Chocolate Frosted Marshmallow Cookies

So this is not my most beautiful creation, that I will admit. But they sure were yummy! I made these along with the Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles to bring back to a rehearsal right after my Thanksgiving break. The cookie part tasted more like a brownie than a cookie, and the marshmallow was a nice little surprise.

These cookies were a little more difficult to make than I anticipated. The marshmallows puffed way up, so I had to press them down a bit after taking them out of the oven. The frosting was really where I ran into trouble.  I started making it by hand, which was a disaster.  Then I put it into my stand mixer and it was just forming these hard little crumbs so I added a splash of milk and it came out just fine.  I didn’t use the coffee, which is perhaps why it was not as smooth as I would have liked. It was just a little too stiff, but it tasted good and I was able to pipe it on top of the cookies, although not very neatly.

Chocolate Frosted Marshmallow Cookies
Adapted from Cookie Madness

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (225 grams)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (45 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (2 ml)
3/4 teaspoon salt (3 ml)
4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter (114 grams)
1 cup granulated sugar (192 grams)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract – 5 ml
1/2 cup milk – 114 ml
12-14 giant marshmallows, halved

Frosting:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 squares (1 ounce each) unsweetened chocolate
1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate or 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 to 6 tablespoons brewed coffee (I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

Beat butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl using high speed of an electric mixer. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape sides of bowl and by hand, add milk and flour mixture to batter alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in pecans.

Drop by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls (12 to a sheet) a few inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 6 minutes. Press a marshmallow half, cut side down, onto each cookie. Bake 2 minutes longer or until marshmallow is softened. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Melt butter and chocolate squares; stir until smooth. Beat in confectioners’ sugar and about half of the coffee. Beat with hand held electric mixer or by hand until smooth, adding more coffee as needed to make it soft. Transfer frosting to a pastry or ziploc bag with a small hole in one corner. Pipe over the cookie to cover the marshmallow.

Makes about 28-30 cookies

Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles

So I’m still slowly getting through all these posts from Thanksgiving break.  And I better get these last few up quick before I head home for Christmas and go into an even crazier baking frenzy!

So friends, I bring you peanut butter fudge puddles.  I had been drooling over these for weeks leading up to the break, so I knew I had to make them when I went home.  I baked them the night before heading back to school to bring back as a treat at a rehearsal on Sunday night. They were pretty darn delicious.

I didn’t have my mini muffin pan on hand, so I had to improvise.  I had this mold pan for candies/tea cakes that had little flowers and such, so I just spooned the dough in that, and they actually came out quite nice! I also made flat cookies, which worked out well but couldn’t hold as much filling!!

Peanut Butter Fudge Puddles
Adapted from Vanilla Sugar

Cookie Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 ts vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 ts baking soda
1/2 ts salt

In a large mixer bowl, combine butter, peanut butter, and both sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry to the wet mixtures.
Chill in the fridge for at least one hour. Remove from fridge and form into 1″ balls. Grease a mini-muffin pan and add 1 ball to each muffin cup. Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until very lightly browned. Remove from oven and make an indentation in the center of each ball, big enough to fill the middles with the fudge filling. Let them cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes and then move to a cooling rack.

Filling:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips (I used milk chocolate)
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 ts vanilla

In a microwave safe bowl combine all of the ingredients. Microwave for 1 minute, stir well. If there are still unmelted chips, continue to melt in microwave for 15 second increments until all smooth. I used a double boiler and just stirred the ingredients over heat until smooth.
Immediately start filling the cookie cups with the filling. It will start to harden just a bit as you do it, so make sure to give it a good stir once in awhile. Sprinkle with the nuts or just leave plain. Let set for an hour or so.

Snicker Topped Brownie Bites

I needed a last minute dessert to add to our Thanksgiving table last week, and although this isn’t the most autumn-like dessert, you just really can’t go wrong with brownie bites!

The brownie recipe was delicious and fudgy, although it was a bit difficult to get out of the muffin pan. I filled the cups a little too full, which made them even harder to get out without breaking off the tops. But otherwise they were yummy and easy!

Snicker Topped Brownie Bites
Adapted from Schweet ‘N Savory

2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
18 Snickers Minis, halved (I used large snickers sliced in half and then cut into smaller chunks)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Next, mix in the butter, vanilla, and eggs. Grease a mini sized muffin pan and fill each muffin cup about 1/2-2/3 full with the brownie batter. Top with snicker pieces.

Bake for about 15 minutes. Let them cool completely before trying to remove them from the pan. I yielded about 48 mini brownies.

Nutella Surprise Cookies

The original name for these was Nutella Ravioli cookies, but that just didn’t sound right to me, so I gave them a cheesy new name instead.  These cookies were a bit of an adventure. I started them waaay too late at night, for starters. I used the sugar cookie recipe from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody which I had to scale down – and eventually discovered was the same as Betty Crocker! After making and chilling the dough, I started to roll it out and cut it into circles with the top of a glass.  When I tried to move the dough or fold it at all, it would just crack.  So when I started putting the filling in… well, they just looked awful and a mess.  I ended up having to cut each circle in half and just gently press it down on all sides around the nutella.

So with low expectations I put them in the oven and moved on to making something else in case they didn’t come out. But when they came out of the oven, all the cracks had sealed and they actually looked quite nice! Plus a little chocolate drizzle on top always classes things up a bit 🙂 And they were a big hit with all my usual taste testers!

Nutella Surprise Cookies
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 lb, 8 oz  unsalted butter, softened

3 eggs

1 TBSP vanilla extract

7 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 TBSP baking soda

1 TBSP cream of tartar

1/2 cup Nutella spread

chocolate chips and white chocolate chips for drizzling

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream the powdered sugar and butter for at least 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and scrape down the bowl after each egg. Add vanilla and mix for 2 more minutes.
3. Mix in the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar while mixer is on slow speed. Mix till you have a smooth dough. Chill for a few hours.
4. Roll out cookie dough to about a 1/4 inch thickness.
5. Using a cookie cutter or a glass dipped in flour, cut out rounds.
6. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon of Nutella into the center of each round.
7. Fold rounds over to create half moon shapes and gently seal edges.
8. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes.
9. Remove to racks and cool completely.
10. When cookies are completely cooled, melt chocolate chips in microwave (about 1 minute.)
11. Remove and using a fork, drizzle chocolate over cookies.