Junior Mint Cookie Bars

An easy recipe for incredibly addictive bars with gooey mint pieces! What could be better?!?!  Making these bars is a much better way to enjoy Junior Mints than sneaking them out of the Halloween candy bowl. Next time I'll eat mine with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

What do you cook for Halloween?

Ingredients

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup Junior mints

 

Instructions

In a microwave safe bowl, combine the 4 ounces of chocolate chips with the butter. Heat in microwave until almost melted.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla together until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Slowly add the melted chocolate, and mix until well-combined. Fold in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips and Junior Mints. Pour the dough into a 8x8 baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. 

Yields 9 bars.

Milky Way Cookies

With Halloween just around the corner, my next few posts are going to be dedicated to cookies that include candy. Some of my favorites are M&M cookies, Peanut Butter Cup cookies, and Peanut Butter Delights.

 

Today I'm making Milky Way cookies. These are very easy to whip up. Be sure they don't stay in the oven too long. They will brown quickly, and the caramel in the Milky Way will become too hard and ooze out of the cookie.

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe that includes candy?

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup melted margarine 

6 fun size Milky Ways, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Mix condensed milk and butter. Add in flour mixture. Stir in Milky Way pieces. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Drop rounded tablespoons two inches apart on the lined baking sheets. Bake 12-15 minutes. 

Yields 1 dozen

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

If you have a chocolate peanut butter craving (like I did this weekend), this is a cookie for you! The brownie-like texture was an added bonus. My mouth is watering just thinking about them now...

Neither the chocolate flavor nor the peanut butter flavor are too overwhelming. If you want to make one flavor stronger, just use one kind of chips. Usually I'm craving peanut butter more, so next time I'm going to mix in choped Reese's peanut butter cups or put a mini peanut butter cup in the center. Maybe even Reese's pieces... Yum!

Are you a chocolate person or a peanut butter person?

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cups sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/3 cup Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Cream butter, peanut butter, and sugar. Add egg and mix. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips and milk chocolate chips. 

Drop tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely on wire racks.  

Yields 18 cookies.

Fancy Fortune Cookies

Mr. Sleuth found a great discount special for Fancy Fortune Cookies, so we went on a fortune cookie shopping spree! We got the $10.00 sample pack of fortune cookies (graham cracker, cherry, and strawberry banana- about 5 of each flavor) and the Fancy Fortune Cookie Deluxe Sampler tin ($39.99 for 65 assorted fortune cookies). I am swimming in fortune cookies!

Overall this was more of a great gift find (unusual flavors, personalized fortunes, reasonable prices) than a great cookie find. Some of the flavors have an artificial taste, and I don't want to know how much food coloring they use! The mint fortune cookie is excellent, and graham cracker is a close second.

I would consider ordering the tin as a gift (never again for myself), however sometime I would like to try the jumbo chocolate covered fortune cookie. In the meantime, I will stick with fortune cookies from Panda Inn.

I know some people make their own fortune cookies at home. Have you had any luck with homemade fortune cookies?

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I finally got around to making the famous Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I regret that I waited so long to make these! I have been missing out on amazing cookie goodness!

I refrigerated the cookie dough for about 30 minutes before baking, which resulted in a thicker cookie. It was still very, very chewy. For a thinner cookie, just skip the refrigerator. I'm not a huge raisin fan, though. In the future I will make these plain or mix in some mini chocolate chips instead.

Do you have any classic cookie recipe recommendations?

Ingredients

1/2 cup Margarine or butter softened
1/2 cup Brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup Granulated sugar
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
3/4 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt optional
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup raisins 

 
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 F. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour; baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

Yields 2 dozen.

Nestle Toll House Filled Cookies

Yesterday, I had a late night cookie hankering that I could not shake! The new Toll House Filled cookies looked so delicious and fast (pre-formed disks that bake in 12-14 minutes). I went for the chocolate filled variety (caramel filled is also available). Overall these cookies did their job satisfying my craving, and I will definitely be trying the caramel filled cookies sometime soon. Stay tuned for my version of filled cookies!

These filled cookies $2.99 for a package of 12.


Have you tried these? If so, what did you think?

de Young Museum Cafe- San Francisco

Who would have thought  I would find the best macaroon I have ever had at the de Young Museum's cafe in San Francisco?!? It would be worth paying the fee for membership just so I could stop by the museum whenever I wanted for one of these chocolate dipped delights. Plus members get a 10% discount in the cafe. Alas, I do not live in San Francisco, so I can only dream of the delicious dessert. 
The macaroon was soft and puffy. It's chewy texture was just right. The chocolate dipped portion was HEAVEN! I also tried the cafe's version of a nutless everything cookie- dark chocolate chunks, white chocolate chips, coconut flakes. This was very tasty as well (chewy, plenty of chocolate), however, it could not compare to the macaroon.


For a homemade macaroon recipe, take a look at my previous post. Do you have any recommendations for my next visit to San Francisco?