CHOCOLATE CHIP PUDDING COOKIES

 I have made several really good recipes for cookies that contain dry instant pudding mixes so I knew this recipe would be outstanding when I saw that was one of the ingredients. The title of the recipe from a dear friend's family cookbook that I bought at her estate sale when she died a few years ago is just Chocolate Chip Cookie. I decided to add the word "pudding" to distinguish it from all my other gazillion chocolate chip cookie recipes. 

I started with adding chocolate pudding to the title but as I was writing it up, I decided I would include vanilla in the recipe as that is what my late friend Linda's relative's recipe. Then as I continued through the recipe, my mind started wondering and I started thinking of all of the possibilities there were using other flavors of instant pudding. Can you imagine using butterscotch or pistachio or lemon...you get the idea. I can't wait to actually do it. Of course if you use a different flavor of instant pudding, you might want to try a different chip instead of chocolate chips, like butterscotch, or white baking bits, or toffee, etc.

I made the cookies with no sugar added using truvia brown sugar complete for the brown sugar and sugar-free chocolate pudding mix. Only the chocolate chips had sugar but I did use dark chocolate chips since it is better for you and doesn't contain as much sugar. I could have used some of my zero sugar chocolate chips but since I already had a no-sugar-added treat for the Cafe Treats, I would just save them for another Sunday and recipe. 

Needless to say, I love the cookie and recipe and especially it versatility. I think you will find it a special recipe also.

 

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CHOCOLATE CHIP PUDDING COOKIES

3/4        cups brown sugar

1           cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

2           eggs

2-1/4     cups flour

1           teaspoon baking soda

1           4-oz package (4 - servings) instant pudding (chocolate, vanilla, or your favorite flavor)

2           cups (10 - 12 oz package) chocolate chips

1           teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Beat the brown sugar, butter, and eggs together until

creamy. This took several minutes. (I just let the mixer beat while I prepared the dry ingredients.)

Add the vanilla.

Combine the flour, baking soda, pudding mix, and chocolate chips together to blend.

Slowly add the dry ingredients until all mixed up.

Use a spatula to make sure all of the dry ingredients were mixed in.

Using a cookie scoop drop dough onto the cookie sheet. If you want a flatter cookie, press lightly with two fingers.

If you like a smaller looking rounded cookie, just place the scoop of dough with the flat side down on the cookie sheet. The cookie on the left was placed with the flat side up. Cookies do not spread with baking.

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes. Allow to cool a minute before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.

SOFT HONEY COOKIES

 It is always fun to "discover" new recipes that aren't really new but I just haven't ever made them even though it has been quite a while since I first found the recipe. My problem is I am a hoarder when it comes to collecting recipe and cookbooks. There I have admitted it. I really do need to go through my "collection" and spurge a bunch. Maybe I can start tomorrow. 😉

Anyway this recipe I had written in one of my several spiral notebooks that contains cutout recipes and recipes I have just written down when I originally saw them. It doesn't make a lot but I like recipes especially for cookies that makes a small amount when I am making cookies for just us.

I also like to make desserts with less sugar and this recipe fit that bill. I substituted stevia for the sugar required but did use the honey. The honey taste is a nice surprise when you take a bite. I might end up making them some Sunday for the Cafe Treats at church since I do make treats for others than the sugar-free bunch.

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SOFT HONEY COOKIES

1/2       cups sugar or stevia

1/4       cup oil

2          large eggs at room temperature

6          tablespoons honey

1-1/2    teaspoons vanilla

2-1/4    cups flour

1/2       teaspoon baking powder

1/2       teaspoon cinnamon

1/4       teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, beat the sugar and oil until blended.

Beat in the eggs and

then add the honey and vanilla

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt with a whisk.

Gradually add to the sugar mixture and mix well.

(dough will be stiff).

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

******

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop out dough using a tablespoon scoop and drop on prepared cookie sheets. (Cookies do not spread as they bake. I didn't know this so I prepared for them to spread, but they didn't.)

Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes are

until the bottoms are lightly browned. Cool for 1 minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Store in an airtight container.

COCONUT COOKIES

Coconut seems to be one of those ingredients that people either love or hate. Personally I love it, but one of the members of PWUMC does not love it. I know when Dan comes up, to alert him to any treat that contains coconut. He has never turned down any other treat that we have served, just the ones that contain coconut.

Cafe Treats Baker Sharon made these festive Coconut Cookies for us on the Sunday before the 4th of July. Because she used the red, white, and blue sprinkles, she omitted the 1/3 cup of coconut that the recipe called for sprinkling on top of the cookie dough before baking. 

