Hello all! My final exams begin in just about a week, so I’m taking a baking hiatus until sometime in May. I hope you understand & I hope you’re having a beautiful spring!

One of the trends lately seems to be chocolate chip cookie recipes involving cornstarch. I don’t know if it’s a trend or if I’m imagining it, but cornstarch seems to be everywhere lately! [and if you use it in your kitchen, it literally will be everywhere — ha!] But I was intrigued to try a recipe for the perfect, classic chocolate chip cookie that incorporates cornstarch. The selling point? Cornstarch will make your cookies chewier! Softer! Thicker! More magical!

Are all of those claims true? Yes! The cookies I made weren’t really any thicker than usual – but they were definitely more soft and chewy. This is one trend that lives up to the hype.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe source: Sweetest Kitchen
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3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (or regular chocolate chips, either will work)

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla, mix in.
4. Mix in flour mixture on low speed. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Using a tablespoon or a cookie scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until barely golden around the edges. Don’t let the cookies brown and do not bake longer than 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven, let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

You guys. These exist. It was like my dream came true. Even more Oreo filling! I know Oreos are not healthy and I know they are processed and do not resemble anything homemade. But I love them. If you are like me and think that the sun rises and sets in the Oreo cookie, run to the grocery store and try these limited edition Oreos. And then make these peanut butter Oreo blondies.

Peanut Butter Oreo Blondies
Recipe source: pinchofyum.com
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2/3 cup soft butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cream
16-24 Oreo cookies depending on size of pan
1 bag white chocolate chips (optional) [I did not include these]

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish for thicker bars, or a 9×13 baking dish for thinner bars.
2. Cream the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until well mixed.
3. Add the flour and baking powder and mix for less than 1 minute with an electric mixer or stir with a wooden spoon until all flour is incorporated (batter gets tough to work with if you mix it for too long). Add the cream and use electric mixers or wooden spoon to stir until incorporated. Batter should be thick but spreadable.
4. Spread half the batter in the prepared dish; layer Oreos evenly over the batter; top with remaining half of batter.
5. Bake for 40-50 minutes, depending on the size of your pan (less time for a rectangle, more time for a square) and whether or not you like them to still be a little soft and doughy. [I baked mine 50 minutes – it’ll depend on your oven]

My friend Andrea introduced me to these amazing cookies. She brought them to class one day and I ate three. THREE. What was that? Oh, my self-control flying out the window. Then she made another batch a week later and I ate another THREE. Our fellow classmates descended upon the bag of cookies like hungry and stressed out vultures. Wait. That’s a surprisingly accurate description of law students. But I digress.

These cookies are phenomenal. I would even say that they rank in my top ten favorite cookie recipes. Not like my top ten list means anything, but I’ve made and consumed a lot of cookies over the years — and these are so, so delicious.

I changed one little thing from the original recipe. I used Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder instead of plain cocoa powder. This is because I’ll always take dark chocolate over regular. But feel free to use what you’d like! If you use regular cocoa powder, the cookies will be much lighter in appearance.

Chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Recipe source: cravingchronicles.com
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1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling
2 ounces (4 Tablespoons) dark chocolate cream cheese [you’ll find this in the dairy section of your grocery store – with the other cream cheeses]
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and still warm
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon milk
1 Tablespoon brewed coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Combine 1 1/2 cups sugar, chocolate cream cheese and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk briskly until smooth. Whisk in oil. Add egg, milk, coffee, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture. Fold in with a rubber spatula until all flour is incorporated and a soft dough forms.
4. Measure remaining 1/3 cup sugar into a small bowl. Using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, portion out 12 dough balls per baking sheet. Roll each dough ball in your hands, then roll in sugar to coat. Space about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. (If the dough is too soft, set it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.)
5. Bake 1 sheet at time at 350°F for 11-13 minutes, until cookies are set and tops have cracked. (do not over bake!) Cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Makes about 24 cookies.