National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week: Confetti Cake Batter CCC Bars

In my younger-mom days, when elementary school holiday parties were a thing I had to do a lot, I made a preemptive strike at Christmastime one year. 

Weeks ahead of my daughter's class party, I volunteered to provide cut-out sugar cookies for the "cookie decorating station." I thought this would save me the trauma of a night-before phone call from her teacher. My offer was accepted, with one caveat: I needed to use the cookie cutter Mrs. H would supply. I assumed she just wanted all the kids to have the same-sized cookie and agreed.

A few days later, my daughter brought home the required cutter. It was Christmas-tree shaped. It was, in fact, very nearly life-sized Christmas-tree shaped. 

I quadrupled my sugar cookie recipe and started baking. And baking. And baking.

This story actually has almost nothing to do with the rest of this post, but it has allowed me to put off introducing the last recipe in this National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week series: Confetti Cake Batter CCCs. The first time I made this recipe and took the pan out of the oven, my tween said, "That looks like a carnival exploded in the best possible way." Which seems to make these a fitting candidate for a finale. 

And I will say that these bar cookies are perfect if you happen to get a last-minute call for party treats. Stir up the dough, slap it in a pan, bake it off, and divvy it up. You don't even need a life-sized Christmas tree cutter to do it.

Confetti Cake-Batter Cookie Bars {print}

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups dry yellow cake mix without pudding in it (I use Duncan Hines)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup multicolored sprinkles, plus additional as needed (I get mine at the dollar store)
1/2 cup mini M&Ms (it does need to be the mini version here...I find that my beloved Target has the best price on these)
nonstick cooking spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat a 9x13 baking pan or a quarter sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, dry cake mix, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. 

In a small dish, mix the 1/4 cup sprinkles and the M&Ms. Set aside 1/4 cup. 

In a large bowl, beat the butter for about 30 seconds. Add both sugars and beat a minute or two until fluffy. Add the oil (measure it first), then the corn syrup (which will slip right out of your tablespoon if you measured the oil first), then the egg and vanilla to the butter-sugar mixture and beat until everyone seems to be getting along.

Dump the combined dry ingredients on top of the butter mixture and beat just until all the dry is in the party. Stir in the mini chocolate chips and the sprinkle/M&M mixture (minus your reserved 1/4 cup) by hand. This might take some muscle.

Plop large spoonfuls of your dough around your prepared pan, then spread evenly. Sprinkle on your reserved "confetti" mixture and press lightly with a spoon or your offset spatula. 

If your bar cookies do not look carnival-y enough for you, dress them up with some extra sprinkles.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or just until puffed in the center and starting to crack. The old toothpick test doesn't really work here: if you bake these until one tests clean, you will have less of a bar cookie and more of a very colorful concrete slab. Gooey is good in this case.

Cool on a wire rack for at least a couple minutes. Eat while warm if possible. If you need to store them, cool completely first, then cover the pan tightly with a lid or plastic wrap and foil. 

Now, I really want to know: what's your favorite make and model of chocolate-chip cookie? (No disrespect intended here, but carob chip with kale puree need not apply. I'm sorry, but this just isn't that kind of blog.)

Thanks for coming along on this little tour through CCC land! And don't forget: there's still the rest of National Fresh Celery Month to celebrate.

You're looking for the rest of the posts from this series? Aw, thanks! Here they are...
Day 1: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Day 2: White Chocolate Pretzel Cookies
Day 3: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
Day 4: Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week: Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cherry CCCs

A few years ago, I gave my dad* a tin of cookies for his birthday.

This is a very special tin. Well, actually, the tin itself is just from the dollar store. But it's a "bottomless" tin, on account of the following legal statement that I typed up and encased in tape inside the lid: 

"This Cookie Storage Receptacle (hereby and henceforth referred to as 'tin') is equipped with an unlimited refill capacity. Thus, the bearer (hereby and henceforth referred to as 'Bearer') of this tin shall be entitled to unlimited refills of said tin for the duration of the life of the Bearer or the life of the tin, whichever is longest. Should a refill be desired, please provide empty tin to Bearer's Committed Cookie Provider (hereby and henceforth referred to as 'Elizabeth'), who will thereupon commence to fill said tin and return it to bearer." 

The above was signed by me, and, conveniently, witnessed and verified as authentic by my very own in-house Juris Doctor/Notary Public: my husband.

