Santa’s White Christmas Cookies (and a sneak peek at my book launch party!)

Leave a Comment / Cookies, Uncategorized

Santa's White Christmas Cookies by Wood and Spoon blog. These are chewy white chocolate cookies scented with coconut and espresso powder, inspired by Barnie's White Christmas Coffee. These coffee lover's cookies are a great dessert to serve at Christmas and holiday cookie exchanges. Find out how to make these simple easy Christmas cookies on thewoodandspoon.com

Y’all, I can hardly believe it: just ONE MORE WEEK until Her Daily Bread is released into the wild and onto coffee tables everywhere. Excuse me while I lose my mind and squeal (!!!) If you hadn’t heard (and how could you not? I feel like I’ve been jabbering on about this for months!), my first book is being published on December 14th, and I am so thrilled to get it into your hands. For now, I’m excited to share a few photos from the book launch party we hosted last week (as well as these Santa’s White Christmas Cookies!) with you today.

The Launch Party(!!)

Last Friday, we hosted a launch party in our little town of Selma to celebrate the pending release of HDB. What started as an invite list of a few close family and friends quickly expanded to include all sorts of fabulous women that I have grown to love and admire. One of my favorite things about small towns like Selma is that they are endlessly supportive of their neighbors. I found this event was no exception. At one point, just a few minutes before the party started, I looked around to see 30-or so women lighting candles, plating desserts, and freshening up flowers, everyone scurrying around and lending a hand to make sure everything was as beautiful as I envisioned. Truly, I felt so loved. The shared joy for this book felt so tangible. It’s a great picture of what love in a community of good humans looks like.

While Her Daily Bread is incredibly personal, the writing of the book was collaborative from the start. Most of the stories and recipes included in its pages aren’t exclusively mine to tell; they’re moments and bitesthat were first experienced alongside of people who have generously fed into my life for years. With just a few days left until the book is officially released, I hope you’ll consider continuing the collaborative effort. Buy a copy, and if something fills your heart (or belly!) in a unique or wonderful way, pass it on. Share a copy of the book, a nibble of food from one of the recipes, or an encouraging word to a friend. Everyone has a seat at the table, and I’m so excited that you’ve found your way to mine. For more information on the book, including pre-order incentive information and ordering links, you can click here!

Santa’s White Christmas Cookies

While I’m in full-on book mode, I know most of you are gearing up for Christmas. With that, I wanted to share a yummy new cookie recipe that I think will be perfect for cookie exchanges and Christmassy desserts: these Santa’s white Christmas cookies.

I grew up frequenting the Barnie’s Coffee shop at the mall with my Mom. Although I didn’t partake in the coffee at the time, I loved the smell of the shop, particularly around the holidays when their special blend, Santa’s White Christmas, was available for purchase. These cookies are a tribute to those flavors: espresso, white chocolate, and just a little hint of coconut. Truly, they are delightful!

These Santa’s white Christmas cookies are fancied-up with a little coffee-flavored icing, and take incredibly with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk. If you’re planning to bake in the coming weeks, I hope you’ll consider popping this yummy coffee-scented dough into your ovens. These cookies make for a yummy treat for coffee and chocolate lovers alike! Happy Wednesday and Happy Baking!

If you like these Santa’a White Christmas Cookies you should check out:

Espresso White Chocolate Chunk Cookies
White Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies
White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
Toffee Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mocha Cookies

Santa’s White Christmas Cookies

Print Recipe

These Santa’s White Christmas Cookies are chewy white chocolate cookies scented with espresso and coconut!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 10
Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 36 Cookies
Category: Cookies

Ingredients

For the cookies:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso granules
2–1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1–1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup caramel baking chips
1 cup white chocolate baking chips
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

For the drizzle (Optional):

½ cup powdered sugar
¾ teaspoon instant coffee or espresso granules
2–1/2 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more as needed.

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with pieces of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed together until smooth. Add the vanilla and eggs, stirring on low until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir on low just until combined. Add the baking chips and coconut and stir. Scrape the sides of the bowl and fold in any unincorporated bits. Cover and chill the dough briefly if it appears too soft.
Use a medium cookie scoop or a spoon to portion out 1 tablespoon sized mounds of dough. Roll to smooth in your hands and space balls of dough out 2” apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the edges are set and the tops are beginning to bronze, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool briefly prior to drizzling or enjoying.

To prepare the drizzle (optional):

Combine all of the ingredients with a whisk in a small bowl. Drizzle or pipe onto cookies, adding more cream as needed to get to the desired consisitency.

White Chocolate Ganache Shortbread

3 Comments / Cookies and Bars

I’ve finally arrived. After years of baking with little kids nipping at my heels, swiping rogue chocolate chips and crumbles of dough from the counter in front of me, my children actually love to bake. This feels an awful lot like arriving. Over the weekend, I asked my daughter what she wanted to do over the next few days: swim? Color? Read books or play outside? She picked baking, and when my heart quit exploding, we posted ourselves by the oven and made all sorts of yummy stuff to enjoy. She was particularly in love with today’s recipe for white chocolate ganache shortbread. The pink hue was a major selling point, but she stuck around for the crumbly “bread,” AKA, the shortbread. She loved it and I think you will too!

White Chocolate Ganache Shortbread

This white chocolate ganache shortbread is a simple press-in crust that is scented with lemon zest. Confectioner’s sugar, flour, and cornstarch (for tenderness!) are added in too, but the butter is the star. I recommend using a high-quality butter, because the flavor really does shine. The crust gets baked in a square pan until barely browning.

In the meantime, you can start on the ganache. A smidge of cream and fresh strawberries are mashed on the stove until thin and juicy. Once bubbles begin to form around the rim of the pan, remove the mixture from the heat and strain the liquid into a bowl of white chocolate chips. Stir stir stir, until the white chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth with no clumps throughout. Pour the mixture over the cooled shortbread and allow the ganache to set up in the fridge until firm. This ganache won’t ever harden completely, and in fact, white chocolate ganache tends to stay a bit chewy/softened. The only thing that means for you is that you’ll want to avoid leaving these in the hot sun- they’re really best served barely cooled.

I hope you give this white chocolate ganache shortbread a try in the coming weeks before those beautiful strawberries disappear for good! You can also try them using raspberries! Blackberries! The world is your oyster. Happy Tuesday to you guys and have a great week!

