It’s that time of the year! Nothing can beat the familiar aroma of freshly baked cookies amidst Christmas music on full blast. Here are a couple cookie recipes to try out this holiday season!
This recipe elevates your basic sugar cookies to a whole other level with the added chocolate flavor!
(PC/Kaya Long)
Review
These cookies are everything you are looking for in a baked good. The process for making these cookies was relatively simple aside from the hazard of choking on cocoa powder fumes when combining the dry ingredient with the wet ingredients (just kidding, but not really). The dough firmed up nicely in the fridge and was fairly easy to scoop and roll into uniform dough balls. After cooling, the cookies had a nice semi-chewy texture with a perfect amount of delectable chocolate flavor.
(PC/Kaya Long)
Notes and Suggestions
Cooking time - The recipe suggests they bake for “11 to 13 minutes, until the edges have set and the centers are puffed and starting to crack.” Personally I found that after baking the cookies until they matched this description (12 minutes or so) they needed more time in the oven. Even after cooling completely for well over 20 minutes, the cookies were still a little too soft and rather delicate to pick up. I found that popping them back in the preheated 350°F oven for 5 minutes yielded the perfect texture.
Cocoa Powder Variety - You’ll notice that the original recipe calls for a very specific “HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa” powder, but I used what I had–a basic cocoa powder–-and it worked just fine.
Dietary Restrictions - There are no notes about allergy substitutions in the recipe so I just used Bob’s All-Purpose Flour and regular butter considering that I didn’t want to skew the results with alternative ingredients. Therefore, I’m not sure how this recipe would work out with gluten-free flour for example, or dairy-free butter. However, the next recipe is gluten-free and has a dairy-free accommodation explicitly included.
Butter - This probably goes without saying, but if you use salted butter like I did, be sure to omit the salt.
Summary
If you are a chocolate lover or even if you think chocolate is just “mid,” there is a good chance that you will love this recipe. The cookies were overall pretty darn delicious.
Overall I would rate this recipe a 9/10.
Try this recipe: Chocolate Sugar Cookies
These cookies are a classic with that crunch of sugar and hint of cinnamon that everyone can enjoy!
(PC/Kaya Long)
Review
The cookie batter alone was pretty scrumptious but once that dough was baked and coated in cinnamon sugar… everything changed. The preparation for this recipe was even simpler than the previous recipe, with no separate combination of dry ingredients required. After the butter and sugar was creamed together and the initial amount of flour was added, it was all about sprinkling in small bits of flour at a time until the dough came together.
(PC/Kaya Long)
Notes and Suggestions
Cooking Time - These cookies weren’t problematic at all in terms of cook time. The recipe suggests “8 minutes for softer cookies, and 10-12 minutes for crispier cookies.” After 12 minutes in the oven and cooling completely, these cookies were good to go with firm edges and a soft fluffy center.
Dough - As I alluded to earlier, my dough was pretty soft and not quite dough-like once the flour was fully incorporated, but I attribute that to the fact that my cup measurements were not as accurate as they should have been. Therefore, I would suggest using a chopstick or the flat side of a knife and taking the time to level off the flour in order to get an accurate measurement. However, of course you can always adjust the texture by adding more flour as needed like I did.
Butter - Once again, if you use salted butter like I did, be sure to omit the salt.
Dietary Restrictions - Like I mentioned previously, this recipe is originally gluten free and says in the ingredient list that dairy-free butter can be used as a substitute.
Summary
These cookies can be truly enjoyed by everyone (except maybe cinnamon haters) especially since you really can’t tell that they are gluten-free. Compared the the chocolate sugar cookies these snickerdoodles are overall a lighter cookie due to the difference in flavor, size, and texture, but both are great nonetheless.
All in allI would rate this recipe a 8.5/10 (I’m definitely biased towards chocolate).
Try this recipe: Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle Cookies
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