cookie Archives - Ari's Menu

Snickers Stuffed Chocolate Brownie Cookies

October 27, 2014 · by Ari · 6 Comments

Rich, fudgy, brownie-like chocolate cookies stuffed with melty mini Snickers and topped with sea salt for the perfect extra bite. These gluten-free Snickers Stuffed Chocolate Brownie Cookies are the perfect way to use up Halloween candy, a great Christmas cookie, or perfect for any occasion!

Oh, hello cookie. Cookie that tastes and feels like a brownie. Cookie that is stuffed with one of my very favorite candies. Cookie with melty chocolate, caramel and nougat in every bite. Cookie with big sea salt crystals adding the perfect balance to all that candy sweetness. Just wanted to say heyyyyy.

Let’s chat about candy for a second. I have really strong opinions. For example, 3 Musketeers–WHAT IS THE POINT? It’s just so fluffy, and soooo overly sweet, and there’s nothing to it. Ick. And then there’s Milky Way. That’s just like a lesser Snickers. It’s like it’s trying to be a Snickers for the poor people with nut allergies, but without the salty peanuts to add crunchy and bite, what is even the point?? Then we get to the good ones. Snickers, Butterfinger, Reese’s and Twix. Those are the ones that, come Halloween time (okay…any time), I can’t resist grabbing a mini, or 7. In fact, the leftover Snickers from these cookies were totally bad news. I usually end up taking them into work and using them as bribery to toss at the kids that impress me in rehearsals. I know, I know…I should give them carrot sticks, probably, but I’m a terrible influence.

Anyway, these cookies are a bit indulgent, but they are whole grain, gluten-free, and shockingly don’t contain any butter or oil! They taste like a rich, buttery brownie, so you’ll never notice the little healthier adjustments. Of course, you are free to use real butter and white flour–they will still be great, but I honestly can’t taste the difference!

Snickers Stuffed Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Yield: 2 dozen

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Snickers Stuffed Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup gluten-free baking blend (or white whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Hershey's special dark or Dutch process)
1 teaspoon baking powder
dash salt
8 ounces dark chocolate, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 tablespoons apple butter
2/3 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
24 mini Snickers candies (I bought a combination bag with regular, peanut butter and dark chocolate)
coarse sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together baking blend, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together melted chocolate, eggs, vanilla, apple butter, and sugars until well combined, then slowly beat in dry ingredients until just combined. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat. Spray hands with nonstick spray (this sounds weird, but it will prevent dough from sticking to your hands during rolling) and roll dough into about 1" balls. Press the center with your thumb to make a whole for the Snickers. Gently press 1 mini Snickers into the center and then re-roll dough around it. Make sure dough is completely covering the candy. Add more dough if necessary. Place onto prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Sprinkle each cookie with a small pinch of coarse sea salt (if desired) just before baking.
Bake for 10 minutes until just set. Cool completely on pan. Store in an airtight container for one week (these cookies stay pretty darn soft and gooey for days!).

http://www.arismenu.com/snickers-brownie-cookies/

Sunflower Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

January 11, 2013 · by Ari · 16 Comments

SOMEONE’S GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!!!!

Noooo, not me silly gooses. I already have a real husband and a New York Husband, and that is plenty. Plus, you know I said some vows to my Kitchenaid…

Ummm, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s totally normal to have two human husbands and one appliance. And everyone says vows to their favorite kitchen appliance, okay?

Sunflower Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

This is one of the most pointless food pictures I’ve ever taken. It shows you nothing about the actual cake, but for some reason I just love it.

Today my beautiful, wonderful friend Jen is getting hitched! I flew in to NYC late last evening, and today I’m road tripping down to Virginia for the wedding. It’s a long story, but the extra states saved me a night’s hotel fair, and earned me some extra time with NY Husband, so it’s well worth the extra travel. Jen is one of the most giving, loving people I have ever met, and I can’t wait to be a part of her special day!

I figured since today was extra special, I would do something I never do and post a CAKE! I very rarely make real cakes. I’m much more of a cupcake girl. I like the built in portion control of a cupcake, because lord knows I will break out a fork, and eat the entire cake if left to my own devices…

One time, I made Steve a red velvet cake for his birthday. Of course, this was before I knew how to cook, like at all, so it came from a box. I forgot the eggs (which is pretty typical for me), and the cake, although delicious, was a crumbly mess. This was also pre-weight-loss for both of us. We each ended up grabbing a fork, and almost completely devouring this double layer cake. It was really cute, I swear.

I can’t promise you that you will not have the same problem here, because this cake is GOOD. The edges browned and got slightly crispy while the middle stayed perfectly gooey and soft. The cake isn’t overly sweet to balance out the rich, chocolatey icing, and the white chocolate chips throughout create a perfect flavor balance. In basic terms, it tastes kinda like a HUGE, soft peanut butter cookie with white chocolate chips, that’s covered in rich chocolate cream cheese frosting. Except, it’s a cake. A cake I can get behind. Now, please pass me the fork.

