Recipe: Rodelle Cookies

In this month’s issue, we shined the spotlight on the yin to chocolate’s yang: vanilla. Fort Collins-based Rodelle manufactures gourmet vanilla ingredients to elevate cookies, cakes, and any other sweets you may be baking. Food editor Amanda M. Faison made the cookies we featured—chocolate chip and chocolate crinkle—and now we’re sharing both recipes with you. Happy baking!

Baking Bites Addictive Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Yields 3 1/2 dozen cookies)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp Rodelle Vanilla Extract
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, optional
Kosher salt or sea salt, for topping

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by Rodelle Vanilla Extract. Gradually blend in the flour mixture, then mix in chocolate chips and walnuts, if using, and mix until well-incorporated. Shape dough into one-inch balls and place on prepared baking sheet, allowing some room for the cookies to spread. Sprinkle each of the dough balls with a small pinch of kosher or sea salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned around the edges. Allow cookies to set for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies (pictured)
(Yields 24–30 cookies)

½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup Rodelle Gourmet Baking Cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp Rodelle Gourmet Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or grease them with butter. Put the confectioners’ sugar in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about three minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and add one egg, beating on medium speed until blended. Add the other egg and the vanilla extract and beat until blended. Turn off the mixer, add the flour mixture, and beat on low speed until just blended. Using a tablespoon, scoop up a rounded spoonful of dough. Roll the dough into a ball. Roll the ball in the confectioners’ sugar until covered. Place the balls on a prepared baking sheet about two inches apart. Bake the cookies until they are crackled and puffed, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and set it on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Move the cookies onto the rack and let cool completely. Repeat with the rest of the cookies.

—Image courtesy of Laurie Smith