If you like this white chocolate ganache shortbread you should try:

White Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Tarts
Double Chocolate Ganache Tarts
Caramel Ganache Brownies
Strawberry Rhubarb Bars
Mini Strawberry Galettes

White Chocolate Ganache Shortbread

Print Recipe

★★★★

4 from 1 reviews

These white chocolate ganache shortbread bars feature a buttery lemon shortbread crust and a strawberry white chocolate ganache on top. It’s a perfect mini dessert bite!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 35
Total Time: 120
Yield: 36
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

For the crust:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
½ cup confectioner’s sugar
1–3/4 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
Pinch of salt

For the filling:

Scant 2 cups (300 gm) white chocolate chips
1 cup (140 gm) fresh or frozen and thawed strawberries, chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the crusts:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line an 8” or 9” square pan with aluminum foil extending up the sides of the pan. Cream the butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, and confectioner’s sugar and stir on low until combined. Stir the flour, cornstarch, and salt until combined. Pat the mixture into a flat layer in the bottom of the pan (using wet fingers, if needed) and use a fork to poke a few holes into the bottom. Bake in the preheated oven about 30 minutes or until the shortbread has barely begun to start browning on the top. Set aside to cool while you prep your ganache.

To prepare the filling:

Pour the white chocolate chips in a microwave and heat-safe bowl. Combine the strawberries and heavy cream in a heavy bottomed pan over medium-low heat. Use a potato masher to crush the strawberries and release their juices as your slowly heat the mixture. Once mashed and the mixture has barely begun to bubble, remove from heat and use a fine mesh sieve to strain the mixture into the bowl of the white chocolate chips. Use a rubber spatula to smoosh any remaining juice or cream into the bowl but keep the strawberries seeds out (unless you’re into that kind of thing!) Use a whisk to stir the mixture and melt the white chocolate chips. If they don’t melt down completely, put the bowl into the microwave for 10 second increments to melt. Keep stirring and microwaving until all of the chocolate has melted. Pour the mixture into the pan and place in the fridge to allow to set up until completely firm. Some bubbles may pop up in the first few minutes and you can use a toothpick to pop those if you want. Once set, use a sharp chef’s knife to cut out small squares and enjoy!

White Chocolate Raspberry Tarts

6 Comments / Pies and Tarts

Learning new stuff as an adult is hard, right? As a kid, we pop off our training wheels or picked up a new instrument like it was no problem, with no hesitation at all. My kids race up and down stairs and climb on jungle gyms with no fear because it simply doesn’t exist for them. But us adults? Man, that stuff is for the birds.

This past week we traveled to Vail, Colorado for a few days of skiing with friends and our 6-year old, Aimee. This was my third time skiing in my life, and it never seems to get any easier. Physically, my body is okay with it, but mentally, I’m a train wreck. By the amount of fear in my eyes, you’d guess I was on a double black diamond with zero visibility, but in reality, I’m going 0.7 MPH on a slope that is basically flat. The anxiety is totally irrational, I know, but there’s no denying it’s there.

At the same token, I’ve also taken up piano. Although I took lessons briefly as a middle schooler, 20 years away from the keys have faded most of whatever skill I acquired in that little time. Even so, I’m loving the chance to experiment and dabble in something that feels new. It’s challenging, no doubt, but the whole process also instills a sense of pride. Like, hey! Check out this old dog learning new tricks! We as humans aren’t wired to just sit back and play it safe, even though that’s what we usually end up doing.

“We as humans aren’t wired to just sit back and play it safe, even though that’s what we usually end up doing.”

While it’s okay to stay in your wheelhouse and plug away at whatever your gifting is, it’s also incredibly fulfilling to step out of our comfort zones and into something new. When you succeed, even if it’s just skiing the beginner hill or playing something silly like “Chopsticks,” it changes something. You’re bolstered with a confidence to do more, press in, or risk it with something new. Do you know what I mean? Skiing is probably not for me, but I’m proud to say that trying new stuff isn’t just for kids. It’s for me and you too.

White Chocolate Raspberry Tarts

These white chocolate raspberry tarts are a new-t0-me sort of thing. I’m no stranger to ganache (remember my tutorial from a couple of years ago?) , but I’ve never made fruit-flavored ganache. The slightest bit of fresh raspberry juice makes these white chocolate raspberry tarts the prettiest shade of pink, and I think they may be the perfect treats for any of your upcoming Valentine’s Day events. Would you judge me if I told you that I added the raspberries 100% for that aesthetic pink? (Spoiler Alert: I totally did.)

Making the Tarts

To make them, we start with a simple press-in crust. Butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and flour come to together in a crumbly, shortbread-esque crust that gets pressed into the bottoms of 6 teeny tart pans. I like the ones with the removable bottoms so that they all pop out nicely. After baking, the white chocolate raspberry tarts are filled with the ganache. Fresh raspberries are pressed of their juice and warmed on the stove with some heavy cream. The warm mixture gets sent through a sieve to remove any seeds and combined with the white chocolate. Once combined, the mixture is pale pink, smooth, and ready to pour into the prepared tart shells.

Once the ganache has set up, the white choclate raspberry tarts are ready for serving! You can decorate them with whipped cream, fresh berries, or even extra chocolate and dried roses like I did here. After all, what’s more romantic for Valentine’s Day than chocolate and roses? Give these little tarts a try and let me know what you think! Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all, and happy baking!

If you like these white chocolate raspberry tarts you should try:

Double Chocolate Ganache Tart
Blood Orange Swirl Cheesecake Tarts
Raspberry Streusel Cake
Berry Rhubarb Tart

White Chocolate Raspberry Tarts

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

These white chocolate raspberry tarts have a fruit ganache filling and a soft shortbread crust. Plus they’re pink- so cute!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 120
Yield: 6
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

For the crust:

¾ cup (170 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1–1/2 cups (180 gm) confectioner’s sugar
1–1/2 cups (210 gm) all-purpose flour

For the filling:

Scant 2 cups (300 gm) white chocolate chips
1 cup (140 gm) fresh or frozen and thawed raspberries
1/2 cup (120 mL) heavy whipping cream

For decoration:

Fresh raspberries
Grated white chocolate
Lemon zest
Whipped cream
Whatever sounds delicious!

