At the end of a long work day, I am dying to get into comfy cotton pajama pants, crack open a bottle of seltzer, and indulge in an episode of Planet Earth. And every so often, I fall into a trance cast by the twinkling lights on our little Christmas tree, which light up the entire living room.
This time of year just puts me in the best mood. There are parties every other day, and treats to go around and around. My lab was hosting a little potluck to wrap up the year. I had big plans to make a grand dessert to share with everyone, but they were foiled by a little pup named Ellie…
Ellie is the little Boston terrier that lives with us, and she is the sweetest thing. She loves jumping into our bed, diving under the covers, and tunneling great distances to the edges of the bed. We rarely let Ellie do sleepovers with us, but the other night, we made an exception. I was so happy to have her snuggled up by my side, that is, until I drifted off to sleep and woke up to her stepping all over me at two o’clock in the morning. The rest of the night, Ellie continued to wake me up, which would prompt me to wake up Karl, who would kindly extract the little pup from me. It was our first glimpse of parenting, and it was rough.
Because I was terribly sleep-deprived the next day, I had only enough energy to make something simple, like cookies. This turned out to be quite serendipitous because I had been interested in making a gluten-free version of one of my favorite cookies – chocolate white chocolate chip cookies. The recipe is adapted from Meaningful Eats. They were so easy to make, even a sleep-deprived pet owner could do it! These decadent cookies have a nice crunchy shell and a delicious chewy center, and they were well received by everyone in my lab.
All the thanks to Ellie for disturbing my slumber and inspiring me to make these awesome cookies!!
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 egg whites
- ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, mix in the egg whites and vanilla extract on medium speed. Mix until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape down the bowl with an offset spatula. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
- Scoop two tablespoons of batter per cookie onto the baking sheet, leaving at least two inches of space between cookies.
- Bake for 12 minutes, until the tops are cracked and shiny. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 15-20 minutes before transferring.
Shown above is the only ornament on our tree, a tiny cardinal! All of our ornaments are tucked away in storage in California, so we decided to pick out just one for this tree.
These cookies!! That crackle top is like the pinnacle of chocolate cookie-dom. These couldn’t be more perfect. And omg YAY for your adorable pup, but booo for sleep deprivation!! I’m amazed you made these while sleep-deprived, I can’t even make coffee! So gorgeous.
Those cookies are so beautiful and easy to make! I love gluten-free baking! Lovely Christmas tree. And if it can make you feel better, we have two cats that are responsible for many hours of sleep deprivation! 🙂
Yum, these cookies look delicious!
Hehehehe first of all, it’s so cute her name is Ellie! Wonder why I like it. 😉 And these look so perfectly crackly~~i’d love a batch just about now at midnight. And the ingredients are magically short and simple! Nice.
Yummy! These look perfect for night before Christmas : ) Your apartment is so festive with the tree!