#57. Elaine Blass's Chocolate Chip Cookies

For my last cookie recipe, I decided to come full circle and honor the person who taught me how to make cookies in the first place and the cookie recipe that launched my fascination with round baked goods.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 2 eggs

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 1/4 cups flour

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, preferably Toll House

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, cream butter, browner sugar, and white sugar using a hand-held mixer.

3. Add in eggs, then vanilla extract. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda.

5. Gradually beat in dry ingredient mixture into wet ingredients.

6. Using a spatula, add in chocolate chips.

7. Form dough into spheres roughly 1 inch in diameter. Line evenly spaced on sheets.

8. Bake for until just brown on top and mushy on inside.

9. Remember to save beaters with extra dough to lick alongside cookies.

#46. Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

I never said I wasn’t susceptible to suggestion. Case in point, these carrot cake cookie sandwiches, which were inspired by the side of the Duncan Hines cake mix box.

Ingredients

• 1 package Duncan Hines carrot cake mix

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter brought to room temperature

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup oats

• cream cheese frosting (dyed orange, just for shits and giggles)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. Soak packet of carrots and raisins according to cake mix box instructions.

3. In a large bowl, beat butter and eggs until creamy using a hand-held mixer.

4. In a separate bowl, combine cake mix, oats, and raisin-carrot mixture.

5. Gradually combine dry ingredients with creamed butter and eggs.

6. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls approximately 1.5 inches apart on cookie sheets.

7. Bake for 13-15 minutes until lightly brown.

8. Cool thoroughly.

9. Spread 1 to 2 tablespoons of frosting on underside of one cookie; top with underside of another cookie to form sandwich.

Enjoy knowing you have your RDA of Vitamin A.

#44. Double Trouble Butterscotch Pudding Cookies

I like butter. I like scotch. And though butterscotch tastes not so much like a combination of either of those things, I adore its sweet, milky, brown sugar flavor with background hints of salt.

Fun Fact: The scotch in butterscotch actually is probably a derivative of “scorch”, referring to the burnt and/or browning of the sugar in its making.

The addition of chips (I like the Hershey’s variety) ups the ante by adding super-concentrated pockets of butterscotch as well as textural contrast with the softer dough.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup butter (one and a half sticks), softened

• ¾ cup brown sugar

• ¼ cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 egg (see note)

• 2 cups flour

• 1 3.5 ounce box instant butterscotch pudding mix (dry, not prepared)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 cups butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar using a hand-held mixer.

3. Add in egg and vanilla extract. Set aside.

4. In a separate, smaller bowl, combine flour, pudding mix, and baking soda.

5. Gradually beat aforementioned dry ingredient mixer into wet ingredient mixture until thoroughly combined.

6. Add in butterscotch chips with spatula.

7. Place golfball-size spheres of dough evenly apart (about 1.5 inches) on baking sheets.

8. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until barely brown.

#41. Pumpkin Spice M&Ms Pumpkin Cookies

Don’t you just love a bargain?

Well, I do, obviously, given my infatuation with discounted ingredients like this bag of pumpkin spice M&Ms I picked up at Kroger for 50 cents.

Mr. Orange M&M is deeply afraid. BUT OF WHAT???

And what better way to batter these highly processed squash-flavored treats than with some pumpkin spice cookie dough (significantly less processed).

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 egg

• 1 cup pumpkin puree

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

• 1 bag Pumpkin Spice M&Ms, preferably discounted

Directions

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla using a hand-held mixer.

3. Beat in egg and pumpkin puree until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

5. Gradually incorporate dry ingredient mixture into wet ingredients, beating on medium speed.

6. Mix in M&Ms using a wooden spoon or spatula.

7. Place golf ball-size spheres of dough evenly spaced apart on cookie sheets.

8. Bake for 11-13 minutes until barely brown. (Or longer if you want a more cake-y cookie.)

#39. Avocado Candy Bar Cookies

Yes, you read correctly. These cookies have a split personality: wholesome for their use of healthful avocado fats (instead harmful animal ones from butter) YET chock full o’ chunks of candy bars.

Does the latter vice cancel out the former virtue? I think not.

