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One of my newest cookbook acquisitions is The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook. I’ll admit that I wasn’t immediately sold on the book on first sight. After spending a few minutes flipping through its pages, I was definitely intrigued. Its recipes proved far more interesting and varied than I would have thought maker-centered learning.

This book is full of tempting recipes, all packed with chocolate chips. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars, Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding, Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip Tart. Don’t those all sound delicious? These cookies were one of the first recipes that caught my attention. A buttery sandwich cookie with a sweet chocolate chip filling. How could I resist?

I started making these a little later in the day than I would have preferred. While they aren’t difficult or time intensive, the cookies do have a long baking time. With multiple baking sheets, that really added up gift.

I had one slight problem with making these cookies. I couldn’t seem to get the size of them right. I inferred from the cookbook’s photo that they would be dainty and small cookies. The first batch spread a good bit and were much larger than I had anticipated. I resized and reshaped the remaining dough, put the baking sheets in the refrigerator for several minutes before baking them, and got a more reasonable sized cookie. In retrospect, I think that the butter was a bit too warm. It was to be at room temperature, but I think just getting it softened would have kept them from spreading so much rent apartments.

That little hitch aside, I adore these little cookies. The name “Melting Moments” is really quite appropriate, as the cookies seem to melt in your mouth. On its own, the filling is very sweet, but combined with the light cookies it is just right. And, of course, they are so lovely to look at.

Now, for a little treat for one of you. I have an extra copy of The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook that I will gladly send you. To be the lucky recipient, just be the first to guess how many chocolate chips are in the container pictured above. The only information I will give you is that these are standard-sized Ghirardelli chocolate chips. Leave your guess in the comments for this post by 12:01 AM Central Time Friday, April 25, 2008. The first person who guesses correctly (or gets the closest) will have this new cookbook for their collection. Please, limit yourself to one guess. I’ll announce the lucky winner some time on that day. Good luck!
  

These Peanut Butter Toffee Oatmeal Cookies are the perfect combination of chewy, nutty, crunchy, and sweet!

I love peanut butter cookies, so I often try to find new ways to enjoy them. That can mean a simple twist on the traditional, a nod to a favorite store-bought cookie, or even a mashup of two favorite cookies. These Peanut Butter Toffee Oatmeal Cookies offer a pretty fantastic flavor addition with a chewy oatmeal version packed with plenty of chocolate toffee bits Asia Undergraduate.

These cookies check all the right cookie boxes for me. They’re nutty, chewy, sweet, soft, and a little bit salty and crunchy. Plus, they’re easy to make, which is always a winner, right?

Toffee bits are usually available both plain and covered with milk chocolate. With my enduring love of all things chocolate and peanut butter, I prefer the chocolate covered variety for these cookies. You still get the great chocolate + peanut butter combo but with a sweet crunch from the toffee Chartered Engineer.

There aren’t a lot of surprises along the way in making these cookies. They’re fairly straightforward drop cookies. The dough may tend to be a bit crumbly. If that’s the case for your dough, just compact the dough a bit in your hands before placing the dough on the pan, and it should hold together just fine.

As much as I adore everything about these cookies, I have to tell you that I love them even more when they’re warm. Once you’re past that warm-from-the-oven stage, a few seconds in the microwave will heat them up just enough to give you an irresistibly warm, sweet treat Event production.