CocoMac Dreams

As you all know, my favorite cookies are Dream cookies. Dream cookies are different than your normal cookie because of the instant pudding mix added, or what I like to call, “the secret ingredient.” I discovered Dream cookies in Linda J. Amendt’s 400 Sensational Cookies cookbook. I’ve tried her Oatmeal Dreams, Chocolate Chip Dreams, Doodle Dreams, Toffee Pecan Dreams, White Chocolate Cranberry Dreams, and Double Chocolate Dreams. Keep reading my blog, and you’re bound to see about 20 more variations of Dream cookies I plan on trying!

The Dreams I made today are called CocoMacs! The coconut, macadamia nuts (I used pecans), and white chocolate make a rich and crunchy combination in these tender cookies. They are the perfect cookie to make in the summertime. All three ingredients make me think of Hawaii! I made these cookies for tonight’s small groups at my church… lucky people, right? Haha! I wonder if I will have any leftovers???

Enjoy!

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, pudding mix, baking soda, powder, and salt. Stir in coconut.

Beat sugars with butter and shortening. Add eggs, then vanilla and almond extracts. On low speed, add flour mixture, beating until just blended. By hand fold in white chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes.

Slide parchment paper onto wire rack. Cool for 5 minutes then transfer cookies to cooling rack.

Let cool completely.

CocoMac Dreams
Ingredients
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (3.4 oz or 102 g) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped roasted unsalted macadamia nuts (I substituted pecans)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined. Stir in coconut. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, shortening, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and almond extract. Scrape down sides of bowl. On low speed or using a wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture, beating just until blended. By hand, fold in white chocolate and macadamia nuts.
4. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls (15 mL) of dough about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges start to turn lightly golden.
5. Immediately slide parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer from parchment paper to cooling rack and cool completely.

Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies
400 Sensational Cookies by Linda J. Amendt

White Chocolate Cranberry Dreams

Two days in a row of dream cookies! These White Chocolate Cranberry Dreams get their sweetness from the Jell-O French Vanilla instant pudding mix, Godiva white chocolate vanilla bean bar, and sweetened dried cranberries. These are one of my most favorite cookies, and they are perfect for this Christmas season. I made these White Chocolate Cranberry Dreams by altering the Double White Chocolate Dreams recipe in Linda J. Amendt’s “400 Sensational Cookies” cookbook by substituting French Vanilla instant pudding mix for the White Chocolate pudding mix, and using dried cranberries instead of macadamia nuts.

Stay tuned…more dream cookies to come! Enjoy!

Cream butter, shortening, and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, vanilla, and dry ingredients to batter.

*Godiva white chocolate vanilla bean bar given to me by one of my wonderful students.
Chop white chocolate or prepare 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips.

Stir white chocolate and dried cranberries into dough with a wooden spoon.

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes in a preheated 375 degree F oven, or until edges are lightly golden. Cool cookies for 5 minutes on a wire cooling rack.

Slide cookies off parchment paper and cool completely on wire rack.

Enjoy! Look at that melted Godiva white chocolate!

White Chocolate Cranberry Dreams
(Recipe adapted from the Double White Chocolate Dreams from Linda J. Amendt’s “400 Sensational Cookies” cookbook)

Ingredients
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (3.4 oz) instant French Vanilla pudding mix (you can substitute white chocolate or vanilla pudding mix)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips (I combined both because I did not have enough of the Godiva white chocolate vanilla bean bar).
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, shortening, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl. On low speed or using a wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just blended. By hand, fold in white chocolate and dried cranberries.
4. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls (15 mL) of dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges start to turn lightly golden.
5. Immediately slide parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer from parchment paper to cooling rack and cool completely.

