Soft Ginger Cookies

As part of my bridal shower gift people gave me one of their favorite recipes! This is my Auntie Janet's cookie recipe. I made them bite sized but they are great as large cookies too! I would describe them as a soft ginger snap. They are easy to make ahead and travel easily.

These are perfect with a nice cup of tea!

Soft Ginger Cookies
makes 24

2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350F
Combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
In large mixing bowl beat butter on low until softened. Gradually add sugar and beat until fluffy.
Add egg and molasses, beat well.
Stir dry ingredients into beaten mixture.
Shape into 1 1/2 inch balls.
Roll in the 2 tbsp sugar and place on a cookie sheet.
Bake about 10 minutes or until light brown and puffed.
Let stand for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Butter Spritz Cookies

Catching up from my holiday baking... My brother and his girlfriend got me a cookie press a couple years ago and I've been wanting to try it but it seems so intimidating!! These cookies were tedious but very pretty! I'll make these again but they are special occasion cookies and not ones I'd want to make every day.

Don't bother using your nice silpats or new nonstick pans. Our old burnt cookie sheets worked best for this! It took some practice but by the end the dough was the right temperature and the cookies were coming out smoothly.

These were dainty and light cookies that can be changed for the holiday based on the sprinkles you use!

Pressed Sugar Cookies
adapted from Williams - Sonoma

makes 100ish cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
Colored sugars or icings for decorating

Preheat an oven to 375°F.

Using a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg, vanilla and salt and continue beating until well mixed. Using a spoon, stir in the flour until blended. Let chill about 30 minutes.

Pack the cookie dough into a cookie press according to the manufacturer's instructions. Fit with the desired-shaped cookie plate and press the dough out onto ungreased baking sheets (count to 5 and pick straight up), spacing the cookies 1 inch apart. Cover with sprinkles.

Bake until the cookies are light golden, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the cookies to wire racks and let cool. Decorate with icings as desired. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. 

M&M Cookies

I ran out of M&M's so I used some chocolate chips too. These are so yummy! One of the kids told me, "These are the best things we have made!" 

If you double the recipe use 3 sticks of butter. If you half the recipe, continue to use the full egg.

When creaming the butter and sugar continue to cream until there are no visible butter chunks.

To ensure the cookies look similar and stay poofy - refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours or over night! It isn't necessary but does make them look better.

Red’s Ultimate M&M's Cookie
Adapted from So Tasty So Yummy

makes 4 dozen

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 12-ounce package M&Ms, approx 2 cups

Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; blend into butter and sugar mixture. Stir in M&Ms. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and centers are still soft. Cool 1 minute and place on wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Gingerbread Cookies

Super easy! I made the dough the night before and refrigerated the dough overnight. Leave the butter and egg on the counter for 1-2 hours so it is at room temperature. The butter will cream better if it is on the warmer side. 

When cutting out the cookies keep the other portion of dough in the fridge. Instead of re-rolling the scraps right away, use the chilled dough and put the scraps into the fridge. Alternate until the dough is all used up. 

We made cats, mice, and men! The icing recipe is the one I used with the sugar cookies. This takes food coloring very easily and hardens quickly. I used the recipe without the almond extract and did not add any coloring. Once the icing is dry the cookies are able to be stacked. 

We are looking forward to making these around the holidays!

Gingerbread Cookies

Adapted from Wegmans Recipes

Makes 3-4 dozen (depends on cookie cutter size)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cloves
3 cups all-purpose flour

Icing from Sugar Cookie recipe

In a stand mixer add butter, brown sugar, and salt to mixer bowl. Cream on medium speed until combined and lightened, scraping bowl and paddle as needed.

Add egg; mix to combine. Add molasses; mix to combine. Turn off mixer.

Sift together baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, and flour into separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to molasses mixture. Mix on low just until combined.

Separate dough in half and form each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

*****

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using rolling pin, roll out one disk of dough on lightly floured surface to a circle about 1/4-inch thick.