The plant lipids take the suppleness of these cookies to eleven and only contribute the mildest of botanical flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 ripe mashed avocado, finely mashed

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 1/4 cup flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 cup chocolate candy bars and M&Ms, chopped
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine avocado, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. In separate smaller bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda.

4. Gradually incorporate dry ingredient mixture into wet ingredients.

5. Fold in candy bar chunks.

6. Using a spoon, place golfball-size scoops evenly spaced on baking sheets.

7. Bake 8-10 minutes until just set.

#36. Astros Cookies

In celebration of their recent victory.

With hopes of a repeat!

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 sticks premium butter

• 1 cup white sugar

• 2 eggs

• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract

• 1 bag of Astros M&Ms (found online as well as at some Kroger and HEB grocery stores)

• Handful of optimism

• Sprinkle of hope

• Dash of derring-do

Directions

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.

4. In a separate mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.

5. Add eggs, then vanilla extract.

6. Gradually beat in dry ingredient mixture.

7. Form into mounds (get it???) that are evenly spaced on cookie sheets.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just a bit brown.

9. Enjoy with ice-cold milk.

#34. Mocha Crunchy Espresso M&Ms Brookies

Guys, guys, guys!!! IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

I’m talking about Halloween, my favorite season. Because it’s not just a “holiday” as in a singular 24-hour celebration but rather a month-long festival.

[I would seriously be this excited even if I hadn’t eaten several coffee-infused baked goods.]

I could and probably should write a book on why I so adore Halloween. However, since brevity is the soul of wit, I will simply say any occasion that sanctions pumpkins, the color orange, and the copious consumption of candy deserves my love.

In the spirit of Halloween (get ready, that’s the first of many puns), I’m baking as much as possible with candy for the next 30 days.

Some recent stress led to less-than-restful slumber the last few nights, so to ensure the pep in my step, I decided to supplement my liquid caffeine intake with some edibles in the form of these brookies.* Using brownie mix to make the dough is a cookie hack I had also been wanting to try for a while, and fortunately, it was not a #pinterestfail.

Ingredients

• 1 19.8 oz brownie mix

• 1/3 cup flour

• 2 Tablespoons ground coffee

• 2 eggs

• 3 Tablespoons water

• 2 cups Crunchy Espresso M&Ms

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl, combine brownie mix, flour, and ground coffee. Set aside.

4. In a smaller bowl, beat eggs with water.

5. Gradually add dry mixture to wet ingredients.

6. When thick batter has formed, stir in M&Ms.

7. Chill dough in fridge for 20 minutes.

8. Use an ice cream scoop to form dough spheres the size of golf balls.

9. Place spheres on baking sheets approximately 1.5 inches apart.

10. Bake for 15-18 minutes.

*Betty and I disagree with regards to what constitutes a brookie. I think the composition should reflect the portmanteau and be a true hybrid, not just an unblended part-cookie, part-brownie confection.

#33. Pecan Sandies: Typos Can Still Be Tasty

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

STELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!, I yelped to no one in particular. Flash back to this past weekend, when I attempted to make pecan sandies using (Stella) Parks’ Bravetart, the newest addition to my out-of-control cookbook collection.

Although my mom, as I have oft noted, made some killer chocolate chip cookies, she also wasn’t adverse to purchasing packaged cookies, especially those vended by the playful Keebler Elves, whose treehouse villa just has to exist somewhere. #dreambig

And despite the fact that I generally loathe nuts in cookies, I have many fond memories of nibbling on Pecan Sandies while reading L.M. Montgomery. Something about the shortbread studded with buttery bits of hickory nut felt appropriate for tales of Anne and Avonlea.

Thus, homemade pecan sandies seemed the perfect way to break in Bravetart, but for some reason what I removed from the oven after following the directions in painstaking fashion resembled pancakes more than cookies.

My husband did not believe me. “You have to have messed up something with the ingredients.” I stuck to my story about following the recipe.

It turns out, we were both right. Yes, I adhered to every last detail of recipe, and in so doing, I unwittingly added too much butter because there was an error in the text! And that’s not fake news.

A Lovely Birthday Gift From My Dear Friend Alicia.

Rather than waste what remained of the batter (out of habit, I test half-batches at a time), I winged it with regards to a solution by adding more flour to balance the fat. What emerged in Round Two wasn’t a complete failure, i.e., not a flapjack.