Needless to say, these Coconut Cookies were my favorite that day. 

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COCONUT COOKIES

1        cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

1        cup sugar

1/2     cup packed light brown sugar

2        large egg at room temperature

1        teaspoon vanilla extract

1        teaspoon coconut extract

2-1/4 cups flour

1        teaspoon baking soda

1        teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2     teaspoon sea salt

1-1/2  cups sweetened coconut, divided

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes on medium speed).

Add the vanilla and coconut extracts and the eggs and continue beating om high for 2 to 3 more minutes occasionally stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Mix the dry ingredients with a whisk in another bowl.

Add the dry ingredients by spoonfuls to the butter/eggs mixture on low until all of the flour mixture has been added.

Fold or beat in all of the coconut except 1/3 cup until it is evenly blended in the mixture.

Scoop out dough using a tablespoon scoop and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten the dough slightly and sprinkle the reserved coconut on top of the cookies. (Sharon sprinkled the festive sprinkles on top instead of the coconut.)

Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until the cookies are lightly golden brown and the coconut is just toasted, if you used the extra coconut on top.

Remove the baked cookies to a wire rack to cool. 

COWBOY COOKIES

 I am way overdue sharing this recipe with you for Cafe Treats Baker Jean's Cowboy Cookies she made back in April. I was going through past emails and texts checking to see if I had recipes for treats that I had not shared and found this recipe. I am so sorry Jean that I am so late, but I did find it and am sharing it now.

I love Cowboy Cookies. I always think of my mother when I hear the name. She loved to make them when I was older. I don't remember them when I was young, but do after I was married. I guess she didn't have a recipe for them earlier. She did give me her recipe though. Unfortunately I tried to find it to compare with Jean's recipe, but couldn't find it in her recipe box. I bet I made them and the recipe didn't get back in her box. Oh dear! I will now have to find it.

COWBOY COOKIES

2     cups flour

1     teaspoon baking soda

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/2  teaspoon baking powder

1     cup shortening (can use half butter)

1     cup sugar

3/4  cup brown sugar

2     eggs, beaten

2     cups rolled oats

1     teaspoon vanilla

1     large package chocolate chips (2 cups)

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder together. Set aside.

Blend the shortening and sugars.

Add the eggs; beat mixture until it is light and fluffy.

Add the flour mixture, oats, vanilla, and chocolate chips mixing until well blended.

Chill the dough for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

Using a tablespoon scoop, drop dough onto the cookie sheets.

Bake for 12 to 13 minutes or until the cookies are starting brown on the edges.

Cool slightly then remove them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

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CRANBERRY-CHOCOLATE COOKIES

 

Lucky me (and you). Cafe Treats Baker Tom made these awesome cookies several months ago and in my excitement that Sunday morning I forgot to take a picture of them. I loved them that day and I loved them again when he made them last week. I often substitute whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour in cookies and quick bread that also contain dried cranberries. The two just seem to go together. 

I especially liked the cookies when Tom made them without the nuts for the Cafe Treats. The whole wheat flour seems to add a nutty taste to the treat. This recipe by King Arthur uses white whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour is made from hard red spring or winter wheat and white whole wheat flour is made from hard white spring or winter wheat. They have the same nutritional value, but the white whole wheat flour has a milder flavor and lighter color. 

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CRANBERRY-CHOCOLATE COOKIES

8       tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3/4    cup light brown sugar, packed

2       tablespoons orange juice or water

1       teaspoon vanilla

1/2    teaspoon baking powder

1/4    teaspoon baking soda

1/2    teaspoon salt

1       large egg

1-1/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1       cup semisweet chocolate chips

1       cup dried cranberries

3/4    cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking sheets or line with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, orange juice, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat in the egg until combined; scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl.

Add the flour, mixing until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips, cranberries, and nuts if you are using them.

Drop the dough by a tablespoon scoop onto the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until just beginning to brown around the edges. They won't look set in the center.

Remove them from the oven and let them cool on the pan.

CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER PIE

If you've been following my blog, you know that I have been leading the Cafe Treats at PWUMC since the beginning of year. When I started it, I decided it would be a nut-free zone so no one would have to be concerned about choosing something that might have nuts that they were allergic to. Because the Cafe Treats have taken up most of my cooking time, that means whenever I am searching out for interesting desserts in my cookbooks, I have had to pass up a lot of recipes because they contain peanut butter or nuts of some sort.

