Jean Philippe Patisserie at City Center's Aria Hotel- Las Vegas

The next stop on our whirlwind Vegas cookie tour was the Jean Philippe Patisserie at City Center's Aria Hotel. I settled on a chocolate chip walnut cookie for $3.95 and a Madeline for $1.50- relative bargains for this high-end store where you can also buy crepes, chocolates, ice cream, and coffee.

The chocolate chip walnut cookie will satisfy any craving. It was thick, buttery, and slightly chewy. Every bite was filled with mini-chocolate chips and similarly sized walnut pieces. Next time, if I can wait before digging in, I will microwave it for a few seconds for a gooey treat.

The puffy Madeline was average and had a slight lemon flavor. Starbucks Madelines are just as good.

Visit http://www.arialasvegas.com/dining/casual-dining.aspx for details.

Vosges- Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace- Las Vegas

These next few posts are based on some samplings of cookies from a recent weekend getaway to Las Vegas.

Vosges is a popular chocolate shop at the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. They also have a small selection of cookies. I went for the Costa Rican Chocolate Chip cookie. For an average-sized $5.50 cookie, I expected the finest cookie I had ever tasted. Instead I had what tasted like a baked ball of butter and brown sugar (not horrible- who doesn't like butter and brown sugar). Large chocolate pieces were sparsely mixed in. The cookie was very crumbly and difficult to eat. Obviously the cookie was made with high-quality ingredients, but that couldn't save this cookie. Next time I'll pass, and I encourage you to save your $5.50. I'm sure you can find plenty of other uses for that money in Sin City.

Vosges also makes a caramel toffee cookie and a naga cookie (pumpkin base with chocolate chips and Indian curry). Visit the Vosges website for more information. You can buy their chocolates at some grocery stores. http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/

Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

Unbelievably delicious! They make your kitchen smell great, too. 

These cookies were a breeze to make and opened the door to a world of endless possibilities- devil's food cookies, red velvet cookies, carrot cake cookies... Of course, you have to like soft, cake-like cookies. I used Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme cake mix, but any regular-sized box of cake mix will work.

Do you know of any other quick cookie recipes? Send them my way!

Ingredients

1 package lemon cake mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Yields 3 Dozen.

Dolly's Donuts & Cookies Too- Orange

I'm not sure how long the cookies had been sitting there, but 70 cents per cookie was a small price to pay to perhaps discover a fabulous cookie. With "cookies" being included in the name of the store, I was very hopeful, even when I saw their small selection sitting on a covered tray on the end of the counter.

The chocolate chip cookie was an average, crispy chocolate chip cookie. The peanut cookie (not peanut butter, like I had hoped) was just a crispy cookie with peanuts on top. I took only a few bites of this tasteless cookie.


Cookies are definitely an afterthought at Dolly's. The highlight of this experience was biting into the donut hole included with every purchase. If they put half as much effort into their cookies as their donuts, they would have some seriously good cookies. At least I found a good donut place...

Dolly's Donuts & Cookies Too is located at 350 South Main Street in Orange.

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

These cookies are super soft and chewy. The cinnamon is apparent in every bite, and it mixes well with the coconut. The coconut texture and flavor dominates, though. If you have a craving for coconut, these cookies will certainly satisfy. I will say that these cookies need a little crunch. Next time I will top with toasted coconut.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F.
Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl until well combined. Beat in vanilla, milk and eggs until light, about 2 minutes. Stir in flour mixture. Add oats and coconut.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 11 minutes at 350F. Cookies will be lightly browned.
Let cool for a few minutes on baking sheet, then move to a wire rack until completely cooled.
Yields 36 cookies.

Platine Bakery- Culver City

I recently made a trip to the Platine Bakery in Culver City. All of their offerings were rather petite. Each cookie was roughly two inches across. I tried three of the artisan cookies and two fancy cookies.

The chocolate chip artisan cookie was essentially a crispy Toll-House cookie. Nothing special. Same goes for the chocolate gingersnap and signature cookie. The chocolate gingersnap tasted like a soft, chewy gingersnap and lacked any chocolate taste. The signature cookie tastes like an oatmeal raisin cookie even though other ingredients (chocolate chips, nuts, currants) are mixed in. At $1 each, these cookies were over-priced.

The fancy "Platino" cookies I sampled were much better. The "Platino" is Platine Bakery's version of an Oreo. The chocolate Platino tasted exactly like a soft Oreo and was my favorite of all of the cookies I tried. More filling would have been appreciated, though. The other "Platino" was made with sugar cookies. The sugar cookies were soft and perfectly sugared. These cookies will set you back $2 each.

Even though it wasn't a cookie, I did try the hoho. It was unbelievably delicious. I would return for those, but I will skip the cookies.

Platine Bakery (www.platinecookies.com) is located at 10850 Washington Blvd in Culver City.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

If you have to quickly satisfy a peanut butter and chocolate craving, these bars are the way to do it. The bars are very thick and cakey. This filling treat tastes better when completely cooled.

Ingredients

1 cup Wheat Flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch Salt
1 cup Peanut Butter
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Milk Chocolate Chips 

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8" x 8" baking dish with cooking spray.
Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Stir with a fork.
In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, sugar, and egg. Stir until creamy. Add the milk and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add the flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour the dough into the baking pan and pat the top to smooth. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until slightly puffy and very lightly browned at the edges. Remove and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting. Store at room temperature, tightly covered with foil.
Yields 16 squares.