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the crusts:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl until smooth. Add the vanilla and confectioner’s sugar and stir on low until combined. Stir the flour in on low until a crumbly mixture forms. When you press it between your fingers it should pack like wet sand. Divide the mixture between the 6- 4” tart pans with removable bottoms (I used about ½ cup in each pan) and press into the sides and bottom of the pan in an even layer. I find it’s easiest to press into the sides first and then smooth the remaining dough into the bottom. Place the tart pans on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven to pan until firm, about 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven to cool completely.

To prepare the filling:

Pour the white chocolate chips in a microwave and heat-safe bowl. Combine the raspberries and heavy cream in a heavy bottomed pan over medium-low heat. Use a potato masher to crush the raspberries and release their juices as your slowly heat the mixture. Once mashed and the mixture has barely began to bubble, remove from heat and use a fine mesh sieve to strain the mixture into the bowl of the white chocolate chips. Use a rubber spatula to smoosh any remaining juice or cream into the bowl but keep the raspberry seeds out (unless you’re into that kind of thing!) Use a whisk to stir the mixture and melt the white chocolate chips. If they don’t melt down completely, put the bowl into the microwave for 10 second increments to melt. Keep stirring and microwaving until all of the chocolate has melted. Divide the mixture into each cooled tart shell and allow to set up until completely firm. I like to do this at room temperature as opposed to the fridge. Some bubbles may pop up in the first few minutes and you can use a toothpick to pop those if you want. Once the tarts have set up you can place in the fridge to chill (if you want) or just go ahead and garnish and serve!

White Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

“Make a habit of trying new things.”

At home, we did some stretching in the literal sense too. Baby number three (It’s a girl! Wait, no, It’s a Boy!) grew and arrived in 2019 and we all scooted closer to make room for the precious new life that was introduced to our world. My husband’s business shifted gears, we settled into a new home, and life looks entirely different than it did this time last December. Growth, in every sense of the word, was all over our year, and while there were some pains in that growing I’m hoping that some of what we learned along the way had a chance to seep in.

I’m not sure what my word for 2020 is. I don’t yet have a clear picture of what I want life to look like, but I’m eager to bring some of that growth from 2019 along for the ride. In the meantime, thank you sweet readers for walking through this past year with my family.

My hope is that, via stories and recipes, you found yourself well-fed this year. Maybe you welcomed new friends to your table or worked up the nerve to braid your first babka. Maybe you laughed on a day when you felt like crying or finally felt confident enough to whip an egg white. Whatever the case, I’m grateful for all of the emails and kind words from you all, because your pictures of cheesecakes and stories of successes feel like tiny victories for me. I’m happy we’ve shared cookies and pies and cocktails this year, and I’m eager for more in the coming months. It might all look a little different in 2020, but I think it’s still going to be sweet.

White Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

These white chocolate caramel pretzel cookies are delicious. I took my peanut butter caramel pretzel cookies and whizzed the recipe into something nut-free and extra-sweet and salty. These white chocolate caramel pretzel cookies are rich and chewy treats loaded with caramel goodness and just enough salt to offset all the sugar. They’re rather simple and I think you’ll find them to be a crowd pleaser. I know I did. Check out the instructions for the how-to on these white chocolate caramel pretzel cookies below, and if you get to try them, let me know what you think! Happy New Year, friends. 2020 is going to be a ball.

If you like these white chocolate caramel pretzel cookies you should try:

Molten Carrell Chocolate Cakes

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tarts

Peanut Butter Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Caramel Crumble Cake

White Chocolate Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Print Recipe

These white chocolate caramel pretzel cookies are loaded with sweet and salty flavor as well as chewy and crunchy texture!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 24
Category: Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup (230 gm) unsalted butter
½ cup (100 gm) sugar
¾ cup (150 gm) brown sugar packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups (405 gm) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup caramel baking bits, caramel chips, or diced caramels
¾ cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
¾ cup chopped salted pretzels (OR chopped pecans- your choice!)
Flaked salt

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Melt the butter over low heat on the stove, being sure to not let it boil. Pour the melted butter into a large bowl and stir in the sugar and brown sugar. Stir in the eggs and extract. Add the flour, soda, powder, and salt and fold the mixture together until combined. Add in the caramel, white chocolate, and either pretzels or pecans. Fold to combine. Use a medium cookie scoop to portion out 1-1/2 tablespoon sized rounds of dough. Roll them gently and space them out 2” apart on the baking sheets. Sprinkle with a bit of flaky sea salt if desired. Bake in the preheated oven for 11-12 minutes or until the edges are set and the cookies are baked through. Allow to cool prior to enjoying!

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (With Option For Vegan Too!)

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Okay, have I whet your appetite? Are you ready for the main event? These white chocolate peppermint cookies are chewy with crunchy bits of peppermint throughout. The white chocolate pairs deliciously with the minty candies, and (BONUS!) these cookies can be made 100% vegan. The recipe is a play on my favorite vegan chocolate chunk cookies, so you can expect the same toothy bites and decadent flavors throughout. All of the ingredients can be combined in a single bowl and the entire recipe takes less than 30 minutes from start to end of baking.

If you’d like to keep these white chocolate peppermint cookies vegan, be sure to snag some vegan white chocolate and peppermint candy pieces at the store. In my research, I found that Brach’s brand peppermints were vegan, but if you’re not set on making a vegan cookies, no problem! Just use whichever white chocolate chips/bars and mints/candy canes that you prefer. I tested this recipe with a couple of different varieties and had no problems. Do note that any candy pieces you press on top of the cookies will get tacky and chewy over time if exposed at room temperature for a long time. If you plan to serve them quickly, go ahead and leave some candies on top of your rounds of dough, otherwise just mix them right into the batter.

I hope the next few days are merry and bright in your home. Merry Christmas to you guys and HAPPY BAKING!

White Chocolate Peppermint Cookies (With Option For Vegan Too!)

