Bready or Not Original: Orange Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies
These Orange Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies are something special. Orange and chocolate is such a classic combo, and it works very well with a soft, cakey cookie and sweet glaze.
This recipe of mine makes a LOT of cookies, whether you shape them to be big or small. The great news is that the dough is wonderful to freeze, so really, you can do a half batch or the whole thing whenever you want. Then on baking day, you just need to bake and glaze!
These are traditionally Italian Christmas cookies, but we are restricted by no season here at Bready or Not. Good things can and should be enjoyed all year long. Makes these ASAP, and just make more again later in the year!
By the way, if you want a more basic take, I also have a plain Ricotta Cookies recipe!
Bready or Not Original: Orange Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
Dough
- 15 ounces ricotta cookies
- 1 3/4 cups white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
- zest from 3-4 navel oranges
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 bag semisweet chocolate chips
Glaze for full batch
- 2 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 4-5 Tablespoons orange juice
Instructions
Make the dough
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and orange zest until smooth and creamy.
- In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Gradually combine with the wet mixture, scraping the bottom to incorporate everything. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- At this point, the dough can be divided, if desired, to freeze half or all. If baking soon, wrap and chill the dough for about two hours or overnight.
- To begin baking, preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a large or small scoop or spoon to dole out dough balls spaced out on cookie sheet. Large cookies will bake in about 15 to 18 minutes; small cookies will need 11 to 13 minutes. The edges should be golden brown. Let cookies sit for about 3 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
Make the glaze
- Mix confectioners’ sugar and orange juice until thick and smooth. Use the back of a spoon to spread atop a cookie. Continue with the rest of the batch.
- Let cookies rest until glaze is set, about an hour or so, then transfer to a sealed container. Place waxed paper between layers if stacking the cookies. Store at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Chocolate-Almond Bundt Cake with Almond Glaze
I’m not going to lie: this cake has so many of my favorite things all in cake form, and it made me very happy. I hope you love this Chocolate-Almond Bundt Cake with Almond Glaze, too.
First of all, you can do your own from-scratch almond paste for this recipe. I did not. I used a tube from Trader Joe’s. You can also find it at Walmart and many other places.
Almond flavor carries through every bite of this recipe, in different forms, with different textures. There is sweetness here, but not hardcore. Really, it’s about how the almond and chocolate complement each other.
Bready or Not Original: Chocolate-Almond Bundt Cake with Almond Glaze
Equipment
- 10-cup bundt pan
- baking spray with flour
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
- 7 ounces almond paste
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups half & half (or milk) warmed to 70 degrees
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 + Tablespoons half & half or heavy cream
- sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat the interior of a 10-cup bundt cake with baking spray with flour.
- Beat butter and almond paste together until smooth and creamy. Add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time followed by the extracts. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to mix in everything.
- In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet alternatively with the half & half/milk. Scrape the bottom of the bowl again, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, leveling out the top.
- Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. A thermometer plunged into the cake should read over 205 degrees.
- Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then carefully invert onto a cooling rack. Cool completely, speeding in fridge, if desired.
- For the glaze, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, almond extract, and half & half, adding more sugar or liquid as needed to reach a good thick, oozy consistency. Dollop onto the cake so that it dribbles down the sides. Sprinkle sliced almonds on top.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge or at room temperature. Cake can also be individually sliced and frozen for later.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Soft Chocolate Ginger Cookies
These Soft Chocolate Ginger Cookies look as delicious as they are. Sugar-coated with a crackled top, each cookie is soft, chewy, and loaded with ginger and spices.
I love the addition of candied ginger pieces in cookies like this. I don’t buy the pre-cut small pieces, as I think they are too tough. I like buying the larger pieces, like the ones sold by Trader Joe’s, and then I use kitchen shears to cut them into small pieces.
Bready or Not Original: Soft Chocolate Ginger Cookies
Equipment
- parchment paper
- small cookie scoop
Ingredients
Dough
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup candied ginger chopped
Topping
- 1/2 cup white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg followed by vanilla and molasses.
- In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the wet, scraping the bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything. Fold in the candied ginger pieces.
- Place the topping sugar in a bowl. Use a small scoop to shape the dough, then roll in sugar. Set spaced out on baking sheet.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes. Let set on sheet a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store in a room temperature sealed container up to 2 days.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Cream Cheese Cookies
These Glazed Maple Cream Cheese Cookies were subjected to repeated experimentation as I perfected the dough, first rolling it in maple sugar, then realized no, a glaze drizzle was the way to go. I had to make sure that worked, too, to a delicious and beautiful result.
