Chewy Sugar Cookies

For Christmastime my family would always make cut sugar cookies in the usual holiday shapes – snowmen, candy canes, etc. These cookies were hard, the kind that are great to dip in milk. However for this cookie I was looking for a softer version, something that wouldn’t need to be dunked in milk.

For my 30^th birthday (still can’t believe I’m in my 3^rd decade!), I got a few cookbooks so I set to work finding a sugar cookie recipe. This version from King Arthur’s Flour was exactly what I was looking for – chewy, moist and delicious. I rolled some in turbinado sugar and some in sprinkles. Dennis said they taste like butter and sugar – you can’t go wrong with that combo!

The Essential Chewy Sugar Cookie (King Arthur Flour Cooking Companion)

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter ( 1 1/2 sticks)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large eggs

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup colored crystal suga or sprinkles

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Lightly grease or line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, granulated and brown sugars, corn syrup, vanilla, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and egg. Stir in the flour.

Place the course sugar in a shallow dish. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful into the sugar, rolling the balls to coat them. Place on prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes until the edges are just barely beginning to brown, they’ll look soft. Remove them from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Mint Cookies

I picked up some peppermint extract from our local spice shop and was looking for a way to use it. I had seen Girl Scouts around recently peddling their delicious cookies so I thought I’d try my hand at homemade thin mints. These cookies of course aren’t exactly like Thin Mints. They’re not completely dipped in chocolate but instead have melted chocolate drizzled over them. But the cookies come out crispy like Thin Mints and have a nice refreshing mint flavor. I had some mint sugar that I sprinkled over top of them also.

Dennis said that he would’ve liked even more mint flavor so maybe next time I’ll experiment with putting a bit of the extract in the melted chocolate on top of the cookies. My boss even said that he liked them more than Thin Mints. Can you tell I’m blushing?

Chocolate Mint Cookies (from Bon Appetit Desserts)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocoalte, chopped (I used a bar of dark chocolate I got from Trader Joe’s)

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in peppermint extract and vanilla extract. Beat in sugar in 3 additions. Add egg and beat until blended. Add dry ingredients and beat just until blended (dough will be sticky).

Divide dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using plastic wrap as aid, form dough on each into 2-inch-diameter log. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate dough until well chilled, at least 2 hours.

Position 1 rack in center and 1 rack in top third of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. Unwrap cookie dough logs; roll briefly on work surface to form smooth round logs. Cut logs crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on prepared baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until tops and edges are dry to touch, about 15 minutes. Transfer baking sheets with cookies to racks; cool completely.

Stir chocolate in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water. Cool melted chocolate until slightly thickened but still pourable, about 10 minutes. Dip fork into melted chocolate, then wave fork back and forth over cookies, drizzling melted chocolate thickly over cookies.