Chocolate Covered PB Cookies

You simply cannot go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter (unless of course your kid is allergic and there are no clues that there is PB in something.... I always warn!)

Here the cookie just looks like a chocolate cookie rolled in sugar.  Not so.  Once you bite in, there is a lovely peanut butter surprise.

 Here's how to do it.  Recipe came from here.  I made a few small changes.

Ingredients:

For the Chocolate dough-
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Margarine (her recipe said butter, but margarine did great too!)
1/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 egg

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Baking Cocoa
1 1/2 cups Flour


+
For the PB dough-
3/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
+
Extra granulated Sugar to roll dough balls in.

Instructions:
-Preheat oven to 325º F or 350 (my oven is too hot, so I use 325.)
-Recipes always say to mix the dry ingredients together, but I hardly ever do that.  I just add the salt and baking soda first and then the chocolate and then the flour last.  It all works out.
-Make chocolate dough first. In a mixer (or large bowl) beat together sugars, butter and 1/4 cup of peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg, beating to combine. Now add the baking soda and salt to the wet dough.  Now add the cocoa. Mix well before adding the flour. Stir to combine, blending well. Set aside.
-Make PB dough now. In another bowl, mix together powdered sugar and peanut butter until smooth. I used a fork and then my hands to make it really stick together.
-Make PB dough into small teaspoon size balls.  You could put them all on a plate or extra cookie sheet or just a piece of wax paper. This will save some time later.

-Now to assemble: Pull off a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten with your hands.

Take the peanut butter dough ball  and place it in the center of the chocolate dough.

Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter center, pressing to seal.

 Roll the cookie into a ball and roll the cookie in the sugar.

-Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each cookie to about a 1/2 inch thickness.

-Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes. Let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.
Some cookies are less surprises than others, but they are all still delicious!

The irony of taking a picture of a cookie above bowls of fruit is not lost on me. =)

Peanut Butter Cups

Sorry it's been such a long time since I posted a new recipe. I've just been making my old standbys and quick and easy meals lately because of our new baby.
I made these peanut butter cups a few months ago with the pouch of store bought peanut butter cookie dough in my mini muffin pan and added the mini Reese's after they were cooked to the middle. One of those semi-homemade treats. They are just as good that way, but I like this recipe better and there isn't as much salt in it or preservatives, I guess.
Here is my mom's recipe for peanut butter cookies.

The Very Softest Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup Margarine
1 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2 ½ cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
Chocolate Chips, Stars, or Kisses, anything chocolate you like.

Instructions:
Mix margarine, peanut butter, and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until creamy. Add dry ingredients.
Option #1-May add chocolate chips here if desired. Don’t mix with mixer after adding chocolate chips. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar for this method. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

Option #2-If using chocolate stars or kisses, add right after the cookies come out of the oven (while they are still on the cookie sheet). OR spray mini muffin tin and spoon some dough into the cup. Press it down so it fills the cup. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. When you take muffin tins out, place one of these cute peanut butter cups right in the middle. Let cool and then pop them out and make some more. Store in airtight container. Makes about 60 cookies. Enjoy with a glass of milk. Cook them longer if you like they more brown. Even the ones that were nearly burnt still tasted good.
Enjoy! We sure did on Memorial Day Weekend. Andy's cousin asked me if he could trade me some brownies he made for my cookies. I'd say that means they were yummy. =)

Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe came from an Amish novel that I borrowed from my mom by Wanda Brunstetter. The cookies are delicious. They really have more chocolate chips than it appears. They are all sunken or something in this picture.Ingredients:
3/4 cup Margarine
1 cup White Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 (8oz) Chocolate Candy Bar, Chopped

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat margarine, sugars, and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate pieces. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Makes four dozen cookies.

This time I doubled the batch and only baked two cookie sheets worth of cookies. I rolled the rest of the dough up in three different sections of greased wax paper and then put them in a ziplock bag. I made one of the extra batches for our game night on Wednesday and they turned out well then too.

Double Oat Breakfast Cookies

I found this recipe the day one of my friends asked if I wanted to go on a morning hike and eat breakfast at the top of a hill around us. I just tried it out and they are so good. Try them and see for yourself. Someone is so smart to combine something we all love with another meal that makes it easy to eat and fast. Now, I don't have to feel so bad about eating cookies in the morning.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Smooth Peanut Butter
1-1/4 cups Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspooon Salt
1/4 cup Water
1 Egg
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
1-1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Rolled Oats
1 cup Golden Raisins and/or Milk Chocolate Pieces (I used Mini Chocolate Chips and Crasins)
3 cups Round Toasted Oat Cereal (such as Cherrios)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking soda, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in water, egg, and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour until combined. Beat in as much of the rolled oats as you can with mixer. Stir in any remaining rolled oats. Stir in raisins and oat cereal.
Drop dough by scant 1/4 cupfuls about 3 inches apart onto an ungreased (I greased mine) cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store cookies in tightly covered container for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Makes 24 (2-cookie) servings.
Recipe found on Better Homes and Gardens website or in their September 2009 issue.

Chocolate PB Oatmeal Cookies

I made up my own recipe today for some cookies to take to a girl who has been keeping Vincent busy during swimming lessons. She takes him out to the grass and follows him around making sure he doesn't eat the rocks and sticks he likes to pick up and doesn't let him go into the pool. She really deserves some cookies! These have just about everything. I decided to use some cooked white beans again as a substitute for butter to see if they worked here. They really do.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Cooked White Beans (boil dry white beans until soft and then add them to recipe instead of butter. You don't have to mash them. The mixer does that. You can measure them out in 1/2 cup increments and freeze them in snack size sandwich bags. Just thaw in fridge or microwave 40-60 seconds and they are good to go.)
1/2 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Peanut Butter
2 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 cup Baking Cocoa
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Flour
1 cup Oatmeal

Instructions:
Mix beans, shortening, and sugars with peanut butter until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth and a little fluffy. Add in dry ingredients and mix until oatmeal is covered with the chocolate cookie dough.
Place on greased cookie sheet (just in case). These don't spread out much. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Let cool 1 minute on cookie sheet before moving to cooling rack.