Oatmeal and Honey Lactation Cookies

If you're a breastfeeding mom like me sometimes you worry about the milk. And if you like cookies like me, you think "How can I not try to ensure the milk supply while enjoying a delicious cookie?" It's definitely not something I'd ever thought I'd blog about, but now I understand. And the plus side is these cookies are really good. Like seriously tasty. Oats and honey, with the help of dark chocolate chips and dried cranberries, make a really delicious soft cookie with a serious combination of a honey nut flavor. Yes there is flax and brewer's yeast in these cookies, but honestly I didn't even notice the yeast come through the flavor (and yes, I've definitely seen an increase in milk supply). And who knew I'd be lucky to stumble upon a lactation cookie recipe, in the very month I needed it most, from my Secret Recipe Club assignment!

Guinness Brownies

St Patrick's Day is tomorrow and I need to share with you guys the awesomeness that is these brownies. A thick, dense brownie full of rich chocolate goodness, heightened with that beautiful Irish stout Guinness. And then I did something awful. And by awful I mean amazing. I took the Bailey's buttercream frosting from my Irish Triple Threat cupcakes and slathered it on top of these brownies. Irish dessert squared. I took these to a party over the weekend were they got rave reviews. I've never made a brownie quite like this. It's fudgy but not gooey and thick but not cakey. Seriously, these are so good I can hardly describe them. Just trust that you need to make these. Now.

Magic Turtle Bars

These days I'm looking for quick recipes for delicious treats that I can make either while Logan sleeps or while he "helps" me when I wear him in the kitchen. Magic bars definitely fit the description because they are basically just piles of tasty goodies layered on top of one another and baked to perfection. Very easy to do, even when your littlest kitchen helper falls asleep on you while you explain the merits of semi sweet versus dark chocolate chips. And this turtle candy inspired version of a magic bar live up to the hype. They are amazing--dark chocolate, caramel and pecans are an irresistible combination. The chocolate gets slightly melted, the caramel is gooey and the nuts offer a perfect salty crunch. Plus the texture of these bars is like a party for your mouth. Based on how quickly these vanished from our counter (and the fact that I had to package some up to give away), these are a huge hit.

Salted Chocolate Truffle Cookies

Rich, fudgy and slightly salty. A delicious combination that is also decadent which makes it an amazing holiday cookie. Seriously, these take no extra time or skill than any other cookie on your holiday list (they're still basic drop cookies), but the flavor and texture will make them seem so much more amazing. This brownie-like cookie gets it's flavor from three types of chocolate and an extra special finish of sea salt intensifies all that chocolate goodness. I gave most of these away and Dave and I bartered for the remaining few. I was being generous in this pregnancy. In any case, I'm hoping to get a chance to make these again soon.

Double Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

There's something about a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips that just makes me smile. And made that some dark chocolate--on both levels--and that's even better. Rich and delicious, soft and just begging for a glass of milk to be dunked in, these cookies are lovely and delicious. Definitely will make it on the Christmas baking list. A dark flavored cocoa paired with a dark chocolate chip makes it just a touch more elegant than a regular double chocolate cookie. It's the grown up version and as a chocolate feign, I love everything about it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies (Gluten Free)

I'm lucky that I've never had a need, due to allergy or intolerance, to cook gluten-free in our home. Sure, we make healthier choices and cookie to reduce certain "bad" things from our diets (so we can enjoy all of the yummy, butter-laden things I like to bake), but gluten free baking in particular has always eluded me because I see a lot of recipes that require substitutions with ingredients I just don't have on hand or come across in my regular grocery shopping. But when I do see an accessible recipe, I'm happy to jump on board and give it a try. Like these cookies I made for my coworker, Laura's birthday. Laura isn't gluten free but does make conscious decisions about her food choices, so while I wanted to celebrate with a sweet treat, I also thought I'd try something new with a little adjustment. Now, these cookies are by no means "healthy," but they do work with the idea of using simple ingredients and only a few of them--six to be precise. And they're delicious. I'll admit, I was skeptical about a flour-less cookie and more than a little concerned they'd be incredibly sweet with that much sugar. But I was pleasantly surprised. Sweet--but not overly so--and full of perfect peanut butter and chocolate flavor (THE baking flavor combo in my opinion), these cookies are the sure for anyone who needs a treat but looking for something without gluten. And I'm happy to have a new recipe in my arsenal for this need.

Maple Toffee Cookies

These cookies scream fall in New England without being pumpkin or apple flavored.  There's nothing like stopping at a sugar shack in Vermont while leaf peeping to pick up a jug of maple syrup, and possibly some other maple goodies.  But cookies are not a maple treat I typically see in our New England travels, so I was eager to try them and they certainly are delicious.  These maple toffee cookies have a strong maple flavor and are studded with crunchy toffee and speckles of chocolate.  A delicious and crisp cookie perfect for enjoying with coffee or tea, you might find these as a new fall favorite.

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Let me just break this down for you.  Chocolate chip cookies.  With chunks of Oreos.  Pressed into a pan and topped with cheesecake filling.  Topped with more cookie dough.  Drizzled with white and dark chocolate.  Heaven just seems like an understatement when it comes to describing these bars.  Seriously, what more could you possibly want?  The cookie is soft but has a crunchy exterior providing a perfect crust to the creamy cheesecake filling, and topping it with more goodies just seems right.  They are a fairly impressive bar and perfect for a party, work treat, celebrating a day that ends in "y," just about anything.  Oreos are my favorite store bought cookie and I love a good bar with some sort of creaminess to it, so the cheesecake filling is a great addition.  These were a big hit when our friends were over and more than a few were requested in the doggy bags.

Samoa Cookie Bars

It's Girl Scout cookie season again, and while I still haven't been asked by any Girl Scouts if I'd like to buy them, I may not need them for my Samoa fix this year.  While you know coconut isn't my first love, Samoas have always been one of my most favorite Girl Scout cookies (right up there with Thin Mints).  Coconut wrapped in caramel topping a shortbread cookie and drizzled with dark chocolate is a decadent and delicious treat.   And baked up into these bars, this version is a nice replica.  Even though these bars don't have chocolate on the bottom, the extra drizzle on top maintains the chocolate to coconut/caramel to shortbread ratio.  If those purple boxes of cookies are calling your name every time you see a Girl Scout, do yourself a favor and make these bars.  Compare and you'll see these are just as good as their namesake--and you can make them year round.

Trail Mix Rice Krispies Treats with Salted Caramel Swirl

It was bound to happen, huh?  Eventually I would get on the salted caramel kick (just in time for some new trend to hit the foodie blog world).  It's not that I resisted on purpose, I just haven't had salted caramel that made the craze make sense to me.  Dave and I visited Portland earlier this summer and I had a cupcake supposedly topped with salted caramel buttercream frosting.  I was less than impressed.  It barely tasted like caramel, let alone a heavenly salted version.  And I've just always had other things I wanted to try.  Not that it doesn't sound like a good idea--gooey salty and sweet treats--and I've certainly pinned, marked, and otherwise saved my fair share of salted caramel concoctions.  And now, I've got to make them because these treats are a perfect ambassador for the trend.  First off, it's a Rice Krispies treat, which gets lots of love from me to begin with.  And the caramel just makes them that much gooier (wow, I didn't actually think that was a word, but spell check is unfazed).  Add in the sweet and salty trail mix from M&M's that I didn't even know existed, which in and of itself is a perfect treat, and there's double deliciousness in the form of my favorite candy.  Plus, this salted caramel shines perfectly against the sweet and salty trail mix and the crunch of the cereal provides the perfect canvas for all that's going on here.  Simply put: yum.

My friend Mere had a birthday last month, but a couple weeks before her birthday, I was going to meet up with her before she caught a flight from Boston after spending a week on a business trip in Vermont.  So I decided a little early birthday baking never hurt anyone and took to searching for something portable for the plane and a little different.  I looked through some of my pins and some of my favorite blogs and noticed this amazing recipe from Shelly at Cookies & Cups and thought, "where has my grocery store been hiding that trail mix?", printed the recipe and hit the store on my way home.

Chocolate Stout Whoopie Pies with Bailey's Buttercream Filling

If a holiday ever screamed, "Make a delicious dessert filled with booze!" it would be St. Patrick's Day.  So when the Irish in me saw this recipe, I knew I needed to make it immediately if not sooner.  The stout in the chocolate cake batter provides a subtle distinction in the flavor.  You don't taste beer, but the deep richness of the chocolate makes you think, "this is a little bit different."  The stout compliments the dark chocolate in a very good way without being intense.  Paired with a fluffy Bailey's flavored buttercream frosting and it's a match made in St. Patrick's treats heaven.  Since I'm not a huge Bailey's fan, I was hesitant about the filling.  But paired together, there is a balance that really makes you happy (or you're drunk, but probably not).  I took these in to work as a little treat for my coworkers and they raved.  At 10 am, most of them devoured them as soon as I came up to their desk.

Mint and Dark Chocolate Blondies

Blondies are quickly becoming my go-to treat when I need to come up with a treat that will please a lot of people on a short amount of time.  Start to finish is under an hour and they are pretty versatile in terms of flavor.  For my weekly group meeting at work, I whipped up these flavorful bars the night before as a way to share the minty and chocolate combination that I can only get away with at Christmas or St. Patrick's Day.

These are based on the basic Blondies recipe I've used before, but kicked up with a change in extract and mix ins.  I baked them in a smaller pan to make thicker bars, which meant a slightly longer bake time.  I used a leftover bag of mint and dark chocolate chips from the winter holidays, but if you can't find those, just use 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of mint chips.  I suppose you could dress these up and add a little green food coloring to the batter, but I think they are cute enough as is.

Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Remember the other day when I said I only wanted to make a dozen cupcakes for Dave's birthday because I didn't want lots of leftovers?  Well that was until the morning of the party when I learned everyone I invited was coming which would have meant only one cupcake per person.  Ever the prepared hostess and not wanting to run out of cupcakes, I knew I needed to make another batch.  But making second batch of the same kind of cupcake would be (of course) ridiculous (to me only) so I set upon finding another perfect recipe.  Since I had Dave's vanilla fix covered with the Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes, I figured I'd go with his second favorite flavor combo: chocolate and peanut butter.  A little variety for our guests and a little chocolate for me.  Plus I was interested in the peanut butter frosting.  Both the cupcake and the frosting were phenomenal.  The cupcake was rich and chocolatey with a fluffy texture.  The frosting was amazing with a full on peanut butter flavor--almost like it was just whipped peanut butter with some added sweetness.  They paired together beautifully.  In fact, they were so perfectly rich with flavor individually that they begged to be paired with each other:  the frosting needed to be matched with a rich chocolate to cut the intense peanut butter and the chocolate needed the saltiness of the frosting to tone down the richness of the cake.  Truly a thing of beauty among chocolate and peanut butter desserts.  Dave even commented on how they were so good they tasted better than our wedding cupcakes (which included both a vanilla vanilla version and a chocolate peanut butter version).

Mint Chocolate Chip

What pretty little festive yummies do we have here?  A little mint and chocolate to satisfy those Andes Mint cravings.  I actually wanted to use the Andes Mint creme de menthe baking chips, but I couldn't find them in any of my grocery stores this year.  Disappointing, but I did find a good alternative--Nestle's morsels with mint chips and dark chocolate chips mixed together.

This recipe comes from the Betty Crocker website and is another cookie mix based creation and a 2010 prize winner.  A strong mint flavor and a kick from the dark chocolate in a soft cookie makes for a great treat.  I did add a splash of milk to the recipe to help my dough come together better (I don't think my butter was soft enough).  I really like how easily these came together--makes for a quick dessert to take to a holiday gathering or a fast homemade gift for someone who suddenly popped on your list.

Mint Chocolate Chip

1 pouch (17.5 ounces) Better Crocker sugar cookie mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
6-8 drops green food coloring*
1 egg
1 package (12 ounces) creme de mente and dark chocolate chips

*I realized when I was getting this recipe together that apparently I was out of green food coloring.  Who knows how many months it had been--probably since last Christmas.  Nonetheless, the ever-resilient baker that I am, I recalled my primary colors lessons from Kindergarten and successfully used yellow and blue coloring to make green.  

In a large bowl, stir cookie mix and butter (I use a pastry cutter at first, then stir).  Add extract, food coloring and egg, stirring until a soft dough forms. If you're having trouble, add a splash of milk (no more than a Tablespoon).  Stir in the chips.

On a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet, drop by spoonfuls (I use a small cookie scoop) about 2 inches apart.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Turn baking sheet 180 degrees halfway through. If using more than one sheet at a time, rotate positions in the oven for more even baking.

Cool on pans for 2 minutes then remove to wire racks to complete cooling.

Makes 4 dozen.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess