I love making cookies. There is something about taking the simple ingredients like flour, sugar, butter… and turning them into a beautiful creation! I always love experimenting with all different flavors and additions. Mr. W loves the pure and simple Chocolate Chip cookie every time. So I will bake those of course for him but when it’s my turn to pick, I always want to try something new! These were a big hit and came together perfectly! 

I think that I am going to do a post on tricks to make the perfect cookie but one quick one that I will share right now is to create the beautiful cookie that you are looking for. It’s one thing to have a delicious tasting cookie but if it LOOKS good and TASTES good then that is something special! So my trick is to add additional chocolate chips, caramels, pretzel crumbs…. or whatever you want, to the cookie AFTER it bakes! That is right, you are creating the image you want by placing additional things on top of the cookie to make them all look finger licking good! Below is an example of how I make my cookies look delicious. The first row is straight out of the oven with nothing added. It still looks yummy but the second row blows right by with all the add-ins to catch you eye and make you want to eat the whole tray! 

I also am learning how to do food photography. I decided that I need a new “hobby” to keep me busy and keep me learning while Mr. W is in grad school. So I have been studying up and was amazed on how the “real picture” is sooo different from the “actual picture”. I always thought all the famous food bloggers had amazing granite counter tops with all the cool backsplashes… but nope its all a display! So I love looking at my little set up in W’s room (he was sleeping in the closet…its the darkest place) while I was setting up my display on the guest bed next to the window and W’s diapers! This was all done while little W was sleeping! It will be a fun memory to look back on.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped pretzels
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup caramel bites

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, vanilla and mix until smooth.

Gradually add flour, cocoa, soda and salt. Beat the mixture until combined. Stir in the pretzels, chocolate chips and caramel balls.

Once combined, form small balls and put on a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until the edges seem firm. Once out of the oven, add additional chips, caramels or crumbs to the top of the cookie pushing them in slightly. This will make the cookies look amazing. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet.  Transfer to wire rack after 5 minutes and allow to cool completely.