Because my dad has mild gluten intolerance (eating gluten doesn't make him feel sick, but it does affect his iron absorption), I try to mostly make GF cookies for him. The following recipe is one of his favorites. It's also my offering for Day 4 of National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week. 

Whether you've got a bottomless cookie tin in your house or not, give these a try and let me know what you think. And if you're in Michigan and need a witness for a similar agreement with a similar tin, feel free to stop by our house when my husband is home. The place will be a mess (see my little "hello, mama" intro at the top of this blog), but at least there are likely to be cookies around.

Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate CCCs {print}
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour blend (I make my own with rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour in a specific ratio that I'd have to understand math to properly explain)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (ONLY if your flour blend doesn't already have it, though)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup + 2 tablespoons gluten-free oats (l much prefer a pretty equal mix of quick-cooking and old-fashioned, but you can make this call yourself)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 cup chocolate chips or chunks (white, milk, semisweet, bittersweet or a combo)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Beat the butter and shortening together for a minute or so until fluffy. Beat in the sugars until fluffier. Beat in the corn syrup, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until the eggs have completely joined the party. In a separate bowl, mix the flour blend, xanthan gum (IF it's not in your flour blend...but you already checked on that, didn't you?) salt, baking soda, baking powder, and oats. Dump on top of sugar mixture and mix in just until no more dry ingredients are obvious. Gently fold in the cherries and chocolate.

Roll portions of dough (1-2 tablespoons, depending on how big you want your cookies) into balls and place a couple inches apart on your baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake for about 7 minutes, until you see a little golden color at the edges. Or bake longer until you see a lot of golden color all over if you like really crisp cookies...like my dad does.

Remove cookies from oven, cool on sheet for a couple minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool more or, if you're storing them, to cool completely.

Oh my word. Just realized I haven't mentioned how many cookies any of my previous recipes in this series might make. Must fix that. But for this one, I'd say a couple dozen-ish. Same for the others, for that matter.

Okay, lovely reader, if you're not ready to run screaming from anything resembling a chocolate chip cookie quite yet, I'd LOVE to have you come back tomorrow to finish this series out with me. Because, two words: cake batter.

Other stuff that probably has something to do with this post:
*Mr. Hard-To-Buy-For...has what he needs, buys what he wants for himself.
This post might have been taken to these parties.
Day 1 in this series: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Day 2 in this series: White Chocolate Pretzel Cookies
Day 3 in this series: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter CCCs

It's Day 3 of National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week, and I think it's time we crossed over to the dark side. 

We started with the classics. We threw in some white chocolate. Now we're getting serious with one of my family's favorite CCC incarnations: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter.

What with all the flavonoids and antioxidants in the cocoa and the protein from the peanut butter, we count these as health food in our house. (Yes, we're that kind of family.)

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies {print}
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Hershey's Special Dark
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup peanut butter baking chips (I use Reese's)

1 cup chopped peanut butter cups (I use Reese's dark chocolate miniatures)

Beat the butter for a minute or so by hand or (even better) with an electric mixer. Dump in both sugars and beat another minute or so until light and fluffy. Beat in the oil, vanilla, corn syrup (which will slide right out of the tablespoon if you measured the oil first), and egg. Beat just until incorporated. Beat in the cocoa powder carefully so you don't end up with a cocoa cloud all over your kitchen. Whisk together the remaining dry ingredients (flour-salt) and dump on top of flour mixture. Beat in just until incorporated. Gently fold in the peanut butter chips and chopped peanut butter cups.

Cover and chill the dough for about 15 minutes while you preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Also, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Roll dough (about 1-2 tablespoon portions) into balls and place on cookie sheet, about 9-12 to a sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes, or until just starting to crack at the edges. Remove from oven and cool on the sheet for 2 minutes. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool completely if you're storing them (in an airtight container, please). I maintain that most homemade cookies are not worth eating after about 1 day of storage at room temperature, so if you want to keep these longer, I'd throw them in the freezer.

I'm so glad you're here. Up tomorrow: a little something for my gluten-free friends.

Other stuff you might want to know about:
Day 1 in this series: Classic CCCs
Day 2 in this series: White Chocolate Pretzel CCCs
This post may have been shared at these bloggy bashes.