The best bakers annotate their cookbooks with notes and tips based on past experiences, and I have already put a big strike-through on the specification for 1.5 sticks of butter (correct amount: 1.25) in the pecan sandies recipe.

And, Stella, dear, we all make mistakes. You’re still my hero.

#32. Raspberry Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies

I have this thing about fruit in desserts.

Empirical experience (i.e., a lifetime of eating and enjoying pies and tarts) has shown me that apples, strawberries, peaches, etc., etc., can form the basis of absolutely terrific desserts.

For some reason, however, the healthfulness of fruit leads me to have an irrational hang-up about its ability to bring a confection to the next level.  

But that's exactly what the addition of fresh raspberries did to a standard sugar cookie.  Their slight tartness was well-matched by the tang of the cream cheese (the key, btw, to an exceptionally moist cookie). Furthermore, the berries' innocent botanical sweetness was also a lovely contrast to the headier sugary notes of the chocolate chips. 

Serve with chilled milk during an early evening picnic or hot Earl Grey tea if consuming them in the comfort of your highly air-conditioned home.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 

• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup room temperature unsalted butter

• 2 ounces room temperature cream cheese

• 1 cup  granulated sugar

• 1 large egg, at room temperature

• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup fresh raspberries

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a mixer bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, and sugar using an electric mixer.

4. Add in egg and vanilla extract until thoroughly combined.

5. Gradually (a good rule of thumb is 1/4 cup at a time) beat in dry ingredient mixture.

6. Add in raspberries and chocolate chips using a spatula.

7. Place golf-ball size scoops on baking sheets about 1.5 inches apart.

8. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges are brown but middle are moist.

#31. No-Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

WHY IS IT STILL SO HOT OUTSIDE?!?

I have lived in Texas for 10 years and inevitably at some point during the seemingly interminable summer, I start to lose it.  This slow descent into humidity-induced madness is fortunately usually arrested by the arrival of a cold(ish) front right around my birthday (fingers crossed).

Until that point, my faculties become increasingly fuzzy and my relationship with my oven, fraught.  Sophisticated inner monologue: Oven, you make yummies. But when you do, you also make warmies.

At the end of last week, I had pumpkin puree to spare and wanted to use it in cookies but couldn't bear to turn on the oven. So, this is what happened and testimony to the fact that just because you can't stand the heat, you don't have to get out of the kitchen.

No-Bake Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter

• ½ cup milk

• ½ cup pumpkin puree

• 2 cups sugar

• 4 cups rolled (not instant) oats

• scant handful leftover M&Ms

Directions

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in milk, pumpkin puree, and sugar. 

3. Increase temperature slightly and keep stirring until mixture comes to a boil.

4. Remove from heat and add oats and M&Ms.

5. Shape into small scoops and place on cookie sheet. Cool in fridge about an hour before eating.

#30. Uighur Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

....or, rather, Oatmeal Uighur Raisin Cookies....

A good friend supports your crazy plan to make 57 different cookies in one year.

An excellent friend brings you back raisins (and cheese) all the way from Xinjiang province so that one of those 57 types of cookies can have a sort of, shall we say, Uighur flair.

Meet my excellent friend, intrepid traveler, and brilliant writer, Alice Levitt.

We both enjoy tights of bright hues, dinners of multiple courses, and, obviously, staring contests of unpredictable duration.

You should follow Alice to learn more about her incredible trip to Xinjiang, but first make these cookies so you have something to nosh on while so doing.

Ingredients

• 2 cups old-fashioned oats

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• ⅛ teaspoon allspice

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• ¾ cup light brown sugar

• ¼ cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup raisins from Xinjiang

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, and allspice. Set aside.

3. In a separate mixer bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar using a hand-held or stand-up mixer.

4. Add egg, maple syrup, and vanilla.

5. Beat dry mixture into wet mixture, one 1/4 cup at a time, until thoroughly combined. Batter will be thick like cement. It will not taste like cement.

6. Add raisins to better and mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.

7.  Portion golf ball-size scoops of dough approximately 1.5 inches apart on cookie sheets.  

8. Bake 15-16 minutes for soft, chewy cookies; 20 minutes (or longer) for crispy cookies. 

#22. Discount Albeit Delicious Almond Crescents

Work has been crazy and my significant other was away, so I was keeping house, which meant spare time was spent harvesting vegetables from the rooftop garden and tending to the kitties. Could be worse. But my partner in crime is back in town, so it's cookie time! 

