In Good FlavorTake regular chocolate chip cookies to the next level with donut-shaped cookies glazed with melted chocolate and coated with finely chopped nuts.
Happy June, everyone! Do you have any great summer plans —a family reunion, a beach vacation, a tropical getaway, a theme park destination, a trip to the mountains, or a staycation? Whatever they may be, I hope you have loads of fun and create lasting memories.
I am going to have a working summer. Aside from the Independence Day holiday and two vacation days, my summer will be business as usual with little time for R&R. But don’t feel too sorry for me…because later on this year, I will be embarking on a dream trip to………Italy!! Woo hoo!! In light of that, working throughout the summer will be SO worth it! I can’t wait to see the rolling hills, the vineyards, and the old farmhouses of the Tuscany region. And I am so looking forward to smelling the lemon-scented air and the majestic beauty of the cliffside towns of the Amalfi Coast. It will truly be heaven on earth!
Has anyone been to Italy? If you have, I’d love to hear about it or about any suggestions you might have. Where and what do you most like to eat? What activities or tours do you most enjoy? I’d welcome your comments, and if you don’t want to leave them here on this post, feel free to send me a private email.
As far as the food, I plan to do some serious damage. Isn’t that the whole point of going to Italy? Heck yeah! I can go on and on, but I better get to why we are here today—these awesome cookies!
For starters, I must say that I have not had so much trouble with a recipe in a while. It took seven cookie batches before I was happy with the result. You see, these cookies were supposed to be pretzels, Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies, to be exact. I know! How awesome is that idea? But for it to work, I needed a cookie that held its shape during baking.
I threw every trick in the book I knew to make it, but the batter did not hold together enough to produce a proper looking pretzel cookie. I reduced the amount of butter; I used 50/50 of shortening and butter; I added cornstarch; I reduced the amount of sugar; I chilled the dough. The result was not exactly what I wanted because of the spreading. And I didn’t want to change the recipe so much that it couldn’t really be considered a real chocolate chip cookie.
In the end, I switched to plan B because I was up to my eyeballs in chocolate chip cookies and had to MAKE IT STOP! Errrr!! All’s well that ends well though. Thank goodness for the switch, because I’m loving plan B. These Donut Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookies are the bomb!
Instead of forming the dough into pretzels, they were baked in donut molds. Beware: the cookies do not puff up like a regular donut batter. And if you’re looking for soft and chewy, these are not it. They are somewhat firm and slightly crumbly. The cookies are filled with mini chocolate chips on the inside and a coating of chocolate on the outside. For extra pizzazz, they are coated with a layer of chopped nuts. You can use the standard walnuts or other varieties such as pecans, almonds, cashews, peanuts…or any other kind of nuts you like. Just don’t use the ones you find in the yard—they are probably poisonous. Haha! I used a combo of walnuts and pecans in these pictures simply because I ran out of walnuts.
Maybe someday you will see Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookies here, but for now, I leave you with these tasty little morsels. Try them out when you want to make something new out of something old.
Until next time…addio miei amici!
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Donut Shaped Chocolate Chip Cookies
Description
Take regular chocolate chip cookies to the next level with donut-shaped cookies glazed with melted chocolate and coated with finely chopped nuts.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 6-cavity donut molds with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Combine flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add butter, shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium-high until creamy, about 1 minute. Add egg and vanilla extract. Continue beating until fluffy and smooth, about 1 more minute. Add the flour mixture and mix by hand until most of the flour is blended. Add 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Blend to distribute until all of the flour is incorporated. Fill donut molds with batter, pressing the batter gently into the cavities.
- Bake on the next to lowest rack in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Loosen cookies from mold by running a butter knife around the rim of each cavity. Remove and place cookies on a cooling rack.
- Meanwhile, place the remaining 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 20 seconds. Stir. Repeat until the chocolate is smooth. Use a butter knife to spread the chocolate glaze on the rounded side of the cooled cookie. Place the cookie, rounded side up on a baking sheet lined with wax or parchment paper. Sprinkle on nuts using a butter knife or a small spoon to press nuts onto the cookie. Repeat until all cookies are coated. Chill for about 20 minutes to set the chocolate.
- Makes 12 servings.
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Oooh, Italy!! You are going to have the BEST time, so jealous!
These cookies are so cool! How is it I've never seen them before? Doughnut shaped cookies – awesome!
Super cute idea to make these cookies into donut shapes! I love the chopped walnuts too!
I'm SO excited for you! I've travelled all over Italy, and go back nearly every year – I wish I could just stay 😉 Are you staying in Tuscany or traveling to other regions? If you're staying in Tuscany, you have to check out Castello di Verrazzano (http://www.verrazzano.com/en/), best winery I've ever been to! If you're looking for a fancy restaurant with food that is to die for – Enoteca Pinchiorri (http://enotecapinchiorri.it/) is amazing! It's a little pricey, but if you're looking for one night to splurge – that would be it! If you happen to travel outside of Tuscany to Rome, Le Colline Emiliane is a fantastic family run trattoria. Hope some of this helps! Email me if you need some other recommendations 🙂
I hope to have the best time I've ever had in my life! 🙂 I wanted these cookies to be unique, and I'm glad I had handy dandy donut molds. They worked out great!
You are so fortunate to go to Italy every year! I know that I won't want to leave. We will be in staying in Rome, Tuscany, and the Amalfi Coast region. Thank you so much for your suggestions. They all sound wonderful!! It's really helpful to find out about places from those you know who have actually been there. I'll definitely email you if I need other recommendations. Thanks, Kathleen!!
Oh wow, these look amazing! So I guess it's not such a bad thing that the pretzel recipe didn't turn out! I'm so jealous you're going to Italy!
LOVE Italy! I'm so jealous! These cookies look so good!
