The most perfect chocolate chip cookie

I have been on the quest to find the recipe for the most perfect chocolate chip cookie. Yesterday's recipe was a failure, I ate a few, but they made me want to cry because I had so much hope. I knew what I wanted. I wanted soft, I wanted chewy, I wanted delicious, and I found it. I knew immediately when the dough came together that I was going to be all that I dreamed of, and I was right. I am not the type to eat more than one or two cookies, but I literally could sit down and eat every single one of these cookies they are so scrumptious. So soft, and chewy and just downright amazing. So now I'll share the recipe with you, so that you no longer have to search for the most perfect chocolate chip cookie. My cookies have to have walnuts so...feel free to leave them out but they're really not the same without.

Chocolate Chip Cookie
2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/2 stick salted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

Mix flour, baking soda and cornstarch, set aside.
Beat together cooled butter and sugars with an hand mixer, about a minute.
Add eggs and vanilla, beat until just combined
Slowly add dry ingredients, and mix until the dough is homogeneous

Mix in chocolate chips and chopped walnuts
Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes
Preheat oven to 325
Scoop cookies and roll into a ball, I used my 2 tbsp cookie scoop as I like smaller cookies
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown (the center will look underdone, you want that, they continue cooking on cookie sheet)
Allow cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheet.
Transfer to cooling racks
Try not to eat every last cookie in one sitting

Enjoy!!!

Easy Shortbread Cookies

Easy Shortbread Cookies
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cold, cut into pieces
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 tbsp sprinkles, nonpareils or baking bits (red & green for Christmas time, orange & black for Halloween)

Preheat oven to 325
In food processor pulse flour and sugar until combined.
Add butter and vanilla, pulse until dough comes together
Place in medium bowl and with your hand gently knead in sprinkles, nonpareils or baking bits until a ball forms.
Pat dough out onto a floured wax paper covered cookie sheet.
Place in freezer for 10 minutes
Cut dough into 1/2 inch squares
Place on ungreased cookie sheet
Bake for 10-12 minutes
Cool on baking rack
Enjoy!!
Mine did have sprinkles in them but they were white (all I had in house) so you can't see them. Excited to try this with red & green nonpareils though.
****I highly recommend at least a double batch as these were devoured quickly.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Salted caramel is my kryptonite, but it has to be a good salted caramel. There's a lot of imitation salted caramels, I've had many  disappointments, many that got my hopes up so high only to be crushed by the first taste.  When you've tasted good salted caramel, you know what to expect, you know what your tastebuds are searching for. So I'm always very hesitant when I see a recipe/food "claiming" to be salted caramel. Well I found a recipe that definitely lives up to it's claim. So now I share my kryptonite with you...Enjoy

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
6 wrapped caramels, cut into the size of half a sugar cube (I used Trader Jacques' Fleur De Sel Caramels)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Sea salt (I used pink Himalayan)

Mix the flour and baking soda in a bowl, set aside
With an electric mixer or stand mixer, cream butter and sugars together.
Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla bean paste and mix well
Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until a dough forms
Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts
Chill dough for 30 minutes in the refrigerator
Preheat oven to 350
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet
Gently press a few pieces of caramels onto the tops of the cookies
Bake for 8-10 minutes, until edges are slightly browned
As soon as removed from oven gently sprinkle with sea salt
After cookies have set (about 2-3 minutes) move to cooling racks 

Since I've already tested this recipe I have definitely worked out a few of the bugs from the original recipe. I added walnuts, because personally I cannot eat a chocolate chip cookie without them and it adds a nice texture and a little bit of additional salt.  I also found the original recipe called for the caramels to be much bigger, but I made them quite a bit smaller for a few reasons. I didn't want to have a really sticky, chewy piece of caramel in my cookies, more than anything I just wanted the caramels for added flavor so the size I used worked perfectly for flavor and didn't leave a huge chunk of caramel in the cookie. So keep in mind if you're wanting that chewy, sticky piece of caramel then make sure to cut your caramel bigger.  This could easily become one of your go-to cookies this holiday season during cookie exchanges, dessert parties, a plate of cookies for the neighbors... etc as this cookie not only has great flavor but is something more unique than your standard chocolate chip cookie. 
Enjoy!  

Almond Sugar Cookies

Almond Sugar Cookies
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (softened)
1 egg lightly beaten
3 tbsp heavy cream (or other liquid, may need a bit more to make right consistency)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Sift flour, baking powder, salt & sugar. Cut in butter. Stir in egg, cream, vanilla, & almond.
Bake @ 400 for 6-8 minutes.

**This recipe could easily be altered to add any extract, for holiday season you could try peppermint extract, in the summer I use coconut extra to add a twist on a normal sugar cookies.

Pumpkin Muffin Tops

Since it's my birthday I'll share a "sweet" recipe, this is a recipe I call "Pumpkin Muffin Tops" as the consistency of the cookies are exactly like the top part of a muffin. I love the consistency, texture, and flavor of these cookies by using an entire can of pumpkin not only are they super moist but they have a very strong pumpkin flavor.

Pumpkin Muffin Tops
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 can pumpkin
1 egg

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices & salt.
Blend butter & sugar.
Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla, beat until creamy.
Mix in dry ingredients
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, flatten slightly with back of spoon
Bake @ 350 for 15-20 minutes

***Extra additions

• fresh cranberries (this is particularly good as it gives a bite of tartness)
• nuts
• chocolate chips

Molasses Cookies

As requested my favorite Molasses cookie recipe. Molasses is a great source of iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and more. So I look at these as "healthy cookies," at least that's what I tell myself while I'm devouring them.

Molasses Cookies
3/4 c butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground Ginger
1/2 tsp salt

Cream butter & sugar
Beat in egg, molasses and everything BUT flour
Blend in flour 1/2 cup at a time
Roll into balls and roll in sugar

Bake at 350 for 8-12mins