The 4 Best Cookies You’ll Ever Have

Below are a list of the 4 best cookies I make! Finding these recipes were not easy, it took many tries of several of the same recipe to find the perfect one. Therefore making it super easy for you to just make them and not have to fuss! 

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Believe it or not but this recipe comes from the back of the Hersey's milk chocolate chip cookie package. My Aunt used to make these cookies every time our families went on a road trip. Whenever we were driving far we all knew these cookies were going to be made and we couldn't wait to eat the whole tin by the time we reached our destination and now I love to make them whenever! Below is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS
2/3 cup of melted butter
2 cups lightly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons of hot water

2 2/3 cups of all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 to 2 cups (depending how you like it, I did 1 1/2 cups) of milk chocolate chip cookies

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. 

In a stand mixer beat melted butter with the lightly packed brown sugar, eggs and hot water until smooth. 

Stir all purpose flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Then stir into butter mixture. 

Stir in milk chocolate chip cookies and drop 1 tablespoon portion onto a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bake 10 minutes and cool for one minute on baking sheet; then transfer onto a wired rack to completely cool. 

Enjoy!

The Best Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

So gingerbread cookies are my absolute favourite cookies in the entire world, not kidding. Growing up my mom used to make the BEST gingerbread cookies during Christmas but over the years we lost the recipe and I have been on the hunt to find a recipe comparable and this is it! I have tried out several gingerbread cookie recipes and this one is the best. They are not too spicy, they are soft and chewy and very addictive. Curtsy of Delish, I made a few tweaks but the original recipe can be found here. I found this recipe in 2019 and that Christmas I made a small batch just to try and fell in love. No joke I made 8 dozen of these bad boys and every single one went. There recipe is below:

INGREDIENTS

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

2/3 c. molasses

1 large egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and molasses until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, spices, baking soda, and salt until combined. With the mixer on low, gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, until dough just comes together. (Do not over mix!)

Divide dough in half and create two balls. Wrap each in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 2 to 3 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350° and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place one ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll until 1/4" thick. Cut out gingerbread men or other Christmas cookie cutters and transfer to baking sheets.

Bake until slightly puffed and set, 9 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie cutters. Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. 

 Repeat with remaining dough. Decorate with icing and sprinkles as desired once completely cool.

Ricotta Lemon Cookies

Okay so I didn't have a picture of just the cookies so I am gracing you with a picture of my boyfriend and I (we look terrible lol). We were making these cookies for a baby shower back in December so this is the most recent picture I have of these cookies. These are probably the easiest cookies you'll ever make but you will be complimented everywhere you go. Curtsy of Laura Vitale these lemon ricotta cookies are divine. Check her page out here, she is an amazing chef! There recipe is below:

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups of All Purpose Flour

2/3 cups of Granulated Sugar

2 tsp of Vanilla Extract

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp of Salt

1 Egg

1/3 cup of Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup of Ricotta

Zest of 1 Lemon

For the Glaze:

1 cup of Confectioner Sugar

Juice of the lemon we zested

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the eggs, ricotta, vanilla and lemon zest and continue to mix until combined.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt and add it to the ricotta mixture.

Mix everything together until a dough forms.

Using a small ice cream scoop (or a small spoon) and scoop out your cookie dough on your prepared baking sheets making sure to place them a few inches apart.

Bake the cookies for 14 to 16 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and at the bottom. Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack before glazing.

To make the glaze, whisk together the powder sugar with enough lemon juice to get a nice runny but yet still thick consistency. Start with the juice of 1/2 of the lemon and using a bit more at little bit at a time or until you've achieved the right consistency. 

Shortbread Cookie Sandwiches with Jam

I never liked shortbread jam cookies until I found this recipe. These cookies are soft, buttery, sweet and salty, they are delicious. Curtsy of Pina Bresciani, her link here. The recipe is below:

INGREDIENTS

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus extra to roll out the dough

1/2 cup strawberry or raspberry jam

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 325°F. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together butter, icing sugar, salt and vanilla until light and fluffy. This may take a bit – at least 3 minutes. Continuing with the stand mixer, add flour to the mixture until just combined. At this point, a ball of dough will begin to form.

Remove dough from stand mixer, and knead with your hands until a full ball forms, about 1 minute. Wrap in plastic wrap, and place in fridge for at least 45 minutes. This will allow the dough to harden so it’s easier to roll out.

On a floured surface, cut the ball in half, re-wrap and place the second half back in the fridge. It's easier to roll it in halves and you want the second half to remain cold or else it will begin softening. Roll out dough with a rolling pin, adding extra flour to your rolling surface and rolling pin if dough begins to stick. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness.

I switch the cookie cutters depending on the season, the picture above I did a small flower, I've done them in stars for Christmas and plain circles during the year. This will alter how long you have to bake them. You will have to ball and re-roll the cookies several times to use up all the dough. I like to press a small hole in the middle using the end of a small funnel but this is completely optional.

Arrange cookies on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake on top rack, about 20 minutes. As discussed before depending on the size of your cookie cutter you may need to add a few minutes. I believe for the picture above I did 24 minutes, also depending on your oven. These are shortbread cookies so they are not meant to be brown, they should be mostly white. 

Remove cookies from the oven and let them cool. After 10 minutes place cookies in a cooling rack for another 10 minutes. 

Spread jam over bottom of each whole cookie (I usually use raspberry jam). Place a hole cookie onto the jam cookie then dust with icing sugar.

I hope that you enjoy these recipes as much as I do and that they becomes traditions in your home!

Deanna