Double Chocolate Cookies

by Melanie

This evening a friend will join us for dinner. We debated about menu, considering salmon and asparagus, or homemade pizzas. (We finally figured out how to make a pretty good crust. When paired with basil pesto as the sauce, the result is out of this world!) We finally decided to make chicken soup (I excel at soup) with Jim’s Irish soda bread and salad. That will suit our forecast for temps in the low 40s, with our ever-ready Iowa wind.

No matter what the main course would be, we agreed on cookies and ice cream for dessert.

This recipe makes 4 dozen terrific cookies. Each time I’ve made them the texture has been fabulous, and they freeze well, too.

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne (optional) OR 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed
1 cup dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large bowl, mix butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. If adding cayenne or cinnamon, add to dry ingredients. Stir into the butter mixture until well blended. If the dough is too stiff, stir in up to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until just set. Cool a few minutes before removing to wire rack.

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Double Chocolate Cookies

 

We have a snow storm on the way, with 10-14″ of snow coming. Until it’s over, we’ll be inside, and the weather seems to call for cookies and … oh, something to drink! Milk, tea, hot chocolate, whiskey, your preference. This recipe makes 4 dozen terrific cookies. Each time we’ve made them the texture has been fabulous, and they freeze well, too. We make them with cayenne. Once we tried adding cinnamon, as well, but it didn’t make things better.

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne (optional) OR 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed
1 cup dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large bowl, mix butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. If adding cayenne or cinnamon, add to dry ingredients. Stir into the butter mixture until well blended. If the dough is too stiff, stir in up to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until just set. Cool a few minutes before removing to wire rack.

Homemade Yogurt!

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Creamy, pure white, smooth and rich. Add fresh fruit and a little drizzle of honey, you get a small piece of heaven. Jim and I have been making our own yogurt for the last month or so.

Why not just buy it? Several reasons, actually. My main reason is that purchased yogurt comes in plastic tubs, and the way we’ve usually bought it for years is in individual servings. I cringe to think of all the plastic waste we’ve dumped into the world, just from our yogurt cups. (And yes, we recycle!) Making our own yogurt reduces our plastic footprint.

Another reason is because I’ve been trying to take better control of the food I eat.

Double Chocolate Cookies

by Melanie

This recipe makes 4 dozen terrific cookies. Each time I’ve made them the texture has been fabulous, and they freeze well, too. I plan on making 10 to 15 dozen cookies, in total, for my son’s commissioning party in May. Some of them will be these, for sure!

Ingredients

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cayenne (optional) OR 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, as needed
1 cup dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large bowl, mix butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. If adding cayenne or cinnamon, add to dry ingredients. Stir into the butter mixture until well blended. If the dough is too stiff, stir in up to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Mix in the chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until just set. Cool a few minutes before removing to wire rack.