Chocolate brownies with Peanut Butter cookie dough

There are few things better in this world than chocolate and peanut butter...that is, in my world.  Sure, I have my family and friends, but chocolate and peanut butter does not ever stress me out or give me any "lip."  I can curl up with it on a snowy day and it's happy to comfort me.  OK, I think I just described the definition of stress eating, but I digress...

Yesterday was National Peanut Butter Day. Woo!  I wanted to make something, but I was truthfully too lazy to drag out my trusty KitchenAid.  I wanted to make something I could whip up in a quick hurry.

I had not made brownies in a while, and that is something even my husband with little to no sweet tooth will eat.  I found this recipe for the "best gooey chocolate brownies" and decided to try them.  Then I decided to dress them up with some peanut butter chips.

Now we are getting somewhere.

I thought "hmmm...that's not enough peanut butter yet, what can I do?"  Light bulb!  I have an easy recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  I can throw some of that on top of the brownie mix.

I didn't want the cookies to become too crispy having been baked too long with the brownies, so I baked the brownies about half way and then added the cookie dough.

Oh my goodness, they are going to be wonderful.....the anticipation was driving me insane.  You will have to forgive the photography, I just was not interested in getting a great photo, if ya know what I mean.

Chocolate brownie recipe (from food.com)

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (omit if you don't want the crunchy crust)
• 1 cup peanut butter chips

1. 1
   Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius.
2. 2
   Melt the butter and lightly grease a pan of your liking (I used an 8x8 because I like a thicker brownie).
3. 3
   In a large bowl; combine the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.
4. 4
   In another large bowl; combine the sugar, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
5. 5
   Once combined beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each until thoroughly blended.
6. 6
   Gradually add in the flour mixture to the egg/sugar mixture.
7. 7
   Toss the peanut butter chips in a little flour. (The flour will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.).
8. 8
   Mix the peanut butter chips into the batter.
9. 9
   Bake for 20-25 minutes. (The brownies are done if you stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean.
10. 10
    (ALSO, THE BATTER IS GOING TO RISE. PLEASE, DO NOT BE ALARMED! ONCE IT SINKS, WHICH TAKES ALL OF 10 MINUTES, I CAN ASSURE YOU THEY MIGHT BE THE BEST BROWNIES YOU'VE EVER TASTED.).

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (from The Girl Who Ate Everything):

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp baking soda

½ cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips. When blended, mix in the chocolate chips. Using your fingers, form 1 1/2 inch balls (dough will be very wet and sticky) and place onto an un-greased parchment lined cookie sheet. You don't want to make them too big because they do spread. Bake for 9 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookies sheet for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before letting cool on a wire rack. Makes around a dozen small cookies.

Peanut Butter Blossom....cupcakes

My son's class was having a Christmas party earlier in the week, and he volunteered me to make cupcakes.  Thanks!  I never mind baking, but I get nervous when it is for people I do not know.  Also, there is the transportation factor, especially when I am not the one doing the transporting.  

When I bake for those I am not familiar with, I like to eliminate all potential allergens as much as possible.  I made the base cupcakes using a recipe that does not call for milk, eggs, or butter.  I add about 1/2 cup of extra flour to this to make it a bit more sturdy since it will be a cupcake.  I literally just dump everything into the bowl and mix.  

2 C flour
2 C sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C warm water
2/3 C oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp vanilla (or 1/2 tsp mint) extract

Put in cupcake liners and fill about 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 F for about 10-15 minutes (toothpick will come back clean).  

I made a batch of standard buttercream and decorated with royal icing to look like holly leaves and berries.  I still had some cupcakes left over, so I decided to make peanut butter frosting (no recipe....just 1/2 cup butter, PB to taste, milk and powdered sugar).  I dusted with sanding sugar to mimic the sugar on peanut butter blossom cookies and then topped with a Hershey kiss.  I saved 1-2 for me and packed the rest separately from the holly decorated cupcakes.

I sent my son off with these cupcakes to school.  When he got home that evening, I asked him how everyone like everything.  He fell to his knees and did the "we're not worthy" thing from Wayne's World.  I think it's fair to say everyone liked them!  Mission accomplished!

Easy recipe, no milk, no flour...peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

By now you know how much of an absolute peanut butter enthusiast I am.  I cannot, for the life of me, understand how people do not like peanut butter.  Just the mere thought of it makes my mouth water.

I stumbled upon this recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  It could not have been more simple.  There are only 5 ingredients!  There is also no milk and no flour!  I made these for my son's percussion group where there are some kids with lactose allergies and gluten allergies.  They almost created a black hole inhaling these cookies!

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp baking SODA
1 cup brown sugar....packed firmly (use light brown sugar)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

That's it!  Throw it all in a bowl and mix!  Scoop by tablespoon onto a lined cookie tray.  Oven should be 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake these for 7-9 minutes.  Allow cookies to cool completely before removing from tray.

