These cookies were my first attempt at gathering together some yummy baked goods for my coffee themed mishloach manot for Purim, but alas, it is not meant to be. While the cookies are indeed delicious, we have had a last-minute change of schedule and we are going with another theme, which I shall reveal at a later date. If anyone is still looking for something cute to do for Purim, feel free to take this idea - these cookies and chocolate brownies with coffee flavored icing were going to be packaged in a disposable coffee cup, wrapped in cellophane and tied with a bow, with a chocolate lollipop in the shape of a coffee cup hanging from the ribbon.
Either way, these are just dang good cookies. And that is why they are going to live in the downstairs freezer, far away from me. And they will not be seeing the light of day until we are invited to a party somewhere, when they will miraculously turn into a hostess gift. The magic of frozen baked goods.
This Cookie Tuesday recipe comes from Amanda's Cookin', an unbelievable blog that I just can't stop reading. Amanda's blog is so cool that she even has a sister site called Crafts by Amanda that can be reached from the cooking blog. Seriously, how smart is that? Genius.
Amanda is so crafty and so good at cooking and baking, I'm amazed. And more than a little jealous. I mean, really, where does she find the time? When I grow up, I want to be just like Amanda. I highly recommend taking a look and subscribing to her newsletters (yes, that's a plural) because they are fantastic.
Here is the recipe for the cookies that Amanda calls Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies. And here is the recipe that I actually made because I just never have all the ingredients in the house when I need it. It's very very similar to Amanda's, with just a few alternatives switched in.
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp instant coffee (I didn't have any more than this)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup margarine (straight from the fridge)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (obviously, I need to get some more, posthaste)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (ditto for the chips)
Preheat the oven to 350 and line four baking sheets with foil and spray them with cooking spray.
In the bowl of your standing mixer, cream the margarine and sugars. Add in the eggs and the vanilla and mix well. Amanda's recipe says to mix the coffee in with the flour, but I panicked and diluted the instant coffee in 1 tsp boiling water before adding it in. I was sure that even though her cookies looked amazing, mine would be flecked with crunchy instant coffee so I diluted and dumped it in. Mix well again. Add in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined. Then add the chocolate chips and mix those in as well.
I used a teaspoon to drop the cookie dough onto the cookie sheets. I am pretty sure that I got about 5 dozen cookies from this recipe - my cookies are not small but they are not huge either. The cookies baked for about 12 minutes; I didn't take them out until they were ever so slightly brown around the edges.
Cool the cookies on a cookie cooling rack and store them in an airtight container. These cookies freeze very well - and are just as good straight from the freezer.