Print Recipe

These white chocolate peppermint cookies are a festive vegan option for your holiday table!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 5
Cook Time: 10
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 16
Category: Cookies

Ingredients

1 tablespoon flaxseed meal
3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup (80 gm) coconut oil, firm not liquid
6 tablespoons organic brown sugar
6 tablespoons organic cane sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract
1–1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (180 gm) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup vegan white chocolate chips
½ cup crushed vegan peppermint candies, if desired

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare one or two large baking sheets with a sheet of parchment paper.
Combine the flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl and set aside for at least five minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil, cane sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla, beating on medium speed just until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the flaxseed mixture and beat just to combine. Add the flour, soda, baking powder, and salt and stir just to combine. Add the white chocolate and stir to combine.
Scoop out small balls (I use a medium cookie scoop) of dough and place them two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven about 9 minutes or until the cookies have set around the edges. Quickly remove the sheet pan from the oven and sprinkle the tops of each generously with crushed peppermint candies. Return to the oven for one more minute or until set and allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake

1 Comment / Cakes

Coming in hot with the another Christmasy treat! I love mint chocolate things all year round, but there’s nothing quite as festive as the red and white stripe of a winter candy cane. This peppermint white chocolate cheesecake is a festive crowd pleaser that feels fitting for the season and is sure to land you on the nice list of everyone you share it with.

Last week Brett and I traveled to Chicago for a quick 48 hours of food with friends. I visited with my brother and did some big city shopping with my BFF, so it ended up being a really special way to kick off December. We tried out a few new restaurants, had an abundance of delightful cocktails, and even checked off a bucket list meal at Alinea. Truly, a good time was had by all, and I was tickled to squeeze in all the laughter and fellowship we experienced. One of my favorite things I love about traveling during the holidays is all of the festive decor. The gussied-up department stores and tinsel-draped trees speckled about the city really help me to get in spirit of Christmas, so I did my best to take in as much as possible.

Our hotel, The Langham, contributed to the spirit with little welcome gifts of jarred cocoa, homemade marshmallows, and white chocolate peppermint cookies. YUM. I attempted to save all of the treats for Aimee and George, but, LOL, we all know how that effort went. I tucked those little cookies away for myself like any self-respecting mother would do, and I have zero shame about that.

Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake

This peppermint white chocolate cheesecake is one of those things you’ll wish you could hide for yourself. A chocolate cookie crust loaded with Kerrygold butter hosts the white chocolate peppermint filling. The whole cake is done up with speckled of crushed candy canes and peppermint bark. The richness of this cheesecake is offset with the bright minty candy pieces; I love the combination of the textured crust with the fluffy cake. Cheesecake is one of those things that feels fitting for the holidays, and the peppermint white chocolate cheesecake really knocks it out fo the park. Let me tell you how to make it.

To prep this dessert, we start with the crust. Crushed chocolate sandwich cookies come together with a whole lot of Kerrygold butter to make a tender, melt-in-your-mouth crust. Kerrygold is a higher fat butter, so you can expect this crust to have more flavor and extra texture when you use that here. The filling for this white peppermint white chocolate cheesecake starts as most others. Room temperature cream cheese is beat until smooth and creamy. Sugar, eggs, and the liquid ingredients come next, and the final mixture is poured through a sieve to ensure it is perfectly smooth. After baking, the cheesecake is slowly cooled, topped with whipped cream, and decorated with crushed peppermints and bark. Can you say, “Mega Yum”?

A Few Things on Homemade Cheesecake:

There are a few things to keep in mind when making a dessert like this peppermint white chocolate cheesecake. First, it is essential to use room temperature ingredients. The cheesecake will be lumpy and unevenly mixed if you throw in cold items. Using room temperature ingredients ensure that your cheesecake it allowed to cream properly. Pay attention to mixing times as well! An over-whipped cheesecake will develop air pockets that can make it puff and bake weird. Just don’t do it, okay?

Finally, I do recommend following the instructions for the water bath here. Again, the water bath will help to ensure even baking. It would be hugely disappointing to go through alllll the work only to have it flop? Trust the process and keep an eye on your cake while it’s in the oven. The extra steps feel like a lot of work but it’s worth it.

Many thanks to Kerrygold for sponsoring this post! By now you already know how much and why I adore their products. I especially lean on them when I’m making special treats like this peppermint white chocolate cheesecake. Check out their products at your nearest grocery store or find a retailer here! Get in the holiday spirit with this recipe sometime this week and let me know how you like it. Happy baking!

If you like this peppermint white chocolate cheesecake you should try:

Carrot Cake Cheesecake
S’mores Cheesecake

Chocolate Peppermint Olive Oil Cookies

Peppermint Bark Brownies

Peppermint Bark Icebox Cake

Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake

Print Recipe

This peppermint white chocolate cheesecake is a delicious make ahead dessert for the holidays and features a chocolate cookie crust!

Author: Kate
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 60
Total Time: 120
Yield: 10
Category: dessert

Ingredients

For the crust:

1–1/2 cups finely ground chocolate wafer cookies
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

10 ounces white chocolate, chopped
2 lbs (4 blocks) cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon peppermint extract
½ cup heavy whipping cream
Whipped cream, if desired
Crushed peppermints or chopped peppermint bark, if desired

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a 9″ springform pan by wrapping it in sheets of aluminum foil. I use 3 layers of extra wide, heavy duty foil wrapped to the top lip of the pan. Spray the inside walls and bottom of the pan with cooking spray.
Stir together the dry ingredients until combined. Add the melted butter and stir just until combined. Gently pat out your mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-9 minutes. Set aside while you prep your filling.

To prepare the cheesecake:

Begin boiling some water in a kettle or saucepan for your water bath.
In a double boiler simmering over water on low heat, gently melt the white chocolate, stirring regularly. Do not let it overheat or it may seize. Remove from heat while you prep the rest of your filling.
Beat cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer at medium speed (I use 4 on my Kitchen Aid Mixer) for 2 minutes to remove all clumps. Do not overbeat, but scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. If many clumps remain, ensure that your cream cheese has softened to room temp.
Add the sugar and beat on medium for an additional 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine an additional 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then add the extracts and the heavy cream. Stir and scoop one cup of the mixture into the melted white chocolate and stir quickly to barely combine. Add the mixture to the cheesecake batter and stir just until smooth.
Strain the cheesecake batter through a mesh strainer (if desired) into a reserved bowl. Pour the batter on top of the crust. Gently rap the pan on the counter to help any air bubbles escape.
Place your springform pan into a slightly larger baking dish/pan and fill the larger pan with the boiling water you prepared for the water bath until the water reaches about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
Carefully place both pans in the preheated oven and bake for 60-70 minutes. After an hour of baking, the edges and top of the cheesecake should be set but still slightly jiggle in the center. Feel free to cover the cheesecake with a sheet of aluminum foil if it appear to be getting too dark. Turn the oven off and allow the cheesecake to bake for an additional 30 minutes in the oven. Prop the door of the oven open slightly with a wooden spoon and continue to cool the cheesecake for another 30 minutes in the cooling oven.
Discard the water bath, remove the foil and then place the cheesecake in the fridge to chill for several hours or overnight. The cheesecake can be stored in the fridge for several days.
When ready to serve, garnish with whipped cream and the crushed candies. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

I wrap my springform pan with three layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. This is to protect your crust from any water leakage of your springform pan. Many pans will claim to be waterproof but your crust will get soggy and inedible if water leakage happens. Don’t take any chances!
I use a 11″ round cake pan for my water bath but you can use any oven-safe dish that you have. Once of my readers used a roasting pan and that works just fine!
The cooling process seems lengthy and unnecessary, but it helps to prevent drastic temperature changes that can cause structural issues with your cake.

