Sugar-Doodle Cookies.

I have a confession: I only made these so I could take a big, fat spoonful of cookie dough.

Yep, like one of those spoonfuls.

I know, I know. Salmonella and sugar comatose and who could forget that one cookie dough overdose encounter? But when I’m right in the middle of that wondrous bloodbath from Mother Nature (sorry, guys, and everyone else who has weak constitutions and just visualized that phrase), I want grease and meat and sugar – but not at the same time, mind you.

Enough of my hormonal cravings. Let’s talk cookies.

These are the soft, sugary cousins of the snickerdoodle. I will unashamedly admit that I’ve always loved sugar cookies (well, properly-made sugar cookies) for their simplicity. These are even better than your run-of-the-mill sugar cookie…and definitely not a hard, tasteless one. Who wouldn’t like a cookie that tastes like straight-up sugar, butter, and vanilla?

Oh, and you only need one bowl. None of that “in a separate bowl” nonsense.

The original recipe yields one dozen “generous-sized cookies”, but even after making 20 tablespoon-sized ones, I had enough dough remaining for 9 cookies half the size of my face. If you’re feeling generous, you’ll probably end up with 15 or 16. (Unless I’m doing it wrong. Which is always a valid possibility.) Regardless of how many are made, these are incredibly simple but incredibly delicious…soft, sweet, comforting.

It also calls for bread flour, something I have none of but will hopefully acquire in the future. If you have some on hand, use it! Bread flour will make the cookies softer and chewier. I wouldn’t recommend omitting the salt, either – just a pinch of salt will make the vanilla & sugar more pronounced through its small bit of contrast.

Also, my pictures suck. Mine weren’t pretty enough to photograph…mostly because I had eaten/given away most of the pretty ones.

See? Shoddy photography and unfortunately unattractive cookies. Sigh.

Don’t let them fool you, though! Just because they look like beige disks doesn’t mean they will taste bland, or even remotely bland. Let them surprise you.

Only after I put these in the oven did I have the idea of rolling them in (more) sugar. There’s always next time, though.

(The cookie dough stomach ache was worth it, by the way)

Sugar-Doodles
from Averie Cooks
makes 2 dozenish cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons cream or milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup bread flour (all-purpose can be substituted)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
• Sugar for rolling, optional

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and mix until creamed.
2. Add egg, cream/milk, and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.
3. Add flour(s), baking soda, and salt; mix until just combined.
4. Transfer dough to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (up to 5 days).
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or spray with cooking spray. Scoop the dough into mounds the size of your choosing on the baking sheet.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes until pale golden and edges have begun to set. (It’s ok if they appear slightly undercooked – they will firm up as they cool) Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Devour.

Double Chocolate Cookies [with Homemade Oreo Creme Filling].

My dear reader, I pray you have more self-control than I do. And if you don’t, I beg and plead and implore you with all my heart (and – groan – stomach) to keep your fingers out of the damn bowl. Not just for my sake, but for your own. I know how tempting it is to take a spoonful of dough, to scrape a finger down the side under the guise of mixing all the ingredients equally, to lick the spoon after you finish mixing. Oh, believe me, I understand that temptation all too well (maybe Eve was tempted by cookie dough, not an apple).

Now, here I sit, two water bottles and three green-tea-with-lemon tea bags later, nursing a cookie dough hangover. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about, don’t pretend like it’s never happened to you. If only I hadn’t eaten those last two spoonfuls! If only I had been nibbling on fruit while I was mixing everything up! If only I had kept my hands clean! If only I had steel-plated temperance!

What on earth possessed me to do such a ridiculous, unhealthy thing? Well, it was partially stress-eating. It was partially my need for security and comfort. But mostly? I was seduced. Heartlessly, utterly seduced by the irresistible combination of cocoa powder, sugar, butter, and chocolate. And more chocolate. Can you blame me?

I should have known better. By the age of 19, I should be deaf to the cries of, “Eat me! Eat me! Ruin your dinner, eat me! You won’t get salmonella, eaaaaaat me!” You’d think I’d have built up a cookie-dough-stomachache tolerance. Nope. I was wrong then, yet I’m still tottering on the fence between, “Do I really regret this?” and “I REGRET NOTHING.”

Okay, let’s cut to the chase. These babies are ridiculously good. Gooey, chewy, sweet…and full of chocolate. Chock full of chocolate (oh, I take that phrase back. I detest any usage of “chock full”). You need these in your life to bring you up on sad days and share in all your triumphs and joys. Just one will satisfy the most severe chocolate craving. Two will have you running for a glass of cold milk. Or whatever it is you use to wash down cookies.

If you decide you’d like to send all your loved ones into a sugar coma, you can make some creme filling and make chewy chocolate chip Oreos.

I leave you with one thing: when you endeavor to make these, guard your heart. Guard your hips and thighs. These things will steal your soul faster than you can say, “Ooh, cookies!”

Double Chocolate Cookies
from Inspired Taste
makes 4 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (any kind)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Add sugars and butter to a large bowl; mix until creamy. Beat in first egg, then beat in second egg with vanilla extract. Mix until well incorporated.
3. In a separate smaller bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Slowly add dry incredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips.
5. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets. If you want flatter cookies, press them down a little with a knife or fork. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely on a cooling rack. Devour, or fill with creme.

Homemade Oreo Creme
from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place butter in a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer on low speed, gradually beat in sugar and vanilla.
2. With the mixer on high, beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until creme is light and fluffy.
3. To assemble the cookies: place about a teaspoon of creme on the bottom of one cookie. Place another cookie on top of the creme and lightly press down until creme is evenly distributed between the two cookies. Repeat with the remaining cookies and creme.

Egg-free Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffle Balls.

[FYI: this post has been in my drafts for about a week. It’s taken a while to get ahold of the pictures I took, since I took them on someone else’s camera. They’re kind of shoddy, due to the fact I took the pictures during quiet hours when all the lights were off in the dorm lobby. Anyways, here you go.]

Happy finals week!

HA. That’s a contradiction if I’ve ever heard one.

Finals, oddly enough, have been known to cause stress. Lots of stress.

And stress can only be remedied by stress-eating.

Particularly by eating no-risk-of-salmonella cookie dough.

If you’re patient, these become neatly chocolate-coated and refrigerated truffles. If patience is not one of the traits included in your gene pool, you can eat the dough straight out of the bowl. Straight. Out. Of. The. Bowl.

This recipe is simple to whip up, especially if you’re pressed for time or need want something sweet in a hurry. Sweetened condensed milk takes the place of where the egg would be in a normal chocolate chip cookie recipe, and the salt and baking soda give the balls that special cookie dough flavor.

Deliciousness completely devoid of turning on the oven. Or your mother yelling at you for eating raw dough.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffle Balls
Slightly adapted from this recipe
Makes about 48 (depending on the size you roll the balls)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (preferably miniature; coarsely chopped chocolate works too)
• additional chocolate for melting & dipping

Directions

1. Beat butter and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl until smooth.
2. Beat in vanilla extract.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add flour, alternately with sweetened condensed milk, to the sugar and butter, mixing well after each addition.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Roll the dough into balls and place onto baking sheets lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
6. Melt chocolate in microwave or saucepan over medium heat. Dip dough balls in chocolate, place back on baking sheets, and refrigerate again until firm, about 15-30 minutes. Store in the refrigerator until all are devoured.