Despite all your attempts to get a pretzel shaped cookie. . .I think these still turned out marvelously. They are a lot more fun than the standard chocolate chip cookie and I love that they are coated with a nut combo. Yum!
Oh. . . your trip to Italy sounds amazing. My hubby has a European business trip coming up and Italy will be one of the countries he visits. I am planning on meeting him there so that we can do a couple of fun things but we likely will not have as much time as you. As for me . . I just booked my trip to Patagonia where I will be volunteering on a penguin research project. I am super excited about this and can't wait to see all the baby penguins.
I am in love with these! Such a creative and unique idea. These babies are making my mouth water ;).
Thank you Sam! I'm glad I knew when to call it quits. I'm so excited about Italy!
Thank you Ashley!!
They certainly don't look like a typical chocolate chip cookie, which was my intention all along. 🙂
Yeah for you!! Have fun in Italy…any amount of time spent there is time in paradise! If you discover a must eat or do thing while you're there, I'd love to hear about it. I can't believe that you are jetting off on another exotic trip…and to work with baby penguins, how awesome is that?! It's going to be hard to resist taking one of them home with you! 😉
Thanks so much Annie!
This idea is genius! I love it!
Thank you Cathleen!
I've never been to Italy, but it is on the top of my bucket list…jealous! These cookies look amazing, you just KNOW that after 7 batches, they must be perfection 🙂
Yay! Have so much fun in Italy 🙂 We went to Europe including 4 cities in Italy for our honeymoon 8 years ago. Let me know if you need any recommendations 🙂 Love these cookies! They're gorgeous!
Thank you Denise! They were fantastic but I think I'm taking a break from making chocolate chip cookies for a little while. 🙂
Thank you Kelly! You're so sweet. I'm happy with how the cookies finally turned out.
Wow! You had a dream honeymoon! I'm sure it must have gone by too quickly. If I need any recommendations, I will definitely get in touch with you. Thank you so much for the offer! 🙂
Oh, these look unique and delicious. If they have chocolate chips, I'm in! 🙂
Thanks Lyida. And I'm with you on the chocolate chips. 🙂
What marvelous cookies! We're all in favor of ANY chocolate chip cookie variation! You'll have a blast in Italy—we took the whole family 4 years ago and loved Florence, Rome and Cinque Terre. With the picky daughter along, we had to eat places that had dishes she would try—I need to go back with some real foodies!!!
Italy is on my bucket list – cannot wait to follow along on your travels! And I gotta say, these "donut shapes chocolate chip cookies" are brilliant!
Thanks Liz! And what a treat for the family that trip must have been! Your kids were so lucky. But you definitely should go back again to experience real Italian food. 🙂
I'm so glad you like the cookies, Shashi! My bucket list is very short and simple with Italy being the only extravagant item. I'm so excited that after dreaming about it for about 15 years, I finally get to go. I'm hoping you'll get to check it off your list too!
Heyya.. I'm SO excited for you! I've travelled all over Italy, and go back nearly every year – I wish I could just stay 😉 Are you staying in Tuscany or traveling to other regions? If you're staying in Tuscany, you have to check out Castello di Verrazzano (http://www.verrazzano.com/en/), best winery I've ever been too..!!
Oh I'm so jealous of you! Italy!?! So awesome! Totally worth a working summer. For sure! Can't wait to read all about it! As for these cookies, they are seriously clever! And super cute! Love that they have crushed nuts too, YUM! I'm glad you ended up sharing your "plan B" cookies, because they sound and look delish!
Thanks so much! Lucky you to be able to visit Italy so regularly! We will be staying in Rome and the Amalfi Coast region as well as Tuscany. And thanks for your suggestion on Verrazzano. You are the second person to recommend it. I'll have check it out as it sounds like it's the place see!
Thanks Cheyenne!! You are so right—Italy is so worth working through the summer!! I'm so glad you like the cookies. I was determined to make that cookie batter work for me if it was the last thing I did! 🙂
I think these are perfect as donut cookies. In fact, I thought you might be making them for donut day (today)! Enjoy Italy. I have never been there but my mother had an amazing trip there a few years ago.
Thank you Inger. I didn't realize that it was donut day. What a nice coincidence! I'm very excited about Italy. Like your mother, everyone I know who has gone there has nothing but good things to say about it.
Such dedication to creating a delicious cookie 🙂 these look perfectly delicious and cute! Pretzel choc chip sounds so good too though, looking forward to those 🙂
I'm not sure if it was dedication or the fact that I wasn't going to let the cookie dough get the best of me, but I'm glad I persevered. 🙂 It's going to be awhile before I tackle the choice chip pretzel though…I still choice -chip-cookie-out. Thanks for stopping by!
I was starting to feel bad your summer was so busy until you mentioned ITALY! Ok no more feeling sorry for you. That sounds amazing! These cookies look almost as amazing!
Hi Julie! I knew I wasn't going to get a pity party after mentioning Italy. I can't wait! I'm glad you like the cookies. 🙂
This is a genius idea – a donut cookie!! I'm visiting from Weekend Retreat Party.
Thanks
Angie
PS – If you haven't linked up yet – I wanted to invite you to hop on board the Great Blog Train (blog hop) & this month we are traveling to Kentucky: http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/2015/06/the-great-blog-train-30-giveaway.html
Thank you so much! I always look forward to your great party.
This cookies look so good! I love the donut shape!
Thanks Shelby!
Donut….cookies…donut….why has no one else come up with such an amazing freaking idea? I may just veganize your recipe and try this out too. But i'm scared! What if I mess it up!!
I'm so glad you like these cookies, Amrita! I hope you do make a vegan version of it. I know it will be awesome! Don't worry if you mess up…it took me seven times before I was happy with it. The messed up ones tasted good regardless.