Oh My! These are to die for. When I first made them last month, my husband and mother-in-law ate almost the entire batch in one sitting. I mean, they really are good. Well, that’s if you like cookie dough, and really, who doesn’t?. I had to actually hide the latest batch deep in the freezer from my husband since every time I turned around another 5 would be gone. He was not happy with me, but you will be after you try these.
Some time ago I saw a recipe for cookie dough frosting over at the Cupcake Project that really intrigued me, and then over at the library I stumbled upon “The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook” and I knew I had to give some of these recipes a try. The concept is simple, just delete the eggs from the recipe and replace the lost moisture with a little cream or milk. You also don’t need any leavening since these are not going to be baked. This only takes minutes to mix up, but then the wait… at least an hour in the fridge so the dough can firm up. You then roll the chilled dough into bite sized balls, freeze for an hour, then dip into chocolate candy coating, such as Wiltons. Do not use regular melted chocolate such as chocolate chips or block chocolate unless you plan on tempering it first, which you can do, but for this recipe it is a pain and unnecessary .The flavor combinations are only limited to what you put into them. I promise these will be a huge hit with your family and friends during the holidays. Bake On! Oh wait, you don’t need to bake……
First: The Basic
1/2 Cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 Tablespoons cream (or half and half or whole milk)
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon black walnut extract (optional, but adds a really nice depth)
1 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt (I prefer to use kosher)
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 oz dark chocolate candy coating
1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening (this is to help your coating be more fluid)
Beat the butter and sugars together in your mixer (using the paddle attachment), or by hand, for at least 3 minutes, or until it becomes fluffy and light in color. Mix in the extracts and cream. Stir in the flour and salt and mix just until everything is incorporated. Finally, stir in the chips. Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour (or up to 3 days)
Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Put the tray into the freezer for 30 minutes.
Melt the chocolate coating. This can easily be done in the microwave; just place the chocolate into a glass bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Let it sit for 30 seconds then cook for another minute. Stir in the vegetable shortening until it is completely combined and fluid . Drop in one ball at a time and lift out with the tines of a fork, gently tapping it against the bowl to remove excess; immediately transfer back to the parchment lined sheet. Since the cookie dough is now frozen the coating will set up really fast. If you want to put some sprinkles on them only do a few at time so the coating doesn’t firm up too fast.
These will keep in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for 1 month.
Second: The Reverse
1/2 Cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 Tablespoons cream (or half and half or whole milk)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted (I like Barry Callebaut extra brute)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini white chocolate chips
12 ounces (1 bag) white chocolate candy coating (you will need to double dip these so the dark chocolate filling doesn’t show through)
2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening
Beat the butter and sugars together in your mixer (using the paddle attachment), or by hand, for at least 3 minutes, or until it becomes fluffy and light in color. Mix in the extract and cream. Stir in the flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix just until everything is incorporated. Finally, stir in the chips. Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour (or up to 3 days).
Form into 1 inch balls and freeze for 30 minutes.
Melt the white chocolate candy coating. Follow the procedure above for dipping them, except for these when you get to the end start back at the beginning and dip them a second time so the dark filling doesn’t show. Decorate with sprinkles if desired.
Third: Vanilla Sugar Cookie Dough Studded With Roasted Cocoa Nibs
1/2 Cup (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1 Cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cream (or half and half or whole milk)
1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract
seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean
1 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup roasted cocoa nibs
10 ounces dark chocolate candy coating
1 1/2 Tablespoons vegetable shortening
Beat the butter and sugar together in your mixer (using the paddle attachment), or by hand, for at least 3 minutes, or until it becomes fluffy and light in color. Mix in the extract and vanilla seeds. Stir in the flour and salt and mix just until everything is incorporated. Finally, stir in the cocoa nibs. Cover and chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour (or up to 3 days).
For these I rolled the dough out between two pieces of parchment until it was about 1/3 inch. Then using a small 1 1/2 inch circle cutter I cut out 28 circles.
Dip into the melted chocolate as above (only one dipping required).
Hope you LOVE these!