Cut out cookies. Transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spacing about 1/2-inch apart.

Bake one sheet at a time on center rack of oven 12-14 min, or until cookies are firm but not dry. Cool for 2 min and remove from baking sheet.

*****

Chef Tip from Wegmans:

To control the thickness of any rolled-out cookie dough, use rubber rolling pin rings or roll it between two thin strips of wood or Plexiglas (1/4-inch thick). They will help ensure even thickness of the final product.

Incorporate some of the "scrap" dough into the next piece of dough to be rolled out. This way, you won't be left with only scrap dough when finished.

Turn the sheet pan around halfway through the baking process to ensure even baking of the final product.

Set the timer for about half the time recommended, especially with new recipes. This lets you fine-tune the baking time without fear of over-baking the cookies.

For a crispier cookie, bake additional 2-4 minutes. 

Snickerdoodles

I'm not sure where my Snickerdoodle recipe came from but it is a handwritten card in my recipe binder. It is a quick and pretty little recipe!

I use my smallest cookie scoop and these are about the same size as a Nilla wafer.

Snickerdoodles
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp cream of tarter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Sugar coating: 2 tbsp sugar + 2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400F
In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar and then mix in eggs and vanilla
Add in dry ingredients and comibne until a sticky ball forms.
Shape into balls (I use my cookie scoops) and roll in the cinnamon sugar mix.
Bake 8-10 minutes. Cookies won't turn brown but the bottom edges will start to turn a light golden.

Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

WOW this is my 200th post!! I'm glad its a festive recipe!

I made these fun decorated sugar cookies for a bachelorette party!

The dough was easy to work with, the recipe is easy to double, and they were quite tasty!

The Sugar Cookie recipe was adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction. The icing recipe is adapted from All Recipes.

I doubled the cookie recipe and it made 60 cookies. The cookies were about 3 inches big. I used the Wilton 4 Piece Wedding Cookie Cutters. Unfortunately the bells did not frost easily and didn't look like bells so the evidence was consumed.

This is a recipe for softer sugar cookies but if you prefer a crispier cookie roll the dough thinner and cook for an extra minute.

You'll want the eggs and butter to be room temperature but you want the dough to be cold when you are ready to work with it.

While my dough was cooling in the fridge I made these cinnamon/sugar Snickerdoodle cookies!

I let the cookies cool for about 6 hours before adding the icing. After icing them I let them harden for 4 hours before stacking and bagging them.

It was about 2 hours of effort (making dough, cutting, putting in the oven) but a lot of other hours of waiting while chilling the dough and cooling the cookies and drying the icing.

Note: I also use this icing for my Gingerbread Cookies!

I made these for a fundraiser! How cute!!

Soft Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Sallys Baking Addiction
Yields: 18 medium size cookies or 30 smaller cookies

COOKIES
3/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened to room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

In your stand mixer beat the butter until creamed and smooth.
Add the sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy.
Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and beat on high until fully combined.

In a different bowl mix the flour and baking powder.
With the mixer on low slowly add in the flour until just combined.

Chill dough in fridge for about an hour or up to a day. If more than an hour, cover the dough so it doesn't dry out.

Remove dough from fridge and divide the dough in half. Put on piece on floured surface and put other half in the fridge. Roll to about 1/4″ thickness and cut into desired shapes. Put on cookie sheet (with parchment paper or Silpat mat) and place back in the fridge for 10-20 minutes. This allows the dough to firm back up and prevents spreading.

Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. I alternated pieces in the fridge and pieces to work with so that the dough was a little cooler.

Bake for 8-11 minutes, until very lightly colored on top and around the edges. My cookies took 10 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

Make the icing and decorate the cooled cookies!

ICING
Adapted from All Recipes
Makes enough for 1 dozen cookies

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional, I would omit next time)
Food coloring (Wilton Gel Food Colors)
Sprinkles

In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup or milk by the 1/4 tsp.

