merrifood

Cookies and cream cookies

Posted by merrifood on August 3, 2012 · 2 Comments 

It’s been almost three whole weeks since I’ve baked, which is about as long as I physically am capable of going (and it’s only because I was on vacation – were I in one place, that would never happen).  An old friend from Boston was passing through Sydney on vacation with his girlfriend, so I had to give them cookies, and one of my best friends is about to arrive (my first real visitor!!!), so obviously I have to have a welcome gift for her.  These are a very American cookie, filled with Oreo pieces and chocolate chips, and they were always a big hit in Boston.  I am actually just going to give myself full credit for this recipe because I’ve just taken ideas from other recipes, but ultimately when I make this cookie, I am following no one’s instructions.

I typically just make a small batch of any cookie (just using 1 egg) but since I was distributing these to multiple people, I made a bigger batch, which of course resulted in far too much dough being consumed in my apartment.  I feel I must put the disclaimer here that this dough is ridiculously addictive.  I mean it’s cookies inside a cookie – what’s not to love?

Cookies and cream cookies

Makes about 40 small cookies (at least that is my estimate – mine made less because I ate a certain amount of the dough)

Ingredients

220 g / 2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar (you can go a little easy on the sugar – definitely don’t make them heaping cups as the cookies will already be pretty sweet from the oreos)

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups flour

14-15 Oreos, chopped up or crushed

Handful of chocolate chips or chopped up dark chocolate (great use for half of a leftover chocolate bar you’re trying not to eat, in case you ever find yourself in that situation), optional but recommended

Instructions

Cream your butter and sugar together till thoroughly combined.  Honestly I am very impatient and can’t wait for butter to soften, so I typically just pop it in the microwave for a minute so it’s not fully melted but can easily combine with the sugar.  Then add your eggs and vanilla extract and mix till thoroughly combined again.   Add the baking soda and salt, and then the flour 1 cup at at time.  After 2 cups have been added, pour in your oreos and extra chocolate if you are using it and fold everything in.  At this point, add in another half cup of flour, test out the stickiness of the dough, and then add the last half cup.  I tend to go by the feel of the dough rather than a specific measurement of flour – you want to be able to pull a piece off, but it doesn’t need to be a solid ball.  Obviously, this requires a taste or two of the dough.

Once the dough has come together, put it in the fridge for a half hour until it has solidified a bit more or put it in overnight.  If you put it in the fridge overnight though, try to take it out and leave it at room temperature for at least a half hour before baking.  You can keep it in the fridge for several days so you can make fresh cookies all week long.  Scoop out small balls of the dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake in a 180 degree C / 350 degree F oven for about 10 minutes (slightly more if the cookies have just come out of the fridge).  I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to check your cookies.  Obviously don’t open the oven door every minute, but if you’re not a cookie baking pro, definitely take a look at 8 minutes and every couple minutes after that.  Overbaked cookies are so disappointing, especially if you are like me and really enjoy soft cookies that are just lightly browned around the edges.  Enjoy!

Fully creamed butter and sugar should have essentially no traces of butter lumps left

Adding eggs and vanilla

The finished dough (try to make that and then not eat it out of the bowl…good luck)

Cookies going into the oven – you can definitely put more on a sheet than this, I was just making a small amount on that particular day

Finished product!

These were actually a big hit in the office in Sydney too, so I hereby deem this cookie a multi-country success.