Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are too good to put into words. Make them. I happenednto "stumble upon" this recipe from the Very Culinary website which is where the unbelievable picture below came from, in addition to my own photos from my first trial run. They are easy to make and although it may seem like you have enough dough for two dozen cookies, the recipe actually makes around 10 gigantic cookies (despite what the recipe on VeryCulinary.com says) which pretty much look like mini pies since they have to be large enough to fit an Oreo in the center. Share these or you will eat them all. Here's what you'll need:


Ingredients: 
• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies


Directions:
Oven to 350 degrees.


In a bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar with a mixer (or whisk) until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and blend until batter is smooth. Set aside.


In another bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine and then slowly add this dry mixture to the bowl of wet ingredients just until combined. Add chocolate chips and fold into the batter without over mixing.


With a cookie scoop (or just your hands) form balls with the dough, making sure they are large enough to fit an Oreo cookie when slightly flattened into a disk shape.


Select two balls of dough, one to cover the top of the Oreo and the other to cover the bottom. Flatten one ball slightly to accommodate the Oreo cookie. Turn up the edges of the dough so they somewhat wrap along the sides of the Oreo. Place the other ball of dough on top and form to fit and cover the other half of the Oreo. Seal the edges of the dough by pinching all the sides together so that the Oreo is no longer visible (yes, they will look huge)


Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet or a greased baking sheet and bake cookies for approximately 13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.


Pour an ice cold glass of milk and enjoy!

Mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Recently my Mom sent me an Easter basket, as she has always done since I left for U of O 3 years ago. Inside, she had given me a bag of mini Reeses and since I love to bake, I decided to transform these into cookies! I looked up a recipe, and instead of following it exactly I decided that rather than placing an individual cup inside each ball of dough, I was going to chop them up into pieces and gently stir them into the entire batch of dough. The result? Delicious chocolaty-peanut-buttery cookies that my roommates loved! I highly recommend these for any of you whose favorite ice cream flavor happens to be peanut butter and chocolate (like me!). Enjoy!


Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I prefer vanilla bean paste for a richer, fuller vanilla taste)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 20-30 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. 
3. Carefully chop the peanut butter cups into pieces, they don't have to be too small, cut in half or thirds is probably ideal. Add the peanut butter cups into the mixture, gently stirring just to incorporate the cups and being careful NOT to crush them too much. 
4. Shape into teaspoon-sized balls and place each into a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes. Cool slightly, carefully remove from pan, and place on cookie drying rack. 
6. Serve with a tall glass of milk!

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

We made these with a mini pumpkin mold cupcake pan from Williams Sonoma, but not only are they pumpkin shaped, but they are also pumpkin flavored! Really good and perfect for the holidays, or any occasion as we make these whenever we want a bite sized dessert. The actual recipe is a spin-off from one of our favorite Food Network stars Ina Garten. We transformed her traditional Mixed Berry Cheesecake into these mini, pumpkin cheesecakes following the instructions below: 

For the crust:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 5 whole extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1 8 oz. can of pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the crust, combine the graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter in a food processor until moistened. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. With your hands, press the crumbs into the bottom of each individual pumpkin in the pan and about 1-inch up the sides. Bake for 8 minutes. Set aside and cool to room temperature.

Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees F.

To make the filling, cream the cream cheese and sugar in a food processor, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and egg yolks, 2 at a time, mixing well. Scrape down the bowl and beater, as necessary. Finally, with the food processor still on, add the sour cream, pumpkin and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and pour into the cooled crust of the individual molds.

Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 225 degrees and bake for another 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the door wide. Allow the mini cakes to sit in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes. Take the tray out of the oven and allow it to sit at room temperature for another 2 to 3 hours, until completely cooled. Wrap and refrigerate overnight (TRUST US, THESE TASTE EVEN BETTER THE NEXT DAY! so try to make them a day before you want it!)

Remove the cakes from the pan by carefully running a hot knife around the outside of each individual mold. Poke the mold from the bottom to pop the cake out of the pan. Plate on a platter and serve!