Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunk Pudding Cookies

August 9, 2011 By Steph 13 Comments

So our house has been pretty crazy this summer.  We found out we were expecting baby #4 right before summer began.  Right after I had obsessively marked on the calendar every single thing we were going to do all summer to keep busy and to make sure the kids had a blast.  I had every day planned out to the detail.  And then morning sickness began.  No mercy.  I kept calling out Uncle, but apparently it doesn’t count for pregnancy.

So I just looked at the calendar and realized I have pretty much sucked as a Mom this summer. Every day my kids beg me to go do something fun and I just lay there on the couch moaning. I’m sure they think I am crazy. But I have been in total survival mode. Just trying to get by. I keep telling myself that they won’t remember any of this, but I have to admit I feel so much guilt.

And now that I am feeling a bit better, summer is coming to a close and I am realizing that school starts here in just a couple of weeks.  Wow.  Is anyone else out there in my same shoes? We should start a support group!  :)

Anyway, what better way to cheer my soul up than with peanut butter cookies.  I loaded them with peanut butter chips and broken Hershey bars.  Oh. My.  Go and make them now if you need to smile.

Happy Baking!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Pudding Cookies
makes about 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (3.4 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups peanut butter chips
6 (1.55 ounce) Hershey Candy Bars, broken roughly

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add in the pudding mix. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Stir in by hand the peanut butter chips and candy bars. Using a cookie scoop, drop onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Do not over bake these. When they cool, they should be soft and chewy.

 

Filed Under: cookies, desserts

Zucchini Muffins

August 1, 2011 By Steph 12 Comments

My garden is exploding with zucchini.  If you don’t pick them while they ready, like if you wait 2 extra days like I do a little too often, they end up being as big as a Buick.  So we have been having a LOT of zucchini bread in our house lately.  But out of everything I have made, these muffins are definitely my favorite.  Perfectly moist, perfectly sweet and oh so delicious! They puff up beautifully and you cannot resist them the second they come out of the oven.  The tops are my favorite, so if you come to my house, you may see a lot of just muffin bottoms lying around.

Zucchini Muffins
makes 12

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest from 1 small lemon (about a 1/2 tablespoon)
3 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside. Using a mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and butter. Add in Zucchini. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
**This part is super important. Instead of using non stick spray for your muffin tins, melt a little butter and using pastry brush cover the entire surface of the muffin cups. Distribute the batter evenly between the muffin cups. They will be full, and it’s okay! If you are nervous about that, feel free to use another 2 muffin cups, but mine turned out perfect. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. They will get brown and beautiful. Cool for about 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack. These will stay good for a couple of days if stored in some tupperware.

Enjoy!

 

Filed Under: bread, breakfast, muffins

Chocolate Caramel Cookies

June 23, 2011 By Steph 8 Comments

Chocolate and Caramel Cookies.  The perfect combination of salty-ness, chocolate and creamy caramel. These are on my favorites list for sure.   Have an awesome weekend!

Chocolate Caramel Cookies
recipe makes about 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cups cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (3.2 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 package Rolo’s Chocolate Candies

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla. Slowly add the pudding mix and mix until smooth. Gradually add the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Chill the dough for about 30 minutes in the fridge. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop equal balls of dough and place one rolo in the center of the dough. Cover and roll into a smooth ball. Place cookie dough balls onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Don’t overbake.

Hint: If you don’t have the pudding mix, don’t fret, just go without it.  I like to use it in my cookie doughs only because I love the texture it brings.  It makes for a more substantial cookie.  My opinion only of course.  Every one has their own.  :)

Enjoy!

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, desserts

Flashback Friday – Lemon Shortbread Cookie Cups

June 17, 2011 By Steph 4 Comments

I have had my blog for 3 1/2 years now, on and off.  I can’t believe it’s been that long.  I make a lot of my recipes again and again.  And some I feel have been lost in the hundreds of recipes that I have created in that time.  I decided that having a Flashback Friday would be really good idea just to dig out some of my favorite recipes that I have made in the past.

These are delicious!  If you love lemon bars, you will love these individual, cute little relatives. I love all things individual, so these are perfect!

Hope you guys have a great weekend and a wonderful Father’s Day!

Happy Baking!

Mini Lemon Shortbread Cookie Cups
recipe by Stephanie
makes 24 mini cookie cups

For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
8 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 cup whole milk

To Complete:
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting the tops

1. Using a food processor if possible (it will work best, but if you don’t have one, just use a mixer) process the flour and butter until they resemble course crumbs.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
2. Divide dough into 24 equal balls and place in greased mini muffin tins.  Push down on the bottom and sculpt the dough up the sides to the rim of the cup.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly golden.
3. Make filling – Cream together the eggs and the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until well blended and smooth. Fill each cup with filling until it reaches the rim of the cup. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until set.
Let cool slightly. Remove cups from muffin tins and let cool completely.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar.

 

Filed Under: brunch, cookies, desserts, fruit, lemon

French Macaroons-{my attempt}

June 15, 2011 By Steph 2 Comments

My Mom challenged me to try my hand at French Macaroons.  This was my attempt.  Honestly – I’ve never even tried one before this, so I have nothing to compare it to.  These were surprisingly tasty.  They were light and chewy and paired with Nutella as the filling were the perfect combination.  I used Almond Meal, which is really just ground up almonds.  I liked the nutty flavor and texture.  They were pretty easy too.

So if you are feeling daring, give these a try.  I have heard that they can be quite temperamental, but I didn’t have a problem.  The hardest part was piping them onto the cookie sheets and trying to make them flat and perfect.  I’m sure with some more practice I can manage to perfect them a bit more.

Happy Baking!

French Macaroons

-1 cup almond meal or almond flour (I found this the cheapest at a local health foods store that sold bulk items) (or you can just grind up your own using almonds)
-1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
-4 egg whites, at room temperature (it is best to use aged egg whites, I set mine out on the counter in a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 48 hours)
-4 tablespoons granulated sugar
-food coloring paste if you want to tint it (I used a lavender, which people actually seemed pretty unsure of, they thought it was going to taste like grape or something)

In a medium bowl, sift the almond meal and the confectioners’ sugar together. Set aside. Using a mixer, whip the egg whites on medium speed for about 1-2 minutes. It will get foamy and start to thicken a bit. Start adding the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to whip the egg whites while you are slowly adding the remaining tablespoons. Once all the sugar is added in add your food coloring. Continue whipping the whites for another minute or two until they become glossy and shiny. Remove from the mixer and fold in about half of the flour/sugar mixture. When it is almost all folded in, add the remaining flour/sugar mixture. Fold until the mixture is smooth and stiff.

Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper. Using a piping bag with a small round tip, pipe out the batter into small rounds about 1 inch in diameter. Try to minimize the peaks that naturally form. To flatten them, simply dip your finger tip into water and flatten the peaks. Shake the cookie sheets a bit to get out some of the air bubbles that might have been in the batter.

Let the cookies rest before you bake them about 20 minutes, or until the batter is not longer tacky when you touch it.

Bake one cookie sheet at a time on 300 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. I used Nutella to sandwich in between the cookies, but you can use any kind of filling. Raspberry preserves, lemon curd, chocolate ganache, use your imagination!

 

Filed Under: chocolate, cookies, desserts
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