Cookie Gift Baskets Tip & Recipe Blog

Posts Tagged ‘dessert recipes’

Love baking cookies but don’t have time to make individual ones? You can make a giant cookie instead. Making one big cookie saves time. And it can be presented as a cake. You can decorate it with piped icing and even write on it. You no longer have to go to the store to buy an expensive cake when you can make a giant cookie cake easily.

There are some ingredients that are common to all big cookie cakes. You’ll need really good butter, sugar, and fresh brown sugar. You’ll also need eggs, flour, and vanilla. Be sure to use the freshest ingredients you can find as they will affect the taste of your cookie. That’s where the similarity in ingredients between recipes usually stops. From here you can add chocolate chips, nuts, shredded coconut, and more.

One thing every recipe for a big cookie will call for is a pan. You can either use a flat sheet pan, a pizza pan or a molded shape like a heart or a moon shape. These types of specialty pans are found in the cake and baking aisle in stores.

Baking the cookie is easier than making cookies one by one. You don’t have to stand there and wait for the first batch to bake so you can put the next batch in. You just pop the whole batch of dough in on the pan at once. Couldn’t be easier.

Here’s a favorite recipe from Allrecipes.com. It’s for a giant chocolate chip cookie.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. In large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.

2. Gradually add flour, salt, and baking soda, beating until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

3. Spread in greased 14 inch round pizza pan. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes. Cool cookie in pan on a cooling rack. Decorate as desired.

*********

As you can see, it’s really no different than making regular chocolate chip cookie dough. The time-saving and super easy part is that you just spread the dough onto a pan once.

The decorating options are endless. Frost in blue frosting and make a Cookie Monster cake. Use black tinted frosting for the mouth and use cookies for the eyes. You can find frosting tints at a craft store that has a cake aisle. The powdered tints will yield a darker color than liquid food coloring. And the stain won’t come off on kids’ mouths if you use a powdered tint.

Other options for decorating a cookie cake include a harvest pumpkin (just frost in orange with a green stem), a soccer ball (use black and white icing to make the six-sided shapes of a soccer ball), or a spider web for Halloween (use white frosting and thin lines of brown frosting that you drizzle on and then drag a knife through).These giant cookie cakes make great birthday cookie gifts!

Everyone has been on the receiving end of cookie baskets, but how many times have you received a cheesecake bowl? A trifle bowl or glass dish lets you see the delicious layers of this sweet and fruity dessert!  Perfect for a Sunday brunch or after-dinner treat, the pudding and layers of strawberries will make this an instant favorite!

Ingredients:

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) Neufchatel Cheese, softened

1-1/2 cups cold milk

1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

2 cups thawed Lite Cool Whip, divided

2 cups frozen pound cake cubes (1 inch)

1 square BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Directions:

1. Combine berries and sugar; refrigerate until ready to use. Beat Neufchatel cheese with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; mix well. Whisk in 1-1/2 cups Cool Whip.

2. Spoon half the Neufchatel cheese mixture into 2-1/2-qt. bowl. Top with layers of cake, berries and remaining Neufchatel cheese mixture. Refrigerate 4 hours.

3. Melt chocolate; drizzle over trifle. Top with remaining Cool Whip.

If you love this recipe, you'll love trying your hand at cocktail cupcakes. They're so tasty!

Who doesn't love a delicious fudge sundae for dessert or even just for a snack? These chocolate treats are so tasty and simply tradition that they should be found at every restaurant in America. But since they're not, you  may just have to make them yourself. Here's a great recipe to get you started.

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces unsweetened dark chocolate
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter in the top pot of a double broiler. Add the cocoa powder and stir until dissolved. Gradually stir in the sugar, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring.
2. Add the milk and cream. Cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Serve warm over ice cream.

If you're intrigued to keep going with these hot fudge sundaes, then try making ice cream sundae bowls for kids. They'll love it!