Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I have been on a quest as of late. A quest I say, to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. Thus far I have tried about 4 different recipes. One was a complete, yes, complete failure. They were flat and had way too much butter in them - hard to believe, but it can happen. Kelly, my twolittlechefs cohort, suggested I try the recipe we have on our blog. Naturally I did. And they were quite good. They didn't turn out totally flat and they tasted great. 

Now, before I go any further I must make a confession: I am not much of a chocolate chip cookie fan. Yup, I said it. I know, not very American of me is it, but my half Canadian-half American husband is a big chocolate chip cookie fan. And me, wanting to be a good wifey, needs a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Me: I'd much rather have PB cookies, or better yet our Oatmeal PB Cookie Sandwiches, but I need a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. And so far, I think this is the best. 

Mrs. Fields Cookies

Before beginning this guest post, I feel that Kelly and I have some explaining to do. We have been huge blogging slackers, and we must apologize. We haven't forgotten you, and hope that you haven't forgotten us. Between a nearly over pregnancy (with an ever expanding waistline), the end of a teaching semester for both of us, and Kelly packing up house and home to move across the country, things have been a bit hectic for the two of us. To help with with our lack of cooking, we have solicited the help of some of our faithful commenter's to participate in our "guest post" program. There are no real benefits to this, just the sheer knowledge that you are helping us, the Two Little Chefs. 

So without further ado, let me introduce our first (well second actually) guest post. This is from Jessie and Chris who comment on our blog frequently. Both Jessie and Chris like to cook, try new food, and Chris happens to be an excellent photographer (Christian Lewis Photography). (If you would like to participate in our "guest post" program we would be glad to have you, just shoot us an email.) Below is what they have to say about this tasty looking cookie recipe.

"I was delighted when Caroline asked me to be a guest blogger on Two Little Chefs. I have enjoyed trying the new-to-me recipes. Also, I appreciate the practical tips. However, when I thought about what recipes I could share, I quickly realized that my current favorites nearly all come from Two Little Chefs! Chicken Milano, Spinach Tortellini Salad, Linguine with Shrimp Scampi, and Sweet Barbacoa Pork Salad are all now regulars at our house."

Best Chocolate Chocolate-Chip Cookies Ever

The first time I ate these babies I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The chocolate was still melty, but the cookie had set up just enough to be held in my greedy little hand. Each bite was sweet chocolatey perfection. So. Dang. Good. After 3 or 4 or maybe 5, I finally begged my friend Lindsey for the recipe, which she happily surrendered (she even wrote out the recipe with perfect handwriting, the kind every girl tries to mold her penmanship into during high school).

Now for some reason my cookies were a bit flatter than hers were. It could have been the extra egg I tossed in mine. I've noticed that my chickens are not always consistent in the size of egg they lay, so I'm not always sure if I'm getting 2 large eggs or 2 mediums or a large and a medium, and I'm often left to guess how much egg I'm actually using. Have I ever mentioned that I have chickens? I do- three lovely, well-fed, cheery little hens. Two of them are industrious layers, and one is a free loader that only lays when she feels like it. Their eggs have lush dark yolks, the whites separate so easily and whip up beautifully. Fresh eggs are a marvelous thing.

Anyway. Back to these cookies. There's one odd thing about them: the recipe directs you to add all the ingredients together (minus the chips) and THEN add the eggs, which I find very strange. I'll be making these again in the next few days, at which point I'm going to experiment with them to see if it's entirely necessary. I suppose I should have done so before posting this, but I know you'll want to try them as soon as possible. Let us know what you think!

Chocolate Chunk Coconut Pecan Chews

When I found these "cookies," I could hardly contain my excitement. They sounded amazing (and they ended up tasting amazing too, unless, of course, you don't like coconut). Just the smell of the pecans and the coconut toasting made me giddy. Think German-chocolate cake (and frosting) meets cookie and you've got this recipe in hand. Yum.

In my eagerness to get these babies in the oven, I neglected to sufficiently cool the coconut which in turn melted the chocolate chips a bit more than I would have liked. My advice: be patient. As delicious as they are, you don't want to ruin them by allowing them to turn into a melted pancakey mess. Be sure to put the batter in the fridge while waiting for another tray to bake. You might also want to chill each tray for a few minutes before baking- this will prevent some of the spreading that naturally occurs with these. Just remember that these are called "chews" for a reason. They're much thinner and chewier than regular cookies, but that, of course, is part of their charm.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

The day my friend Ginny brought me a slice of this bread, I knew we would be friends. And we were. Our mutual love of food provided us with many a conversation while our husbands discussed guns and biking.

I guess this bread is really more like chocolate cake that happens to have zucchini in it than the other way around. But if you take something that already tastes pretty dang good and isn't too bad for you and then add chocolate, you know it just can't go wrong.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Do you have some fusty, black banana's laying on your counter, but you don't want to throw them out and waste them? Here is the answer. These muffins are wonderful and a change from banana bread. And, they are made from whole wheat, so they are even healthier! These muffins are not as sweet as banana bread and they will freeze well, so you can make a batch or two and freeze the rest for later. If you don't want to add the chocolate chips you can substitute them for walnuts, or just leave them out all together.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins
Recipe by King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking (awesome book, I highly recommend it)
Pictures by Caroline
Yield: 12 muffins

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium-to-large bananas)
¼ cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour, traditional or white whole wheat (I used half white and half whole wheat)
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with muffin cups, and grease the muffin cups with nonstick vegetable oil spray.
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
3. Divide the batter among the muffin cups; they’ll be nearly full. Bake the muffins until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 28 minutes. Remove them from the oven, and after a couple of minutes transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don't be fooled- these cookies should really be called Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oats. They don't have any of the spice of regular oatmeal cookies, and raisins would be a very strange addition. And the dough might be even better than the cookies themselves. Just thinking about it makes me want to stuff a few more cookies into my already bulging belly...too bad our oven died midway through the second batch. I guess I'll have to settle for dough.

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

recipe from bettycrocker.com

Pictures by Caroline

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups quick oats

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg.
3. In a separate bowl, combine oats, flour, soda and salt. Add to butter mixture and stir just until blended.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake 9-11 minutes or until light brown.

Chocolate Confetti

This post is written by Brad, Caroline's husband. I am guest posting to add a fabulous chocolate treat because Caroline likes to pretend that she doesn't know how to make it, even though it is about the easiest thing on earth to make.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

For years, chocolate chip cookie recipes were the bane of my existence. I tried recipe after recipe, searching for cookies that produced both delicious dough and a tasty cookie. I didn't really think that would be too much to ask for, right? But apparently I was wrong. Until, that is, the day I vowed to never again attempt the dreaded chocolate chip cookie; on that day, a dear friend on the east coast sent me this recipe. I haven't been disappointed.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
from The Essential Mormon Cookbook
Pictures by Kelly

1 cup butter
3/4 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 (12oz) bag chocolate chips

1. Cream together butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla and salt. Beat until mixture pales significantly in color.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking soda.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients, stir well, and add chocolate chips.
4. Drop dough into 1-inch balls spaced about 1 inch apart.
5. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Take them out of the oven just before you think they're done.

Turtle Bars

This dessert is a must-have for my family during the Christmas season. My grandmother found this recipe in a newspaper over twenty years ago, and every year since then we've feasted on these chocolaty, buttery, caramel bars of goodness. And as they are extremely rich (and extremely delicious...and a bit unhealthy), I can only bring myself to make them around the holidays...it is a time to splurge, after all.

Turtle Bars
Recipe by Kelly
Picture by Caroline

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/3 teaspoon salt
2/3 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
8 tbsp cream
50 caramels (or use 1 16 oz jar caramel topping in place of cream and caramels)*
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the caramel and cream together using a double boiler.
2. Mix all remaining ingredients (except chocolate and nuts). Pat 1/2 the mixture into an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 10 minutes and remove from oven.
   
3. Sprinkle chocolate chips and nuts (if using) over hot crust. Pour caramel on top. Sprinkle remaining dough over the caramel.
   
4. Bake 15 more minutes. Let cool to room temperature and serve.
   

*I personally think that melting the caramels and cream makes a better tasting turtle. My husband, however, although noting a slight difference in the color of the caramel, thinks they taste about the same. You be the judge.

Pumpkin Cookies

I'm in love with pumpkin cookies. But it took me far too long to find a good recipe. I tried at least 5 before finally coming up with this concoction of my own. It wasn't as easy as you might think. Some were too gooey, others too dry, some flat as pancakes, and others tasted like, well, not much at all. I decided that what I like in a pumpkin cookie is something cake-y in texture with strong, but not overpowering, spices. And, of course, a hint of chocolate.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
Recipe by Kelly
Pictures by Caroline

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, pumpkin puree, and vanilla.
3. In another bowl mix dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Spoon out 1 tablespoon mounds of dough onto baking sheet. Bake approximately 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool cookies on baking sheet for about 1 minute and then transfer to cooling racks. Makes about 3 dozen.