Cookie dough marshmallow

Dom over at Belleau Kitchen runs a random recipe challenge. The logic behind this particular blogging challenge is simple. How many of us have many many recipe books, magazines and cut outs? How many of us bookmark so many different things to make but then never quite get round to it? Baking instead another batch of the same (but delicious) brownies/cookies/victoria sponges. There is of course nothing wrong with a tried and tested favourite but the idea of this challenge is to not let those recipe books go to waste and find new exciting dishes and have some fun along the way.

I decide to join in this month. It is the challenges 30th 'birthday' and we were instructed to count along to our 30th book and make whatever was on page 30. All the rules in detail can be found here.

So off I went and counted and I landed on the cookie dough lovers cook book. This seemed a good start as I think I have only made 2 or 3 things from the book.

On page 30 were cookie dough marshmallows. I immediately loved this challenge as I absolutely adore marshmallows and have been meaning to make them for AGES but once again never got round to it.

The author of the book has her own blog and the recipe for these can be found here.

The verdict? Homemade marshmallows are divine. Fact. The flavour and texture is amazing. I do have one quibble with these particular ones though. The cookie dough adds a gritty crunch from the sugar. I want my marshmallows to be completely meltingly soft.

Saying that these are divine for topping my hot chocolate!

I have fallen in love so much that I am going to make a second batch this weekend (flavour to be decided) to fully test the soft fluffy goodness of my own marshmallows.

Halloween pumpkins

I have been so busy this year around Halloween so have not really managed any of the baking I had planned. And technically there is no baking in these little pumpkins but they are very cute so I will let them off.

They a cookie dough truffles made to look like pumpkins. The recipe for the eggless cookie dough is from 'The cookie dough lovers cookbook' by Lindsay Landis. The artistic decoration is all my own, though I doubt anyone else would want to take credit, they are slightly wobbly pumpkins to say the least!

Halloween pumpkins

Makes ~15

For the cookie dough

56g butter
25g caster sugar
50g light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract
tbsp milk
70g plain flour
50g mini chocolate chips or regular ones chopped up a bit


For the decoration

Silver spoon orange buttons
A little dark chocolate melted, or a black/brown edible pen

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light and fluffy. Beat in the milk followed by the flour until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes.

Form the dough into small balls and place them on baking sheets lined with baking parchment and freeze for 15 minutes (my freezer does not work, I put them in the fridge for 30 minutes).

Melt the buttons gently and set aside to cool. The buttons need to remain melted but the cooler they are the less the cookie dough will soften when you try and coat them.

Coat the cookie dough balls with the melted mix. This is messy, or at least it was for me, maybe other people are more skilled at such things! 

Set back on the baking parchment and allow the coating to set. Once the coating is set decorate the pumpkins however you wish. If like me you use chocolate just put it in a piping bag and snip the tiniest corner off so that it comes out in a thin stream.

These little pumpkins do taste very nice, cookie dough is always good and the orange buttons have a lovely flavour of orange. Just must work on my decorating skills for next year!

Cookie dough sandwiches

First of all I must urge everyone who has ever been caught with their finger in the mixing bowl to buy 'The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook' by Lindsay Landis.

I knew I had to have this book the second I knew about it. I was so very excited when it arrived late last week and yesterday was my first opportunity to cook from it. I wanted everything and could not actually decide what to make and so I had to get M to select for me. He chose cookie dough sandwiches, Two chocolate chip cookies sandwiched together with chocolate chip cookie dough! Hmmmm.

I have tweaked the recipe a little, everything is measured in cups so I have converted it to grams, I reduced the sugar and tweaked the cookie dough recipe slightly too. This is mainly because I often find lots of american style baking a little too sweet for me.

For any one who is worried all the cookie doughs in the book, that are designed to be eaten raw, are eggless, so it is safe for all.

Cookie dough sandwiches


Makes between 20-24 sandwiches


For the cookies


170g butter
125g caster sugar
2 tsps vanilla paste
75g light brown sugar
2 eggs
210g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
100g chocolate chips (I used dairy milk chopped into small chunks)


For the cookie dough


115g butter
75g brown sugar
tsp vanilla paste
50g icing sugar
40g flour
Pinch of salt
60ml whole milk
40g mini chocolate chips (again I used dairy milk, these need to be very small, so halve regular chocolate chips or chop your chocolate nice and small)


To make the cookies beat the butter, sugars and vanilla paste together until smooth and creamy, you can use an electric whisk, for some reason I used a wooden spoon and good old fashioned elbow grease!


Beat in the eggs until fully incorporated. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix until combined. Finally stir through the chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Cover the dough and allow to chill for at least 1 hour or even overnight. nb I left my dough for an hour, I think that it would have been better left for two.


Preheat the oven to 190C/170C FAN and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Roll tablespoon sized pieces of the dough into balls and place on the baking sheets, at least 5cm apart. nb, you may want to leave more space between as my cookies spread a lot, mind you if I chilled them for longer they may not have spread as far.


The recipe states to flatten the balls lightly with your fingers, I did not need to, and my cookies spread nicely, though I suspect if you have chilled you dough for along time you may want to flatten them a little. Trial and error may be needed here. 

Bake the cookies for 8-11 minutes (check after 8) until golden around the edges. Leave on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a wire rack until completely cool. 


To prepare the filling beat the butter, brown sugar and tsp vanilla paste until light and fluffy, this time I did use my electric whisk! Mix in the icing sugar, flour and salt until incorporated. Slowly add the milk and beat for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Stir through the chocolate chips. 


When the biscuits are totally cool sandwich them together with the filling. These will keep for up to 3 days in kept in a tin in the fridge.  

I love love love these cookies, they taste absolutely amazing the day they are made and just as fantastic the next day.