S'mores Cookies

recipe adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

INGREDIENTS
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Hershey's Milk Chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup mallow bits
Optional:
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Candy Bars
Mallow Bits
Extra graham cracker pieces

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until creamy and smooth. Scrape down the sids, and then add the egg, and vanilla extract, and beat until smooth.

Carefully add half of the dry ingredients, and mix until a dough starts to form. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined - there should be crumbs on the bottom.

Gently fold in the mallow bits, and chopped chocolate bars. Taking care to lift all of the dry crumbs from the bottom of the bowl.

Scoop dough with your favorite cookie scoop, and plate rounded ball on prepared baking sheet. Flatten top of dough with the palm of your hand. Repeat, placing cookies about 1 inch apart.

Top dough with a pips of Hershey's Milk Chocolate, and mallow bits.

Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until cookies are set. Remove from oven, and cool on baking sheet for at least 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

*I used a #40 Scoop, which is about 1.75 Tbsp of dough. Which gives the perfect S'mores ratio of chocolate:graham:mallow, with the addition of a pip of Hershey's Milk Chocolate.

S'mores Cookie

Ain't nobody got time to build a fire, put out a fire, clean up the sticky mess, AND wash your hair- all in the name of eating America's favorite campfire treat, the S'more. These cookies incorporate all the best things about S'mores without all the hassle of S'mores. Truly a gift. The dough is fairly dry, so the cookie ends up crunchy like a graham cracker, and when eaten lone tastes like a graham cracker. The mallow bits are dehydrated mallows - like the ones from hot chocolate packets. So on the inside they absorb some the moisture from the dough and get soft & chewy; but the ones on the outside get a tiny bit browned, and are similar in texture and color to roasted mallows, just on a much smaller scale. The chopped Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars, and the pip get melty and gooey. Just like the mallows of your dreams, but with so much less mess. These are winners.

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

INGREDIENTS
Cookies
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups sugar
1 lemon, zested
2 large eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
1/4 cup lemon juice
Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon, zested

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until pale yellow and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time. Add the ricotta, and lemon juice and beat until fully combined.

To the butter/ricotta mixture, add half of the prepared dry ingredients, and mix on low. Scrap sides of bowl and add remaining half of dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Gently fold the dough taking care to scrape the sides of the bowl, to finish the mixing the dough.

Scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets. *I prefer a #20 scoop (3.5 tbsp), and can fit about 24 cookies on a half sheet pan. Prepared cookies sheets, and dough should be kept in the refrigerator if not in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove sheets from oven, and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes. The cookies are extra delicate when warm, and the residual heat of the sheet helps to firm up the bottoms. When cookies have cooled, prepare glaze.

Combine powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Dip cookies, and let glaze harden at room temperature. Enjoy!

Are these cookies a family favorite that will be gone in less than 45 minutes? Yes. My family loves them more than they love me. At least that's the vibe I get from my mother and sister. My sister has requested that if she ever marries that I make her wedding cake out of these cookies- stacked to be the cake. They are the perfect delicate little cookie. Sweet but tart, tender, moist, and just plain delicious. You should definitely make them, especially when lemons are in season. I added more flour than the original recipe calls for, and highly suggest taking care to be sure it's fully mixed. If not, the cookies will spread like the devil, and it will be a crunchy lemon sugar butter mess. Extra delicious? Yes. Beautiful cookie? heck no.

VARIATIONS:

Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Berry Glaze
            Replace 2 Tbsp lemon juice with fresh berry juice of your choice.
            Strawberry & Raspberry SO good.
Orange Ricotta Cookies with Chocolate Glaze
            Replace Lemons with Oranges
            Double the zest in the cookies
            Chocolate Glaze

                        1 cup powdered sugar                            1 Tbsp butter, melted                        Orange Zest

                        2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder    1 Tbsp Orange Juice
                       
                       

Crumble Topping

Recipe from Rachel Parcell
 
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour.
Add the butter, and mix* until a crumble-y texture forms.

*You can do this with a pastry cutter, spoons, or freshly washed hands. Personally, I think it's best with a pastry cutter, because you lose less butter to your skin.

Top your favorite prepared muffin batter mix, and bake according to package directions. Let cool in muffin tip for at least 3 minutes before removing to allow to cool in a cooling rack. ENJOY!


This Crumble Topping recipe is as basic as you can get, and it is freaking delicious as is.

BASIC IS GOOD! 

You can always change it up, as you keep the basic ratio pretty similar. The more sugar/butter the crunchier the crumble, and more of a caramelized goodness will develop. The more flour you add the more sandy the crumble will be- which is good for topping juicier stuff. Swap the sugar for different blends depending on what you're going for - brown sugar, raw sugar, honey, whatever floats your boat. Adding vanilla paste is money, as is adding your favorite extract like almond, or even some citrus zest. Mix in some rolled oats, sliced almonds, or finely chopped nuts- that will give the crumble an insane crunch!

THE LIMIT DOES NOT EXIST…
WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR OPTIONS.

USES:

• On top of fruit, and baked for a delicious fruit crumble. Any fruits will do, get creative! Just cook them a little, sweeten them up a touch if they are particularly tart, and bake.
• MY FAVORITE: Grab a bag of frozen mixed berries, throw them in a pot with 1/2 cup sugar, your favorite extract, a squeeze of lemon juice, and lemon zest. Cook for a couple minutes over medium-high heat, to get the berries poppin' and to get the natural pectins in the berries. Transfer to casserole dish, top with crumble and bake at 350ºF for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Use it as the topping for fruit pies.
• Since there is no limit on variations, there is no limit on what you can do with it. :)