Pumpkin Cake Cookies

Pin It It's fall and that means it's time for pumpkin desserts.  These cookies only have 4 ingredients!  These cookies are moist, soft and chewy.  They really are more cake-like than cookie.  These would be great to take a fall party.  These are sure to get gobbled up quickly.

Shared at Weekend Potluck and Strut Your Stuff Saturday .

Pumpkin Cake Cookies
makes 3 dozen cookies
1 box yellow cake mix
1 can pumpkin
4 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, pumpkin and pie spice until creamy and well blended.
3. Mix in the cake mix, scraping the sides to combine all ingredients.
4. Scoop large spoonfuls of dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle tops with pumpkin pie spice.
5. Bake 12-14 minutes or until bottoms are golden and cookies can be removed easily.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Pin It I think my quest for soft chocolate chip cookies has finally ended.  I know I've said that before, but these cookies remain soft even after several days.  The secret ingredient is a box of instant pudding mix.  Why didn't I think of this sooner?  These cookies are moist, chewy and delicious.  I will definitely be making these again soon and probably experimenting with some new pudding flavors too.

 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies
Original recipe from See Jane Cook

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugars, add pudding mix until blended.

3. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda with a whisk then add it to the butter mixture.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips.

6.  Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

Pin It Albert has a sweet tooth, but he is super picky about his treats.  I usually just buy refrigerated cookie dough at the store and bake them about once a week so Albert has something to snack on.  Well he decided that store bought cookies have too many chocolate chips in them and that they get stale quicker than homemade cookies.  (He's crazy, I know).  Well my track record with chocolate chip cookies is not great.  They usually turn out hard as a rock and they don't spread out.  I always just use the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag.  I have had this problem my entire life despite constantly trying to improve them.  Well, I'm happy to say that I finally found a recipe that turned out perfect!  These are moist, chewy and the perfect thickness for a good cookie.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
*Recipe from Lovin' From the Oven
2 cups all-purpose flour
 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 3/4 cup butter, melted
 1 cup packed brown sugar
 1/2 cup white sugar
 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
 1 egg
 1 egg yolk
 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Cream melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar in a mixer.  Add vanilla and eggs and mix well.
2. Sift the dry ingredients and slowly add them to the mixer.  Mix until just combined.
3. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.
4. Dough will be very sticky.  Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
6. Using a medium cookie scoop, place cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
7. Bake 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pin It So these cookies are grain free, oil free, egg free and white sugar free.   I was leery of trying them and thinking they might not satisfy my sweet tooth.  I was pleasantly surprised.  You would never guess that these are healthy by looking at them.  I also had several friends and family members try them without telling them they were healthy and tricked all of them.

Check out Six Sisters' Link Party.  There are so many good ideas there!

Healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Original recipe from Texanerin
1 can chickpeas, drained (also called garbanzo beans)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place all ingredients, except chocolate chips, in a food processor.  Pulse until well blended and smooth.  Stop several times to scrape down the sides so you don't have chunks of chickpeas in your cookies.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.  Dough will be sticky.
4. Scoop tablespoons of dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
5. Bake 12-15 minutes or until they are no longer glossy looking and slightly brown.

**Be careful when removing from cookie sheet, they can be fragile

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Pin It I consider myself a pretty good cook and I'm not afraid to experiment with recipes.  But when it comes to chocolate chip cookies I just can't do it.  My are always rock hard.  I've tried many recipes and always get the same result.  I was really nervous when my picky husband requested white chocolate macadamia nut cookies because I figures they would be rock hard as well.  Well my streak of rock cookies has ended!!!  These turned out crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle.  They remind me of the fundraiser cookies that kids are always selling for sports teams, just way cheaper :)  Enjoy!

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Source:The Girl Who Ate Everything
Makes 2-3 dozen cookies
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients and set aside (flour, baking powder, salt).
3. In a mixing bowl mix butter and sugar until well combined.  Add eggs one at a time mixing after each egg.  Add vanilla and mix.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.
6. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool for 3-4 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a cooling rack.

Chunky Monkey Cookies

Pin It I'm always looking for healthy desserts because I have a sweet tooth.  I found these cookies on Pinterest and was a little leery about them being too "healthy" to satisfy my sweets craving.  I made a small batch just to try them out and I was pleasantly surprised.  I did add some agave syrup for a little sweetness and some chocolate chips, which makes them not quite as healthy, but still better than a regular cookie.  These cookies are sweet, moist and chocolatey.  Definitely a winner!

