Football Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

For the Superbowl, Callie and I wanted to make a fun dessert. After looking all over for a good recipe, we decided to make a dessert we've already made before, but with a festive spin. We used Martha's recipe for the chocolate sandwich cookies. Then we cut a notecard in the shape of a football and cut around it to cut the rolled out dough. After the cookies were baked, cooled, and filled, we made a little royal icing and piped some stitches on each of the footballs using a plastic baggie with the corner cut off. We served them with mint chip ice cream. We doubled the dough recipe and it made about 15 sandwiches.

Chocolate Chip Mexican Wedding Cakes

I made these cookies a few weeks ago for my mom to take to a charity lunch. This is one of my favorite cookie recipes. They are like miniature chocolate chip cookies with a twist. They have only a few ingredients and I love the warm flavor the cinnamon gives them. They have a smooth, almost flaky texture. They are super easy to make but are also pretty enough to be served at a party. You can use any kind of nuts you want. I have made them with pecans and hazelnuts. Also, they don't brown as they bake so just bake them for the given time and they should be done.



Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup finely chopped nuts
2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups (12-ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour, nuts, and cinnamon. Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set and light golden brown on bottom. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Microwave remaining chocolate chips in heavy-duty plastic bag for 30 seconds; knead. Microwave at 10 to 15 second intervals, kneading until smooth. (*Note: I usually just melt the chocolate in a small bowl and then transfer it to a plastic bag. It's easier to tell if it is all melted that way) Cut a tiny corner from bag; squeeze to drizzle over cookies. Refrigerate cookies for about 5 minutes or until chocolate is set. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.

White Chocolate Macademia Nut Cookies

Macadamia nut cookies are one of my favorites. But when I saw this recipe on a blog, I realized that even though they are one of my favorites, I had never made them. So I decided to make them. They turned out really well. They were soft and chewy and the flavor was perfect. I would definitely recommend making them.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the four, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, then set aside. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla with a mixer until creamy.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just mixed. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips by hand. Drop by the spoonful onto a greased or lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown. Cool on the baking sheet for at least 4-5 minutes (so cookies can set) before moving to rack.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Suprise Cookies

When I saw this recipe, I knew it would be a hit with the Payne family. We all like peanut butter and chocolate desserts so I thought I'd try them out. They turned out to be a little time consuming with having to divide both the dough and filling into 32 equal balls, but they were definitely worth it. They were so good and soft and the peanut butter middle was super soft and delicious.

Chocolate Cookies:

Ingredients:

1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 Tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Stir together flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix butter, sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Add egg, milk, and vanilla, beating well. Beat in as much flour mixture as possible using a mixer. Stir in the remaining flour mixture. Form into 32 balls, about 1 & 1/4 inches in diameter. Set aside.

Peanut Butter Filling:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:

Beat together powdered sugar and peanut butter until smooth. Knead by hand if necessary. Shape into 32 balls.

Preheat oven to 350°. Slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter filling ball. Shape the chocolate dough completely around the peanut butter dough. Roll into a ball.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking pan. Lightly flatten cookies with a glass dipped in the sugar.

Bake for about 8 minutes or just until set. The cookie surfaces should be slightly cracked. Cool on pan for about a minute. Then, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dark-Chocolate Cookies

I made these the other night. They were actually really fun to make. I got this recipe off of Martha's website. I love dark chocolate and these did not disappoint! Really chocolatey, but a little bit bitter and not too sweet. I put them in the fridge to store them and they were even better cold! One of the best cookies I've had in a while! (and I'm not really a cookie person) I want to get some round cookie cutters with a scalloped edge and make them again! One note though: next time I'll either double the recipe for the cookies or else half the recipe for the filling, because I had about twice as much filling as I needed! I don't think anybody minded though;) Also, I think the main key to these is keeping the dough really cold. I had to stick mine back in the freezer a few times!

Dark-Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

FOR THE COOKIES
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

FOR THE FILLING
4 ounces dark chocolate (at least 70 percent cacao), finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make the cookies: Whisk together flour, cocoa, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating to combine. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

2. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using a 1 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, cut out rounds. (Return dough to freezer if it softens.) Space rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Brush off excess flour.

3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets once, until edges are firm, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer cookies, on parchment, to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, make the filling: Place chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat cream, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve. Pour over chocolate. Let stand for 10 minutes. Gently stir until smooth. Let stand until firm enough to spread, about 15 minutes.

5. Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons filling on half the cookies. Top with remaining cookies. (Assembled cookies can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.)