Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

I'm out of town this weekend, so yesterday and today were the perfect days to share some recipes from my old blog.  I made this for Easter last year, and it was a hit.  You will love it, I'm sure! :)


I'm not sure how I have survived without Pinterest. I'm sure I probably got a lot more accomplished, but then again, I also find a lot of ideas and inspiration. I found this recipe there, and now, the world is a slightly better place. (By the way, the link is directly to the recipe, not the pin. You're welcome.) I plan to take this to share at my family's Easter dinner served with Graham crackers (I still have some after making my Easter treat bags) and Vanilla Wafers.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Your ingredients

• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 c. brown sugar, slightly packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar
• 1 c. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter and brown sugar. Whisk together over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract.

 

3. Set aside to let it cool. (The recipe I link you to suggests putting it in the freezer for about 15 minutes if you're in a hurry. I was not in a hurry, so I just parked my rear-end back on the couch for a bit.)

4. OR you can get to work on this step: cream together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar.

 

5. When it has cooled, slowly pour in the butter/sugar mixture until combined.

6. Stir in chocolate chips.

 

This will be transferred to a nice bowl with a plate to serve the graham crackers and vanilla wafers.

I definitely had to sample to be sure that it's "safe" to share with my family. It is. :) Can't wait for Easter!

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

If you have only known me for about one minute, you will probably know that there are few things that I love more than combining peanut butter and chocolate. Whoever first decided to combine peanut butter and chocolate is, in my book, a total genius. Yesterday, I was feeling in the mood to make some cookies. Around Christmas time, I wanted to make peanut butter cookies and never did. I also wanted to make something with ingredients that we had on hand.  Scott was not 100% on board with peanut butter and suggested chocolate chip. We didn't HAVE any chocolate chips, and he said, "Just chop up some Hershey's Kisses."

I wasn't totally on board with that either. (READ: Don't get me wrong, chocolate chip cookies are in my Top 5 Most Favorite Cookies List....not that I actually have a list....It's a mental list....). So, in the spirit of good marriage, I compromised, and Peanut Butter-Kiss Cookies were born. I used my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer and the Peanut Butter Cookie recipe from my also trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook. I also made some additions from the Peanut Butter Cookie recipe in the Kitchen Aid Mixer cookbook. The directions are a combination of the recipes, as well.

Becky's Peanut-Butter Kiss Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (Neither recipe specifies creamy or crunchy. I only buy crunchy, so that's what I used. :))
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 25 Hershey's Kisses, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375*.

2. Place peanut butter, butter, and shortening in the mixer bowl. Use the flat beater to mix on Speed 6 until mixture is smooth.

 
3. Scrape the bowl then add the egg, vanilla, and sugars. Beat on speed 4 until mixed.
 
4. Using the stir setting, add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
 
5. If you have chocolate chips, feel free to use those. I would say to use about 1/2 of what you would use for chocolate chip cookies. I do think that these cookies would be better with the semi-sweet taste of a chocolate chip as opposed to the Kiss. If you're using kisses like me, unwrap the kisses and toss them in a food chopper or processor.



 
6. Add the chopped up Kissed to your dough, and stir.


 

7. Roll dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. (Let's get real here. I have NO idea what that size looks like, and I definitely didn't grab Scott's tape measure to try to figure it out. Just don't make huge rolls of dough because even the smaller ones I made expanded and touched each other. Which is PROBABLY why the directions say to place them 2-3 inches apart. Again, to do this, one would have to use way more cookie sheets, and I prefer to get 1 dozen on each sheet. Also, the picture is of the last sheet I put in. I realized I had forgotten to take a picture of this step, and that is why there isn't a dozen on it!)

8. Use a fork to push down the dough in a crisscross pattern.

 

9. Put the cookies into the oven and bake for 9-10 minutes. (My cookies were done in 9 minutes.)

Cool however you usually do. I asked for and received a set of cooling racks for my bridal shower last year. I LOVE them. Of course, with the size of these cookies, I had to eat one from each of the first 2 dozen to make them fit.....hahaha :) Enjoy!