Do you ever start out to make one thing, but the farther you go the more you realize you’re actually making something else? That’s what happened with these cookies.
I went into the kitchen fully intending to make snickerdoodles. That’s what had been requested and that’s what I had a recipe for.
But then, as often happens, Tim came to help. Don’t get me wrong, that wasn’t a problem. Tim is, after all, the one who taught me to cook, and I enjoy working in the kitchen with him. But… It did mean the recipe was changing cause that’s what Tim does.
Soon, I was pulling fresh cookies from the oven and trying to convince everyone that they would survive if they waited a few minutes for the cookies to cool.
Then, came the first taste. All it took was one bite to know these were definitely not snickerdoodles. They had the same cinnamon sugar coating, but after Tim had added ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg the cookies had morphed into… well… Spicedoodles.
So a new favorite was created and now I’m passing it one to you!
Spicedoodle Cookies
Ingredients (For approx 36 cookies)
1 cup (2 cubes) Butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Nutmeg, grated
1/2 teaspoon ground Ginger
3 1/2 cups Flour
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Combine softened butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy.
Add the eggs and mix well.
Mix in spices and dry ingredients. We like our spices strong, but if you want a more “normal” spice level, cut the amounts for the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in half.
In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon to roll the cookies in. Ratios can vary depending on how strong you want the cinnamon.
Form cookies into ping-pong sized balls and flatten slightly. This will help them stay thicker as they bake and come out softer.
Roll them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture and place on a cookie sheet an inch or so apart.
Bake at 400 degrees for 7-8 minutes. They will still look soft, but will be delicious and perfectly done. For my family at least. Feel free to adjust if you want, but I wouldn’t suggest going over 9 minutes.
If any of y’all are like us, you have a go-to dessert recipe for when the sugar cravings hit or you want to relax with a favorite snack. For us, it’s chocolate chip cookies. But, these aren’t just any chocolate chip cookies. When we got married, Tim was very much NOT a fan of chocolate chip cookies. But sometimes I’d try different recipes to see if I could find one he did like. Because, Hello… Chocolate!
A couple of years ago, I found a recipe that sounded promising and decided to give it another try. Now, when I make something, it is pretty rare for me to follow the recipe exactly. So I did my usual and tweaked these. The original recipe called for nuts, and while I don’t have any problems with nuts, I don’t often use them in cookies. Instead, I increased the amount of flour.
I mixed up all of the ingredients, placed the cookies on the sheet, and baked them for two minutes less than the recipe said. With bated breath, I pulled the finished cookies out of the oven and watched as Tim sampled one. And something wonderful and new happened!
Alright, I may have gotten a little dramatic there, but something exciting did happen. Tim quickly proclaimed them the best chocolate chip cookies he had ever eaten, and the rest of the batch quickly followed the first as he and the kids (and me, too) basically inhaled them.
You might now be curious about what makes this recipe so special—why these cookies stand out from the rest. Well, there are a couple things that I think really made the difference for us.
Dark Chocolate
I might be stepping into a controversial subject (I don’t know), but my family is of the firm opinion that dark chocolate is VASTLY superior to milk chocolate or even semi-sweet chocolate. It keeps the rich decadent taste of chocolate without overloading on the sweet taste.
Firm Dough
Again, each to their own, but I like my cookie dough firm enough that it doesn’t spread all out in the oven. That way, the cookies come out thick enough to have soft chewy centers instead of being flat and crispy.
Shorter Bake Time
I pull these cookies out of the oven before the centers look completely set and dry. It keeps some of the moisture in them so they stay soft and moist for several days. Tim actually likes them best a day or two after baking, when the flavors have had plenty of time to blend.
So what’s in these cookies? It’s pretty much what you would expect.
Butter – I have used both salted and unsalted butter in this recipe and both work. I normally use salted without having to adjust the salt amount.
Sugar – I use raw natural sugar, but plain white sugar works too. I also cut the sugar amount as we don’t like them really sweet, but if you prefer a sweeter cookie increase the sugar by a 1/4 cup.
Brown Sugar – My preference is dark brown sugar as it adds a deeper taste, almost a caramel-ly taste. Light brown sugar works great too, though. I have even made my own brown sugar by adding molasses to raw sugar.
Vanilla – I use real vanilla extract, but imitation vanilla would probably work as well.
Eggs – I have only ever used chicken egg for this recipe. Hopefully, one of these days I can let you know how it works with duck eggs! I have never used an egg substitute.
Salt – My normal is pink Himalayan salt, but white table salt is fine too.
Baking Soda – Pretty basic, I think.
Flour – I use organic white flour. I don’t have any experience with whole wheat flour or nut flours in this recipe.
Dark Chocolate Chips – And last, but not least, the star of the show! I have used milk chocolate mini chips and semi-sweet chocolate morsels, but my definite favorite is dark chocolate chips. The darker the better. You can use a bit more than the recipe calls for with no problem or can cut it down and use less. I often use less as Tim really likes the taste of the actual cookie dough with only occasional chocolate chips.
Our Family-Favorite Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 Cup of Butter, Softened
1/2 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
3 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream the butter, sugars, and vanilla together in a stand mixer until creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one.
Switch to dough hook and mix in salt, baking soda, and flour. The dough may look crumbly but usually fixes itself once the flour is all mixed in.
Mix in chocolate chips.
Place thick rounds of dough about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 minutes for soft and chewy cookies. 10 minutes if you want a crispier cookie.
Let them cool—if you can resist! At our house, they rarely last that long.
Bringing Life 