Yesterday it was my turn to hostess the Quilters' Canasta group and since I needed a dessert I thought I would take advantage of the allergy-free group and make something with peanut butter. 

Sometimes when I am on the hunt for a dessert for a particular occasion, I have a hard time finding just what I want to make. Monday night when I was looking, I must have found four or five recipes that sounded really good. It was really hard to decide which one I wanted to make, but I finally chose this fabulous Creamy Peanut Butter Pie from Paula Dean Cuts the Fat cookbook. 

My apologies to Paula as I had to use regular cream cheese because I didn't have the Neufchatel that she used in her recipe. I also used a chocolate cut pie crust instead of the graham cracker piecrust because I had it and I thought it would go great with the peanut butter. My whipped topping wasn't completely thawed when I got ready to add it to the peanut butter/cream cheese mixture, so I just waited and later spread the rest on top and then melted some chocolate chips to drizzle across the top. It looked so pretty. All of my friends told me how delicious it was.

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CREAMY PEANUT BUTTER PIE

1       package (8 ounces) low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), at room temperature

2       tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2    teaspoon vanilla extract

1       cup creamy regular or natural peanut butter, softened

1       container (8 ounces) sugar-free or regular frozen whipped topping, thawed

1       9 - inch  prepared graham cracker piecrust

In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

Add the peanut butter and beat, scraping the sides of the bowl,

until thoroughly combined.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the whipped topping in two batches. (I didn't do a very good job of dividing the whipped topping in half so had to work a little harder.)

Spoon the filling into the piecrust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. (I made mine the day before.) The next morning I spread the extra whipped topping on the top.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Note: I reserved several spoonfuls of the whipped topping and spread it on top of the cold pie. I didn't quite spread to the edge.

Then I melted about 20 dark chocolate chips with a heaping 1/2 teaspoon of shortening in the microwave and

then drizzled it over the top. With the shortening, it hardened as it cooled but tasted great with the peanut butter and whipped topping.

After everyone left, Wayne and I went to the Platte County Fair. It is the first time we have gone. It is the longest continuing county fair west of the Mississippi River beginning in 1863. I find that so fascinating that during the Civil War, people in the county were getting together for a fair. Anyway, I had the opportunity to wear my first ever pair of cowgirl boots that I bought a couple of years ago but just never got around to wearing them. I didn't get to ride the Ferris Wheel but had to at least take a picture of it. There is a story about a certain young man who ran the Ferris Wheel in a carnival and the beautiful young woman he met and later married and had a daughter that they named Patricia that is very dear to my heart. 

It was a fun evening. I'm sorry it has taken us 15 years to get there.

SOFT CHEWY OATMEAL SCOTCHIES

 

I am so blessed to have so many good friends. Friend Sandi is one of those special friends that when we first met a few years ago just before COVID it was definitely an example of serendipity. She was in the fabric department at our Hobby Lobby and got to talking to another shopper and mentioned that she had just retired and was looking for a quilting group that met on a regular basis. The group at her church didn't meet often enough for her. Well, it just so happened that the shopper and I attended the same church and was a member of Hope Circle, our United Methodist Women's group that I was also a member. Sandi ended up calling me on a Monday, the day before our quilting group, now called Blankets of Hope, was meeting and I invited her to come the next day. She just clicked with the group and immediately fit in. 

We have been together through some tragic losses and are always there for each other. Her friendship has enriched my life tremendously. So it was no surprise that she told me she would make some cookies for the Cafe Treats the Saturday before they were leaving for a week-long road trip on Monday. 

The people at PWUMC love oatmeal cookies and butterscotch morsels in cookies so I knew her cookies were be greatly appreciated when I served them the next day. I did manage to put one aside so I could enjoy it later before they were all gone.

I think you will find them delicious also.

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SOFT CHEWY OATMEAL SCOTCHIES

1-1/2     cups flour

1/2        teaspoon cinnamon

1           teaspoon baking soda

3/4        teaspoon salt

1           cup (2 sticks) butter - room temperature

1           cup packed brown sugar

1/2        cup sugar

2           large eggs - room temperature

2           teaspoon vanilla

3           cups whole oats

1           bag butterscotch morsels

Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar on high speed until creamy about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat one more minute.

Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed.

Add the oats and morsels. Dough will be very thick. 

Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour or longer.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F when ready to bake. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

Drop dough (about 1 tablespoon per cookie) four inches apart on cookie sheet.

Bake 13 - 14 minutes. Allow to rest 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

They deserve one more look.