Salted Caramel Chocolate Chips

In a mixing bowl, combine & cream together thoroughly:

3/4 cup soft UNsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 extra egg yolk

2 teasp. vanilla

Stir in:

2 cups plus 2 Tblsp. flour

1/2 teasp. baking soda

1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Chill dough for 1 hr.

When ready to bake, heat your oven to 350º & line a few baking sheets w/parchment.

Have ready:  16-20 caramels, cut up into 5-6 smaller pcs. each - OR if you're lucky, you can find Kraft Caramel Bits (bag) in the baking aisle near chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded Tblsp. onto sheets, leaving space between each cookie.  Press a few pcs. of caramel onto the tops of each cookie.

Bake 8-10 minutes, until the edges begin to turn golden.  Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle a small amount of sea salt onto the tops of each cookie.

Cool and enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies

These remind me of " yin - yang " !  When making these cookies, you will be mixing 2 smallish batches of dough, chilling them and then rolling a lot of little balls (45-50 each).

Heat the oven to 350º.

Chocolate dough - mix together all ingredients in this order. Wrap in plastic & chill 1 hr:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tblsp. milk

1/2 cup + 2 Tblsp. cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup flour

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

WRAP & CHILL 1 HR.

Peanut Butter dough - mix together all ingred. in this order. Wrap in plastic & chill 1 hr:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

WRAP & CHILL 1 HR.

This works best if you quickly roll all the balls first (peanut butter first, and then chocolate) - if you alternate and make 1 cookie at a time, it's messy and you get chocolate all over your hands, mixing it onto the PB dough.

Roll each type of dough into small balls (1 level tsp. or so - don't forget - you're combining 2 balls per cookie!).  After they're all rolled into balls, take one of each and quickly roll them together between the palms of your hand.  Just a few 'spins' is all you need.  Place the balls into parchment lined baking pans (or greased sheets) - bake for 11-13 minutes.  Remove from the oven, let sit for a minute and then remove the cookies onto cooling racks.

Triple Chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, mix together very well:

1 cup softened butter

3/4 c. (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir in:

1/4 cup powdered cocoa

1 teasp. baking soda

2 cups flour

Mix well. Add whatever types of chocolate chips (and nuts, if you'd like) you prefer. For these, I added:

1 C. semisweet chips

1/2 C. mini semisweet chips

1/2 C. Ghirardelli 60% choc. chips (can't beat them!!!)

1 c. white chocolate chips

Lay dough on plastic wrap or put in a large ziplock bag, flatten out a bit and refrigerate for 2 hours (or more).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cookie dough (heaping tsp. or small tblsp.) on parchment lined sheets, leaving an inch of space between them.

Bake for 9-10 minutes- do NOT overbake! They'll look pretty soft when you remove them from the oven but they'll firm up as they cool. Slide the parchment onto a countertop and let the cookies cool completely before removing.

Chocolate chip cookies

These have become a family favorite. I've played around with ingredients, amounts and technique and this works best for us, producing a tasty, yet chewy cookie.

In a mixing bowl, using a mixer or (vigorous action with a) wire whisk, cream together for 3-4 minutes (IMPORTANT!), until light and fluffy:

1/2 cup softened butter

1/2 cup stick margarine (Parkay or Land o'Lakes)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

Mix in thoroughly:

1 teasp. good quality vanilla extract (I use Madagascar vanilla)

1 large egg

1 extra egg yolk only

Combine 1/2 teasp. of baking soda with 2-1/4 cups white flour - slowly stir into the creamed butter, mixing completely.

Add:

1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips

(Add chopped nuts at this point if you like.)

Wrap the cookie dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for AT LEAST SIX HOURS, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On greased baking sheets OR parchment lined sheets (I always bake cookies using parchment) drop large teaspoonfuls of dough, leaving an inch of space between cookies, 16 to 20 per baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until they're just starting to get golden around the edges. Remove from oven and cool before removing cookies to a plate.