Divide into separate bowls, and add desired food coloring to each. The food colors I used were very strong and ONE drop was plenty.

Put frosting into bag and snip the corner to easily frost the cookies. An easy way to add the frosting into the bag is to use a drinking glass and that holds it open while you put the frosting in.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookie time! I made this recipe with some homemade peanut butter. But other then that it is a very basic cookie dough and most people will have all the ingredients on hand.

I used a small cookie scoop so these cookies are all bite sized. I'm not sure why but I almost always make cookies that are small. But between the size and the sticky dough, the criss cross pattern was not meant to be. The recipe recommended rolling the cookies in granulated white sugar then doing the criss cross. If I did that, I would have reduced the white sugar in the cookies to 3/4 cup. But rolling the cookie in the sugar would have prevented the fork from sticking. Another thought that I think could have helped was if the cookies were larger and the fork was floured or buttered. 

Long story short, instead of making the fork prints - I gently pressed them flat with my fingers. That means I touched EVERY COOKIE! Touch it you take it, right?

Since I didn't want to wait 3 hours to chill the dough so I put it in the freezer for 30 minutes then popped it in the fridge for another 15 while I waited for the oven to free up. Yes, I would love to have double ovens in my kitchen!

What was interesting was the difference in the cookies with chilled batter vs not chilled batter. In this picture the top left is the 1st sheet from the fridge, top left is the 1st sheet without the criss-cross, bottom left is the 2nd round of cookies. Then I put the dough in the fridge between the 3rd and 4th cookie. Taste didn't change but the look certainly varied.

Regardless, these cookies didn't spread very much and I was able to fit 20 cookies on a regular sized cookie sheet.

The recipe said they would look kind of underdone when I take them off the sheet so I probably overcooked them, but we all thought they were great! I cooked them for 12 minutes.

The recipe below is adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The site says that the cookies will store at room temperature for up to one week and that the baked cookies or dough will freeze for up to 3 months.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 80 small cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature preferred
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and peanut butter and mix on high until combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, toss the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be thick, yet very sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Press fork into the tops to create the criss-cross pattern. Bake for 12 minutes or until very lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft and undone. The cookies will continue to "set" on the baking sheet during this time.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe in a cookie cook book when I was in high school. It was on sale at Barnes and Noble! In the book they are called Chocolate Fudge Brownies, but I think they are more on the cookie side then the brownie side. And if you are expecting a brownie - you will be disappointed.

Personally, I don't like these cookies very much because I'm not a big fan of chocolate. However, they are the first to go when I bring them to a party and everyone always asks for the recipe. So I'd say try them if you like chocolate!

These cookies freeze well and it is easy to make a big batch of them. You can space about 15 of the cookies per cookie sheet as they do not spread out too much on the pan.

Also see the recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie and my Mom's favorite white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies!
 
Triple Chocolate Cookies 
Adapted from Cookies by Pamela Clark
Makes 4-6 dozen depending on cookie size

2 sticks butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup chopped nuts (hazelnuts, optional)
2/3 cup each coarsely chopped of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate

Preheat oven to 350F, line cookie sheets with parchment paper or use your silpat mat.
Using paddle attachment on your mixer beat butter, vanilla, sugars, and egg until light and fluffy.
In small bowl combine flour, cocoa, and baking soada.
Combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
Add in nuts and chocolate bits.

Mom's Favorite White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Cookies

Here is another go-to / no-fail cookie recipes. This includes the chocolate chip cookies, the chocolate chocolate chip cookies, and these white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.

But first, Happy Birthday Mom!! (Yes, her birthday was in April, I'm a little behind in my posts!)

Back to baking. These are straight forward cookies and can be made easily enough with or without the nuts. Macadamia nuts are quite pricey.

I actually leave this recipe alone and don't make any changes. I only put about 12 per cookie sheet as they do spread a little bit. I also use my mini cookie scoop most of the time.

