Cocoa Fudge Cookies and Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Here are two no-fuss cookies from Nicole Weston's Baking bites I love how these are so easy to make... especially when I don't need to bother hand mixer to cream butter + sugar. Everything goes in the bowl, mix , scoop and then poof..f...f here come my babies.

My first baby, Cocoa Fudge Cookies, original recipe is from Cooking light magazine but my inspiration was from a handsome photo displayed on Nicole's website. Here is the recipe. Cocoa Fudge Cookies Recipe




I couldn't find dried tart cherry so I put in white chocolate bits from my last cookie batch. The dough, as seen above, came out just fine, not too gooey and was easy to shape. This recipe turns out to be a coffee mate, these two things compliment each other so well. If anyone has a coffee house, you can serve this cookie with espresso. I believe people would crave both (coffee + cookie) even more. However ,this maybe a little too sweet for those who are chocolate hard core'r like me. Next time I would use tard dried cherry as stated in recipe to cut sweetness.

The second no-fuss cookies, Banana Oatmeal Cookies. Oh I need to say, I don't know why lately I crave bananas. Am I transforming into a monkey or I'm becoming one , or I've become one??? Never before, that I like this fruit. Never mind, I bake this out of my love of cookies and bananas. :-> Again, inspiration is from Nicole's baking bites. Thanks Nicole for the recipe.

Here is recipe Banana Oatmeal Cookies





I baked these two black/white cookies, gave away to friends, spared half a dozen for myself in a ziplock bag. I was surprised how quick I could finish them in one day even though I thought they would last longer on the kitchen shelf. Obviously, I am a good planner but a bad implementor. Oh...my chewy babies don't you hide in that little zipbag!!! .

Outrageous chocolate cookies

This was my second effort after the first failure last month. What happened last time? It was a shame that I altered ingredients, as I was short of "real" chocolate and replaced with cocoa powder then added some butter intuitively. Result? weird pieces of hard cooked/bland biscuit. Lesson learned? YES. Don't be frugal on ingredients or alter the recipes unless you are experimenting a new one.

Okay then I promised I would decipline to what said in the recipe, and yes with all my respect (and from the failure last time) I measured up as accurate as I could. Sometimes you just trust your eyes and ears thinking that you've been baking for awhile and that measuring seems to be less necessary. Believe me, baking is art and science , the latter of which implies that you must follow instructions as much as possible.

I put loads of chocolate in. I love this recipe. It's easy, no fuss. While baking, my kitchen smelled like the house of chocolate. I love the look of cookies, cracky and crisp. They actually are very soft. The chocolate chucks are half melted inside, make you crave for a cup of coffee.

The orignal recipe is from Martha Stewart's website

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/deliciously-outrageous-chocolate-cookies?autonomy_kw=chocolate%20cookies&rsc=header_2

Makes 2 dozen

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.

I love the photo from this site. They close up the inner texture.
http://www.bakeorbreak.com/2008/02/14/outrageous-chocolate-cookies/