FAVORITE FRIDAYS: COOKIE RECIPES

Last weekend, I decided to up my baking game by deciding to bake macarons — and baking macarons is no easy task. They are delicate cookies that require precision and patience. While I was stressing out at every step of the baking process, I began to appreciate cookies a lot more. They’re low maintenance (in comparison to macarons), make great presents, tasty and who doesn’t love cookies? So for this week’s ‘Favorite Fridays’ I wanted to share my favorite cookie recipes — just in time for Mother’s Day!

1. White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies via The Domestic Rebel

I just discovered this recipe a month ago and baked it for a friend’s birthday — and they were a popular hit! I l o v e white chocolate and cranberry cookies, and I’ve baked them using several recipes before, but this one is my favorite. The texture is the best among the other recipes — it’s perfectly soft & chewy. I also recommend using Ghirardelli white chocolate chips — they’re 10x better than the normal ones! Sometimes its okay to splurge on your ingredients — I’ve always been reluctant to splurge on chocolate chips, but now I’m hooked on Ghirardelli. They’re even good plain! And here’s another tip: refrigerate the dough for at least 24 hours before baking.

2. Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Chip Cookies via Bakerella

via Bakerella

Jacques Torres is a famous master pastry chef with a few chocolatiers in New York City — and lucky for us, the recipes for his cookies are available online. Sadly, I haven’t gotten a chance to try his cookies firsthand. I’ve been meaning to go every time in the city, but never make it in time. However, this recipe is a solid one and my go-to recipe for regular chocolate chip cookies. I also like to sprinkle some sea salt on top of the cookies for the sweet/salty flavor. 

3. Oreo White Chocolate Pudding Cookies via two peas & their pods

via two peas & their pod

Oreo cookies is one of my guilty pleasures. One bite always leaving me wanting more. I like it with ice cream, shakes, cake, etc. It’s probably one of the most fun and versatile grocery store cookies out there. I’ve also made cookies stuffed Oreo, but I prefer mashing it up into crumbs and mixing it with my dough. This recipe is always a hit and my go-to recipe if I’m baking for a special event. You can have fun with this recipe by using different types of Oreo cookies like birthday Oreo or red velvet!

4. Classic Peanut Butter Cookies via allrecipes.com

Super easy, super simple and delicious.

5. Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies via allrecipes.com

This recipe was the first recipe I used when I started to get into baking. It was always my little secret. This recipe is perfect for those who like their cookies softer and less chewy. The secret is the vanilla pudding mix.

Favorite Fridays: Healthy Recipes

So not only do I love to eat, but I also love to cook and try new recipes. Thanks to Pinterest — finding new, fun recipes is super easy. And for today’s post, I want to feature 5 of my favorite healthy recipes, since eating healthy is all the rage these days. I’m also working on my food photography skills so most of these recipes, but perhaps in the future that will change!

1. Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad from Damn Delicious

I love this recipe, because it’s super easy and delicious. I like to eat this with some croissant or over a bed of spring salad mix topped with roasted pecans, reduced balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil (see picture below). I also like to poach my chicken breast (find instructions here) since it’s healthier, and then I like to keep the stock leftover for other recipes (such as the chicken noodle soup found below).

2. Parmesan Baked Chicken Nuggets from Gimme Some Oven

This is a fun, easy and delicious way to make chicken nuggets – so much better (and healthier) than the frozen ones!

3. Chicken Noodle Soup from Budget Byte

I change this recipe up a bit by poaching the chicken for about 14 minutes (same instructions from the chicken salad recipe) then using leftover chicken broth. Sometimes this broth not might be enough, so I add store-bought chicken broth in increments then taste and adjust it to my liking.

4. Creamy Tomato Basil Soup from Joyful Healthy Eats

For this recipe, I had to add a little bit of heavy cream to achieve the creaminess flavor I liked. However, this might be different for you — but, overall, a delicious and easy recipe to make.

5. Carrot Sticks from Healy Eats Real

Ever find yourself with leftover carrots in the fridge, and you don’t know what to do it with? Happens to me all the time. I always feel so guilty for throwing away food, so I’ve been pretty good about finding recipes to help me eat all my veggies before they go bad — and these carrots sticks are a great one! You can even use zucchini instead of carrots, and add other seasonings like cayenne red pepper, paprika, etc.