These cookies are sooooo good.  They are gluten free and lactose free....so they are healthy right?  That's the rationale I use anyway.

Happy baking!

Happy Valentine's Day...You Make My Heart Sing!

So...today is Valentine's Day.  My husband used to work in the floral industry many years ago.  Valentine's Days were spent in the office.  Because of that, we have never really celebrated it.  However, he gave up that profession and has now moved on to bigger and better things, but we still don't celebrate Valentine's Day....until this year.  I woke up this morning to find a card, a necklace and earrings.  ?????  Don't get me wrong, I love them, but it was totally unexpected and left me totally hanging in the wind.  I did not get him anything.

Well...I got to work doing what I do best, and I came up with this cake.  Music is an integral part of our lives.  It's the reason we met, so I wanted to tie that in somewhere.

Presenting.....Happy Valentine's Day - You Make My Heart Sing!

Inside is a chocolate layer and a yellow layer with peanut butter frosting in between the layers.  These are covered with a basic buttercream.  The flowers are made out of marshmallow fondant I made and tinted myself.  The music notes and staff are black candy melts.  The red hearts are chocolate chips melted and tinted with red gel food coloring.  

It took me most of the evening, but it's done, and I'm pretty excited about how it turned out.  

Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday was my birthday. My husband asked me what kind of cake I wanted, and I told him I would be making my own.  I wanted to practice my ombre frosting flower technique.  

I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe (click here for the recipe) and then filled it with a peanut butter mousse frosting (peanut butter, butter, Kool-Whip, milk and powdered sugar).  Oh my...almost forgot to fill the cake because the mousse was so good.  I put a crumb coat of this peanut butter mousse on the outside of the cake to keep it neat and tidy.

I should mention with the chocolate cake recipe that you NEED parchment paper in the bottom of your pans.  I ran out of parchment paper, so I decided that Bakers Joy would just have to do.  Nothing against Bakers Joy, it's a fine product, but this cake is so moist that it will stick like super glue to the pan if you don't have parchment paper.

Now comes the part about the flowers.  I was so transfixed with tinting the frosting that I did not realize I did not make enough.  I had to make the flowers smaller than I wanted and could not overlap them like I wanted.  Lesson learned.  Overall, I was pleased with the way it came out, gaps and all.  

I served it to my family last night after our celebratory dinner at Carraba's (if you have not been, you MUST go).  You could almost literally hear my 5-year-old granddaughter inhaling her slice.  Everyone else also loved the cake and gave me great compliments.

Chocolate, caramel and peanut butter...a perfect blend

What could be better than chocolate, caramel and peanut butter?  To me, not much. I have a particular fondness for all things peanut butter.  A very dear friend has the same affection for caramel. When deciding what to bake for her birthday, I stumbled upon makingitwithdanielle.com, and there it was.....Snickers cupcakes!

They were a bit labor-intensive, but to say they were worth it would be an understatement!  Oh my goodness, I got so many compliments.  Inside the cupcake is a caramel filling.  The frosting is peanut butter.  Drizzle more caramel over that and top with chocolate shavings.

Here is the recipe from makingitwithdanielle.com...
http://makingitwithdanielle.com/2012/08/13/snickers-cupcakes/

Peanut butter fudge

I am pretty much in love with all things peanut butter.  However, good peanut butter fudge is hard to find.  I do not like my fudge to taste more like marshmallow or sugar than peanut butter.  I volunteered to bake some goodies for a fundraiser to benefit my son's indoor percussion unit and I wanted to include peanut butter fudge.  I found lots of recipes with the marshmallow fluff, creme, etc. in it.  I was getting a little discouraged when Pinterest pulled through again.  Thank you, Shop Girl!

I liked the fact that I did not need a science degree to make this fudge.  No stirring constantly for 3 minutes and 24.6 seconds exactly.  It could not have been easier.  

I could barely contain myself long enough for the fudge to set.  When I could no longer stand the wait, I cut into the fudge and sampled a piece.  I was literally weak in the knees.  So smooth, so peanut buttery, so fudgy.  I cannot wait to make more!

Here's the recipe (from Shop Girl):

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup milk

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Optional: add chopped unsalted peanuts for extra crunch

DIRECTIONS:

First, measure out all your ingredients, because you will need to have them on hand, as the fudge comes together pretty quickly. Place the confectioners' sugar in your electric mixer bowl. Then, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, making sure that it doesn't burn. Once the butter has melted, add in the milk and brown sugar and whisk until you have a smooth mixture. Constantly whisking, bring it to a boil, then cook for another two minutes, continuing to whisk. Remove from heat, and add in the peanut butter and vanilla extract and stir until you have a thick, creamy sauce. Pour it into your electric mixer with the confectioners' sugar, and mix until completely smooth and creamy. Pour into an 8x8 inch pan (line the pan with parchment paper) and let chill until the fudge is firm, then cut it into small pieces using a sharp knife. (*Note: I cut the recipe in half and made a smaller batch, and it was still a lot of fudge!)