Yield: about 3 dozen cookies
Adapted from “400 Sensational Cookies” by Linda J. Amendt

Double Chocolate Dreams

Here is a another “dream” cookie from my favorite cookie cookbook, 400 Sensational Cookies by Linda J. Amendt. Dream cookies are my absolute favorite because they are moist and chewy from the instant pudding mix added to the batter. The instant pudding mix is what I like to refer to as my “secret ingredient”.

My mom made these double chocolate dreams this week and we only have two left….my dad could not keep his hands off them. Loaded with brown sugar, chocolate pudding mix, chocolate chunks and nuts, these wonderful dream cookies have a full chocolate flavor you will love. Enjoy!

get-attachment.aspx — Use a cookie scoop or spoon and drop tablespoonfuls of dough about 2 inches apart on parchment-lined cookie sheets.

double chocolate chip dreams — Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, or until set around the edges but slightly soft in the center. Slide parchment paper onto a wire rack and cool cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer from parchment paper to cooling rack and cool completely.

Double Chocolate Dreams

Serves: 3 dozen

Adapted from “400 Sensational Cookies” by Linda J. Amendt

Ingredients

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (3.4 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, shortening, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl.
On low speed or using a wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture, beating just until blended. By hand, fold in chocolate and walnuts.
Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls (15 mL) of dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until set around the edges, but slightly soft in the center.
Immediately slide parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer from parchment paper to cooling rack and cool completely.

Oatmeal Dreams

These Oatmeal “Dream” cookies are another recipe out of Linda J. Amendt’s wonderful cookbook, “400 Sensational Cookies”. I made her Chocolate Chip Dream cookies, which were amazing, and these Oatmeal Dreams are just as delicious. They are called “Dream” cookies, because of the instant pudding mix, which gives these cookies their chewy, extremely soft and perfect texture. You’ll never make another cookie again that is not a “Dream” cookie, trust me! Enjoy!!!

Oatmeal Dreams
Ingredients
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (3.4 oz or 102 g) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, pudding mix, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl. On low speed or using a wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just blended. Gradually stir in oats.
4. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls (15 mL) of dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges start to turn lightly golden.
5. Immediately slide parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer from parchment paper to cooling rack and cool completely.

Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies
“400 Sensational Cookies”by Linda J. Amendt

Chocolate Chip Dreams

All I can say about these, is that they are the best chocolate chip cookie in the whole entire world! There is a secret ingredient…instant vanilla pudding mix, that makes these cookies extremely moist, chewy and cake-like. To me, these cookies taste like the inside of giant $2.50 Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie you can buy. The only difference is that the Neimans’ cookie has coffee powder in them.

They are called Chocolate Chip “Dream” cookies in Linda J. Amendt’s “400 Sensational Cookbook”. Amendt writes in her cookbook, “Dream cookies are a unique type of drop cookie… rich, moist, tender and chewy and loaded with flavor. The secret to creating these wonderful cookies is the instant pudding mix added to the cookie dough. It not only adds flavor but gives the cookies their special texture and helps keep them moist…Because the instant pudding in the dough adds to the structure of the cookies, the dough doesn’t need to be chilled before baking…these cookies turn out better if you don’t chill the dough. They need to go in the oven before the pudding sets, which is what will happen if you chill the dough”.

Amendt also notes that if you slightly under-bake the cookies, they will be chewy and delightfully gooey. If baked tad bit longer, they will have a moist, cake-like texture.

*Please note… DO NOT use cook-and-serve pudding mix or sugar-free instant pudding mix, as they will significantly alter the flavor and texture of the cookies. The sugar-free pudding mix will make the cookies tough, flat, and will easily burn.

Again, I LOVED these cookies and definitely plan on making more…. you will see! Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Dreams
Ingredients
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 package (3.4 oz of 102 g) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl. On low speed or using a wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture, beating just until blended. By hand, fold in chocolate and walnuts.
4. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls (15 mL) of dough about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until edges start to turn lightly golden.
5. Immediately slide parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer from parchment paper to cooling rack and cool completely.

“400 Sensational Cookies” by Linda J. Amendt

Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies