Chocolate Butterscotch Chip Cookies

Some cookies made for my best friend.  He specifically requested chocolate cookies with butterscotch chips, so here they are.  They came out really good!

I'll post the recipe and some more photos after I get home from work later. :)

Snickerdoodles

Snickerdoodles!  It's such a fun word to say I have a hard time not repeating it over and over again.    No one knows where these cookies got their name, but it was probably just made up by someone who liked how it sounds.  Snickerdoodle!   My boyfriend loves sugar cookies so I whipped up this batch just for him.  The snickerdoodle is very similar to a regular sugar cookie, but instead of having sugar sprinkled on top, it is rolled in a mix of sugar and cinnamon.   Some people like them soft, some people make them thinner and crispy.  If you have read my blog before (especially most post about creaming) you probably already know I'm crazy about fluffy cookies.   Bake this recipe just until the bottom of the cookies begins to brown and the edges are crispy, and the center remains chewy and fluffy and soft.   MMMMM.  

You also probably know that I do all my baking by hand because of a woeful lack of kitchen appliances.  Well, no more!    I picked up at Cuisinart CHM-3 Hand Mixer in red and I'm so excited to make like a million recipes with it.  I love its retro look, I just wish it was a little bit lighter.  Still, it seems like it will probably be hanging out in my kitchen for the next 15-30 years so I'm pretty happy. 

I got this recipe from JoyofBaking.com, they have awesome recipes that have all been tested out.  Many come with videos.  Go check 'em out. 

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients (3-4 dozen cookies):

• 2 3/4 cups (360 grams) all purposeflour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• Coating: 1/3 cup white sugar, 2 teaspoons cinammon. 

Preparation: 

• Place oven racks in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400F degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (foil works if you don't have parchment paper.  Don't use wax paper.  I learned the hard way that wax paper and parchment paper are not interchangeable.  Don't ask.)
• In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and baking powder.  
• In a separate bowl  (or the bowl of your mixer) cream together the soft butter and white sugar. You will want your butter to be soft but not melty, about 65F degrees.   If you live in a warmer climate do not let your butter get all the way to room temperature, as it will be to soft then.   This will take a minute or two, keep beating together until the mixture starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, becomes noticeably fluffier and lighter in color. 
• Beat in each egg one at a time, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go along to make sure everything is fully incorporated.  After the eggs, mix in the vanilla.  
• Add the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly until a smooth dough forms.  I normally add the dry ingredients in three stages, mixing then adding a little more and mixing and so forth.   You can refrigerate the dough for a little while if it is to soft or warm.
• Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar/cinammon mixture.  Place the balls on cookie sheets about 2 inches apart and gently flatten to about 1/2 inch high with the bottom of a glass. 
• Bake for 8-10 minutes in the 400F degree oven until the bottoms begin to brown and the edges are crispy.   Place on a wire rack to cool. 

Salted Oatmeal Cookies

My roommates mother sent a care package full of the best ginger bread cookies I have ever had. If I had the recipe for those cookies that is what I would be talking about right now. But I don't. Alas, those awesome ginger cookies set off the need in me. I had to have more cookies. So, after scouring my kitchen I gathered what supplies I had and decided that oatmeal cookies where what I had the ingredients for. That was such a good plan. These cookies are so freaking good that my boyfriend insisted between bites that I put the recipe up on this blog. Salty and sweet and oatmeal-y.

Ingredients:
- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar*
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
- Sea salt, for sprinkling

*I didn't have any brown sugar, so I used a cup of raw sugar and about a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses instead. This may have contributed to why these cookies were so sexydelicious.
Check out this Link for a guide on substituting white sugar and molasses for brown sugar. I used less than they recommend because I used blackstrap molasses.

Directions:
1. In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for a few minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sugars, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon, beating until the mixture is well blended. R
3. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs and vanilla extract, mixing until well incorporated.
4. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour and oats, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary and mixing just until they are incorporated.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least an hour before baking.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. Form the dough into golf ball-size balls (makes 18 cookies, make smaller balls for more cookies) and place about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Sprinkle sea salt generously on top of each ball of dough, as you would sugar. Bake 1 sheet at a time for 15 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and beginning to turn golden, being careful not to overbake. (The cookies should have a tender interior.) Transfer the cookies, still on the parchment paper, to a wire rack to cool completely.

I don't have a stand mixer, I'm pretty sure I did all the mixing for this recipe with a fork. You don't really need fancy equipment. I also made my cookies smaller than "golf-ball" sized balls because I didn't want giant cookies at the end. Portion them however you like.

You can keep the cookie dough in the fridge for a few days and make cookies whenever you have the urge...