Tag Archives: chocolate cut-out cookies

Rocky Road Cookies!

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Ruthanne

Rich fudge cookies covered in a pile of marshmallows, chocolate and almonds.

A perfect rocky road combination!

Confession: I’m not a fan of ice cream. I mean, it’s ok- but it isn’t like my favorite dessert. The rocky road combination of marshmallows, chocolate and almonds began in ice cream- back in the early 1900’s. It was actually the very 1st creative ice cream flavor- prior to its invention there was only vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Stop and imagine that for a minute. The world with no mint-chip ice cream…

So they invented this crazy new flavor, and then the Great Depression hit- and people didn’t have much money to buy ice cream. In a feat of marketing genius, it was given the name “Rocky Road” to relate to what people were going through and boost sales. It must have worked, because this flavor of ice cream has stood the test of time and is still filling the freezers of America.

Since ice cream isn’t my favorite dessert, I like to take these flavors and create other things with them instead! I made Rocky Road cupcakes a couple of years ago on Easybaked, and they are still one of my favorite recipes. Yum.

These are easy to make, and a perfectly rich, but not too sweet treat for any holiday or celebration. Or just for Mondays. Mondays always need good cookies.

Here is how we made them (printable recipe here)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24, 4-inch round cookies)

Cookie:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Toppings:

1 bag of mini-marshmallows
1 bag of Wiltons candy melts in dark cocoa
1/4 bag of Wilton’s candy melts in white
1 cup of sliced almonds
1 cup of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa together in large mixing bowl.
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough)
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter.
Cut into large circles (you want to have room for all those toppings!) and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Slide parchment paper off cookie sheet with cookies on top. Allow them to cool on counter.
Melt dark cocoa candy melts in microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until smooth.
Spoon about a tablespoon of chocolate on the top of a cookie and spread to edges.
Immediately (before chocolate hardens) add marshmallows, almonds and chocolate chips. They all don’t have to touch the melted chocolate, and some can be loose on top.
Finish all cookies in the same manner.
Melt white candy melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between until smooth.
Place candy melts into a small zip-top bag, clip a corner and drizzle white chocolate over the top of each cookie as shown.
Allow everything to harden up.
Store in an air-tight container for up to 5 days (the marshmallows get a little chewy past that point). Make sure to layer parchment paper between the layers of cookies when storing them.
Enjoy!

My thoughts: There is just something unbelievably good about marshmallows on a cookie. The chewy sweetness of those, the crunchy nuts, the soft chocolate cookie… I LOVE these! Sometimes the love of a dessert is as much about the textures as it is about the flavors- and this cookie wins in both categories!!!! I hope you get a chance to try these! Enjoy! ~r

Other favorites for the cookie jar: (click on a photo to see the recipe):

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Posted in Cookies and tagged almonds, Best chocolate cookie recipe, best cut out cookie recipe, chocolate cookies, chocolate covered cookies, chocolate cut-out cookies, chocolate marshmallow cookies, cookies, dark chocolate cookies, dessert, easy chocolate cookies, fun cookie recipe, marshmallow cookies, marshmallows, rocky road, Rocky Road cookies, sliced almonds, Valentines Day cookies. Bookmark the permalink.

Valentine’s Day Mug Topper Cookies!

Posted on January 28, 2017 by Ruthanne

Mug Topper Cookies

These adorable little cookies hang on the edge of a cup of coffee, cocoa or milk. Handy for dipping, and a perfect Valentine’s Day treat!

Aren’t these fun? When I have a few minutes of spare time, I like to wander around online looking for fun new kitchen and baking tools. I saw these cookie cutters and had to click on the photo to read more, because they didn’t make sense to me. They had several cute little shapes- but each one had a wedge cut out on one side. WHY?? I quickly discovered that the little wedge makes them not just cookie cutters- but mug-hanging cookie cutters! I happen to love dunking cookies in my coffee- so I knew I had to try them!

Valentine Mug hanging cookie

Does a cookie get more fun than that? I think not.

I was already making two different sorts of cut-out cookies for an event, so I set aside a little dough from each batch to make these. Here are the two recipes I used:

Chocolate Espresso Cut-out cookies (recipe here)
Buttery Cut-out cookies (recipe here)

I kneaded some red and pink jimmies into the buttery cut-out dough before I rolled it out to cut it.

You can use either of my recipes, or use your own- but you must choose a recipe that doesn’t puff up and get bigger in the oven. I have a fabulous gingerbread cookie recipe that would never work with these. If the dough changes shape as it bakes, that little wedge will not be big enough to slide onto the edge of a mug.

I also baked these on parchment paper, so I could slide them all off the cookie sheet and onto a counter to cool, without having to use a spatula to pick them up.