My addiction to discounted groceries compelled me to buy a half-price can of almond cake and pastry filling, which, in spite of its name, I was certain I could use in a cookie recipe. Turns out the good people at Solo agreed.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 tsp almond extract

• 1 can (12ish ounces) Solo Almond Cake and Pastry Filling

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• Confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until thoroughly combined.

3. Add in almond extract and almond filling until well-blended.

4. Gradually beat in flour until thick dough forms.

5. Let dough rest in fridge about 3 hours. Solo people say 4 hours but 3 was enough pour moi.

6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

7. Remove dough from fridge. Dust both of your hands with flour to ensure dough does not stick to them. Shape dough into crescents approximately 1.5 inches in length.

8. Place on cookie sheets, leaving some space between each crescent and its neighbor, both of whom will expand just a bit in the oven.

9. Bake 15-20 minutes until crescents are light brown. Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.

#21. Harry Potter Pumpkin Cookies

Here's a statement that irritates me: Enjoy the fall flavor of pumpkin cookies made with Pillsbury™ Pumpkin Cookie Mix.

Now, I have nothing against Pillsbury. Quite the contrary, in fact, if you are familiar with my well-documented history of obsessing over the doughboy. Nor do I have anything against box cookie mixes, though homemade is always preferable. 

It's the inevitable tethering of "pumpkin" to "fall" that gets my goat because of the implicit assertion that pumpkin-flavored baked goods should only be enjoyed during autumn. Obviously, that practice arose from the fact that pumpkins are in season during those months, but, thanks to the good people at Libby's, there's really no reason why this ingredient, so lovely in its versatility, can't be incorporated in cooking and baking year-round. End of rant.

Isn't his orange checkered apron the best???

My Harry Potter house crest cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma, which I bought heavily discounted during a recent stress-shopping binge, arrived simultaneous to my discovery of a Pillsbury Pumpkin Cookie Mix I bought last November in the back of the pantry. At the time, I remember thinking, "Your Future Self will thank you when you're craving pumpkin at an 'off' time." Well, you were right, Past Self.

Now, technically, pumpkin JUICE cookies would be the most appropriate medium on which to test Harry Potter cookie cutters, but that's a labor-intensive project for another day. 

I was disappointed that the resulting cookies' surface lacked the clarity I was hoping for in the house crests, whose finer details blurred in the fiery heat of the oven. Additional testing with recipes expressly designed for thick, contoured cutters is definitely in order.

Ingredients

• Pillsbury Pumpkin Cookie Mix

• 1 stick butter

• 1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Combine cookie mix, softened butter and egg in medium-sized bowl. 

3. Mix with spatula until a supple dough forms.

4. On a lightly floured surface, press dough by hand into large flat rectangle. Apply cookie cutters. Combine scraps and repeat until you have as many cookies as you want.

5. Bake 9-11 minutes. Cool completely and enjoy with your favorite muggle.

#20. Barbara Bush's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Growing up in a very liberal family of card-carrying Democrats, I wasn't, to say the least, conditioned to develop an adulation of the Bush clan and its matriarch Barbara Bush. But as is so often the case, I read a great deal about her after her recent passing and found much to admire with regards to her life-long dedication to childhood education and literacy. 

By making these cookies, I am not tacitly endorsing every damn thing she (or her husband) did or said. She wasn't perfect. But these cookies come close.

Many thanks to my dear friend, Alicia Dietrich for sending me the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 cups quick-cooking oats (not instant)

• 1 (12 ounces) bag semisweet chocolate chips, preferably Valrhona

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt onto waxed paper. Set aside.

2. Beat together butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl until fluffy. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.

3. Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool.

#16. (C)raisin Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

There's something I absolutely adore about the contrast between fibrous oats and the chewy dough in the classic oatmeal cookie.

But why must dried cranberries play second fiddle to raisins with respect to America's favorite variation? Equal opportunity extends to baking, yo, and this mindset prompted me to swap the latter for the former when making these (c)raisin* caramel oatmeal cookies.  Yes, the caramels were leftovers, but with an extra dash of salt to the mix, they shine like new. 

