Oreo

A super-easy and quick recipe for homemade Oreos. Customize with different frosting flavors to suit your taste.

Yield: about 4 dozen unfrosted, or 2 dozen small sandwiched cookies.

Source: as with so many of my best recipes, this one came from my Grandmother.

What a dilemma I found myself in this week. After my last post, Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies, I was left with a fair amount of peanut butter frosting in my fridge. What to do? What to do? I just couldn't bring myself to let all that sweet, peanuty loveliness go to waste. The solution? Oreos, of course!!

This is honestly the easiest cookie recipe I have ever seen. That is because it is made with a boxed cake mix. All the good stuff is already in there, and you just have to add in the wet ingredients. So here is the recipe:

1 box cake mix, any chocolate flavor

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

Yep, that's it. I used a Devil's food mix, which is all dark and rich and wonderful. I did have to mix a little more than usual, to get everything moistened, but that is not a problem.

I do like to make these cookies quite small, because they get sandwiched together with another cookie and lots of frosting, which is a serious overkill of calories. (Not that I'm counting!) I learned from my experience with the Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies, and rolled the dough into neat little balls. If you have one of those nice cookie dough scoops, that would certainly work nicely, but I don't, so I am reduced to using my hands.

I used a glass to smash the dough down flat, though this step is certainly not necessary. It's just a preference of mine. They stack nicer if they are flat. Is that a silly reason? Perhaps. I baked them at 350 degrees for about 9-10 minutes. By the way, let me apologize for the poor quality of the picture. All my pics turned out bad today. I didn't realize it until I was done baking, and as much as I love you all, I just wasn't willing to make another batch of cookies so I could take better photos. Sorry.

Normally, these babies get frosted with this wonderful cream cheese frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese

3 cups powdered sugar

2 T. milk

A word about quantities, here. I usually double this cookie recipe. That is, 2 cake mixes worth of cookies. Then, this frosting recipe is closer to the right amount. If you are not doubling the cookies, then you will certainly want to halve the frosting recipe. I hate to see cream cheese go to waste!

My personal choice for customizing this frosting:

First, I like to add a little mint extract and green food coloring to the cream cheese frosting for mint Oreos. I'm fond of mint, especially when coupled with chocolate, so it's a natural choice.

Second, the peanut butter frosting in this post is the best I have ever had. It is seriously delicious in the Oreos as well.

Third, is there such a thing as too much chocolate? Doubtful. Add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder to the frosting for double chocolate Oreos. I can feel the Chocolate coma coming on!

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Chocolate - Chocolate Chip

Yield: about 3 dozen

Source: Food Network .com, creator unknown, link below.

I found this recipe just recently on the Food Network website. I was pretty excited because they look pretty darn chocolaty, and frankly, that always makes me happy.

I read the ingredients before I went to the store, but frankly, I was a little depressed when I started making the cookies and realized I had messed up. I am way too sick of quick grocery store trips to make another one, so I made do. But more on that later.

The recipe is as follows:

1 stick butter

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1 1/4 cups flour

6 oz. chocolate chips

6 oz. white chocolate chips

The first step here is to finely chop the chocolate. Once I started doing this, I realized I had bought a 4 oz. bar, and the recipe calls for 6 oz. It was then that I decided that 4 oz. was plenty of chocolate for 1 small batch of cookies, and that was all I used. As it turns out, when I made my family taste the cookies and give me feedback, they all told me it was really chocolaty, so feel free to use this trick yourself, if you want. (Incidentally, my family gives this cookie an 8 or 9 out of 10.)

Start by melting the butter, and adding the chopped chocolate to the hot butter. Let it sit for a few minutes to let the chocolate melt. Meanwhile, mix together the eggs and yolk, brown sugar, and vanilla. Then slowly whisk in the melted chocolate mixture. Add the dry ingredients, and mix just until everything is incorporated. Do not overwork the dough. Fold in the chips. Cover in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours or so.

I was a little concerned about the cloves in this recipe. It is a bit unusual for a chocolate cookie, but it does make it stand out a bit, and gives it a quality that can be noticed. My husband really liked the cloves in it, and I think he liked it more once I pointed it out.