Because they are tiny little cookies to handle.
Because the wedge makes them more fragile until they cool and harden up.

Those are my “helpful hints”. They really are easy to make and so fun!

So a Valentine idea?

Make some of my Spiced Mocha Mix (recipe here).
Spoon 3-4 teaspoons into a cello bag.
Place a cookie into a second cello bag.
Print these tags (open link here).
Staple tag over the tops of the two bags.
Give away as a fun Valentine gift! (instructions for making mocha are on back of tag)

I hope you get a chance to try this little cookie cutter idea out! If you were careful, I suspect you could even use a knife to cut a little wedge out of a plain old heart cookie too…? More time consuming, but then you don’t need to purchase a new cookie cutter. Enjoy!! ~r

Other Valentine’s treats here on Easybaked (click on a photo to see the recipe)

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Posted in Cookies and tagged buttery cut-out cookies, chocolate, chocolate cut-out cookies, cookie recipe, easy valentines recipe, edible valentine, mocha, mocha mix recipe, mug topper cookies, over the edge cookies, specialty cookie cutters, unique cookies, unique holiday cookies, valentine cookies, Valentines Day cookies, Valentines gift idea. Bookmark the permalink.

Andes Mint Cookies

Posted on May 28, 2016 by Ruthanne

Creamy mint filling sandwiched between delicious dark chocolate cookies. Add a dip of chocolate on one end and you have the most delicious minty treat ever!!

Sometimes I just crave mint and chocolate. Mint and dark, not-too-sweet, chocolate. I have a favorite chocolate cut-out cookie and for this recipe I changed it around a bit to make it dark and less sweet. I love (love!!) how these turned out. My mom made wonderful mint brownies, and I grabbed the mint filling from those to add as a filling to these.

I think you will love these!!! Here is how I made them (printable recipe):

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 24 cookies, depending on the size of your cookie cutter)

2 sticks of butter, softened
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of dark cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons mint extract
green food coloring
1/2 bag of Wiltons candy melts in dark chocolate
1/4 bag of Wiltons candy melts in green

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Combine 2 sticks of softened butter, and both sugars in a large mixing bowl, and beat on low until creamed together.
Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy.
Add cocoa powder and beat until combined.
Gradually add flour until able to remove beaters and knead by hand. Add flour until a smooth ball of dough is formed.
Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut into whatever shape you want. I used a rectangle.
Place cookies on parchment paper covered cookie sheets, and bake for 12-16 minutes until firm.
Cool completely.
While cooling, mix 1 stick of melted butter with powdered sugar and mint extract. Add water until mixture is a thick but smooth icing.
Add green food coloring to desired shade.
Spread mint icing between two cooled cookies.
Melt chocolate and green candy melts in two separate bowls in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring between until smooth.
Place green melts in a small zip top bag, zip it tightly shut and clip a small corner off.
Spoon chocolate over 1/2 of a cookie, tap on side of bowl to remove excess chocolate and set on parchment paper.
Make lines of green on the melted chocolate and use a toothpick to pull through the green chocolate one way and then back the other to make design.

Allow cookie to harden
Enjoy!!

My thoughts: These are delicious. I love the dark chocolate cookies so much. They are almost like a not-too-sweet brownie. The mint adds so much and while I really like the look of the dipped end, you could totally skip it and serve the cookies plain. They are a touch less sweet when not half-dipped in chocolate. I hope you get a chance to try these!! Enjoy!!! ~r

Other not-too-sweet desserts here on Easybaked: (click on photo to see recipe)

Chocolate Crossword Cookies

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Ruthanne

These delicious chocolate cut-out cookies are the perfect way to spell out your love to Mom on Mother’s Day!

Goodness, I love these cut-out cookies. They are one of my very favorite chocolate cookies and they roll out and cut beautifully! I’ve used them often with various projects here on Easybaked.

This Mother’s Day is different. It is my very 1st Mother’s Day without a Mom. For those of you who follow me here at Easybaked, you know that we lost mom very suddenly last Christmas season to cancer. Almost every day feels strange without her here, but I guess Mother’s Day seems even more strange.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I would have a recipe this year here in celebration of Moms- and I said, “Yes!”

Moms are such a wonderful gift, and if you have one this weekend– give her a big hug and really enjoy having her in your life. I have no regrets about my time with my mom- we made so many wonderful memories together and I love thinking about all the times we spent talking and laughing in my 44 years.

This idea is for her. She was positively addicted to crossword puzzles, and I know that these cookies would have made her smile.

My icing skills are not something to be terribly proud of…man, I cannot draw a straight line!!!!