Finally, I prefer nutmeg over cinnamon in my oatmeal cookies for its subtle bite.

*This post not sponsored by Ocean Spray. YET.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

• 3 cups quick cooking oats

• I cup dried cranberries

• 1 cup chopped caramels

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Using a hand-held mixer, cream butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Beat in eggs, then add vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg.

4. Using a spatula, gradually add dry ingredient mixture to wet ingredient mixture. 

5. Add in oats, stirring thoroughly. Then add in dried cranberries and chopped caramels. Batter will be thick and chunky.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool completely unless you enjoy burning your tongue on molten caramels.

#15. Cream Cheese Cookies For Pasqua!

For Easter cookies, I'm starting simple. And killing two birds with one stone by using up ingredients prone to spoilage, like the bar of cream cheese I bought a few days ago in anticipation of a bagel breakfast that never happened. 

Cream cheese adds a slight dairy tang to these otherwise standard sugar cookies as well as tremendously enhances the moist texture. WHAT'S REALLY FUN THOUGH GUYS IS WHEN YOU COLOR THEM FLUORESCENT PINK AND GREEN.

And decorate some with those silver ball things that may or not be carcinogenic. They look pretty, though.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• Food coloring of your choice (go bold!)

Wow, that's pink!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Using a hand-held mixer, cream butter, sugar, and cream cheese. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla.

3. Slowly incorporate flour.

4. Divide batter into batches for however many different colors you want to dye your cookies.

5. Add drops of food coloring to batches until you have achieved desired hue.

6. Mold batter into one-inch balls. Coat with decorations if you're feeling fancy.

7. Space evenly on baking sheet. Bake approximately 11-13 minutes.  

14. Potato Chip Cookies - St. Patrick's Day Retrospective

Okay, guys, here's the deal. I hate to admit it, but the Irish don't have a rich history when it comes to developing their own cookies. Or, for that matter, sweets. Or, actually, for that matter, food. Thanks to the feckin' Brits' control over Ireland and, specifically, their land distribution practices, the Irish had to rely on the potato for sustenance since that crop was one of the few that (usually) grew well in their meager land allotments.  So, it was all tato all the time, which, as you can imagine did not inspire much diversity in cuisine. And, of course, the shit really hit the fan when a destructive fungus caused a blight in potato production. 

So, I wanted to make potato cookies on St. Patrick's Day as a reminder in some ways of how far Irish cooking has evolved in just over 100 years. The island is now home to some of the best restaurants in the world led by game-changing chefs who are using local ingredients to make elegant innovations of Irish classics as well as some who are doing their part to preserve tradition by churning out elevated versions of Irish staples.

Most of the recipes I found (and there weren't many) that used regular ol' potatoes didn't interest me. HOWEVER, when I stumbled upon a plethora of potato chip cookie recipes, then I really got excited.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 cup butter

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup white sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup chocolate chips

• 1 cup butterscotch chips

• 1 cup crushed potato chips

• additional crushed potato chips for coating

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. Using a hand-held mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Add in eggs, one at a time until thoroughly combined. Add vanilla extract and beat until well-blended.

4. Gradually add dry ingredient mixture to wet ingredients, beating well.

5. Using a spatula or large spoon, mix in chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and crushed potato chips.

6. Form dough into balls roughly 1 inch in diameter. Coat balls in crushed potato chips and place on baking sheets, evenly spaced.

7. Bake 10-12 or until desired firmness. (I like a gooey cookie.)

#12. Oh Snap! Caramel Ginger Snaps

I think it's a damn shame that ginger snaps/bread/basically any baked good featuring ginger are too often relegated to "seasonal" status.  Ginger is delicious all year round and its ability to add some tongue-tingling spice to sweets without scorching sensitive palates and giving rise to torrential runny noses is truly unique. I challenge you to try the same thing with chili powder.

I added caramels for some buttery contrast to this basic recipe for chewy gingersnaps, which, by the way, one could argue is an oxymoron if you subscribe to the idea that the 'snap' part of the name is designed to reflect the easily breakable, crisp texture of the cookie. I don't.