Sunflower Butter White Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

yield approx 16 servings

1/4 cup apple butter
2/3 cup sunflower butter (or any nut butter you have on hand will work)
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
3/4 cup brown sugar,packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:

12 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 and 1/4 oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Line the bottom of a 9-10″ springform pan with parchment paper. Spray edges and parchment paper well with nonstick spray. Set aside.
In a medium bowl. whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), beat together apple butter, sunflower butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until well combined. Beat in egg. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Fold in white chocolate chips.
Transfer dough to prepared pan, and use a piece of sprayed parchment paper to gently press into an even layer.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, until lightly golden. The center should be set, but soft. Cool completely in pan.
Once cooled, run a butter knife along the inside to release any areas that are stuck, then open springform, and transfer cake to your preferred frosting area.
To make frosting, beat cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Add vanilla extract. Add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating on low speed, followed by cocoa powder. Increase to medium speed and add melted chocolate. Beat until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl often. Slowly, add almond milk 1 tbsp at a time until frosting reaches a spreadable consistency.
Frost cooled cookie cake completely, and serve.

White Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie Bars

January 8, 2013 · by Ari · 16 Comments

Sweet, soft and chewy sugar cookie bars topped with smooth white chocolate and gooey, browned marshmallows. Secretly healthy and whole grain, but you’d never know!

I’m a proud big sister! My brother graduated this winter with 2 associate degrees! He is the hardest worker I know, and I am unbelievably proud.

Charlie is a, um…picky eater. He has the oddest tastes of anyone I’ve ever met. He’s not always super into sweets, but he does clear my pantry out of any white chocolate and marshmallows I may have on hand pretty much every time he comes over. They are his two favorite things, and they are definitely two things I can get behind!

To celebrate his accomplishment, I made a simple dessert putting his favorite things together. The cookie layer is thick and soft, then it’s topped with melty white chocolate and browned marshmallows for a winning combination of flavors and textures.

And the best part? They’re health(ier) in the sneaky, secret kinda way that no one will ever guess!

White Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie Bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 16 bars

White Chocolate Marshmallow Cookie Bars

Sweet, soft and chewy sugar cookie bars topped with smooth white chocolate and gooey, browned marshmallows. Secretly healthy and whole grain, but you'd never know!

Ingredients

1 and 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/4 cup apple butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg white
1 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together apple butter, sugar, egg white, Greek yogurt and vanilla until well combined. Slowly, add in flour mixture and continue beating until incorporated.
Transfer dough to prepared pan and use a greased piece of parchment paper to gently and evenly press dough into the pan.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden and set in the center. Evenly sprinkle white chocolate chips on top, followed by marshmallows.
Broil for 2-3 minutes until marshmallows are browned and puffy. Pay close attention during this step--they can burn quickly if left in too long. Cool completely, and serve.

http://www.arismenu.com/white-chocolate-marshmallow-cookie-bars/

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

April 30, 2012 · by Ari · 3 Comments

So the thing is, we are definitely not perfect, but Steve and I have learned a bit about photography (him), food presentation (me), and composition (both of us) since starting this little blog. Whenever I go through my old recipe posts, I cringe and hope the people visiting my blog don’t look at them and run away forever. I keep them because the recipes are good, but I have this grand plan to recreate everything I love and get some good quality pictures so that everything on here looks cohesive. And not like a 5 year old made it. The problem is, I get excited and creative and want to make new recipes! However, these I love. Like a to the depths of my heart kind of love.

They were actually pretty popular around the internet too. I mean seriously, peanut butter, chocolate, and pretzels. It’s kind of a sure thing.

My favorite thing about these cookies is all of the contrasting flavors and textures.

Sweet & salty.

Crunchy & soft.

Perfect balance.

I may not always achieve perfect balance with my personal, professional, and health goals, but the most important thing is that I can accomplish it in a cookie, right?

Okay, good. As long as we’re all on the same page. Since we’re going with balance, I even made these slightly healthier this time around, and you know what? They were equally delicious. So to balance out the healthy, I ate about 7 of them in one day. It was awesome.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

yield approx 2 dozen

1 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1/2 cup apple butter
5 tbs packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (preferably PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
approx 24 pretzels (one per cookie)

Directions:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat apple butter, sugars, and peanut butter until smooth.
Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.
Slowly stir the dry ingredients.
Fold in chips. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Roll dough into small 1″ balls, or use a cookie scoop and drop on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 7 minutes, then press a pretzel into each cookie. Cook for an additional 7 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies

February 6, 2012 · by Ari · 6 Comments

You guys. You don’t even understand. I think this might be my favorite thing I have ever made. Ever. I would rather eat 1 of these than 10 full fat Paradise Bakery cookies. I took one bite and between the perfectly crunchy outside, softy doughy inside, and warm sweet jelly, I was pretty much in cookie heaven. I think this honey apple butter is pretty much the best butter substitute I have ever used. Thanks Carolyn!

I also made these start to finish in about half an hour. They were so easy. It was one of those rare baking times where everything just turns out the way you want it. Happy birthday to me!

Adapted from Pip & Ebby

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies

yield approx 16 cookies

1/4 cup apple butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp turbinado sugar
1 1/2 tbs unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
dash salt
3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
approx 8 tbsp jelly/jam of choice (I used reduced sugar grape, no sugar added blackberry, and fig butter and I loved all 3)
2-3 tbs whole wheat graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
In a medium bowl, beat apple butter, peanut butter, sugars, almond milk and vanilla.
Beat in baking soda and salt. Beat in flour until combined.
Use a cookie scoop or sprayed tablespoon to drop cookies onto a large baking sheet.
Using your thumb, press down into the center of each cookie dough ball. Fill each center with jelly of choice. Sprinkle all cookies with graham cracker crumbs
Bake for 10 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.

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