Snickers and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the pitfalls of living in a warm climate year-round is when you leave your butter out to soften to room temperature, you can sometimes come back to a puddle of oil.  Such is life and you just throw it in the mixer and keep your fingers crossed.  Cookies don't last long in my household anyway, so a little melted butter is not going to affect that in any way.

I first saw these cookies last week on The Spiced Life and I knew as soon as I saw the title that I would have to bake them since Snickers is one of my favorite candies.  Unfortunately, I was not able to find Snickers Bites, so I had to compromise with Snickers bars that I put in the refrigerator and then cut into small pieces.  The bars worked out well but I will still try and find the bites because they seem like something that would be fun to bake with. Sweet and salty is one of my favorite combinations and I really liked the sprinkle of sea salt on top of the cookies.  They reminded me a little of shortbread.

Other than the Snickers bars the only other change I made was to use only all-purpose flour for the cookies.  This happened to be the flour that I hand on hand, and it worked out fine.  If you are planning on making them I'll give you a heads up that the dough needs to be refrigerated before baking, preferably overnight.

A little love heart of caramel on one of the cookies

Snickers and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 4 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1¼ teaspoon baking soda 
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder 
• 1½ teaspoon coarse salt 
• 2½ sticks unsalted butter 
• 1¼ cups light brown sugar 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 tablespoon natural vanilla extract 
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips 
• 2 King Size (3.56oz) Snickers Peanut Butter Squared cut into small pieces
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling 

Preparation

1. Whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl, and set aside. 
2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. 
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 
4. Stir in the vanilla. 
5. With speed on low, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. 
6. Mix in the chocolate chips and Snickers pieces. Cover the dough with something airtight and refrigerate at least overnight.
7. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. 
8. Using a cookie dough scoop or an ice cream scoop of medium size, scoop the cookies onto the prepared tray, 6 per sheet. 
9. Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still a little soft, about 11-13 minutes. 
10. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the cookies individually to a cooling rack.

Recipe by Laura from The Spiced Life

To Try Tuesday - Browned Butter Snickerdoodles

With folders overflowing with recipes that I have either snipped from my magazines, or bookmarked on my computer, it was about time that I got back to my To Try Tuesdays.  Today's recipe is actually a recent one that appeared in my reader just over a week ago.  Three little words got my immediate attention - Browned Butter Snickerdoodles.

This recipes comes courtesy of The Spiced Life.  I love this blog because it is so eclectic.  Laura is always thinking outside the box so you never know what might be on the blog next - how fun is that!  One day you may see a Lentil & Potato Casserole with Pumpkin & Tomatoes topped with a Phyllo Crust, then you could see something like a Lime Basil Bundt Cake, a Chicken Noodle Soup with Mushrooms, Ginger, and Chinese 5 Spice, and so much more.

Browning the butter gives a lovely nutty flavor to the cookies, and I loved the spices. A few years ago I made Chai Snickerdoodles, which had similar flavorings, but did not call for browned butter.  Special note was made of the suggestions regarding these cookies - make sure you keep whisking the butter as it is browning, chill the dough for at least an hour, and do not crowd the cookie sheet.

These cookies are absolutely delicious.  As soon as they came out of the oven I had to try one - quality control you know.  Actually, that is so not the truth.  The reality is that they just smelled so inviting I couldn't stop myself.  There is nothing better than a cookie warm from the oven.

Browned Butter Snickerdoodles

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cardamom
• ¼ ground ginger
• pinch finely ground black pepper
• pinch cloves
• pinch allspice

For the cinnamon-sugar:

• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. In a saucepan, preferably stainless steel so you can see the butter, melt the butter on medium heat.  Whisk constantly until the butter turns reddish-golden brown.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, vanilla, eggs, and cooled butter.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, and spices in a bowl. 
4. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
5. Chill your dough for 1 hour (or as long as possible, preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.  
6. Preheat the oven to 350℉. 
7. Meanwhile mix ½ cup sugar and the 2 teaspoons cinnamon in a bowl. 
8. Once dough is chilled measure about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place dough balls on cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.
9. Bake the cookies 11-13 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. 
10. Cool the cookies on the sheet for at least 2 minutes. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheet after a few minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Repeat with remaining dough.
12. Makes about 30 cookies.

Recipe by The Spiced Life, slight adaptations by ATLATC.