Blue Ribbon Chewy Chocolate Cookies

Today I'm sharing our family's favorite chewy chocolate cookies, which means you're only 8 ingredients away from these national cookie contest winners becoming your family's favorite too.  They're so good, every time I share them, I hear, "Oh my, you MUST give me this recipe!"    Let me show you how easy they are to make so you can whip up a batch whenever you want.

Start by creaming unsalted butter and sugar together until light and creamy.  I do this with a BeaterBlade attachment so I don't have to stop and scrape down the bowl of my stand mixer.  Love that thing!  

In a separate bowl, whisk together sifted cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, and fine salt.

Be sure to use really high quality dutch-processed cocoa powder for really good flavor.

Add the cocoa mixture to the butter and mix until no signs of dry ingredients remain.  Then add the egg and pure vanilla extract.

Wrap the cookie dough in plastic and chill for a least 1 hour.  This step is really important so don't skip it.  

For professional looking cookies, use a #50 scoop to portion out the cookie dough (it's roughly the size of a tablespoon).  If at any time the cookie dough gets too soft, pop it back in the fridge.

Incidentally, the cookie dough freezes beautifully (as do the baked cookies).  Just be sure to wrap the dough very well in plastic wrap and store it in an airtight container - this can be done as a whole batch of dough, or individual balls.  Thaw the wrapped cookie dough in the fridge before unwrapping, rolling, and coating with sugar.  

Roll the cookie dough into balls, then coat with granulated sugar.  Vanilla sugar is nice too.

Space 12 cookies evenly on two silpat lined half sheet pans (bake only one pan at a time).  You can use parchment paper, but I've test both surfaces and silpats work better for these cookies.  

Bake for about 9 or 10 minutes - cool completely.

These cookies are simply spectacular.  Enjoy!

Items needed to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• excellent quality cocoa powder https://amzn.to/35M0qpc

• the best vanilla extract https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

• vanilla sugar https://amzn.to/3Jc4bme

• #50 cookie scoop https://amzn.to/3JrSubx

• silat silicone liners https://amzn.to/3HCz035

• professional sheet pans https://amzn.to/34pWo5x

• beaterblade https://amzn.to/34HEVFr

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Blue Ribbon Chewy Chocolate Cookies

makes 24 cookies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 6 tablespoons dutch processed cocoa, sifted (use really good quality)

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• granulated sugar to roll cookie dough in before baking (or use vanilla sugar)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; set aside until needed.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater or BeaterBlade attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until it lightens in color.

3. Add egg and pure pure vanilla extract; continue to mix until no traces of egg remain.

4. Turn mixer speed down to low; add cocoa mixture and combine until no traces of dry flour or cocoa remain, scraping bowl if needed.

5. Wrap dough in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.

6. Preheat oven to 350F, place rack in center of oven, and line 2 half sheet pans with silpat liners.

7. Using a #50 scoop (about 1 tablespoon), roll level scoops of chilled cookie dough in the palm of your hand to form a ball; coat with granulated sugar and space evenly on sheet pan, 12 per pan.

8. Bake for 9-10 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Skinny Italian Sausage and Peppers

Everybody loves sausage and peppers, but let's face it, serving it on an Italian sandwich roll makes for a very heavy meal which is basically straight up man food.  But here's my lighter, low-carb take that is satisfying enough to keep your man, or anyone else for that matter, very, very happy.  And here's a bonus, you can make the whole thing in one pan.  Let me show you how it's done.

Start by heating some really good extra virgin olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet or dutch oven over medium-high.

Add Italian sausage links - use hot or sweet (mild), whichever you prefer.  Today I'm using sweet.

Turn the sausage links so they brown on all sides.  If the links stick, they're not ready to turn.... don't force them... they will release when they're ready.  

Remove sausages from the pan when they're sufficiently browned.  They're not cooked through at this point, so don't be tempted to taste yet.

Next we'll add the peppers and onions to the same pan.  I love to use a colorful mix of bell peppers.  Also, if you want your onions to hold their shape well, cut them from pole to pole; if you want them to break down, cut them across the equator.  For this recipe, I like them to hold their shape so I cut them from pole to pole.

Add the salt and pepper too.  This will not only flavor the veggies, but it will help them start to release their juices, which will dissolve the browned bits the sausages left in the pan.  Mmmm, we're building lots of flavor here.  Stir every now and then until the veggies soften a bit.  

This would also be a good time to add a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes if you like.

Now it's time to add minced garlic.  Lots and lots of yummy garlic.

Oh man... this is going to be soooooo good.

And now dried oregano, just because.  Continue to cook, stirring often...

I'm dying here.  My kitchen smells amazing!

Alrighty - now I'm going to break tradition by adding a big, juicy, ripe tomato that I chopped into 1/2-inch pieces.  Get everything in there, seeds and all. 

Oh yes, it won't be long now.

Time to nestle those partially cooked sausages down into the onion and pepper mix.  

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. 

Simmer until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 165F.  

Just before serving, toss in some fresh basil and parsley which will add lovely color and amazing flavor.  Serve immediately over pasta, on Italian sandwich rolls, or just place one or two sausages on a plate and top it with a generous helping of the pepper and onion mixture. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• rondeau https://amzn.to/2MN8Y4s

• locking tongs https://amzn.to/2NInIRP

• instant read thermometer https://amzn.to/2LecqTH

• nakiri knife https://amzn.to/3ryht6D

• the best olive oil https://amzn.to/399wsKS

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Skinny Italian Sausage and Peppers

makes 3-4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 5 or 6 Italian sausage links, hot or sweet

• 1 large white onion, sliced

• 2 large bell peppers, sliced (any color)

• 4 or 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in the palm of your hand

• 1 large tomato, diced (optional)

• fresh chopped parsley and basil (optional)

• Italian sandwich rolls (optional)

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown sausage links in oil until brown on all sides; remove from skillet and set aside.

2. Lower heat to medium-low and saute the onions and bell peppers in the same skillet until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the garlic, crushed red peppers, and oregano; continue sauteing until the onions start to caramelize.

4. Add the sausage links back to the pan (and add the chopped tomato if using); reduce heat to low and cover pan until sausage reaches 165F.

5. Serve immediately over pasta, on Italian sandwich rolls, or just place one or two sausages on a plate and top it with a generous helping of the pepper and onions mixture.

Alternative Cooking Method:

• Here’s what to do if all you have on hand is frozen sausage. Place 1 cup of water and a steam rack into the inner pot of an Instant Pot. Place the frozen sausage links on the rack. Seal the Instant Pot and steam on “manual” or “high pressure” for 25 minutes. While the sausages steam, make the rest of the recipe in a skillet. When the sausages are done steaming, place them into the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. The sausages won’t be as brown as the recipe above, but they’ll be extra tender.