monster cookies

Surely you've all heard of monster cookies?
Everytime I see them in the food blogging world they are always meant for kids or kids themed events.
Cookie junkie" add in" peeps like myself LOVE these .
You can literally add anything to them; chunk them up with lots of goodies. There are just so many takes on the monster cookies that technically everyone could have their own version. Add in's include: cc chips, semi-sweet chips, white chocolate chips, pb chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, toffee, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, Reese's, M&M's (whichever flavor), candy chips, potato chips, pretzels, etc... You get the idea.

So, with all that said, it begs the question: what would you add?

I'll post the recipe, but you add in whatever you want to add in; I didn't include all the add in's as space is limited, but the list is endless.


monster cookies
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2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ts of vanilla extract
1 ts of baking soda
½ ts baking powder
1 ts of salt
2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

For the mix-in’s you can choose: (I chose mini M&M’s, pecans, milk choco, Reese’s)
1/2 cup of butterscotch chips
1 cup of mini M&Ms
1 cup of Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup of milk chocolate chips (or semi-sweet)
1 cup of chopped Heath bar bits
1 cup Reese’s PB Chips
Endless options for add in's

Cook notes:
As tempting as it may be to add in all the mix-in’s I wouldn’t as it would cause the cookie to break because of the weight, but you could all add the ingredients and make bars out of them, baking them in a pan.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; mix and set aside.
Beat the butter and the sugars at medium speed until well incorporated and fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for about 2 minutes on medium speed.
Add half the flour mixture mix 30 seconds. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom to ensure all the butter is well incorporated. Then add the other half, mix, but don’t over mix.
Fold in the mix-ins, then mix. Put in fridge to chill at least 30 minutes. When ready to bake preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. I made golf ball size dough balls and put on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake about 10 – 15 minutes, turning sheets halfway during cooking time. Depending on your oven this may take longer or shorter to bake.
Be sure to let them cool on the baking sheet before you move them. If you do make them larger like I did then let them cool completely before picking them up as the middles are always softer and might break on you.
Made about 19 giant cookies.
If you don’t make them giant then you’ll probably get 35+ regular size cookies.

coconut-caramel pecan shortbread bars

For those of you that watch football you know that one saying the announcer says before Monday Night Football. The one where he says "Are you ready for some foooooootbaaaalll!" I love that part. And then I can change the channel. Maybe if I understood the game of football I might appreciate it. It just seems all the football players do is get in a nice straight line, shout something out, then all run into a pile. When I bite into one of these caramel coconut goodies all I can hear is: "are you ready for some shhhhhhortbreaddddd!" These bars were amazing. They remind me of a samoa cookie in bar form with extra shortbread; if a samoa cookie were to mix with a twix bar.  Yes, that's it! The caramel and coconut melded so nicely together on top of the slightly salty shortbread. caramel-coconut pecan shortbread bars
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2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon
¼ cup of toasted pecans
20 ounces soft caramel candies (or make your own caramel sauce)
5 tablespoons heavy cream
2 cups shredded coconut, toasted
1 cup milk chocolate chips, melted

Preheat the oven to 350°. Using a mixer, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt, then add to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed just until the dough comes together.
Press evenly into a 8 x 8 non-stick baking dish. Then sprinkle the chopped pecans over the dough (do not press into dough). Bake until lightly golden, 30 – 40 minutes, depending on oven (mine took 35). The shortbread might be a still a little soft, that’s ok. Recipe by Dawn Finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com It hardens when it cools down.
You are looking for a very light golden brown. (this is not a cookie so you don’t want brown edges).
In a medium saucepan, melt the caramels with the cream and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt over medium heat.
Stir in the coconut, then spread over the shortbread. Let this cool before adding the chocolate. (I put it in the fridge to cool). I put the melted chocolate into a plastic bag, closed it up then snipped off a small tip at corner and drizzled the chocolate on that way.
Let cool completely before slicing.
This is really hard to slice when cooled, so use a sharp knife that is warmed up before slicing (run under hot water).
cook notes: If you don’t have a non-stick pan, then line your pan with foil (plus the edges) as you will need help removing this from the pan; caramel makes it stick. I found that removing this from the pan then slicing it on a cutting board was much easier than cutting it in the pan.
The next time I make this I might want to incorporate a layer of chunky peanut butter somewhere.
You can also make your own caramel sauce for these, I just didn't have time to.

Levain Bakery CC Cookie Clone

I've always wanted to make giant chocolate chip cookies, but I didn't want large and flat, I wanted big and thick.
Mainly because I'm so inspired by the world famous chocolate chip cookies sold at Levain Bakery in NYC.
Have you heard of them?  Been there?
The owners of Levain did a Throwdown with Bobby Flay.  I loved that one and I watched it with an eagle eye when they were in their kitchen, trying to spot secret ingredients--no such luck!
One of the best cookies I've ever had.

How to describe how good they are?
Crisp crust, almost-chewy inside, light in texture but dense (like a light shortbread with a hint of cakeness), very dense in flavor.
No one knows their recipe, it's a best kept secret, but there are some really good clones out there that come very very close to it.
After some research I found a recipe at Cookie Madness.
Someone said, along the way that Levain Bakery does not put the vanilla extract in, I seriously want to try that next time to see what it tastes like, and maybe a hint more salt.
One thing that I noticed, is they (the bakery) have confection ovens, so I know that makes a huge difference in making a really good crisp crust around the cookie.






levain bakery chocolate chip cookie clone
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2 sticks unsalted butter, cold (been rumored Levain uses European butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 ts pure vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour (13 ½ oz)
3/4 ts salt (I used sea salt)
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
12 ounces (2 cups) good quality semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
1 cup nuts (pecans or walnuts)

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars just until creamy. Don’t overbeat. Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. (I don't have a mixer so I did this by hand).
Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. When thoroughly mixed, add to batter and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
The dough needs to be chilled, so you can divide cookie balls out now and chill or cover bowl and chill. I made the cookie balls, set them on the baking sheet, and put sheet in fridge for about an hour.
Divide dough into 12 big 4 oz lumps. Bake on ungreased cookies sheets (one sheet at a time). (I chilled my dough balls BEFORE baking)

Bake times (I chose the latter):
Put the cookies in a 375 degree oven and set timer for 8 minutes. When timer rings, without opening oven or removing cookies, reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until cookies appear set.
Otherwise, you can bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until done.
(Mine did 24 minutes, but I have a convection oven)
Makes 12 (mine made 14)