cookies – Page 3 – Dragonfly Home Recipes

I had the urge to make something with chocolate today, and I wanted to share a fun adaptation of a recipe that has become a favorite at our house. It has been very cold and snowy this week, and the driving has been precarious at times. The air is fresh and the snow is beautiful though, and it feels good to come in from the cold and have something warm to drink and a chocolate cookie to eat. My kids are on a hot cocoa kick lately, so we have a lot of hot cocoa packages in the pantry. My daughter and I love to experiment in the kitchen, and she is the one who actually came up with this variation of the traditional Nestle’s Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies. We have tested it several times, and it has become a favorite winter treat. We replace 1/4 of the white sugar with hot cocoa mix (I buy the kind sweetened with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup, and try to see that it is ethically sourced cocoa) and we add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the batter, which gives a hint of cherry flavor. Serve these cookies with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea, and a little bowl of fresh raspberries. They are the perfect treat to take the edge off the stress of the week! “As with most fine things, chocolate has its season. There is a simple memory aid that you can use to determine whether it is the correct time to order chocolate dishes: any month whose name contains the letter A, E, or U, is the proper time for chocolate.” –author Sandra Boynton

Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: about 48 cookies
Time: about 1 hour
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Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (if you are using salted butter, cut the salt to 1/2 teaspoon or omit completely)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sweetened hot cocoa mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Vigorously stir the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, hot cocoa mix, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a bowl until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well as you add them. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are done. Cool for a couple minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from the traditional Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe

Orange seems to be one of the most popular and celebrated colors during the fall. We are drawn to orange foods, such as pumpkins, carrots, and squash in the fall. I have always loved orange–according to many sources, it is the color of joy and creativity. When I eat orange foods, I feel like I am infusing my body with the energy of orange, and with it giving myself more vitality and inspiration. Pumpkins are full of vitamin A, iron, potassium, and phosphorous. Sometimes when I am feeling too blue, orange is a good balance, since orange and blue are complementary colors in the color spectrum. While orange is bright and inspiring, blue is calming and relaxing. According to the talented artist Vincent Van Gogh, “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” Nothing exists completely on its own–we feel what we feel, or see what we see, in relation to everything else around ourselves. It is good to try to maintain a healthy balance between the two opposite ends of the spectrum, because too much of anything can be detrimental, and I must say, sometimes the beautiful fall weather brings on the bittersweet, wistful blues. To add some orange to my life, and just because I like pumpkin cookies and I know my husband and kids like them too, I often turn to the following recipe in the fall. The recipe I posted below is easy, tasty, and quite healthy (cookies with a vegetable in them!). The pumpkin puree keeps them nice and moist and the spices give them the great flavor. The chocolate chips are optional, but I personally like to add chocolate to as many things as I can, and the chocolate tastes great in these cookies. They are a perfect snack, and easy to pack in lunches.

Pumpkin Cookies

Servings: approximately 3 dozen cookies
Time: about one hour
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Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose, unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tablespoon softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 to 1 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the vanilla, butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, and eggs. Stir vigorously until completely combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Stir until the batter is well-combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, if using. Drop the batter onto a cookie sheet in rounded teaspoons, and bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are puffy and golden, but not too brown. Continue until all the batter is used. Enjoy!