When making these cookies, it's important to remember that the caramels should only be slightly melted when you remove your tray from the oven. Five minutes rest time on the tray renders them the perfect consistency from the latent heat.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 large egg

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 teaspoons ground ginger

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 24 caramels

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

2. Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Then beat in egg.

3. In a separate bowl, thoroughly combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

4. Gradually add dry ingredient mixture to wet ingredient mixture.

5. Shape dough into balls roughly 1 and 1/2 inches in size. Press one full caramel into the center of each ball. 

6. Bake 11-13 minutes. Remove trays from oven. Let cookies rest on trays for 5 minutes or until caramels are just about to ooze all over the cookies.

7. Eat immediately and with caution if you have loose dental work. 

#10. Bridey's Quintuple-ish Chocolate Cookies

When I kid, I often gave up chocolate for Lent. GOD I WAS SO STUPID. While I'm not a chocoholic, I love it enough such that depriving myself of all cocoa products for 40 (or more, depending on if you cheat on Sundays) days was not good for my soul. Or for my friends and family who bore the brunt of my crabbiness.  This cookie uses five different forms of chocolate I happened to have on hand but you can easily swap out the listed varieties for others. Key, however, is including different types with varying cocoa content...and that can even mean zero, as in the case of the Hershey GOLD bar, hah!! But I forgive it for not being a 'real' chocolate bar because it has chocolate's good friend, the pretzel.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup flour

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 cup cocoa

• 1 pinch salt

• 1/4 cup butter (softened)

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 2 Golden Hershey Bars (broken into pieces)

• 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate

• Melting chocolate for dipping (as much as you want)

Save some batter for the cookies...

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line one cookie sheet with parchment paper (for baking); line one more (for drying).

3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa thoroughly. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, blend butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla using a hand-held mixer on medium speed.

5. Gradually add mixture of dry ingredients to wet, beating to combine thoroughly.

6. With no ceremony or pretension, dump chocolate chips, shattered GOLD bars, and chopped dark chocolate into batter. Stir vigorously with a spatula.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, depending on how chewy you like your cookies.

8. Cool cookies completely, and I mean completely. Shove the baking tray in the freezer if you get too impatient.

9. Place a few large hunks of melting chocolate in a bowl devoid of even the smallest drop of water or moisture (any will cause the chocolate to 'seize'). Melt slowly in 30-second intervals using the low setting in the microwave. 

10. Immediately dip entire cookie into bowl, coating all surfaces. Place on second baking sheet and garnish with sprinkles. Cool completely.

11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 as necessary depending on how many cookies your dough yielded. Hint: there should be at least three. If not, I suspect you ate way too much batter.

#9. Cornish Fairings

I am a Ginger who happens to love ginger. Considering my sensitivity to spice, I surprise myself with how much I enjoy a really fiery ginger ale like Boylan's or a heavily spiced gingerbread. Although I have been fortunate enough to have spent a considerable amount of time in England (the perks of being a Dickens scholar and having a terrific friend who lets me stay with her in South Kensington), I had never encountered Cornish fairings. Maybe I was distracted by all the Millionaire's Shortbread, of which I consumed roughly a million pieces per visit. 

The word "fairing" originally referred to any sort of goody vended at British fairs but eventually came to specifically represent a type of biscuit or cookie usually made with ginger or other baking spices. The "Cornish fairing" became a household name in the late nineteenth century when one intrepid Cornish manufacturer began mass producing them for mail orders. 

Golden syrup can be found online, or at most shops that specialize in foreign and/or British comestibles, like Rice Village's The British Isles Shop. You can use maple syrup, but the extra investment/errand is worth it for its distinctive, buttery, honey taste.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp nutmeg

• 4 tsp ground ginger

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup butter

• 1/2 cup caster (very fine) sugar

• 5 tbs golden syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.

4. With a sturdy spatula, add butter in small chunks until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Small, greasy ones, that is.

5. Add in sugar. Then gradually stir in golden syrup.

6. Flour your hands slightly, then shape dough into a large ball. Refrigerate for about 30 min.

7. Place golf ball-size pieces of dough on cookie sheets, leaving ample room in between.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes until balls have spread flat, turned golden brown, and assumed a crinkly surface texture.

9. Cool on wire racks. Enjoy with a cuppa.*

*That means 'tea' in British.