Cooking Up a Hooley in the Kitchen: Two Great Twists on That Classic Chocolate Chip

Cooking Up a Hooley in the Kitchen

     By Katie Gagne

~~ Two Great Twists on That Classic Chocolate Chip

Now that you just start to recover from the back to school shopping and the routine of early mornings, packing lunches and endless chauffeuring, here comes the barrage of fundraisers, team dinners, pot lucks and banquets that require you to bring a dish.
Desserts are a fairly easy go to. Everyone loves sweets. Here are two of my favorite unique and delicious treats that are sure to be a hit.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups + 2 tablespoons AP Flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter – room temperature

1 ½ cups light brown sugar – packed

½ cup granulated white sugar

2 large eggs – room temperature

2 tablespoons milk

4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 teaspoons red gelfood color

2 cups semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips + 1 cup for topping cookies after baking

In medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside

With a hand or stand mixer, cream butter for 1-2 minutes until light and fluffy

Add brown and white sugar and beat until combined and fluffy

Add eggs one at a time, beat until combined

Mix in vanilla

Mix in milk and red food coloring. You will want it to be very vibrant red

Mix in dry ingredients until a soft dough forms

You will want to add more red food coloring here as the color will be a little dark and faded because of the flour and cocoa. Don’t omit this part or the cookies will appear a brownish rust color instead of the bright red once baked

Add in the chocolate chips. The dough will be sticky.

Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight

Preheat oven to 350*

Roll dough into 1” round ball & place on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet; bake for approximately 10 minutes (I wear latex gloves for this as the red dye will stain your hands).

They should be slightly puffy.

Using the remaining cup of chocolate chips (I prefer using dark chocolate ones here), push three chips into the top of each cookie. This just adds more chocolate flavor and gives it a nice look

Allow to cool and enjoy.

Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

Makes approximately 16 bars. This recipe is easy to double if you need larger quantities.

Ingredients:

1 cup dark or semi sweet chocolate chips melted

2 cups crushed pretzel sticks

Colored Jimmies or Sprinkles (optional)  This is a fun way to incorporate team or school colors or the theme .

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from the back of the bag of chocolate chips

Make the cookies according to directions.

Add in 1 ½ cups crushed pretzels to the dough

Spread dough into 9 x13 greased pan. I often use a throw away cake pan – so easy to cut and remove them and less messy.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cool and cut into 2” squares.

Drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with remaining crushed pretzels and jimmies or sprinkles.

*Katie Gagne teaches English at Trinity High School in Garfield Heights. She is also the owner of her in-home bakery, Sassy’s Sweets and Oh So Much More. You can contact her at (440) 773-4459 or at [email protected].