Cookies – Mae Bakes

Oreo Fudge Brownie Cookies

November 30, 2020January 6, 2022 maebakesatx

Holiday Cookie season is here! It’s a little earlier than usual, but it’s 2020 and we could all use a little joy, even if it’s 6 weeks early. My inspiration for this week’s bake comes from a few leftover goodies from Halloween. Below is the recipe for my Oreo Fudge Brownie Cookies along with my tips, tricks, and don’ts that I did. This is a cookie recipe you’ll want to make all year; they’re that good!

Ingredients for Cookies

1 stick unsalted butter
1 package (12oz) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
4 eggs
1 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 cup Gluten-Free Flour
1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 package (12oz) of white chocolate chips
1.5 cups of crushed oreo wafers
1/4 cup powdered sugar (for topping the cookies)

Directions for Cookies

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine semi-sweet chocolate and unsalted butter. Microwave on high for 1.5 minutes or until the mixture is smooth when stirred. Set aside.

Mix eggs, sugar, and vanilla with hand mixer in large bowl until blended.

Add flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Mix on low until well combined.

Blend in chocolate mixture.

Fold in 1 cup of the crushed Oreos.

Stir in white chocolate chips.

Drop a tablespoon or cookie scoop of mixture onto parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until shiny.

Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes.

Move to cooling rack and top with remaining Oreos and powdered sugar.

Tips, Tricks, and Don’ts that I did

Be careful not to overcook your chocolate chips in the microwave. The texture should be smooth, not grainy. If it’s grainy, you’ve heated them for too long and will need to redo it.

Oreos are not gluten-free. To limit the amount of gluten in my batch of cookies I used gluten-free flour. You can use regular flour if you’d prefer.

This cookie recipe would be great with nuts too. Feel free to play with the ingredients and add any extras you like.

These cookies should be fudgy, not dry. If they look underbaked, don’t worry! As long as you’ve baked them for the time listed in the instructions they’re done.

These cookies are delicious reheated too. Microwave for 5 seconds and add a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on top.

As always, don’t forget to ENJOY!

Cookies, Favorite Bakes

Simple Petite Glazed Lemon Cookies

February 28, 2020 maebakesatx

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is soak up the sun at Barton Springs Pool in Austin TX. For this weeks blog I was dreaming of those warmer days by the pool and wanted to do a bake that was fresh and tiny but packed a huge flavor. The recipe below is easy, delicious and full of sunshine; one bite will make you feel like you’re poolside on a grassy hill soaking up the warm rays of summer. Don’t forget to keep reading to my dos and don’ts that I did to find out why this recipe might be the easiest bake I’ve ever made.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon zest, finely grated

7 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into cubes

1 egg yolk

3 teaspoons ice water

Ingredients for Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

Directions for Cookies

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar and lemon zest.

Cut in chilled butter using a pastry blender until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Add in egg yolk using a fork until blended.

Using your hands gently knead the dough.

Add ice water 1 teaspoon at a time and continue kneading the dough until a ball forms.

Once a ball has been formed cut the dough in half.

Roll each half into a log about 1 inch in diameter.

Wrap logs in plastic and allow them to chill in freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove logs from freezer, unwrap and slice into 1/4 inch rounds using a serrated knife.

Place cookies on lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely.

Directions for Glaze

Place powdered sugar into bowl and add lemon juice.

Whisk until smooth and syrupy.

Submerge cooled cookies into glaze top side down and return to cooling rack. Repeat this step 2 more times for a thicker glaze.

Tips and Tricks and a few Don’ts that I did

These cookies are so easy that the scariest part was rolling the dough. Even that part is as simple as playing with playdough. You literally just roll it on a lightly floured surface between your hands and the counter. Wrap it, freeze it and bake it. It could not be any easier.

You don’t have to make both logs if you’d like to save one. It can be kept in the freezer for at least a month, but trust me you’ll want to bake it sooner than that. These cookies may be small but they are addictive. I ate the first batch by myself in two days and only shared two. They are seriously that good.

Play with the flavor of the glaze. If you don’t want a punch of lemon flavor, you can add less juice to your sugar.

That’s it. Very few don’ts that I did and so simple I don’t have many tips or tricks. These cookies are tiny in size but mighty in flavor and incredibly easy. I’ll be eating these a lot this spring and summer. I hope you will be too! Enjoy!

Cookies, Kids Bakes

Teacher Treats and Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

December 20, 2019January 6, 2022 maebakesatx

WOW! I say this every year, but December has flown by. It’s already time for the kids to be out for Christmas break, which means…. Teacher Gifts! I always like to do something a little personal for my kids teachers because they do so much for us. This year I decided to give a few of our Austin favorites as gifts like Cuppa Austin Coffee and Austin Gourmet Popcorn as well as some very easy, but very tasty made from scratch chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe is very easy to follow and makes enough cookies for my kids seven teachers with extras to spare for the little hands that helped with the baking. Below is the recipe with a few tips and tricks at the end.

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups flour

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together butter, white sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth.

Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.

Dissolve baking soda in hot water, add to batter with salt.

Mix in flour 1 cup at a time until well mixed.

Add chocolate chips.

Use scoop to place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown.

Remove cookies from pan and place on cooling rack.

When cooled, we packed our cookies into Christmas treat bags to give to our teachers along with the other goodies.

Tips and Tricks and Don’ts that I did

Don’t over bake your cookies. It’s really easy to do. Remember cookies continue to cook when you take them out of the oven. As long as your edges are lightly golden you will have a perfect cookie.

Freeze any extra cookie dough you have. If you only want to make 20 cookies, portion the remaining cookie dough into plastic bags, throw it in your freezer and use when you like. To bake the frozen cookie dough set oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes. The cookies will bake just like you made them the first time. We’re using our leftover cookie dough for Santa cookies next week!

Invest in a cookie (ice cream) scoop. This is a GAME CHANGER. You’ll get a perfect cookie every time. Below is the scoop I bought from Amazon. We make cookies all the time and I can’t imagine not having my scoop. https://www.amazon.com/Disher-Scoop-Cream-Portion-Control/dp/B06XY9RDSQ/

These cookies are really easy, but also really fun. They might be the only bake I’ve done that have kept my kids attention the entire time. They loved helping me and being able to say to their teachers “Hey, I helped bake that!”

I’ll end with this. Val, a contestant, from The Great British Baking Show once said “When you bake, you always bake for a reason. You’re giving it to people, so you make it the best you can. You make it with love. And whenever I make anything, I stir love into it. I knead love into it, so when I present it, its special.”

I love this so much because it’s so true. In the short time I’ve been baking I’ve learned that baking is so much more than ingredients and oven temperatures. Bakers put something special into each bake. We LOVE our teachers and it makes me so happy to bake something out of love with my kids for them even if it’s something small but tasty like Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I’m looking forward to sharing many more bakes next year, the good ones and bad ones and especially the scrummy ones! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Mae Bakes!!