Double Chocolate Ganache Tart

6 Comments / Pies and Tarts

At any given moment, if you open our fridge or freezer, there’s bound to be a few hidden gems. Tucked in the farthest corner, say, behind a jar of pickles and last nights leftovers, you’re likely to find a secret plate of dessert that no one knows about… except for me. If you, like me, live with a bunch of hungry little people, you know the importance of staking a claim on the good stuff while you have a chance, so today I’m going to share the recipe for this double chocolate ganache tart, a dessert that I stuck a flag in and called my own.

When you’re raising toddlers, it seems as if they exist on the grass that they perceive to be not so green. Example: Aimee wants the toy George is playing with, and George wants to sit in Aimee’s chair. If George orders chicken, he wants Daddy’s sandwich. If Aimee asks for grapes she will eat Mommy’s cheese. It’s a never-ending back and forth of one-upping and musical chairs, and frankly, it’s exhausting.

Listen. There are very few things that I can claim as mine. My time, my car, my body, and basically anything else that one would think they could manage on their own is up for grabs when kids are involved. So when I make something like this double chocolate ganache tart, you better believe I’m hiding it. I’m wrapping it in foil and hiding it behind scary leftovers. I’m labeling it as something terrifying like “vegan meatball mash” or “overcooked broccoli,” and when I’m certain the children have fallen asleep, I sneak to the fridge. Gingerly, as quiet as I can be, I unwrap it, take a few bites, and return it to the fridge before anyone knows I’m even in the kitchen. Stealth is of the utmost importance when food is involved, and this tactic is especially important when hosting guests like a mother in law, cousins, or a sweet-toothed sister. You gotta James Bond to and from the fridge if you want that dessert all to yourself.

Double Chocolate Ganache Tart

So why is this double chocolate ganache tart so special? For one, it’s got the sweet and salty flavor vibe that you know is my jam. The crust here is a pretzel and brown sugar combo held together by loads of shimmery liquid gold (aka BUTTER). The crust bakes until it tastes like a caramelized crunch. The filling is rich with two layers of ganache, one white and one bittersweet, layered on top of one another in a balance of flavor that is almost too perfect to describe. I’m always one for a rich chocolate tart, but here, with the addition of the white chocolate, the flavor isn’t overwhelmingly bitter and it makes for a dessert that keeps you coming back for bite after bite.

This double chocolate ganache tart is being brought to you today by my friends at Kerrygold! If a dessert calls for butter, I always depend on Kerrygold to up the flavor and quality. Here, butter holds together our deliciously salted crust. It also plays a role in smoothing out the ganache so that it totally melts in your mouth. Butter makes everything better, but especially the secret treats you sneak for yourself. You’ve earned quality butter, so definitely depend on it for this double chocolate ganache tart.

If you have a chance, I hope you’ll make this double chocolate ganache tart this week! In the meantime, I’m going to be developing my idea for a branded tupperware that is labeled “last week’s meatloaf.” You know, something to keep the wandering paws away. Don’t you think that would sell? Have a great week and pop by again later this week for a second recipe. Happy baking!

If you like this double chocolate ganache tart you should try:

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Tarts

Brown Sugar Buttermilk Tart

Pretzel Millionaire Bars

Strawberry Pretzel Tart

Cookie Butter Pretzel Mousse

Double Chocolate Ganache Tart

Print Recipe

★★★★★

4.5 from 2 reviews

This double chocolate ganache tart features two layers of ganache and a sweet and salty pretzel crust.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Total Time: 120
Yield: 9
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

For the crust:

5 ounces of pretzels
1/4 cup (55 gm) brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup /1 stick (115 gm) of unsalted butter, melted

For the white chocolate ganache:

1/2 cup (120 gm) heavy whipping cream
6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the dark chocolate ganache:

1/2 cup (120 gm) heavy whipping cream
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor, whiz the pretzels, brown sugar, and salt until the pretzels are crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse to combine. Alternatively, you can crush the pretzel and stir the other ingredients in to combine.
Pat out the crumbs into the bottom and sides of a 10″ tart pan. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until set. Set aside to cool while you prepare your ganache.

To prepare the filling:

Pour the white chocolate into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Gently heat the heavy whipping cream for the white chocolate ganache on the stove over medium-low heat. Once the cream around the edges of the pan start barely bubbling (don’t overheat it!), remove the pan from the stove and pour over the white chocolate. Whisk until smooth. Add the butter and whisk to incorporate. Pour the white chocolate ganache into the bottom of the pretzel crust and spread to smooth. Put the pan into the freezer or fridge to set up quickly while you prep your dark chocolate ganache.
To prepare the dark chocolate ganache, repeat the process as used for the white chocolate ganache. When the white chocolate ganache is fairly set, pour the dark chocolate ganache on top and spread the smooth. Allow the tart to rest until the ganache is set. Garnish with fleur de sel and either fruit or additional pretzels. Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cheesecake Tartlets with Blood Orange Swirl

12 Comments / Pies and Tarts

You guys know me by now. I take any and every excuse for celebration and do my best to turn it into a full-on party. Maybe it’s because I love my friends; maybe it’s because I love seeing fresh-cut flowers and balloons scattered about my house. Whatever the case may be, I adore the party planning process, particularly as it pertains to selecting a menu and theme. These white chocolate cheesecake tartlets were among the goodies I shared at a gathering a few weeks ago, and I’m thrilled to get to chat about them with you all today as the last installment of this year’s #monthofchocolate.