These cookies freeze well. Put the cooled cookies into a container or a bag and put in the freezer. To defrost put the bag in the fridge or let it defrost on the counter.

Enjoy!

Also see the recipe for Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie and Triple Chocolate Chip cookies!

Vanilla Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Makes approx 5-6 dozen with small cookie scoop or 3 dozen regular

1/2 c Butter; softened

1/2 c Sugar

1/4 c Light brown sugar; packed

1 tsp Vanilla

1 Egg

1 c Flour

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Baking soda

1 c White chocolate chips

1/2 c Flaked coconut

1 c Macadamia nuts; chopped

Preheat oven to 375F.

In mixer with paddle attachment cream butter until light, gradually add sugars, creaming well until blended. Beat in vanilla and egg.

In separate bowl stir together flour, salt and baking soda. Add flour mix to creamed mix until combined.

Stir in white chocolate, nuts, and coconut.

Drop by level tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for about 8 - 12 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Update 7/2015: One of the large cookies I made for our wedding favors!

Ah-ha! The perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe!

This is the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag. This recipe has never failed me! One batch makes lots of cookies (5+ dozen), it is easy to double or half as well. You can also make the dough ahead of time (a day or two) and refrigerated it until you are ready to use it.

The cookies freeze well too. Put the cooled cookies in a bag or container, put in the freezer. To defrost put the cookies in the fridge or on the counter. 

Enjoy!

Also see the recipe for my Mom's favorite white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies  or Triple Chocolate Chip cookies!

6/2015 UPDATE: I made 21 batches of this recipe (no nuts) as the wedding favors for my wedding. I baked them in May over 2 weekends. I froze them and they were served 6 weeks later. Folks had no idea that they had been frozen and believed I had baked them in the past couple of days!

After making 21 batches of cookies I have some tips:

• Use room temperature butter and eggs. 
• When creaming the butter ensure there are no butter lumps. The butter lumps will melt and cause the cookies to spread and have a lacy edge.
• Let the dough chill overnight. The cold dough will help the cookies keep their shape, prevent spreading, and the cookies will look more consistent.

Once the cookies were baked I let them cool to room temperature for a couple hours, then put them a container in the fridge overnight so they are cold. The next day I put them in the favor bags and then into the freezer. We kept them in the freezer until the afternoon before the wedding. They defrosted for about 24 hours before being served.

Normally I use my smallest cookie scoop which is about 1 tsp. For these big palm sized cookies I stacked two scoops of cookie dough and used my largest one which is about a tablespoon size.

Oh, and we took some of the funny looking cookies and put ice cream in between two of them to make tasty ice cream sandwiches!

 

Voila!

Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes approx 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 sticks butter
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine dry ingredients. Beat butter, sugars, vanilla until creamy. Add eggs 1 at a time. Gradually add in dry mix. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop rounded tbs onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 9-11 minutes. (This varies by oven, mine take approx 8 minutes and I make smaller cookies).

Barefoot Contessa's Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread cookies can be a great snack or an elegant dessert depending if you use cookie cutters or not. This recipe is very straight forward and with a little tweaking you can make this recipe your own! The original recipe is Barefoot Contessa and can be found here.

The only change I make with the recipe is I use whatever nuts I have on hand (hazelnut, pecans, walnuts, etc) and I use 2 tsp of vanilla extract instead of 1 since I omit the almond extract. The pecan version tastes like pecan sandies!

In my mixer I combine the butter and sugar, then vanilla extracts. In a separate bowl I mix the flour and the salt.

Then I add the flour mix into the mixer. Add the nuts and mix until it starts to come together. I find it is a little crumbly at this stage, like coarse sand size pieces.

If I am going to roll out shapes I shape the dough into flat disk in the plastic wrap. If I want to slice them I will shape it into logs into the plastic wrap. I let the dough chill about 30 minutes. After I slice or roll the dough out to make shapes.

