Ever have one of those days when everything goes wrong?
This seems to frequently happen to me in the kitchen. Sometimes, it seems like everything I touch burns, overcooks, undercooks or just doesn’t work out. And then there are the days when I incorrectly measure ingredients, forget about ingredients, and am generally just not paying attention.
A recipe for disaster, as they say.
Just over a month ago, I had one of these terrible days. It was a weekday and I decided to make My Other Half’s favourite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I’ve made them a dozen times before, and I had always thought they were fool-proof.
Boy, was I wrong.
The first dozen were too dry – they weren’t spreading at all. I assumed I put too many oats in (although I followed the recipe and used 2 cups), so I added a bit of water to thin the rest of the batter out.
Well, apparently I added too much water, because they spread like crazy and became way too flat (almost see-through). So I added a few more oats to the next dozen… but I burned them.
I went on like this, over-compensating and messing up my cookies more and more, for about an hour. Five dozen cookies later, I didn’t have any cookies that were up to my standards. I didn’t even think they were edible.
(Note: My Other Half disagreed. He ate most of them).
So I took to Twitter, expressing my disappointment, hoping someone would have a good idea for what to do with five dozen ruined chocolate chip cookies.
Thankfully, my friend Ashley Inskip-Lavoie had the best idea ever: mash them up, roll them into balls with cream cheese and coat them in chocolate!
Brilliant idea. Absolutely brilliant. So that’s exactly what I did.
I served them as dessert to my parents and My Other Half. They loved them. Not too sweet, just the right consistency, and mouth-wateringly delicious.
This is hands-down the best thing to do with stale, old, ruined or leftover chocolate chip cookies!!! Here’s my (rough) recipe:
Ingredients
- 6 large or 12 small chocolate chip cookies, mashed into small bits
- 1 block light cream cheese, room temperature
- 200g melting chocolate
Instructions
- Mix cookie bits with cream cheese until well blended. Roll into ping-pong-sized balls with your hands (be prepared to get messy!). Place in freezer to chill. Melt chocolate in bowl over boiling water. Gently, using toothpicks to assist, coat each ball in chocolate. Transfer to a lined baking sheet and place in the freezer until hard. Store in the fridge for up to one week.
If you try these, please be sure post your comments below! Thanks to Ashley for such a great idea!
June 8, 2012
PERFECT way to re use the cookies!! I love this.
June 11, 2012
Thanks Brittany! I plan on making extra cookies from now on, just so I can make these!
Glad you like the recipe and stopped by!
June 9, 2012
Great recipe! Would loved to try it out =)
June 11, 2012
Next time you make cookies, give ‘er a go! This could also be done with stales bought cookies, of course! 🙂
October 27, 2012
A co-worker brought store-made cookies to my house for a potluck and I forgot to insist that someone take them home. Stowed them in the pantry and forgot about them until 2 weeks later. So I started searching or what to do with them – I hate wastefulness. This is a the best way to use okay-but-not-up-to-my-high-standards cookies that I’ve been able to find. Thanks so much Julia (and by extension Ashley)!
October 30, 2012
Oh dear! Well keep this idea in mind for next time 🙂
November 7, 2013
Good recipe save!
I am not a cream cheese fan at all and what a lot of the germans do is make RUMBALLS!
Those are my favorite to buy at a bakery- but then I always think I am buying “garbage mashed up cakes”.
They take any cake ,cookies and mash them up- add a lot of cocoa powder,nuts (if desired), coconut, dried fruits and a lot of rum or amaretto is prefered.
Roll in chocolate sprinkles or cocoa powder.
Also to make nice round balls, you can use a mellon baller. I have one that automatically pushes out the round shapes- it is from CA paradis.
November 7, 2013
Made a typo with my blog address:
http://www.prettytastyreviews.blogspot.ca/
November 8, 2013
Oh thanks for the excellent idea!!! That would have worked out well too!
January 6, 2015
I tried a new recipe and totally ruined my cookies, I’m so happy to find this! Thank you!
January 11, 2015
No problem Kristin! So happy it worked for you!
January 11, 2016
This is brilliant and delicious! I made way too many cookies for an event and had about 4 dozen left over. I barely put a dent in them in the last few days, and didn’t want them to go stale. So happy I found this, because they turned out incredible. Thanks!
January 13, 2016
You’re so welcome Tess! Funny how the best recipes come from little problems like too many cookies 🙂