Thick & Fluffy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is another go-to recipe for me and I promise it will become your new favorite! These are the complete opposite of the thin & chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe, but they are just as good (if not better, depending on your cookie texture preference :)). They're reliable and always turn out perfectly if you stick to folding in the flour gently (do not over mix), use room temperature or chilled butter, and chill the dough prior to dropping dough onto cookie sheet. The original recipe is from Williams & Sonoma and it's wonderful the way it is, but I've made a few tweaks after making these cookies way too many times! Lets get to it!

1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon corn starch (not completely necessary if you don't have this on hand, but it keeps the cookies soft and chewy and I swear by it!)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet chocolate chips; totally preference)

1/2 cup chocolate chips for putting on top of cookies :)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I swear by parchment paper and use it every time I bake anything on a baking sheet.)
3. In a large bowl, mix sugars and butter until completely smooth (I use a KitchenAid hand mixer but use whatever you've got on hand!)
4. Add egg and vanilla and mix until totally incorporated.
5. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda and salt together. If you don't have a sifter, whisk all three ingredients in bowl thoroughly. 
6. Gradually add and fold flour mixture into large bowl and mix just until incorporated. DO NOT OVER MIX! 
7. Add and fold chocolate chips into batter gently, being careful not to over mix.
8. Chill dough for at least 15-20 mins (I promise it's worth it! This will stop the dough from spreading.)
9. Scoop dough onto the baking sheet using a large ice cream scoop (comparable to about 2 tablespoons) (this is the one I use), leaving about one inch of room between each cookie. I use a large baking sheet and can usually fit around 8 cookies comfortably!
10. Bake cookies for about 12-14 minutes (keep an eye on them at this point, every oven is different) or until edges are lightly browned. I usually take my cookies out a touch early from the oven because they will continue to bake once they've been removed from the oven!**
11. Place some chocolate chips on each cookie while they are still warm and fresh out of the oven to get that amazing melted chocolate chip topping!
12. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes and move to a cooling rack or a laid out piece of parchment paper.
13. Enjoy!

**I love this tip from Good Housekeeping and swear by it: "To avoid overcooking, check cookies at the minimum baking time suggested in the recipe, and then watch them closely during their last few minutes in the oven. Also, after baking (and once they've cooled a bit) be sure to remove small cookies from cookie sheet to wire rack right away because they'll continue to bake on the hot sheet."

Pistachio Cake Loaves

My co-worker Karen brought these green loaves in for St. Patrick's Day a few years ago and it was one of the best things i've ever tasted, no exaggeration. The texture and taste of this cake is unbelievable! It was referred to as "pistachio bread", but it is truly a cake through and through. You can obviously for-go the green food coloring if you're not making it on St. Patrick's Day, but it does add a beautiful green hue to the loaves! It's so easy to pull together and you'll have everyone asking "WHAT IS IN THIS!?" because it's just THAT good. Karen sent me the recipe and I just had to pass it along!

1 box of yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

2 tablespoons of water

1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup of sour cream

1 package of instant pistachio pudding mix

2/4 cup of chopped walnuts

1/2 tsp. green food coloring (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. Grease and flour two 9x5 loaf pans**.
3. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth and blended.
4. Pour equal amounts of batter into both pans.
5. Bake loaves for 40-45 minutes (keep an eye on them after the 40 minute mark - every oven is different!) or until toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean.
6. Allow the loaves to cool before removing them from the pans. Enjoy!

**I've made these loaves with greased pans, as well as with the greased & floured pan method and both worked just fine - it's totally preference. Flouring a greased pan stops the loaves from getting crispier on the outside but simply greasing the pans works well too! They're going to be delicious no matter what. :)

Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread

There are many variations of monkey bread and so may ways to make it (cinnamon rolls, biscuits, French bread, etc.) but I tend to make it with biscuits or cinnamon rolls and the latter is always the biggest hit! It's an unbelievably easy dessert and looks so pretty once it sets and you're able to slide it out of the bunt pan. 

2 containers of Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Buns (8 per package)

1/2 cup melted butter

2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon (I love a lot of cinnamon, but the amount is totally preference)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F and place oven rack into middle position.
2. Grease 12 cup bunt pan and set aside. Remove cinnamon rolls from packaging (16 cinnamon rolls in total) and cut each roll into halves or four pieces (depending on how small you want the pull-apart pieces to be).
3. In a large ziploc bag, mix granulated sugar and 1 tsp. of cinnamon.
4. Place cinnamon roll pieces into ziploc bag and shake until each piece is coated.
5. Once fully coated in sugar/cinnamon mixture , pour cinnamon roll pieces into pan.
6. Melt butter and mix in brown sugar and remaining amount of cinnamon.
7. Pour butter mixture over cinnamon roll pieces.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes (mine usually goes to the 30 minute mark but every oven is different) or until it's golden brown and baked through.
9. Let cool for at least 15 minutes and gently turn pan upside down onto plate to remove monkey bread. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cake Loaf

You guys... this chocolate loaf is the BEST. I know "loaf" isn't the prettiest word, either but hear me out. I was craving chocolate cupcakes and I knew I had a box of chocolate cake mix in the pantry ready to go, but I wanted to try something a little different. I also wanted to bake something that would require less work and less room for storage (storing a ton of cupcakes can be a pain). Long story short, I whipped up a chocolate cake loaf using the chocolate cake mix and it was out of this world delicious and easy. For some extra chocolatey taste, I threw some chocolate chips into the batter and on top of the loaf right after it came out of the oven. I'm sure there are amazing, from-scratch chocolate loaf recipes out there if you're not a fan of the boxed mix, but I am apart of the population that is allllllll about that cake mix taste :). (Not sure how many more times I could have said "chocolate" in this description....) 

1 box of general chocolate cake mix

1 cup of milk chocolate chips (3/4 cup for the batter and then ¼ for sprinkling on top of both loaves

2 loaf pans

1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray.
2. Prepare the chocolate cake mix per the instructions on the back of the box.
3. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
4. Pour equal amounts of batter into each loaf pan.
5. Bake loaves for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick/knife is inserted and comes out clean.
6. Let both loaves set and cool completely before removing them from the pans. To remove, I place my hand over top of the loaf and gently flip the pan over. The loaves should slide right out!