Brett and I attend a couple’s small group at our church on Sunday mornings. It’s a mix of couples, mostly married and some not, ranging in age from late twenties to late fifties-ish, and it is such a healthy and life-giving thing for us. In an effort to get out of the “classroom” and really just have fun, we decided to have a Valentine’s Day Italian dinner. I bought big, shiny heart-shaped balloons and tacky heart confetti and banners to put around my house. We drank wine and ate big pans of my mother-in-law’s lasagna by the candlelight provided from leftover glass votives and tea lights from our wedding. It was entirely cheesy and unnecessary, but even as I sit here typing, I’m totally smiling big because it was just so fun.

It feels good to unplug, connect, and have silly, easy conversation with people that love you back.

Dessert was all chocolate, partly due to theme and partly out of sheer convenience. In the throws of testing recipes for #monthofchocolate, I was overrun with test batches of flourless chocolate cake, vegan fluffernutter cookies, and these cutie little white chocolate cheesecake tartlets. It seemed like an to share with friends who wouldn’t judge a work in progress recipe. All in all, the night was terrific. I’m thrilled that you get a taste of that evening today with this elegant and simple recipe.

White Chocolate Cheesecake Tartlets

These white chocolate cheesecake tartlets are a variation of a no-bake cheesecake that I’ve been making for years. The crust is a shortbread and is the only part that requires any time in the oven at all. With few ingredients involved, I lean on Kerrygold’s salted butter for flavor and quality. As with most shortbreads, the flavor of this crust is seriously buttery; I prefer to use a product that has the just-right balance between sweet and salty. This crust melts in your mouth and there’s not doubt that Kerrygold butter plays a starring role in that.

Making the Tarts

The filling here (made in the microwave, btw!) is nothing more than cream cheese, white chocolate, and sugar. The mixture gets folded into whipped cream and it sets up in the fridge to a soft-cheesecake consistency. The fancy show-stopper of these white chocolate cheesecake tartlets is the blood orange swirl. A simple sauce made from blood orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch comes together on the stove and sets to a thick saucy consistency. The mixture can be used in a number of ways (think flavored cocktails, cake fillings, toast toppings, and ice cream compotes!), but here, we use it for it’s floral tang, mild sweetness, and stunning color. You can use a store-bought jam or sauce here in a pinch, but I love putting that fleeting winter produce to use.

I finished off the white chocolate cheesecake tartlets with candied walnuts that I purchased from the store, but this is entirely unnecessary. You can serve solo or opt to finish off with more sauce, whipped cream, or even little ginger cookie crumbles. Find something with texture in your pantry and HAVE AT IT. These little white chocolate cheesecake tartlets are seriously adaptable and would be complimented by a multitude of toppings.

Many thanks to Kerrygold for sponsoring these little white chocolate cheesecake tartlets. Be sure to grab a pack (or five!) of their butter for baking up these little tartlets and more. Any dessert this special deserves the added bonus of quality, uncompromised butter, and you can expect that with Kerrygold. I hope you all have enjoyed this year’s #monthofchocolate and I look forward to getting back to business in March with tons of all new words and recipes. Happy Thursday and Happy Baking!

If you like these white chocolate cheesecake tartlets you should check out:

Blood Orange Cheesecake

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

White Chocolate Cake

Lemon Pound Cake

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tartlets

White Chocolate Cheesecake Tartlets with Blood Orange Swirl

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

These white chocolate cheesecake tartlets are mini no-bake cheesecakes swirled with a simple blood orange sauce.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 25
Cook Time: 15
Total Time: 120
Yield: 6
Category: Dessert

Ingredients

For the blood orange sauce:

1 pound blood oranges
¼ cup (50 gm) sugar
1–1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

For the shortbread crusts:

¾ cup (170 gm) salted butter, at room temperature
1–1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1–1/2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon

For the cheesecake filling:

5.5 ounces white chocolate, chopped
8 ounces cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces heavy whipping cream
½ cup chopped toasted walnuts, if desired

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the blood orange jam:

Peel, slice and seed the blood oranges, being sure to remove as much of the pith (white skin on fruit) as possible, as this will cause the jam to taste bitter. Puree the fruit in a blender or fruit processor until a pulpy juice forms. Pour the juice into a saucepan and whisk in the sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Turn the heat to medium and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Allow to boil, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes until thickened slightly. Turn off the heat, skim the bubbles off the top and and place in a heat-safe container to chill in the fridge to at least room temp.

To prepare the crusts:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl until smooth. Add the confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, and flour and stir on low until a crumbly mixture forms. When you press it between your fingers it should pack like wet sand. Divide the mixture between the 6- 4” tart pans with removable bottoms (I used just shy of ½ cup in each pan) and press into the sides and bottom of the pan in an even layer. I find it’s easiest to press into the sides first and then smooth the remaining dough into the bottom. Place the tart pans on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven to pan until firm, about 13-15 minutes. Remove from oven to cool completely.

To prepare the tarts:

Combine the white chocolate and cream cheese in a microwave-safe mixing bowl and microwave in 25 second intervals, stirring regularly afterwards. This allows the white chocolate to melt gently. Continue this process until the clumps of white chocolate combine smoothly with the softened cream cheese. In a separate bowl, combine the vanilla and heavy whipping cream and whip until medium peaks form. Fold about half of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and then fold the remaining whipped cream in until smooth. Be careful to not overwork it. Fill the cooled tart dishes with some of the cream cheese mixture, about 2/3 of the way full, alternating with some of the blood orange jam. I use about 2 tablespoons of sauce in each tart pan. Once the tart pans are filled, use a toothpick to gently swirl the two mixtures together. If you ended up with a big glob of cream cheese on top you can drop a few rounds of sauce on top to make pretty swirls. Place the finished tarts in the fridge to set up. Prior to eating, pull the tarts out of the fridge, pop the tarts out of the pan, and allow to rest at room temp for about 15-20 minutes to allow the crust to soften slightly. Top with toasted walnuts, if desired.

Notes

You can substitute in a different jam or preserves for the blood orange sauce. Just loosen it a bit with water until it reaches sauce consistency.

This post has been sponsored by Kerrygold. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that make Wood & Spoon possible.

