Double Chocolate Chip Cookies {Recipe)

Last week when I was faced with a challenge, I manned up and took one for the team. 

I have the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. They're soft but not to soft, they look beautiful on a cookie tray and they taste like little round pieces of heaven. There was just one problem. They were just chocolate chip cookies. What's a girl to do when one dose of chocolate just isn't enough?! 

Because hello, it happens. 

There just had to be an answer to the problem and I was going to figure it out. I spent Friday afternoon in my kitchen attempting to transform the beloved cookie recipe into a more chocolatey treat. It may have taken me two batches and right around 2,000+ calories but the results were SO worth it.

Plus I get to share my favorite new cookie recipe with you today.

Yup, totally worth it.

Ingredients: 1 3/4 C. unsalted butter (14 Tablespoons) 1/3 C. white sugar 1 C. brown sugar 2 Eggs 2 tsp vanilla 2 tsp corn starch 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 C. flour 1/2 C. unsweetened cocoa powder 1 C. semi-sweet choc chips
Directions: 1) Cream the butter and sugars together.
2) Mix in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
3) Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed, add the chocolate chips and mix in.
4) Refrigerate for 1 hour or over night in a covered container.
5) Using a standard size cookie scoop cookies will bake at 350 degrees for approx 10 minutes. For other sizes your baking time may need to be adjusted.

I have teamed up with 12 of the Tuesday Talk hosts for cookie swap hop. 

Below are links to their posts where they share some of their favorite cookie recipes from round ups to family favorites you will find a little bit of everything. 

Michelle - Grammie Time // Beth - Our Pretty Little Girls // Elizabeth - All Kinds Of Things // Stephanie - Wife Mommy Me // Christina - Waltzing In Beauty // Becky - BYBMG //  Lauren - Simply Free // Sarah - Abiding In Grace // Keri - Living In This Season // Laura - Life Is Beautiful // Jess & Katie - Sweet Little Ones // Whitney - Polka Dotty Place
What is your favorite holiday cookie?
Now it's time to link up your posts. Grab the button in  my sidebar and join the fun.

An InLinkz Link-up

Delightfull Cookie {Recipe}

A few weeks ago I was asked by Buzz Agent to try out Nestle's new product, Delightfulls filled baking morsels. I was so excited to give this product a try. We bake A LOT in our house and this product looked like a perfect fit for us. 
Nestle Delightfulls come in 4 flavors Mint, Caramel, Cherry and Peanut butter. I was beyond happy to see that we were sent the peanut butter ones. Peanut butter and chocolate are definitely a favorite flavor combo in the Newman house. These chips did not disappoint guys, they were delicious and I honestly can't wait to try the other flavors.

When life hands you a bag of free filled chocolate chips, you just have to make some cookies.

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Unsalted Butter 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar 1/4 Cup Sugar 1 Egg 2 tsp Vanilla 2 Cups All Purpose Flour

2 tsp Corn Starch

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt 1 C. Nestle Delightfulls
Directions

1. Cream the butter and the sugars together until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until blended well. 

2. Mix in flour, corn starch, baking soda and salt.

3. Stir in chocolate chips. When using Nestle Delighfulls I have found it best to freeze them before mixing them in a cookie dough to prevent them from getting squished.

You can chill the dough in the fridge if you would like, but this dough does not have to be chilled.

Before baking pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Using a standard size cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. If I want my cookies to look perfect I often shape the dough into nice round discs like this

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are barely golden brown. Remove from tray and cool on a wire rack.

Waiting for cookies to bake can be SO hard sometimes. 

Nestle Delightfulls are the perfect addition to anything that you would use the regular old boring chocolate chips in. My favorite cookie recipe has never tasted so good. 

Which flavor would you try first?

Leaving Peru with Alfajores

To finish up learning about Peru we baked cookies. Peruvian, or really just South American cookies. Alfajores, aka Alfies. These are a shortbread cookie sandwich cookie with a dulce de leche filling. They are amazing!

Alfajores

Ingredients: 1/2 Cup room temperature butter 1/3 Cup sugar 2 Egg yolks 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 Cup corn starch 3/4 Cup all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1, 13.4 oz can dulce de leche flour for dusting
Directions: 1. Add the butter and sugar to a mixing bowl and, with the paddle attachment on, cream until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the egg yolk and vanilla, mix until incorporated. With a spatula scrape down the sides of the bowl (do not skip this step).
3. On low speed add the cornstarch, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt mix until the dough comes together (do not over mix).
4. Turn the dough out on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into disk and wrap tightly.
5. Preheat oven to 350F
6. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
7. Remove the dough for the refrigerator, unwrap it, and place it on a lightly floured work area.  Lightly flour the top of the dough. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness (the dough will crack but can be easily patched back together).
8. Cut into rounds using the cookie cutter of your preference. I wanted small cookies so I used what I had, a shot glass. You can also use a biscuit cutter for larger cookies.
9. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets. Bake them for 8-13 minutes depending on the size you choose. The cookies will be done when they set nicely and start to turn a very, very light brown on the bottom. Do not over bake.
10. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Spread about 1 T of dulce de leche on half of the cookies. Place a second cookie on top and gently press to make a sandwich.
12. Enjoy

With our passport stamped Peru we are headed to England!

Original recipe found on Roxanashomebaking.com

Sand Dollar Cookies

So for the past few weeks we have been learning about the seashore. What exactly it is and Gods plan for it. That is my favorite things about her science book. It always approaches every topic wanting to learn and discover what Gods plan is.

Things we learned when studying the seashore:

What is the seashore

The names of the oceans

Sea animals: Crab, Seahorse, Starfish, Sea Gulls and Sand Dollars

The food chain in the ocean

We made:

Ocean mobile

Food chain book

Star fish art 

Sea Horse sun catcher

Sadly I haven't been blogging this whole time, or I could have included some of our fun crafts in my posts. 

As a final ocean themed activity we decided to make Sand Dollar Cookies

Sand Dollar Cookies

1/2 c unsalted butter softened

1 c powdered sugar

2 large eggs - 1 whole, 1 yolk with the white in a separate bowl

1 t vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour

1/4 t baking powder

Cinnamon sugar

Sliced almonds

In a large bowl, cream together the soft butter and powdered sugar until very creamy. Add in the whole egg and yolk, then beat until well combined, add the vanilla and salt. Stir in the baking powder and flour until you have a very soft dough. Form the dough into a ball wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 3 days. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to 1/4" thick on a lightly floured surface and cut into 3" circles. Brush the circles with the reserved egg white, sprinkle lightly with cinnamon sugar and press 5 almond slices into the center of each circle. Bake for 3-4 minutes, then take the sheet out and press the almonds in again, making slight indentations in the circles. Place the sheet back in the oven and bake until the edges are golden brown, another 7-10 minutes, depending on how thick you cut the circles. Store airtight for up to 5 days, if they last that long. 

These cookies were both fun to make, tasty and provided lots of opportunities for the girls to get involved.

After the cookies were done we took them outside to enjoy them in the very sunny 78 degree weather.

It was the perfect day for the perfect cookie. 

Recipe found on Delicious Inspiration