So our solution to help us enjoy more deliciousness throughout the year was to learn to make them at home. Yep, we tasted the cookies, detected the main ingredients, and came up with our own version. To make it even better, we came up with our own version in chocolate, something the cookie company we ordered from did not make.
These were a such a huge hit, we gave up on making the vanilla kind. These were the only ones we ever wanted and they were so good! Check out what our friends over at Averie Cooks had to say about this:
“The cookies are slightly chewy around the edges with super soft with tender, pillowy centers. There’s plenty of chocolate chips in every bite.”
Does that not sound like just the perfect cookie?!
Ingredients
Cookies
1/2 cup Land O’ Lakes unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
1/2 cup Domino granulated sugar
1/2 cup Domino light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 tablespoons Land O’ Lakes cream or half-and-half
1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
heaping 1/2 cup (almost 2/3 cup) Hershey’s unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon instant espresso granules, optional but recommended (doesn’t make the cookies taste like coffee; serves to intensify the chocolate flavor)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 cups Hershey’s semi-sweet chocolate chips
Frosting
6 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese, softened (lite okay)
1/4 cup (half of 1 stick) Land O’ Lakes unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Domino confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
chocolate sprinkles or chocolate shavings, to taste
Instructions
Cookies – To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and electric mixer), add the butter, sugars, and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the cream, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 1 minute. The batter may look a little ‘grainy’ and almost as if it’s separated, this is okay.
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, cocoa powder, optional but recommended instant espresso granules, baking soda, salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the chocolate chips, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.
Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop or your hands, form approximately 19 equal-sized mounds of dough. The dough is very soft and I find it easiest to use a cookie scoop. Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading. After chilling, flatten each mound about half the original height.
Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 8 minutes or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet completely before frosting. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack. Make sure they’re completely cooled before frosting them or the frosting will melt.
Frosting – To a large bowl (or to the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment) add the cream cheese, butter, and beat with an electric mixer on high-speedy until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, and beat until smooth and incorporated, about 2 minutes.
Add about 2 to 3 tablespoons of frosting to each cookie, and spread into a smooth, flat layer using a knife, keeping a bare 1/4-inch perimeter.
Add sprinkles to each cookie, to taste.
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Quick Tip: Baked and frosted cookies will keep airtight at room temp for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Thanks again to Averie Cooks for this amazing recipe.