Sometimes it is still a little crumbly but squeeze the plastic wrap it will pack together better.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn light brown. Let them cool, they are one of the few cookies that don't taste as good when they are warm.

This recipe makes a few dozen but largely it depends on how small or large the cookies. 

Shortbread Cookies

    3/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature

    1 cup sugar

    2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

    3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1 1/2 cups small diced pecans (or whatever nuts you have)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In mixer combine butter and sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla extract. In another bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter/sugar mixture. Add the nuts and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and use a cookie cutter to shape. Or slice the log into 1/2 inch slices. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve.

Enjoy!

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

My friend N. found this recipe online and really really really wanted me to make them. Since he bought me Oreos and chocolate chips the other day for the Slutty Brownies, I figured I could try these. I didn't find them to be as "cheesecake" as I was expecting, but they had an almost nougat-like, marshmallow-y center.

The Oreo crumbs do need to be in fine crumb form! I found that mashing them in a bag with a rolling pin just didn't do the job. So, I got to use my food processor! And wow did it make quick work of those yummy Oreos!

I used a cookie scoop when making these so they would be approximately the same size. I use my 1 tsp (?) cookie scoop. Its slightly smaller than the normal cookie scoop that most people have.

If you don't have a cookie scoop (aka small spring loaded ice cream scoops) and you make lots of cookies, I highly recommend investing in one. They are fairly inexpensive and make it much easier to create large batches of cookies.

The recipe was straight forward and easy to follow. I didn't make any changes to the recipe aside from halving it.


Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Yield: about 4 dozen cookies

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup chocolate chips
1 cup Oreo cookie crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth.

3. Add sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until the ingredients are well-combined. Add flour and mix until flour is incorporated. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.

4. Put the Oreo crumbs into a bowl. Scoop the soft dough into about 1½ to 2″ balls and then roll in the cookie crumbs. Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.

5. Cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Slutty Brownies

I found a recipe here for Slutty Brownies. (Her pictures actually show the layers... we were too excited to try them to get good pictures)

Honestly, it was the name that made me do a double take and I had to see what these brownies were about. A layer of chocolate chip cookie dough, layer of Oreo, and topped with brownie batter make up this sweet dessert.

I already knew what I was going to do.

I went with the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe and the Brooke's Bombshell brownie recipe. And if I could bottle the smell of my kitchen when these were baking... me oh myyy!! It was a beautiful experience.

Nestle Toll House cookies are my favorite, I normally load them up with walnuts and chocolate chips. For this recipe I omitted the nuts.

Brooke's brownie recipe is a fudge-y dense brownie. I use 2 cups of sugar, generally 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar. I also omitted the chocolate chips for this recipe.

Oreo's are yummy. When they are baked between a chocolate chip cookie layer and brownie layer they don't get soggy, but they aren't hard cookies anymore...they sort of melt into a layer of their own. Some alternations for the Oreo layer that my friends suggested but I have not tried: crush them up, crush them up and mix them with cream cheese. 

Enjoy!!

Slutty Brownies
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Line 9x9 pan with foil. Layer uncooked cookie dough. Layer Oreos on top. Pour brownie batter over everything. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

The recipes below are for the full amounts... I halved these for the 9x9 pan.

Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes approx 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 stick sbutter
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine dry ingredients. Beat butter, sugars, vanilla until creamy. Add eggs 1 at a time. Gradually add in dry mix. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop rounded tbs onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 9-11 minutes. (This varies by oven, mine take approx 8 minutes and I make smaller cookies).

Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies

Ingredients:
1 c butter, melted
3 cups white sugar
1 tbs vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 c lfour
1 c cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 c chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease 9x13 baking dish
Combine melted butter, sugar, vanilla
Beat eggs in 1 at a time
Sift flour, cocoa powder and salt together.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Spread batter into prepared dish.
Bake in oven approx 35 minutes.