Announcing our Recipe Contest Winners: Top 10 Holiday Cookie Recipes

Written by Chris -

We were thrilled with the caliber of recipes that came through – thank you to all that entered!

Grand Prize Winner ($1,000!): Triple Chocolate Molten Mint Cookies by Lindsay Weiss

Congratulations, Lindsay! ALL judges loved this cookie for its intense chocolate flavor and “under-baked” brownie-like texture. If fact, when I was calculating the numbers, this recipe had a near perfect score! One judge commented that this will be her new holiday cookie – that’s quite a compliment seeing how seriously we take our cookies.

We were impressed with how this cookie was not overly sweet. With three kinds of chocolate (Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate Baking Bars, Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels and Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels) one would assume it would be very sweet – the flavors were, in fact, very well-balanced.

We also tested this recipe with all chocolate, no mint morsels. Good news, if you are not a mint fan, you can easily use dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate in its place.

Triple Chocolate Molten Mint Cookies

Ingredients needed for 20 cookies:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into slices
• 8 ounces NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Dark Chocolate Baking Bars, finely chopped 
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate baking bar, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups superfine granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups (one 12-ounce package) NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Semi-sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels 

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

MELT butter in a double-boiler (or stainless bowl set over – but not touching – simmering water). Once butter is melted, add dark and unsweetened baking bars and stir until melted and smooth. Remove the bowl from heat and let cool slightly.

SIFT flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside briefly.

BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl until foamy, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and gradually add sugar, then vanilla extract. Continue beating until the eggs are very thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and beat in the cooled chocolate, making sure it is completely incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Stir in the semi-sweet and dark chocolate & mint morsels by hand.

SCOOP dough using a 2-inch ice cream scoop onto the prepared baking sheets, placing the dough about 1 ½ inches apart.

BAKE for 17 to 20 minutes or until the cookies are just set (centers may still seem underdone but will firm up upon cooling). Do not over bake. Let cool right on the baking sheets. 

To get the full “molten” effect, serve these cookies warm!

 

Runner up: Chocolate & Salted Dulce De Leche Macarons by Kelly Madey

Macrons and salted anything are very on trend, so when this recipe came through, it caught my eye. Kelly starts by caramelizing Nestle Carnation Sweetened Condensed Milk for the filling, and then finishes it with a few sprinkles of sea salt (I can literally eat this by the spoonful, very dangerous!). The macarons are made with powdered sugar, Nestle Toll House Baking Cocoa, almond flour and egg whites – they bake up beautifully!

Chocolate & Salted Dulce De Leche Macarons

Ingredients needed for 16 sandwich cookies:

FILLING

• 1 can (14 ounces) NESTLÉ CARNATION Sweetened Condensed Milk
• ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

MACARONS

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup almond flour or almond meal
• 2 tablespoons NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Baking Cocoa (plus extra for optional garnish)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature (reserve yolks for another use)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions:

FOR FILLING:

PREHEAT oven to 425° F. Fill a 13 x 9-inch baking pan halfway up with water. Pour the sweetened condensed milk in a 1- to 2-quart (8-inch-square) casserole baking dish. Cover with foil and place in the water bath. Bake for 1 hour. Stir. Remove foil and continue to bake for another 15 minutes or until the milk is a medium caramel color. Sprinkle with sea salt. Stir. Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate. Dulce de leche mixture will thicken as it cools.

FOR MACARONS:

LINE 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

SIFT together the powdered sugar, almond flour, baking cocoa and salt into a medium bowl; stir. 

BEAT egg whites until soft peaks form. With the mixer running, add the granulated sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the dry ingredients until combined. The mixture will look very dry but it will come together. Keep folding until it resembles a wet cake batter.

PLACE macaron batter in a large freezer bag. Snip ¼ inch off the corner of the bag. Pipe the batter into 1-inch circles spaced about 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Let stand for 30 minutes.

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Bake macarons one batch at a time for 10 minutes. Macarons will have puffed and look dry on the top. Let cool completely; remove from parchment paper.

PLACE 1 teaspoon of chilled dulce de leche on the bottom of 16 macarons. Place remaining macarons on top making 16 sandwich cookies. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Dust with cocoa powder before serving. 

You will not use all of the dulce de leche for this recipe. Refrigerate and reserve for another use (just keep it away from me since I cannot control myself!).

 

Runner Up: Peppermint Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies by Milisa Armstrong

Milisa knows her way around the kitchen – she was the grand prize winner in our There’s Always Room for Pie recipe contest. Turns out, she makes a mean cookie too!

We really liked the combination of flavors in this cookie. Milisa starts by melting 1 cup of Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels then follows with adding 2 more cups of morsels to the dough (yum!). The dough is also flavored with a little Nescafe Taster’s Choice Coffee. Each scoop of dough is topped with crushed peppermint candies so this melts right in to the cookie once baked. It makes for a beautiful presentation!

We hope Milisa will continue to enter our recipe contests!

Peppermint Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients needed for 36 cookies:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels, divided
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons NESCAFÉ TASTER’S CHOICE House Blend 100% Pure Instant Coffee Granules
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 12 soft peppermint candies, crushed 

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.  Grease or line baking sheet with parchment paper.

MELT butter and 1 cup chocolate morsels in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. 

TRANSFER chocolate mixture into a large mixer bowl; add sugar and beat until combined. Add coffee granules, vanilla extract and peppermint extract; beat just until combined. Beat in eggs. Add flour and baking powder, mixing until all is incorporated. Fold in remaining 2 cups chocolate morsels. 

SCOOP dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing 2 inches apart, using a medium size cookie scoop. Sprinkle each cookie with a little of the crushed peppermint candies.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set. Cool for about 2 minutes on baking sheet and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Here are the rest of the top 10 cookie recipes, in no particular order:

• Hunka Burnin’ Love Cookies
• Mocha Malt Shortbread Cookies
• Butterfinger Santa Cookies
• Oatmeal Chocolate Cherry Crisps
• Holiday Spiced Chocolate Mint Cookies
• Sticky Toffee Pudding Cookies
• Chocolate Drizzled Cran-Honey Tangerine “Biscookies”

We are eagerly working on content for our next contest, so stay tuned!

Links:

• Triple Chocolate Molten Mint Cookies
• Chocolate & Salted Dulce De Leche Macarons
• Peppermint Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Get a Toll House coupon
• Get a Carnation coupon

Related contest-winning recipes:

Chocolate Cappuccino Decadent Pie

Brussels Sprout Slaw