I actually made these cookies quite small, as is my habit lately. The recipe calls for baking for 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees, but since mine were smaller, I baked for only 9-10 minutes. It is best to let these sit on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. These should be moist in the center, and a little crackly on the outside. Honestly, mine turned out a little too soft, I think. They could probably have used another minute to bake.

If you want to have a really fun time, make your family guess the mystery ingredient (cloves) that makes this cookie so different, and see what they come up with.

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Chocolate Frosted

Yield: about 3 dozen

Source: My mom got the recipe from her aunt, who it seems learned it from her mother, who got it from who knows where?

When I started this blog, my mom told me about her favorite cookie from her childhood. Apparently, her grandmother used to make these chocolate frosted cookies, and my mom remembers loving their cakey texture and frosting. Who wouldn't? My mom had to call her aunt for the recipe, and I for one, am glad she did. Now that I have made the cookie myself, I almost cannot forgive Mom for not making this cookie when I was a child!

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk (I have never come across a recipe with buttermilk that I didn't love!)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. soda

1 2/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

There's no real trick to making this dough. Just melt the chocolate, (I melted mine in the microwave) and mix the ingredients together in order. I will say that I used bread flour, only because this recipe has a tendency to get a little dry and heavy. I was definitely glad that I did.

You can skip poison checking this dough. It is not the greatest raw dough I have tasted. Instead, have a warm cookie right out of the oven, before they are frosted. Yum.

The dough does not go on in neat little balls. As you can see, they are unruly piles of dough. It's part of their charm. I made the cookies quite small, as well. I recommend making them small, because the yield is only about 3 dozen, and you will want to make use of every tool in your arsenal to make these babies last more than a day or two.

Bake them at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. I cooked them for 10 minutes, because they were small-ish. See how they bake up all puffy and beautiful? If they are not puffy, consider adding a touch more flour. Let them cool a few minutes before adding frosting.

I have trouble putting a frosting recipe down on paper. I'm just not the type to measure frosting, or purchase ready-made frosting, for that matter. I will tell you that for this recipe, I started by melting about 3 tablespoons of butter, and it turned out to be not quite enough. So, start with about 4-5 T. Melt the butter, add a little vanilla (about 1/2 tsp) and some cocoa powder (about 1 T.). Give that a quick mix with the hand mixer to smooth all those ingredients together, and then add some powdered sugar. Once again, I don't ever measure it, I just start adding some in a bit at a time, until it gets to the right consistency.

Today, I accidentally made the frosting too thick and it turned into little frosting pebbles. Still delicious, but terrible for spreading. I added about a teaspoon of milk, and the problem was solved. Honestly, the greatest thing about frosting is that it is so forgiving. Just keep adding powdered sugar or milk until you get the right consistency. Just keep some graham crackers on hand to spread the excess frosting on, if you have any! For this cookie, I actually wanted the frosting to be just a touch thin, and as it turned out, I got the consistency exactly right. (an unusual feat for me!)

I frosted the cookies gently and left them out to continue cooling. I was disappointed that my frosting only lasted as long as 21 cookies. :( Ah, what a wonderful cookie. I'm so glad to be re-introduced to a cookie my great-grandmother used to serve her family.

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Chocolate Chip

Yield: about 3 dozen

Source: Alton Brown's "The Chewy"

I remember the day my friend told me about this recipe. She urged me to go to Alton Brown's website and find this particular recipe. Being the Alton Brown fan that I am, I found and tried the recipe right away. At that time, the recipe had 525 reviews and 5 out of 5 stars. Today, 661 reviews and still 5 stars. Did anyone rate it less than 5 stars? I doubt it. I personally can't see how they could do it. It is hands-down the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever tasted. And I have tasted a lot of chocolate chip cookies.

Here is Alton's recipe:

2 sticks unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups bread flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 T. milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Alton asks you to sift the flour, salt and soda together, and I rebelled and did not do this step. Actually, the truth is that I don't have a decent sifter and, more importantly, I am lazy. I'll admit it. I just put them in one at a time when it calls for dry ingredients, and I do the flour last. I know, I know... I'll get a sifter someday. No promises, though, about how often I will use it.

Melt the butter and add it to the mixing bowl. I used salted butter, rather than unsalted, because it was what I had in my fridge. If you do that, just be sure to cut your salt down to 1/2 tsp.

