Double Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies

Love peanut butter? Love chocolate? These cookies are similar to Reese's peanut butter cups but about 400 times better! It's been awhile since I've tried a new Martha Stewart recipe, and boy am I glad I found this one. My only complaint is that the recipe states you should bake the cookies until firm, so I left them in a few minutes longer which made them a little crunchy instead of soft. Lesson learned, next time I'll bake them less than the 15-16 minutes that I did this time. Still, they're delicious.




Fun Fact! Butter has a lower cooking temperature than shortening, but you can substitute one for the other, 1:1. Just keep in mind they will probably be done faster.

Give these a try with peanut butter chips instead, for a more peanut buttery flavor!



Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 + 1/4 cups firmly packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter


 Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 cookies sheets (you may need 3) with parchment paper.

Start by mixing the flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.

Next, cream together the butter, shortening, sugar and 1 Cup of the brown sugar until light and fluffy, or 2-3 minutes. Scrapes sides of the bowl well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add vanilla.

Add flour mixture gradually and mix until thoroughly combined. Mix in chocolate chips until just combined. Chill dough at least 1 hour. (I chilled it over night- a great way to prepare for cookies the next day for guests without all the mess the day of their visit!

*While making these, my bf asked a great question. Why refrigerate cookie dough? I assumed it had to do with the texture of the cookie when forming them (making it easier to work with), but after a bit of research, here's what I found.

-Allows dough to cook some before it starts to spread out too much, leaving the cookies stuck together and overcooked
-Allows the gluten to relax! More gluten= rubbery cookies
-Allows the dry ingredients to better absorb moisture

Here's an interesting post about chilling cookie dough.

Once the dough is chilled, drop 1 tablespoon of dough at a time onto baking sheets, spacing cookies about 2 inches apart. Make a thumbprint in the center of each cookie. Fill thumbprint with 2 teaspoons peanut butter mixture. (This is a great step for kids to help with!) Top with a second tablespoon of flattened dough. Carefully mold dough to cover the surprise.

Bake 12-13 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheets about 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Finally, enjoy the goodness.

Enjoy!

Delicious Glazed Apple Cookies

I still had have apples from when I went apple picking with my Mom, and since I don't want them all to go to waste, I decided to make some cookies this weekend. Cookies are a great choice when you want to bake but don't want get get into anything too involved. They are small enough to share with many people and transport easily, and they keep well too.

A Google search for "apple cookies" brought me to this recipe at Allrecipes which has never done me wrong. I knew between the great recipes on that site combined with the high review this one got that I was in luck. I also had all the ingredients- always a great sign! After 2 small substitutions and one omission (only because I forgot to add the milk... oops!), here's how it went.


Ingredients

Cookies:

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 Cup butter

1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups sifted whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup apples - peeled, cored and finely

diced

1 cup raisins

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 tablespoons milk (I used soy)

In a large bowl, mix together shortening, butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add egg and beat until thoroughly combined, scraping the sides of the bowl.

Mix remaining dry ingredients together and set aside. I made a face. That part is optional but highly encouraged.

Stir in half of the dry ingredients with the butter/sugar mixture. Mix well. Add apples and raisins and mix until combined. Finally, add remaining dry ingredients. Again, mix well.

Drop dough from a tablespoon onto a cookie sheet, about 1- 1 1/2" apart and bake at 400 degrees for 10-13 minutes.

While the cookies bake, make the glaze by combining all ingredients in a bowl and mixing well. Add the milk gradually, using only as much as is needed to create a glaze (drippy) consistency. Drizzle over warm cookies.

Happy baking!

Chocolate Crinkles

"Who bakes cookies in 95 degree heat?", you ask? Well, me of course. I was craving cookies this weekend and planned on making double chocolate chip cookies, but opted to try a new recipe instead, so I would be able to share it with you. I know, I'm generous as hell.

I got this recipe from the new baking book, which has provided so many winners. I'm really glad I got it, and in brand-new condition at a used book store, no less! This recipe was a HUGE hit, and I already have gotten requests for the recipe. So, without further adieu, here it is.


Ingredients

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted

1/2 cup coconut or vegetable oil

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

Sifted confectioners' sugar

 

Using a mixer, beat together eggs, sugar, chocolate, oil, baking powder and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

I used coconut oil which gave the cookies a subtle yet noticable coconutty taste. I'm generally not a huge fan of coconut but I think that's due to both the texture and the fact that many things made with coconut have an overwhleming flavor. Neither of these is the case with these cookies, if you opt to use the coconut oil in place of vegetable oil.

Now gradually beat in the flour until combined. Refrigerate dough for at least 1-2 hours, covered.

If this doesn't make you want chocolate, I don't know what will!

Pre-heat oven to 375°. Allow dough to sit out for a few minutes so it's easier to work with, and then roll into 1" balls. Roll the balls in the powdered sugar (be generous!) and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the tops look done.

Happy eating!

Rosemary Butter Cookies (AKA Burnt Poker Chips)

One herb I love is rosemary, especially on potatoes or in tea. It's aromatic, healing, and delicious. Rosemary is rich in Vitamin E and is good for the skin, senses, digestion, circulation and headaches. I have a bottle of rosemary essential oil that combines beautifully with lavendar, chamomille, or bergamont, to name only a few. It's also very easy to grow, both indoors and out. I've had the same plant for at least a couple of years now; In the spring I bring it outside to the garden (I keep it potted though) and bring it in once it starts to get chilly. It smells wonderful (of course) is a great choice when making saches. (Hopefully I'll blog about making those, soon!) I recently read that you should mist the leaves of the plant with water on a regular basis, but I never have. I'm going to start and see if I notice any difference.

When I came across this recipe in my Martha Stewart "cookie of the day" e-mail (I know, I know...) I knew I had to make it. I had the rosemary and it sounded fantastic! Here is the link to the recipe that I followed. I can't imagine there wasn't a typo in this recipe though. At 375 degrees, the dough rolled in egg whites, the cookies burned terriblely. The ones that did turn out are heavenly. Next time I'll read up more on egg white coatings, parchment paper, and will probably just use a bit of spray on the pans, or even nothing at all.

Makes about 5 dozen (Assuming you don't burn 3/4 of them!)

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg white, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 teaspoon ground sea salt salt
1/2 cup raw sugar
Directions

Mix butter and granulated sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in whole egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low.

Add flour, rosemary, and salt, and mix until combined.

Split the dough in half and roll each into a log shape.

Place each log on a 12-by-16-inch sheet of parchment. Roll in parchment to 1 1/2 inches in diameter and transfer to paper-towel tubes to hold shape. This was easier than I expected. If the log gets stuck, gently work it in. Don't try to force it, or it will just start to bunch up where you are pushing. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.









Preheat oven to 350. Brush each log with egg white (I got to use the silicon brush I FINALLY bought!). At this point, it looks a little like a loaf of raw garlic bread.



 Roll in raw sugar. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds.

Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment.

Bake until edges are golden (or charcoal black, in my case), 18 to 20 minutes. After my experience with them burning (parchment paper seems to give me more trouble than it's worth sometimes), I'd recommend you keep a close eye on these while they bake. 

Not quite what I expected...

But they weren't all bad!



The ones that didn't burn were really good. Even the slightly burned ones can be enjoyed, just not as much as they should be.

Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

*Martha calls for 18-20 minutes at 375, but this burnt mine. About 18 minutes at 350 should be good; Just keep an eye on them.

Happy Monday!