Chunky Monkey Cookies
* makes 12 large cookies
Adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp agave syrup (or sugar)
1 cup oats
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mash bananas in a bowl.  Add peanut butter, cocoa, vanilla and agave.  Stir to combine.
3. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
4. Allow batter to rest for about 20 minutes to soften the oats.
5. Spoon heaping tablespoons of batter on a parchment lined baking sheet.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms are golden when you lift them up.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

Pin It Just to show you how easy the previous recipe is to adapt to your liking.  Here is the chocolate version.  Other successful varieties include: spice cake with white chocolate chips, butter pecan cake with pecans, carrot cake with raisins and nuts.  As you can see the possibilities are endless.  Whatever flavor cake mix  you have on hand will do.

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup white chocolate chips
powdered sugar

1. preheat oven to 350
2. Cream butter, cream cheese and egg until smooth.
3. Mix in cake mix until well combined.
4.Stir in chocolate chips
5. Put 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in a small bowl.  Drop tablespoon sized globs of dough in powdered sugar and coat thoroughly.
6. Place dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden on the bottom and can easily be remove from parchment paper.

Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pin It While I have been MIA, I have not been idle.  I was also anxiously awaiting my early Christmas present from my hubby: a brand new high def camera so I can take decent pictures of my culinary creations.  Lots of posts in the days to follow. 
These are my go-to cookie recipe for the holidays (or really any time of the year).  I learned to make these while working at a catering company when I was 16.  They have been a staple in my kitchen ever since.  I love them because I generally have all of the ingredients handy.  The recipe is also quite versatile and can be changed to a new flavor instantly.



Gooey Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 box yellow cake mix

1 pkg cream cheese, softened (can be reduced fat, but not fat free)

1/2 stick butter, softened

1 egg

1 cup mini chocolate chips

powdered sugar

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cream butter, cream cheese and egg until smooth.

3. Mix in cake mix until well combined.

4. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Pour about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar in a bowl.  Drop tablespoon sized globs (not perfect balls or sugar won't stick) into the powdered sugar and coat well.

6. Place dough on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or unil golden brown on bottom and when the cookies can be picked up off of the parchment paper without sticking.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Pin It I have never been a huge fan of 5 ingredient or less recipes because I like experimenting and adding my own spices or ingredients to liven things up.  When I stumbled upon this recipe while watching Food Network one day, they made these cookies look so delcious that I had to try them.  I was pleasantly surprised.  They are moist and chewy and can be mixedup in the amount of time it takes to preheat your oven.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup natural, creamy peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
sugar for rolling

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until well blended.
3. Spoon tablespoons of dough into sugar and roll into balls.  Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
4. Press down with a fork to make a criss-cross pattern on the cookies.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  They will look under cooked.  Let cookies cool slightly before removing from baking sheet and placing on cooling rack.

Candy Corn Cookies

Pin It Just in time for Halloween, perfect 2-bite cookies.  Great for taking to a party and definitely a crowd pleaser.   The original recipe can be found at Life as a Loft House, one of my new fave food blogs.  Lots of good ideas and recipes.   Note - you need to let the dough chill for at least 3 hours, so plan accordingly.

Candy Corn Cookies

2 sticks of butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

Zest of 1 medium lemon

Juice from half of lemon

1/8 tsp salt

3 cups flour (all purpose)

1/2 tsp baking soda

red food dye

yellow food dye

1/2 cup sugar for rolling

 

1. Beat butter and sugar until creamy.

2. Add egg, lemon juice and zest.  Beat until smooth.

3. Slowly add flour, salt and baking soda.  Mix until combined.

4. Divide dough into 3 equal parts.  Leave one piece white, dye one piece yellow and the other piece orange.

5. Line a loaf pan with foil.  Press white dough in an evn layer on the bottom.  Then layer orange dough.  Top with yellow dough.

6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.  Dough must be firm.

7. Preheat oven to 325.

8. Remove dough from loaf pan and foil.  Slice off a 1/2 inch think slice from the short end of the loaf.

9. Lay flat and cut slice into 6 triangles.  Roll each triangle in sugar.

10. Arrange dough on a parchment paper covered baking sheet.

11. Bake 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden.

12. Cool and enjoy.