Lovin' From the Oven

Day 4: Trifecta Cookies

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Day 4 of my 12 days of cookies: Trifecta Cookies. What the heck are trifecta cookies? Well, they’re the perfect blend of chocolate chip, oatmeal, and peanut butter cookies, all rolled into one. They were deeeelish. The oatmeal didn’t overpower the rest of the cookie. In fact, you could barely even tell it was there. My DB even finished a whole cookie. He NEVER eats anything with oatmeal! I normally don’t eat peanut butter cookies, but I ate three of these right out of the oven. Bottom line? These cookies are here to please everyone… even the haters.

I sent these cookies out to the winners of my last giveaway and got wonderful feedback from them. So far, they’ve been loved all around! I substituted reduced fat peanut butter for the regular peanut butter, and it really didn’t make a difference. Who knew that you can skimp on the fat and still have it taste good? Not me! These cookies are ever so slightly adapted from The Novice Chef Blog.

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 creamy natural peanut butter (I used reduced fat Jif peanut butter)
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  1. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. Cream together butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract on medium speed for about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add in the flour and mix until combined. Stir in the oats and the chocolate chips.
  3. Refrigerate the dough overnight or up to 24 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  5. Roll the dough out into balls and place about two inches apart on a baking sheet.
  6. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes on baking sheet then move to a wire rack. Makes 22-24 cookies.

Day 3: Soft Sugar Cookies

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Day 3 of my 12 days of cookies: Soft sugar cookies. You know those Lofthouse cookies with pink icing and colorful sprinkles that you find at the grocery store? Well, I’ve been trying to recreate them for some time. Who knew that it’d be so hard to create such a simple cookie? It’s actually more of a cake-like cookie that’s tough enough to stay in one piece without crumbling.
The secret ingredient? Sour cream. Bloody brilliant. Sour cream is what makes cakes moist and fluffy, so why can’t it do the same with cookies? Duhhhhh. I think these cookies are the best the day after since it’s had time to sit a while and come together. As for the frosting, I still have yet to find a good frosting recipe, so this one’s just tinted store bought frosting. Guilty, I know. But sometimes, you can’t just beat store bought. Recipe slightly adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything. Thanks so much for this little treasure!
The original recipe says to roll out the dough and use cookie cutters, but it’s really impossible to do that since the dough is so sticky. The dough has the same consistency as really thick cake batter, so you can only imagine how difficult it would be to roll it out. I used the most versatile tools in the kitchen to form the cookies– my hands! Just roll pieces into balls and squish! Beware.. this recipe makes A LOT! I halved the recipe and it still made just over two dozen cookies.

  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 6 cups flour
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Combine sour cream, sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well.
  3. Add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder & soda, salt) to the wet batter until everything is just incorporated. Chill the dough for about 20 minutes or until firm.
  4. Roll the dough into balls and then flatten with your hands into a circular shape.
  5. Bake until LIGHT golden brown-no more than 10 minutes. When you take them out they will seem underdone but aren’t. Let them cool on the pan and they will be perfect and moist.

Day 2: Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

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Day 2 of my 12 days of cookies: Triple Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies. Yeeeeesh. How long can a cookie’s name get? That’s okay, because these cookies will leave you speechless anyways.
These cookies were a hit! Best eaten the day of. The mixture of the three chocolates fuse together with the dried cranberries. It may seem like a lot of mix-ins, but it really doesn’t take away from the cookie dough itself. I haven’t made oatmeal cookies in so long that I almost forgot how good they were. Thanks for the reminder, Epicurious! These cookies get that beautiful golden trim around the outside, with a hearty and chewy inside. Under bake them a bit for a chewier bite (like I do)!
I really love this time of the year. The internet explodes with plenty of desserts and food porn. It seems as if December is when bloggers try to bake as many sweets as possible, leaving me drooling all over my computer screen. It’s also my favorite time of the year because I get to watch Love Actually everyday and not seem like a crazy person. Although, I’m pretty sure my DB hid it somewhere from me to stop me from playing it so much. What can I say… It’s the perfect Christmas movie! I adore everything about it. What are your favorite holiday movies?
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  1. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Set aside.
  2. Cream butter and both sugars in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla.
  3. Add flour mixture and oats and stir until blended. Stir in all chocolate chips and cranberries.
  4. Flatten cookie dough into a one inch thick rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least two hours, or overnight.
  5. Preheat to 350°F.
  6. Just before baking, cut dough into one inch squares and place on baking sheet at least two inches apart.
  7. Bake cookies until edges are light brown, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

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