Add the sugar and brown sugar and cream on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, milk, and vanilla, and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Isn't it lovely? And dough made with real butter instead of shortening is definitely worth tasting before baking!!

While I'm thinking about it, I should mention that I agree with Alton on the bread flour. I keep a small amount on hand, though I use it only rarely. This recipe is one of the few reasons to keep it in the house at all. He also recommends that you let it chill for a couple hours. When I made them, I was short on time, so the dough only chilled for 45 minutes.

Alton calls for a #20 disher to scoop these onto the baking sheet. I have never been one to scoop cookies with an ice-cream scoop, (and therefore I don't own one appropriate for cookie dishing) so I just used spoons. Boring? Maybe. I do wonder, though, how big the #20 disher is. I suspect it is pretty big, because Alton calls for baking at 375 degrees for 14 minutes. I did mine at 350 for about 10-11 minutes, and they were plenty brown.

This might also be a good time to mention how much I love baking with a stone. The one I use came from Pampered Chef and I have used it for several years. My husband dropped it and broke a corner off, so I can now make only 9 cookies at a time, but I still use it. I love that it cooks evenly, doesn't require parchment paper, and is so easy to clean.

The cookies came out beautifully. They are just a touch crunchy, mostly chewy, with gooey chocolate chips and a wonderful buttery flavor. Perfection, thou art a chocolate chip cookie!! Do yourself a favor and eat one right out of the oven.

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No Bake Cookies

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

Source: I have no idea. I've been making these since I was a kid, and so has everyone else I know.

I asked my kids what kind of dessert they wanted, and two of them voted for no-bake cookies. I was surprised. They always seem so, I don't know, mundane or something. It's like they're not a real cookie. But, sometimes quick and easy is a nice change, so I went for it.

The truly nice thing about this cookie is that you can make it very quickly on the stove, and it never goes in the oven at all. Hence the name, no-bake. Frankly, I feel a little silly making this post at all, since I'm sure all of you made this cookie at some point in time, and it was probably back when you were 10 years old.

Usually, I opt for the no-bake chocolate cookie, but since I recently shopped the case lot sales, I went for the no-bake peanut butter cookies. (I have 12 small jars of peanut butter in my storage room. Well, 11 1/2.) I'll include both recipes here, though, since they are almost identical.

PEANUT BUTTER:

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup coconut

3 cups quick oats

CHOCOLATE:

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

2 cups sugar

3 T. cocoa

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 cup coconut

3 cups quick oats

You start by melting the butter. Add in the milk and sugar, and the cocoa if you are making the chocolate variety, and bring it to a boil. Let it boil for a minute or so, and then remove it from the heat. If you are making the peanut butter kind, this is the point where you add it. Stir it in and let it melt. If you are making the chocolate kind, add the vanilla now.

Have I mentioned that I love this Pampered Chef measuring cup for this job? It is perfect for messy jobs like peanut butter or shortening. You choose how much to put in, and then just push it right out into your bowl, or pot, as the case may be. I don't use it much, but for peanut butter, nothing else will do.

Next, just mix in the rest of the ingredients, which is nuts, coconut, and oats. A word about that. We're big coconut fans here. I love it. I also think walnuts are great in the chocolate cookies, although I wouldn't put them in the peanut butter kind. However, I know that some people are really opposed to coconut and some opposed to nuts. It's fine to leave them out, but you do have to make up the difference by adding more oats. It's not an exact ratio, either, meaning that 1 cup of coconut does not necessarily equal 1 cup of oats. Just add more oats until the consistency is right. Not enough oats, and the cookie will be gooey and stick to the pan, your fingers, and everything else it touches. Too many oats, and the cookie will fall apart and be very dry. I am intimately acquainted with both of these situations, having messed up in both directions in the past.

When we made these as kids, we always lined a cookie sheet with wax paper and dropped them onto it. Now, I prefer to put them into my mini-muffin pan. I always spray it pretty generously first with some kind of non-stick spray. Either way you do it, drop them in little globs and put the pan in the freezer for a little while. They'll be ready to eat before you can finish creating a blog post!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Yield: about 4-5 dozen

Source: This is another cookie I have been eating since birth. I'm pretty sure my mom got it from the oatmeal carton at some point.

