet)

1 C chopped pecans (you are welcome to make it without nuts)

Vanilla ice cream, or sweetened whipped cream for serving (a must!  I prefer ice cream)

optional: chocolate sauce (honestly, doesn’t really need chocolate sauce, but it looks pretty!)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack or serve slightly warmed.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

*From Our Best Bites: There have been several comments about pies turning out runny.  First and foremost, follow the instructions, completely (no margarine or anything from a tub!) I’ve made a million of these and never had that happen so I have no idea.  The recipe is correct as written, it comes straight from Nestle!

*My advice: 1/4 cup more of flour for those of us stuck up here in the mountains. Also, I didn't serve it with ice cream or anything. It was definitely rich enough on its own.

Recipe from Our Best Bites. I am in love with their new website design!

Thin Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches

Last night we had a few friends over so I made dessert. It was easy and so yummy! Here's the (kind of sort of made up) recipe:

Thin Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches

Thin Mint ice cream

chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup water

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together chocolate cake mix, butter, vanilla, and eggs. Add 1/4 cup water if dough is too dry. Scoop cookie dough onto pan and bake for 10 minutes (no more than this!). As you take them out of the oven, flatten cookies by banging pan on the stovetop or counter (the same way you would get air out of a cake batter). Let cool on wire rack. When cooled, freeze for 1 hour.

Take 2 cookies and put a scoop of ice cream in the middle. Squish together and stick back in the freezer for about an hour. Serve frozen.

p.s. anyone else ecstatic for girl scout cookie time?? i'm practically counting down the days here...

PG-13 Cookies

Here are some hilarious, sexy cookies made for Tyler and I for Valentine's Day by our friend Linze. Get it?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Throwdown

COOKIE A

Let's face it: there is no such thing as a "healthy" cookie. Cookies have so much sugar and fat in them that they will never truly be "healthy". And if they don't have a lot of sugar and fat, they sure don't qualify as a cookie!

But some days (especially when you're exercising/dieting) you just really want a cookie. (Or two, or three...) So I set out the other day to try to get a good, low-fat cookie. I think I was pretty successful.

I tried two recipes, one low-fat cookie and one cookie beefed up with butter and shortening. Ya know, just for comparison. ;) I'd have to say that the low-fat cookie (just like on Throwdown with Bobby Flay - who I wish I could meet in person, by the way - we'll call this one Cookie A) was fantastic straight from the oven! The chocolate melted and the inside was all warm and gooey. It really hit the spot and I was impressed. 

COOKIE A

But of course, once the next batch of not-so-good-for-you-cookies (Cookie B) was made, I realized the difference right away. These two cookies definitely each had something going for them, but let me tell you - you DO miss all that butter and shortening! They were also ooey-gooey in the center, and the Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips (the best!) just hit-the-spot.

COOKIE B

COOKIE B

So for me it was definitely a toss-up. Taste or nutrition? But I knew who the winner was when Tyler came home and reached for Cookie B. I'll admit they tasted better, but Cookie A was definitely impressive. Nutritionally, two of Cookie A = one of Cookie B. But taste-wise, five of Cookie A will never taste as good as two of Cookie B. Guess which batch of cookies was eaten first? (One thing is sure - if you're counting calories and just want a few chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven, go for Cookie A. They are best straight from the oven because they harden quickly within an hour. To refresh the cookies, however, microwave them for 15-seconds. The chocolate will melt all over again with a pretty satisfying result!)

Find the recipe for Cookie A here.

Find the recipe for Cookie B here.

We Love NY!

Our friends recently lived in NYC for two months during an internship, and asked everyone for advice on fun places and things to do in NYC. Apparently Tyler and I did our research well before our trip to NYC last year because we won!

We suggested doing the Sony Wonder Technology Lab, and stopping by Levain's Bakery for a gooey, warm JUMBO chocolate chip cookie. 

Kim surprised us as the winners by mailing us this adorable "I ♥ NY" onesie for Jack! Thank you so much, Kim! We loved NYC and hopefully our kids will someday visit and love it too!

I also found a mock Levain's Bakery recipe online, and we tried it out. Definitely not the real thing, but pretty dang close! It makes 14 cookies, and I think Tyler ate about eight of them!

Levain's Bakery website actually suggests some good mock recipes and has links of them for you. We tried the Recipezaar one. Delicious!

Rootbeer Cookies

Here is the recipe for the long-awaited Rootbeer Cookies! It was a struggle to find rootbeer concentrate in Oceanside, but I finally found the sticky stuff at Walmart. You can find it in the spice section with the other extracts. It's McCormick brand, and the bottle is taller than the others. Enjoy!

Rootbeer Cookies

(Makes 3 dozen, but I found with our cookie scoop it made closer to 50 cookies)

2 cups brown sugar

1 c. butter

2 eggs

2 t. rootbeer concentrate

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup water (optional)

Cream sugar, butter, and eggs together. Add rootbeer concentrate, baking soda, and salt. Mix in flour, adding water if dough is too thick. Cover and refrigerate dough for 1 hour. Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes. When they come out of the oven, they might not look done, so use the toothpick method instead of your eyes. :) Also, they don't spread very far on the pan - they tend to stay in a very round, circular shape like sugar cookies.

Frosting

The frosting is essential to the cookies. While you can definitely taste the rootbeer in the cookie dough, when baked they lose a bit of flavor. The frosting is light and creamy, and is what really makes the cookies fabulous.

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 T. rootbeer concentrate

2 T. hot water

Mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Frost the cookies when completely cooled. This last step is extremely important - if you frost them while the cookies are even slightly warm, the frosting will melt to liquid!

Message-in-a-Cookie

 

I am falling in love with these cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma. What a great idea! I think I'd like to get myself a set for my birthday...

Helvetica Cookie Cutters

I saw this on DesignMom's blog today and fell in love. I want them.

From Beverly Hsu

The best chocolate chip cookies EVER. I promise.

Before you read any further, I want to confirm to you that this is the most AMAZING chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever tried. And the best one that Tyler has ever tried. And it's all courtesy of my friend Kendle, back in Tuscon. I'm sure she probably got it from someone else, too...so a warm thank you to the individual who created these so many years ago.

They simply melt in your mouth.

No, I'm not kidding. Do go make a batch right now and see for yourself.

There is one simple change to the recipe that I made tonight while making these, and they turned out just fine. I found myself without shortening in the house, so I used 1 cup of butter instead of 1/2 a cup of butter and 1/2 a cup of shortening. They still turned out fabulous. But if you have shortening, go for it.
Also, DON'T skip the part where it tells you to beat until white and fluffy! I really think that's the key to making them fabulous.

Let me know what you think.

And Courtney: I've got a challenge specifically for you. Is there a way to make these cookies a bit healthier, while still keeping the wonderful flavor? Maybe not change it entirely, but how can we add whole wheat flour to these, and still keep the delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture?