Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These are the best cookies I have had in a long time! They are so chocolately and I love the white chocolate chunks in them the best.
Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1 bag (24 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (4 cups )
1 cup butter or margarine softened.
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package (6 oz) white baking bars (white chocolate), cut into 1/4- 1/2 inch chunks(i used white chocolate chips)
1 cup pecan or walnut halves (I left these out as I feel nuts ruin a good cookie)
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips in 1 quart sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly. Cool to room temperature, but do not allow chocolate to become firm.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and melted chocolate until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in remaining 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips, white baking bar chunks and pecan halves.
3. Drop dough by level 1/4 cupfuls or #16 cookie/ice cream scoop about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until set. (centers will appear soft and moist). Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Chewy chocolate chip cookies

I have really beed craving something sweet and chewy. I googled chocolate chip cookies because the recipe I use now comes out crunchy - I wanted a more chewy cookie. I ended up cutting this recipe in half because I am almost out of flour. These did come out very chewy! Close to the best chocolate chip cookies I've had.

The Chewy
Alton Brown via The Food Network
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I only had ghiardelli milk chocolate chips on hand)
Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
3. Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed.
4. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet.
6. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes.
7. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Hershey's Best Brownies

Made from scracth brownies are definitely better than the box mixes. I didn't make the frosting though because I didn't want them to be so rich. These are yummy and gooey!

Hershey's Best Brownies from theNest.com recommendations

Ingredients:1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 cup sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts(optional) (I'm not a fan of nuts so I didn't add any.)
1/4 c. semi sweet chocolate chips dusted in flour (this made them more chocolate-y)

CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING
(recipe follows)

Directions: Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square baking pan.
1. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon.
2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in nuts, if desired. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
Prepare CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING; spread over brownies.
Cut into squares. About 16 brownies.

CREAMY BROWNIE FROSTING
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 tablespoons HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency. About 1 cup frosting.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Chocolate Bread Pudding
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Show:
Paula's Home Cooking
Episode:
Comfort Food

1-pound loaf French or Italian bread, cut into cubes (about 15 cups)
3 cups milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup coffee-flavored liqueur
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Place the bread in the baking dish.
In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, cream, and liqueur.
In another bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugars with the cocoa powder and mix well. Add this to the milk mixture and whisk to combine.
Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the cinnamon to the beaten eggs. Combine the egg mixture with the milk mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread cubes; let stand, stirring occasionally, for at least 20 minutes, or until the bread has absorbed most of the milk mixture. Bake the pudding for 1 hour, or until set; a knife inserted into the center of the pudding should come out clean. Serving the pudding warm, or refrigerate it and serve chilled.
Serve it warm or cold, with whipped cream or a dessert sauce.

Notes: My manager brought this in and everyone devoured it. :) I had never made a bread pudding previously and was curious to try it. I used two long loaves of french bread which I sliced into quarters then tore apart with my hands. For the coffee liqueur, I used just under 3 mini bottles of Bailey's Irish Creme because I didn't need a whole bottle.
This is yummy cold with a glass of milk or can be served warm over vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Chip Cheescake Bars

These are a very sweet, yummy treat and not hard to make.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Cookie Dough Ingredients
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1.5 cups mini chocolate chips

Cheesecake Ingredients
2-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars together. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips. Set aside one third of the dough for the topping. Press the remaining dough into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 min.
Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Spoon over crust. Drop teaspoonfuls of reserved dough over the filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

This dip is so yummy and easy to make! It's vey rich and does taste like cookie dough. Daniel is not much for sweets and he even dug into it. I tried it with graham crackers and vanilla wafers and liked it better with the graham crackers. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip (adapted from Recipezaar)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves. (You can also do this in the microwave but watch it closely. The butter/sugar mixture will boil over fast. Stir every 30 seconds or so.)

2. Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla extract and set aside to cool.
3. Beat the cream cheese and confectioner's sugar for 1 minute.
4. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture and beat again for another minute.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.
7. Garnish with additional chips, if you choose.
Serve with Nilla wafers or graham crackers.
**Note: after refrigerating the dip it will be pretty solid and un-dippable so make sure to remove it from the refrigerator about 15-30 minutes before you plan on serving it, so it has time to soften up.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

A friend found this recipe and emailed it to me. Looking at the recipe, I thought it would taste too rich but it was great for fall and thanksgiving cookies. The pumpkin is just spicy enough to off set the sweetness of the chocolate chips.
Sometimes, I lightly frost the cookies with a tub of whipped cream cheese frosting and put a piece of candy corn in the center of every cookie. At Paula's suggestion, I use ghiardelli milk chocolate chips.

Recipe courtesy George Duran

Show:
Food Network Specials
Episode:
Ham on Turkey

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar 1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.

Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.