What to do with your hard boiled Easter eggs? Bake them... in Chocolate Chip Cookies (of course!)

While researching recipes for creative ideas to use up all those hard boiled Easter eggs I came across several recipes for Hard Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies. I looked twice. Three times. Four times. And while I thought the concept sounded incredibly strange, I learned that using cooked egg yolks in cookies is quite common in many European countries. The recipes varied only slightly in their ingredients - the amounts of flour, butter and vanilla used, but the singular common ingredient was the hard boiled egg. With a million better things to do on a gorgeous Saturday in early Spring I decided to put those off those other things demanding my attention so that I could give this recipe a try.

I was admittedly skeptical.
I was admittedly ready to toss the entire batch into the trash.

But I didn't. I couldn't.
Because these cookies were simply fantastic.
Or perhaps I should say they were egg-cellent! ;)

Into the flour and butter mixture goes the chopped egg!

All pulsed and the egg has completely disappeared... The kids will never know it was in there!
It will be our little secret... Shhhh!

Add the sugars, vanilla, salt and a dash of cinnamon and
this is starting to look like a traditional chocolate chip cookie mixture!

Well, after we added the chips it does!

The cookie dough is very crumbly, even more so than a shortbread
But the butter, once cooked, will act as a bonding agent.

And, voila!
The result was a perfectly crispy and crunchy cook that was just the teensiest bit soft in the middle. 

Ingredients:
1 hard boiled egg, chopped
1 1/3 cups of all purpose flour
1 stick of butter cut into chunks
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar (1/4 cup)
1/4 brown sugar (1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of chocolate chip cookies

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 ºF.
In a food processor - as opposed to a mixer - mix flour and egg until well blended. Add chopped egg and repeat until the mixture resembles coarse sand or fine crumbs.

Lastly, by hand, mix in the chocolate chips. 

Using a small ice cream scoop press dough into the scoop and then onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
The mixture is very crumbly and it will fall apart. This is normal. Gently press together with your hands. The butter, when melted, will serve as a binding agent.
Bake for 10-13 minutes.
Remove cookies from oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

I cooked these cookies in 10, 12 and 15 minute batches. The 15 minute batch was the darkest and the crispiest and perhaps the least fragile of all. The 10 minute batch was the softest and in my opinion the 12 minute batch was the perfect combination of crispy, crunchy and chewy.

This was a fun project to try and I think I will have to test this out with oatmeal raisin!

Sweet temptations :: Springtime Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I saw these fun Springtime colored chocolate chips, by Nestle, when I was strolling down the baking aisle the other day, and impulsive as I am, I grabbed a bag and tossed it into my cart. Something to do with the kids on a rainy day. Only it's not raining today and the kids aren't even here. I was back at the grocery store this morning getting stuff for dinner and for snacks and lunch boxes and as I was standing at the checkout line I knew I was forgetting something... but I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out what it was. I scanned the items I had placed on the checkout belt - chicken, shredded cheese, milk, yogurt, cereal, popcorn, kiwis, bread... Something was missing for sure. It wasn't until I got home and unpacked that I realized what it was. I forgot dessert for Alexander's lunch box! Feeling a bit too lazy to drag myself back out to the store, and a bit in the mood to bake, I remedied our lack of lunchbox sweets!

These cookies are crunchy and firm on the outside and soft, almost brownie-like on the inside.

2 cups of flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tbs cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of butter, softened
3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cups of brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
1 package Nestle morsels (springtime)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In your mixer beat together butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla and blend. Add salt, baking soda and cocoa powder, mix well. Add the flour one cup at a time, mixing well in between. Fold in chips. Note the dough will be crumby, almost like shortbread. Don't let this be a concern.
Bake for 10-11 minutes. Let cool about 5 minutes before serving.

For a super treat, stick a cookie in the microwave for about 10 seconds for something truly decadent! For a super duper treat add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the heated cookie... Or surprise someone and sneak one into someone's lunch box for a guaranteed smile!