Here’s how we made them: (printable recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 30, 1 1/2” square cookies)

1 sticks (1/2 cup) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Wilton’s candy melts (to mold or write letters with)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa together in large mixing bowl.
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough)
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter, using a floured rolling pin.
Cut into 1 1/2″ squares and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface.
Before frosting, make letters by using a candy letter mold in 1″ letters. Pipe melted Wilton’s Candy Melts into the letters you need and allow them to harden completely before tapping to remove. You can also just “write” letters on the frosted cookies using melted chocolate or even use pens designed to write in edible ink.
Frost using Royal Icing. Click here for my printable royal icing recipe and instructions for use.
As soon as you frost, lay letters in place before the frosting hardens (if you are “writing” directly on the cookie you will wait until the frosting is very hard 1st).
Decorate extra cookies with fun sprinkles.

My thoughts: These are yummy little cut-outs! If you don’t want to go with a crossword theme, you can cut these into any shape and decorate them just for your mom!

I will leave you with a (very!) old picture of my mom and I together. I’m so thankful for all the years between this picture and now.

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Looking for that perfect gift for moms and grandmas? Get them my cookbook- specially designed to use with kids and grandkids, teaching them both kitchen skills and about God’s love for them! Fun!!!

Life Is Sweet: 12 Baking Devotions for Kids

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Posted in Cookies and tagged baking devotions, candy melts, chocolate, chocolate cut-out cookies, crossword cookies, cut-out cookies, dessert, fun, kids devotions, letter cookies, mom, mothers day, mothers day cookies, mothers day gift ideas, recipe, royal icing. Bookmark the permalink.

Chocolate Fudge Cut-Out Cookies!!

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Ruthanne

The rich dark cocoa flavor of these cut-out cookies sets them apart as one of the yummiest cookies I’ve ever had!!

This weekend was a special treat — my good friend (and fellow baker/blogger) Megan came to visit me from Pennsylvania. We met in 2010 on a mission trip to Russia and we have been best of friends ever since.

Megan and her mom and sisters create the most beautiful and unique cakes I’ve ever seen, and they blog about life and caking on their blog Happily Ever Cakes. Megan has such great decorating ideas and she promised to share some of her recipes and techniques with me this weekend.

We spent hours in the kitchen (often accompanied with friends who wanted to help and learn too!) It was so much fun, and I’m so excited to share with you all the things I learned!!

Holding our personalized mug cupcakes–technique coming soon to Easybaked!
Such a fun weekend!

I wasn’t sure which project to tell you about first, so I decided to begin by dedicating this post to some truly yummy chocolate cut-out cookies.

Megan wanted to prove to me that royal icing isn’t always a tedious mess…. but honestly, royal icing is a tedious mess no matter what your technique or recipe (in my humble opinion!)

They are cute. Super super cute cookies. But 24 cookies took three of us about 3 hours….which means if I’d done them alone they would have taken me 9 hours….yeah.

So there are a lot of pictures because this will likely never happen again.

We even put some of them on lollipop sticks which was a really fun way to display them.

When Megan suggested a royal icing project I immediately thought of this great family recipe. I’d never made them as a cut-out cookie or attempted to bake them with sticks inserted, but I thought it would be worth experimenting with since they taste SO good. The verdict?? These dense chocolate cookies are easy to cut into shapes and worked great with or without lollipop sticks. The dark cookie really made all the fun colors in our frosting stand out too!

Ready for the recipe? (printer friendly recipe)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 24 large cookies)

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa together in large mixing bowl.
Blend on medium speed with a mixer until smooth.
Gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth (use clean hands at the end, to knead into a soft ball of dough)
Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.
Allow cookie dough to soften a little at room temperature
Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. If you are adding sticks, you will want to roll the cookies out thick (about 1/3″)
Cut into desired shapes and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Insert lollipop sticks, if desired, by gently pushing stick into cookie about 1- 1 1/2 inches. You will need to arrange cookies to fit with sticks on top of cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes until the edges are firm.
Gently slide parchment paper off of cookie sheet and onto a flat surface. Cool completely before moving- this allows the cookie to “set” around the stick. Even when it is cooled, handle it with care. It takes a little time for the cookie to harden around the stick.
Frost as desired. A simple powdered sugar glaze will be delicious on these, or if you want to get fancy (and have a nice hard surface on your cookie) click here for Megan’s royal icing recipe and instructions for use.

Fun chocolate cookie cut-outs My thoughts: These cookies are SO yummy. I’m not usually a huge fan of cut-out cookies, but these are truly worth the effort of rolling out and cutting! I like them thick- even if you don’t add sticks to make them into pops. They are so much fun all set up in a vase~ what a perfect way to serve cookies at a party! You could wrap these in cello bags and tie them with cute ribbons too- a perfect favor for a wedding or shower! Hope you have fun with these treats!!! Enjoy!! ~r