I like to refer to these as my "award winning" cookies, and I also like to think that they deserve it. Does it really matter the circumstances of the award? Okay, I'll tell you anyway. I think I was about 10 or 12 years old. I was in 4H. I entered them in the county fair and won an honorable mention. The judges told me they were a little too dry and crumbly. I disagreed.

This is a fabulous everyday cookie. I have never met the person who didn't like it. (With the possible exception of one friend, who told me that oats made him "so regular." Arguably, though, this did not mean he did not enjoy the flavor!) The recipe is pretty predictable, except that it calls for water, which is a touch unusual.

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 T. water

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

chocolate chips

3 cups quick oats

It is very nearly against our religion to make cookies without doubling the recipe. These cookies also have the potential to double your weight, so I guess that's apropos!

Today, I put double the shortening and double the sugar in the mixer before I discovered that I did not have double the brown sugar in the house.

Is there anything more irritating? I dropped everything and ran to the store for more brown sugar. And diet coke.

Start by creaming the shortening, sugars and eggs. Add in the water and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients last.

I once again tested the limits of my mixer by doubling the recipe. The bowl is just not quite large enough for this, which doesn't stop me from trying.

Let me mention a couple things here that I have learned in my many years of experience making these cookies.

FIRST, put the oats in last. Even the chocolate chips go in before the oats. Once the oats are in, nothing else will mix together well, so make the oats the finale.

SECOND, I know that I did not specify how many chocolate chips to use. This is really a matter of taste. I prefer to use an entire bag for one batch, but I realize that many of you would prefer to use less than that. I say, they're your cookies, and chocolate chips are not necessary for the integrity of the recipe, so do whatever you want. You can even use a raisin, as long as you never tell me about it. (Who would use a raisin when you could use a chocolate chip?) When I double it, and I always double it, I use one bag of chocolate, and another of some other kind of chip. Peanut butter is my favorite, but today I used butterscotch.

Be sure to poison check the dough before baking. I have fantasies of sitting in front of the tv with a bowl of this cookie dough and a spoon, and a great chick flick. Be sure to poison check after baking, too, while the cookies are still warm and gooey. (Pause while I wipe the drool from my face.)

This is the part where you drop the dough onto the cookie sheet. I prefer the two-spoon method. It keeps the hands clean.

Bake these lovely little pretties at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. (Preferably 8) They should be a little gooey when they come out, but still brownish on top. Is that technical enough? Leave them on the sheet pan for a couple minutes before moving to a cooling rack. The hot pan will continue to cook them a bit, which will really help the gooey-ness. You might have to experiment with your oven and your area of the world to get this right.

If there is a secret to making this cookie "award winning," it is to underbake just a touch. Just as paint dries a shade darker, cookies cool a shade crunchier. If they are a bit underdone upon coming out of the oven, they should cool to chewy perfection.

Yes, you can freeze them. But, if you're going to do it, make sure you get them in the freezer before the family knows about it, or there will be nothing left to freeze.

Chocolate Crinkles

Source: An old cookie cookbook that belongs to my mother-in-law.

I have searched for years for a good chocolate crinkle recipe. The recipe I had, which I got from who knows where, was just terrible. This year, my mother-in-law confessed that she had the same problem. She pulled out this book, from which she used to make cookies years ago, and we decided to both make a batch of chocolate crinkles. She even donated the chocolate squares to my cause! And, finally, the recipe lived up to the promise! These cookies are everything I remembered them to be; slightly crunchy on the outside, but still soft and chewy with a great chocolate flavor. (I wonder if it is because it calls for oil instead of shortening.) This is a fabulous everyday cookie.

YIELD: 6 dozen cookies

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup powdered sugar

Mix oil, chocolate, and sugar. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt, and blend into oil mixture. Wrap dough in plastic wrap or ziploc bag, and chill several hours or overnight. (I'm convinced that chilling the dough is a critical step.)

The next step says to shape the dough into small balls and roll them in powdered sugar. I tried to keep the dough from sticking to my hands by covering my hands with powdered sugar first. This effort failed miserably. The dough sticks, there is just no way around it. I recommend working on this step while you are near a sink! It is just so disappointing to see all that yummy dough go down the drain!

Place them on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350, 10-12 minutes. (As always, do not overbake!)