Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

With cream cheese on sale for $1/each here in town, I've been stocking up.  As you know, I'm always looking for an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Not sure what kind of effect I'd get using cream cheese in a cookie recipe, I thought I'd give it a shot.  Why not!? Right?  They are very soft and chewy.  I like them a lot! ...And so does everyone else in my family....  I've made these cookies several times in just the last week! (oy.)  They definitely taste best when hot, right out of the oven, with chocolate oozing out of each bite.... mmmmmm.  The recipe is adapted from Bake or Break.

So, not only does my Dear Husband not want my beloved French Silk Pie for his birthday, but he wants these cookies and Chocolate Eclair Dessert instead! Wow.  What a change in plans!  He's always had French Silk Pie for his birthday, 'cept for that time back in '07 when we had a power outage from an ice storm for 3 days in December!  We had no heat, no electricity, no generator, but we did have a fireplace! I don't remember how we ate, or what we ate...our stove was not gas.  I remember buying overpriced luxurious wood at about 6 a.m. at Lowe's in place of regular firewood...they were out of firewood!  We all camped out in our family room with blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals, etc during those long 3 days, even Grandma stayed with us.  Pockets of our town had electricity, like only one in a whole neighborhood would have electricity, while everyone else would be in the dark for days.  Fortunately, we were not trapped in our neighborhood from downed trees or power lines.  I remember storing my refrigerated items, like milk for my little boys, outside in the cold...just to be safe! Ice Storm Pictures

Ingredients:

1 stick butter softened

8 oz cream cheese softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar homemade

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.

If you bake like me, in a large microwave-safe bowl, I soften the butter and the cream cheese in the microwave for about a minute.  Then, I added 2 cups of plain sugar with about a tablespoon of molasses.  ( I do this when I don't have any brown sugar made and don't feel on making any.)  Whip it all together with a mixer until nice and creamy.  Beat one egg at a time, mixing well after each egg.  Then, stir in the vanilla.  

Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir well.  Then, stir in the chocolate chips.  ( I always love to taste the batter....mmmm... the cream cheese tastes sooo good!)

Drop the dough by teaspoons on the parchment paper.  Bake in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.  12 Minutes normally works fine in my oven.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Thought I would try another Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  This one assured me that it would be soft; I love soft cookies!  My family tried it and wanted more!  I was extremely pleased and surprised with just how soft these cookies were; I'll be making more!  The recipe is adapted from Apple A Day.  I will probably make these again for Valentine's Day and dip into chocolate or drizzle with chocolate almond bark.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar homemade
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, whip together the margarine and sugars.  Then, add together the egg and vanilla, mixing well.

Stir in the dry ingredients.  Add in the chocolate chips, mixing well.

Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.  Spread the sticky dough as evenly as possible in the pan.  Bake for about 15 minutes.  Test with tooth pick to test for doneness.  Do not over-bake.  Once cooled, cut into bars.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

After searching and searching for a chewy and puffy chocolate chip cookie recipe, I finally found it today while cleaning out my emails!  I kinda gave up trying to find a recipe, as all the others I made came out flat and crispy.  It appears that my trusted recipe on the back of the chocolate chips bag is no longer listed, and I never did save a bag with the recipe on it.

So, with this new recipe, my husband did not even want to share his cookie, when he took a bite!  Prior to finding this recipe, I almost resorted having to go out and buy some vanilla pudding to put in the mix, as I don't keep that on hand in my pantry.  Needless to say, I am so excited to share Kody's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies!  The recipe is slightly modified.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar or homemade
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
6 oz mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mash well together the butter or margarine with the two sugars.  (Do not melt the butter.)  Add the egg and vanilla, beating with a mixer for 3 minutes.  It will become very stiff and reminds me of making French Silk Pie.  Next, add the flour, baking soda, and salt.  The dough will be very dry, but keep mixing well, and add the chocolate chips.

To portion my cookies, I used a ice cream scoop.  They came out very large, but maintained their shape for the most part, as they did not spread.  Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Because of the size, I was only able to do 9 on a sheet.  The recipe would've made more than 27 large cookies, if some of the batter wasn't tested by the baker in Angela's Kitchen!

The original recipe says to make for 8-10 minutes.  I ended up doing closer to 13 minutes, from the size.  Just keep a good eye on them and adjust your time accordingly.  You don't want them to be crispy, just lightly colored.