These cookies are something special. So special I entered them in the annual Star Tribune cookie contest. Alas. Those judges apparently didn’t deem them special enough.
Therefore, I present the recipe for your enjoyment. If you love maple like I do, I think you’ll rate them quite highly.
Bready or Not Original: Glazed Maple Cream Cheese Cookies
Equipment
- large cookie scoop or tablespoon
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 cubes) softened
- 8 ounce cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 teaspoons maple flavor
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup pecan pieces
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup real maple syrup
Instructions
- Cream together the butter, cream cheese, and both sugars. Add the egg, vanilla, and maple flavor. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients with the wet. Fold in white chocolate chips and pecan pieces.
- Cover dough and chill for at least two hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a large cookie scoop or tablespoon to shape dough into rounds. Place spaced out on cookie sheet.
- Bake for 13 to 16 minutes, until the top is just starting to gain a golden tint. Let set for a few minutes before moving to a rack to cool. Once the cookies are completely cool, make the glaze.
- Combine glaze ingredients in a bowl. Transfer to a piping bag with small tip or a freezer bag with a corner snipped. Pipe lines over the cookies. Let set at least an hour before packing cookies into a sealed container. If stacking cookies, use strips of waxed paper between layers.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Date Sugar Chocolate Chip Bars
I bought a bag of date sugar for a recipe and then had to figure out what else to make to use up the bag. Cue my experimentation with cookies, which then led to a superior version: these Date Sugar Chocolate Chip Bars.
The date sugar I used was very light and powdery in texture. It tastes sweet in a different way than other sugars, and tends to create a dense texture, kind of like brown sugar. I didn’t get any aftertaste from it.
My husband took my experiments to work, and people gobbled them up. These bars taste different, yes, but are also still delicious, and so people still ate them even though they didn’t know what made them strange.
Bready or Not Original: Date Sugar Chocolate Chip Bars
Equipment
- plastic wrap
- 8×8 or 9×9 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) room temperature
- 3/4 cup date sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped dates
Instructions
- Cream together the butter and date sugar. Add the egg and vanilla. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything.
- In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing until no white streaks remain. Fold in chocolate chips and date pieces.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in fridge to chill for at least 8 hours, overnight, or a few days. Alternatively, it can also be frozen and then thawed in the fridge.
- When it’s baking time, line an 8×8 or 9×9 pan with foil. Apply nonstick spray or coat with soft butter. Preheat oven at 325 degrees.
- The cold dough will be quite stiff. Leave at room temperature for 20-30 minutes, then break into pieces to press into prepared pan, forming a thick, even layer.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test.
- Let cool completely. Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board. Slice into bars. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Browned Butter Rye Chocolate Chip Bars
I’ve made this Browned Butter Rye Chocolate Chip Bars recipe about, oh, five times as I type this up. I have witnessed people go absolutely bonkers over how good these things are.
This is not an especially photogenic recipe. At a glance, the bars look like they may be made of whole wheat, which doesn’t exactly excite people. But then they bite in.
Rye flour gives a complex, nutty flavor. The browned butter amps that up. There is not a ton of sweetness within the bars, though the coarse sugar on top adds some glitter and dazzles the tongue.
I’ve found this is a great recipe to make ahead of time, too, and freeze fully baked stacked inside gallon freezer bags.
Bready or Not Original: Browned Butter Rye Chocolate Chip Bars
Equipment
- 9×13 pan
- aluminum foil
- nonstick spray
- waxed paper
- heavy glass
Ingredients
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 and a half sticks
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 3 cups medium rye flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips any kind or a mix
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons turbinado sugar for topping
Instructions
- Place butter in a pot on stove. Gently warm to melt, and continue to cook, stirring often, until the butter is browned. Set aside to cool.
- Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line 9×13 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a large bowl, combine both sugars, salt, vanilla extract, and baking soda. Beat in the egg until everything becomes smooth and creamy.
- Add the browned butter, scraping the bottom of the bowl to incorporate everything. Mix in rye flour. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Dollop the dough into the pan. Use hands to press out as evenly as possible. Place a small piece of waxed paper on top, then use a heavy glass on top of that to fully compress dough, making sure to get all of the edges. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top.
- Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until dough is set. Remove from oven. Cool completely before slicing into bars.
- These bars will keep well at room temperature, in a sealed container, for up to 4 days. They can also be frozen soon after baking, and will thaw fast for a treat at a future date.
