Will You Marry Me?

You will after you eat these cookies. Marry Me cookies get their name from the delicious taste and possibility of someone offering to marry you after making them. It's not guaranteed, but they do have some magical powers. My mom first made these cookies while I was still at home over break. They rolled out about 3 dozen so she ushered me off with a big bag full before I went on my ski trip. I left them on the counter of the ski house we rented while I unpacked and came back downstairs to them almost all gone. 

I couldn't take the credit so I had to make my own batch once we got home. They were as big a hit the second time around. No proposals, but I mean I'm 21, not really trying to get married yet!!

Chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and pecans, all wonderful components ready to be dumped into the dough (and a few small handfuls into my mouth). The way these cookies come together is different than most cookie recipes. The butter and sugars are melted together on the stove, then instead of transferring to an electric mixer, you continue to combine all the ingredients in the pan on the stove. There are then stages of chilling the dough before baking, but I promise they turn out wonderful. 

Marry Me Cookies adapted from this recipe 
yields 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 1/4 light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until melted. Remove from the heat. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and stir until sugars are incorporated and smooth. Chill the mixture for 10 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator and stir in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and mix together. Stir in the white chocolate chips, chocolate chips and pecans. Roll by hand into medium-size balls or use a scoop, and place on sheet pans (greasing is not necessary because of the melted butter). If desired, tuck extra chips and pecans over tops of dough mounds for a lovely appearance.

Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Chill, on sheet pan for 30 minutes in the fridge or just a few in the freezer. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool for several minutes on pan, then transfer to cooling rack.

If you are over pink, red and hearts galore, these are a perfect, yet subtle Valentine treat! 

Annie

White Chocolate Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Could there be more ingredients in the title of these cookies? Despite the laundry list name, these cookies are good. They are also made with coconut oil, so they're like, healthy. So, like, have 5 and don't feel bad. 

Once you create the dough it's time to add the blueberries. The recipe uses frozen blueberries which I just so happened to have in the freezer. Berries in my smoothies and berries in my cookies:)

Each cookie gets two blueberries. Then the messy task of rolling the dough back up to hide the berries begins. Picture me with dough covering my fingers, holding a ball of cookie dough in one hand, and trying to juggle taking a picture with the other. My phone had a nice layer of oatmeal dough all over it after that. 

White Chocolate Blueberry Coconut Oatmeal Cookies recipe via Ambitious Kitchen
yields 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded coconut flakes
2.5 ounces good-quality white chocolate bar, coarsely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
frozen organic blueberries (you'll need 2 blueberries per cookie, so around 40-50 blueberries

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

In large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In bowl of an electric mixer beat together melted coconut oil and brown sugar until smooth. Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat again for 2 minutes or until smooth.

Stir in flour & oat mixture to the wet ingredients; mixing until well combined. Slowly fold in coconut and white chocolate chunks. 

Use a cookie scoop to gather a large rounded tablespoon of dough. Flatten the dough in the palm of your hand and add two blueberries on top, roll dough back into a ball and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with each dough ball then place cookies on cookie sheet 2 inches apart and bake for 10-13 minutes or until edges just begin to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes on baking sheet until the cookies firm up a bit. Transfer to a wire rack to allow cookies to cool completely. 

I was making these for my great-grand littles (sorority terms if you weren't aware, I'm not actually a grandma) for their initiation week, but I snatched one off the pan real quick before I packaged them up. With all the snatching and quick moves I lost control of my cookie when I went to dump it in my milk, and ker-plump...floating cookie in a mug full of soy milk. I reached in, snapped a pic of the saved cookie (see first picture), then shoved the whole thing in my mouth. Happy Tuesday!

Annie

"The Best Cookies You've Ever Made"

I had originally discovered these cookies in the midst of distracting myself from studying for finals. The idea of lavender and white chocolate had me drooling in the library. I couldn't wait to get home for the summer to make these!

The lovely Rachel over at Spache the Spatula first made these cookies. Go check out her site because all of her recipes are seriously nom worthy. 

I knew I would love the flavor combination of the cookies, but I was a little nervous at what other people would think, especially boys, especially my dad. He has a broad palate but usually likes to stick to the basics when it comes to cookies. To my surprise, they were a hit! My dad even claimed he thinks they are the best cookies I've ever made! 

They are unusual, but absolutely amazing. The have a really gourmet layer of flavors that anyone would love! These are the perfect spring or summer cookie and would be great at any kind of shower or party!

I had never made anything with lavender before, but I've always loved the flavor. I found a small pouch of lavender buds at Sprouts on an end cap with other peculiar spices. Although, I'm sure you could find them at most specialty or organic grocery stores. 

I love the way Rachel combines the lavender and sugar in a food processor to really perfume the sugar and to insure the lavender gets spread throughout the dough. 

The only change to the recipe I made was using chips instead of getting a bark of chocolate and chopping it. I just add the chips directly to the electric mixer and let the mixer chop the chips up a little. 

The cookies are finished off with a sprinkle of sea salt and extra lavender to really balance out the flavors. I was so pleased with these cookies and so was everyone who tried them!

Sea Salt Lavender and White Chocolate Chip Cookies
yields 2 dozen

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. lavender
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
1 large egg + 1 large egg white
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
sea salt for sprinkling 

Directions:
In a bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt; set aside. 

In a food processor, process the sugar and lavender for a few seconds until the lavender is chopped into tiny pieces and sugar starts to "smoke" out of the processor. This step perfumes the sugar and ensures that the lavender will be evenly distributed within the cookie!

In an electric mixer, beat together the butter, shortening and lavender sugar on medium for 3 minutes. Add in the egg and egg white and beat for 3 more minutes until fluffy. Add in the flour mixture slowly and white chocolate until combined. 

Using a cookie scoop, generously scoop oversized balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet, then preheat your oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is preheating, place your sheets of dough in the freezer to let them firm up. Once the oven is ready, bake your cookies for 12 minutes. 

The cookies should look slightly underdone when you take them out. Immediately sprinkle with sea salt and extra lavender if you want! Allow to cool then indulge in one of the best cookies you will ever make;)

To use up the rest of your lavender, try this vanilla lavender granola recipe! 

Annie