Sweet and Savory Rugelach

12 Comments / Cookies and Bars

Y’all, I am about as merry as a box of candy canes right now. We have, quite literally, one million things in the air right now- a house we’re building, a potential move-in date a week away, work deadlines, end of year birthdays and parties- but I am determined to be the most holly jolly Mom of two munchkins this side of the North Pole. Never mind that my house looks like a corrugated box and styrofoam explosion; who cares that I haven’t showered, like, at all this week. We’re gonna press on, and we’re gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas! (10 points if you can name that movie quote!)

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Last weekend I tried to get the kids in the Christmas spirit with a few traditional activities. We made a gingerbread house (LOL), visited Santa Claus at a local church, and even went decorated sugar cookies. We saw “The Grinch” for the third time and sang Christmas music all day. I even bought a tiny white tinsel tree with mini bulbs for the kids to decorate in lieu of the larger tree we will have at our new house. Aimee decorated the tree and then immediately whined about it not being large enough to put presents under. *Not today, Satan, not today.*

Basically what I’m trying to say is that I’m trying to do my part even in kinda weird, hectic circumstances. Lest you think I’m doing this out of a Mom-guilt obligation or some incessant need to Keep Up With The Jones’, let me assure you that these efforts are almost 100% selfish; I just really love Christmas, okay? So while we wax poetic about the Baby Jesus and drink lukewarm, child-safe cocoa out of plastic cups, let me introduce you to a holiday treat that I think you’re really going to like: sweet and savory rugelach.

Sweet and Savory Rugelach

I’m new to the ruglech train. I’ve tried to make it in the past a number of times, usually without any success, but this was the first time that I was super happy with the results. One dough with two fillings- a sweet and savory- to make a treat that is suitable for appetizer snacks or end-of-dinner desserts. I’m sharing today’s recipes with my BFFs at Diamond of California, who are my go-to for all things nuts. I used their marcona almonds with white chocolate for the sweet rugelach and their whole walnuts for a blue cheese and fig spread savory option. Both are divine, so if you’re in the holiday spirit, break out your nutcrackers and let’s dive in!

What is Rugelach?

Here’s what I know about rugelach: it’s a moist dough traditionally made mainly with flour, butter, and cream cheese. The filling options here are endless, but they’re almost always rolled into bitty spiral cookies that are baked until almost crisp. In the past, I’ve had trouble getting my dough to hold its shape in the oven and have ended up with flat, sad-looking crescent roll things. With a smidge more flour and more time to chill the dough, I found that the treats hold up pretty well in the oven. You can swap out your fillings here as you please, just be sure that you keep your dough the same. Don’t use too much moist filling or too many dry ingredients in the centers, or you may find yourself with a mess on your hands. Swapping out nuts or chocolate varieties is totally fine here- experiment!

A Few Tips:

A few notes: the sweet rugelach tends to ooze it’s buttery-sugar filling during the baking process. I noticed that even a change in pans yielded slightly different outcomes. If you notice that your cookies are baking in a pool of butter about halfway through, carefully remove the pan from the oven and drain off any excess. Make sure they’re far enough in the baking process that they’ll stay put on the pan, or you may end up dumping your treats down the drain! If you don’t want to risk it- no problem. I just like this for keeping the bottoms as crisp as the tops.

Keeping your dough cold and your oven the right temp as the pans go in will help to prevent some of this as well. As for the savory rugelach, if you’re not a fan of blue cheese, feel free to try gorgonzola, feta, or whatever! I love how the salty blue cheese balances with the sweet fig spread, but to each his own.

One final plug for Diamond of California: their nuts are the bomb. You can expect consistent, excellent product from them every time. Pick up a few bags at the store and give them a try yourself! The Whole Walnuts are perfect for this time of year when we all have our nutcrackers out already. They make a great addition to our desserts, bellies, and even table centerpieces, so jump on this train ASAP. As always, thank you for supporting brands that make this site possible. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals and Happy Baking!

If you like this sweet and savory rugelach you should try:

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Pistachio Honey Bars

Candied Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Trail Mix Cookies

Sweet and Savory Rugelach

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

One dough creates two cookies- a sweet and savory rugelach. Switch up the filling options to create the treat of your choice. Perfect for the holidays!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 25
Cook Time: 35
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 16
Category: dessert

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 cup (140 gm) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, cold and chopped
3 ounces cream cheese, cold and chopped
3 tablespoons sour cream

For the fig, walnut, and blue cheese filling:

¼ cup fig spread
1–1/2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup (40 gm) finely chopped walnuts
1 egg, whisked
For the white chocolate almond filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup (50 gm) finely chopped white chocolate
1/4 cup (30 gm) finely chopped marcona almonds
1 egg, whisked
Sprinkling or sanding sugar

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the dough:

Pulse the flour and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter, cream cheese, and sour cream and pulse, pulse, pulse the mixture until a dough comes together. Don’t overwork it. Pat the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a flat round disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well-set, a couple of hours or even overnight.
When ready to assemble, roll your disk out onto a lightly floured surface into a round circle, about 1/8-1/4” thick. Make sure your dough isn’t sticking to your surface before you add your filling! For the savory rugelach, spread the fig spread all over the entirety of the dough circle and then sprinkle on the blue cheese and walnuts. For the sweet rugelach, use a pastry brush to paint on the butter and then evenly sprinkle on the white chocolate and almonds. Use a sharp chef’s knife or a pizza cutter to cut the circle into 16 equal-sized wedges. The fat end of each wedge will be about 1” thick. Starting with the wide end, tightly roll up the rugelach until they’re little spiral dough pieces and place each one on a small parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Be sure your wedges are tightly rolled so that the rugelach don’t come unrolled in the oven. Place the pan in the freezer for 20 minutes or the fridge for an hour to chill.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove from the fridge and brush the whisked egg all over each pastry. Sprinkle sugar on the white chocolate pastries. Bake in the preheated oven about 30 minutes, or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool some before serving.

This post is sponsored by Diamond of California. Dough recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Cookies and Cream Cookies

22 Comments / Cookies and Bars

Happy Sunday to you, friends! I hope your day has started with a joyful heart and a healthy amount of coffee. Today I’m sharing a little early morning entertainment along with a simple recipe for these crowd pleasing cookies and cream cookies. If you’re into cookies stuffed with more cookies, this is the obnoxious treat you’ll want to check out today. But first, let’s get into the morning round-up!

Kids Try 100 Years of Thanksgiving Sides

Bon Appétit has started a video series in which they film young kids trying new foods. In this episode, the kids taste test traditional Thanksgiving side dishes from the early 1900’s to present day. The results are hilarious and I can only imagine what my kiddos would say if I offered them oyster shooters or peanut soup. HA!

Family Dinner, Redefined

In my house, mealtimes are often a joke. It’s a tabletop war zone of flying carrots and machine-gunned peas. This article from Epicurious lists 18 practical ways to make dinnertime a bit less insane. I can already say that I’ll be getting on board with numbers 7, 8, and 14. Give it a read!

Julia Roberts’ Film Career in Less Than 10 Minutes

Ok, it wouldn’t be a Sunday round-up without a little James Corden. Here, he helps Julia Roberts act out HER ENTIRE FILM CAREER (!?!?!) in a short span of 10 minutes. It’s pretty clever and reminded me that I need to dust off a few VHS tapes that I’ve got in storage. Run Away Bride, anyone?

17 Restaurants Worth Planning a Trip Around

The folks at Travel + Leisure know their stuff when it comes to exploring new hot spots. In this article, they’ve outlined a list of 17 restaurants that are worth hopping a flight for. I’ve only been to one on the list, but there’s several that I’m dying to try. Have you been to any of these? Are they worth the hype?

Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Sides

You’re busy, I know. So let’s keep simplifying our life and cut out some of that Thanksgiving day stress, shall we? Food52 has complied a list of freezer-friendly sides that you could literally make today and reheat come Thanksgiving day. This is like the fairy godmother of meal planning, so make a point of checking it out.

People Will Buy Anything

And this week on “People Will Buy Anything,” my favorite store, Madewell, has begun stocking Carhartt. Yes, Carhartt- the durable workwear brand that people like my husband wear. You know, the pants that are as thick as a piece of canvas-wrapped cardboard and require about 3 yards of fabric to make? The ones that have approximately 27 pockets and 3 hammer loops? Yes, those pants. Madewell was really scraping the bottom of the barrel when they started stocking Carhartt. If I spend OVER ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS on a sweatshirt anytime soon, you can bet it won’t be a quality item I could pick up at the hardware store. Now this sweatshirt on the other hand… this I’d wear.

Cookies and Cream Cookies

Okay, lets talk coooookieees! What is not to be thrilled about when you’re talking Oreo and white chocolate chip filled cookies!? This is the stuff dreams are made of! These cookies and cream cookies are a cinch to make and are a treat that literally anyone can rally behind. Unless, of course, you’re the person who doesn’t like cookies, in which case, WHO EVEN ARE YOU?

Making the Cookies

To make them, we start the usual way. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs and vanilla, scraping the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is getting well incorporated. Next comes the dry ingredients- flour, salt, and leavening. Once your dough has been prepared, we add the mix-ins.

This recipe calls for a couple cups worth of chopped Oreos. It’s important to not reduce your Oreos to a fine crumb, otherwise your dough will be way too dry and crumbly. No bueno. Instead, keep a 1/2″chop on your Oreos and get excited to have a teensy bit of crunch in every bite of these cookies and cream cookies. The white chocolate chips and Oreos get stirred in before balls of dough are baked in the oven.

These cookies and cream cookies are fab on their own. I see no further treatment necessary. BUT! If you’re feeling ultra-sassy, why not whip up a sweet frosting to make sandwich cookies. Yes, then they’d be sandwich cookies stuffed with sandwich cookies, and I totally understand if that’s the kid of thing that makes your mind explode.

Truth be told, the cream-filled cookies and cream cookies are next-level sweet. If you like your sugary desserts extra-sweet then the cream filling is right up your alley, otherwise just stick with the regular old cookies and cream cookies and save those extra calories for later. Because health.

Happy Sunday to y’all! Give these cookies and cream cookies a shot and let me know what you think!

If you like these cookies and cream cookies, you should check out:

Funfetti Cookies

Triple Chocolate Cookies

Mint Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Trail Mix Cookies

Candied Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies and Cream Cookies

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

These cookies and cream cookies are soft and chewy, Oreo cookie stuffed cookies with white chocolate chips!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 15
Cook Time: 25
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 30

Ingredients

For the cookies:

½ cup (113 gm) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup (150 gm) brown sugar
¾ (150 gm) cup sugar
1–1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
2–1/4 (270 gm) cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (180 gm) white chocolate chips
2 cups (360 gm) roughly crushed Oreos or chocolate sandwich cookies

For the filling:

6 tablespoons 85 gm) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup (113 gm) shortening
3 cups (375 gm) confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare two baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time, beating on low until combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda and then add this mixture to the butter and sugar. Stir on low just until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then fold in or stir on low the white chocolate chips and Oreo pieces (see notes).
Scoop out 3 tablespoon sized balls of dough (I used a large cookie scoop) for large cookies or 1-1/2 tablespoon sized balls of dough (medium cookie scoop) for smaller cookies. Roll the balls quickly in your hands for smooth cookies. Space out dough balls three inches apart (2 inches if using smaller dough balls) on the baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes (9-10 minutes for smaller dough balls), or until the edges are set and the centers are beginning to set. The cookies may look slightly underdone when you pull them out of the oven. Allow to cool briefly before enjoying!

For the filling:

To prepare the optional filling, cream together the butter and shortening in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla and mix on low until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and beat until smooth and creamy. You can add a bit of milk or water to thin out if desired. Spread the filling in between two cookies and sandwich together!

Notes

I used a combination of roughly chopped Oreos and smaller crumbled Oreos for these cookies. With a finer crumb, the cookies appear darker, but the larger chunks of Oreo give you a crunchy bite of sandwich cookie in every cookies.
If you use a bit too much finely crumbed Oreos, the dough may seem a little dry. The cookies will still taste great, but the texture and spreadability of the cookies will differ. Give them a gentle pat as they come out of the oven if they didn’t spread enough for your liking.
You can substitute milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips here, but I prefer the white chocolate.
If your butter is too soft or if you dough becomes too soft/wet prior to baking, you can firm your dough in the fridge briefly. I usually do a test bake of cookies by baking 3 or 4 cookies on a baking sheet to see if they turn out how I want. If the cookies spread too much, I chill the remaining dough for a few minutes. If they don’t spread as much as I’d like, I keep the dough of the fridge and gently press my dough balls down a bit.