Fudge Round Copycat

Thanks to my friend Gerard for sending me this recipe he found for a copycat version of Little Debbie Fudge Rounds. I love Fudge Rounds, and these were close. Next time I need to press down the tops of the cookies a bit more so they are not as puffy. One other benefit of these cookies is how easy they came together. If you don’t want to make the filling, just add some chocolate chips to the cookies, and you’ll still have a great treat.

Ingredients
For the cookies
2 eggs
1 Devil's Food cake mix, (11 - 12 ounce package- I used Pillsbury)
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine

For the filling
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine at room temperature
1/4 cup baking cocoa
2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt one stick of margarine. Allow to cool slightly.
In a small bowl, beat the two eggs.
Pour cake mix into a large mixing bowl. Stir in melted butter and beaten eggs.The dough will be very sticky.
Roll dough into 32 balls about 1 inch in diameter. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 minutes. Cool cookies completely.
For the filling, cream together the remaining stick of margarine, cocoa and powdered sugar. Add milk if necessary so the filling is of spreading consistency.
Spread about 2 teaspoons of filling onto 16 cookies. Top with remaining cookies.

Yields 16 sandwiches

Thickys and Crunch Time

Last weekend we headed down to San Diego for a little getaway. Of course any travel for me must include sampling cookies! We happened upon the Third Avenue Farmer's Market and found Thickys. Randall (the inventor of Thickys) is an interesting character, and he concentrates on what he does well- pan cookies with chocolate chips, walnuts, and peanut butter chips topped with caramelized English toffee, English toffee in chunks, English butter toffee, or bacon. You can purchase by the pan on his website, and at the farmer's market, you can purchase individual squares. Prices are 1 square for $2 or 3 for $5 ($16 for a whole pan). Of course I bought three and did one of each kind except the bacon. I loved the chewy texture and thickness of the bars. Plus they were full of the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips with just the right amount of walnuts. The buttery flavor from the toffee was great, making these very hard to stop eating!

I also headed to Crunch Time, which was recommended to me by a friend. Right next to Petco Park, Crunch Time specializes in fancy popcorn and ice cream sandwiches. If you are craving sweet or salty, Crunch Time has you covered. I tried the chocolate fudge brownie cookie- soft, brownie like cookie with white chocolate chips. Delicious! At $2, the cookie was slightly overpriced, but next time I'm in town, I will plan my schedule so I can try an ice cream cookie sandwich.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I wanted something quick and classic for a potluck at work. This recipe did the trick. They were cakey and had plenty of chocolate chips (I used jumbo semi-sweet chips)- a perfect dessert after sampling a lot of other delicious foods. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt  
1/2 cup melted margarine
3/8 cup brown sugar 
3/8 cup granulated sugar 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together, and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix both sugars and melted butter. Add egg and vanilla and stir just until blended. Add flour mixture and stir just until mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. 
Pour into a 8x8 baking pan.
Bake for 25 minutes until bars start to pull away from the sides of the pan, and they turn a golden brown.
Cool completely before slicing with a plastic knife.
Yields 16 servings

Langue de Chat

These "cat tongue" cookies were extremely easy to make, but I was hoping for a more crunchy/crispy treat. The flavor of these was light and perfect with my breakfast the next day.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 egg whites
1/3 cup flour



Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg whites one at a time. Stir in the flour.
Drop tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 4-5 minutes.
Yields 3 dozen

Chocolate Chip Cookie Peanut Butter S'mores Bars

I'm still on my s'mores kick, but unfortunately I didn't have much luck with this recipe from Cookies & Cups. I made a couple of modifications that did me in. First I made the cookie dough from scratch, which was too cakey, not the firm, chewy cookies from refrigerated dough. I also used marshmallows and not the marshmallow fluff, and that layer turned into a gooey mess. Overall the bars tasted pretty good, but it was not the most visually appealing result. Visit Shelly's Cookies & Cups blog for her recipe.

Tate's Bake Shop Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last weekend I made another recipe from Kathleen King's (of Tate's Bake Shop) Baking for Friends cookbook. It's not overly complex and produces a cookie that has just the right amount of peanut butter flavor and isn't gritty. They had a nice crispness as well and were great warm out of the oven. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons ( 1/2 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening or coconut oil
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) chocolate chips

Instructions
Position the oven racks in the top third and center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. 
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, butter, and shortening with an electric mixer set on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Beat in the egg, followed by the egg yolk and vanilla. Add the peanut butter and mix well. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour mixture, just until combined. Mix in the chocolate chips. 
Roll the dough into 30 walnut-sized balls. Arrange about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Using a dinner fork, press an X into the top of each cookie, flattening it to about half of its original thickness. Refrigerate the remaining dough balls on a plate while you bake the first batch. 
Bake, rotating the positions of the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking, until the cookies are golden.
Yields 3 dozen cookies

Stacked

Back in August we visited Stacked in Thousand Oaks. Our burgers didn't disappoint, and neither did the desserts. (We did not eat for the rest of the day after our lunch here!) We couldn't say no to their signature stacked ice cream sundae sandwich dessert ($3.95). We selected the chocolate version (chocolate chocolate chip cookies with chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, and mini chocolate chips). Delicious! If I wasn't so full, I wouldn't have agreed to share. :) The cookies and the ice cream were rich and chocolatey. The whipped cream didn't do much for me and seemed to be of much lower quality than the rest of the dessert (and the food in general). I'll ask for it to be taken off next time.

On the side, I ordered a chocolate chip cookie and a peanut butter cookie. Cookies are $1 each, but you must order two. These cookies didn't disappoint either, but the chocolate chocolate chip cookie from the sundae was definitely the best of the bunch. The peanut butter cookie was a little too crumbly for my liking, but I did like the Reese's Pieces mixed in.

Next time I'll get the exact same burger (veggie patty with mac & cheese- yum!) skip the fries and get a sundae of my own plus a few cookies to go. :)

Smores Chocolate Chip Bars

This is another recipe that I made with good intentions of sharing, but after one bite, I didn't want to! I needed some alone time with this gooey, chocolatey, crunchy treat. It's surprisingly easy to make, too. 

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/3 teaspoon salt 

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup sugar 

1 large egg 

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Beat in egg. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then stir in the chocolate chips. Put dough into the bottom of a loaf pan.

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and put graham cracker crumbs on top. Bake for an additional 5 minutes. Then remove from oven and top with marshmallows. Return the pan to the oven for another 3-5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool completely before slicing.

Yields 12 servings

Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies

Happy Labor Day! I hope you are out having some end of summer fun. It sure has been a fast summer. Coconut seems summery to me, so this was a great recipe for the weekend. The blondies from Baking Bites looked so delicious, but I went with a drop cookie version of this recipe. The cookies ended up very chewy, and it was easy to eat 3 or 4 at a time. They came together very easily, too.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/3 teaspoon salt 
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/2 cup sugar 
1 large egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips 
1 cup shredded coconut

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Beat in egg, followed by vanilla extract. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then stir in the chocolate chips and shredded coconut.
Drop tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown.
Yields 18 cookies