Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

'Tis the season for cookies! Christmas is almost here and I have been baking, baking, baking! I love spending this month making cookies...not only because I love eating them, but because I love the experience of baking. Baking is a wonderful way to spend time with loved ones. This year I was able to bake with my husband, my mom, one of my sisters, my grandmother, my aunts and cousins and my cousins' children! What fun! The memories will last a lifetime! I absolutely love baking family recipes...cookies I grew up making...and sharing these recipes and experiences with my family's next generation. Watching the little ones decorate Great Grandma's sugar cookie cuts-out and our family's Italian sugar cookies just makes me feel that special holiday glow. Passing these recipes and experiences down through the family...I can't think of a better way to share our heritage.

These peanut butter cup cookies are definitely a family favorite! I have helped make them every Christmas since I was tall enough to reach the table. They have become my husband's "must have" Christmas cookie and we love to make them together. They are also super simple! Here is what you need:
 
Ingredients
1 3/4 Cup flour
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup shortening
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Egg
1/2 Cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons milk
1 Teaspoon vanilla
40 or so peanut butter cups, unwrapped
 
Step 1

The first step is to unwrap your peanut butter cups. Once the cookies are out of the oven, you will need to QUICKLY place the cups in the hot cookie, so I like to get ready before I do anything else by unwrapping them. I also like to eat one...or two...or three...
 
Step 2

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Then cream the sugars, peanut butter and shortening until fluffy (approximately 3 to 5 minutes). 

Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix until just combined. 

The dough will be fairly crumbly but should stick together when pressed.

 
Step 3

Fill mini muffin tins 2/3 the way up each cup, pressing the dough to make it smooth and to evenly fill the cup. I get about 40 cookies from this recipe. Then bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until slightly browned.
 
Step 4

As soon as you take the cookies out of the oven, press a peanut butter cup in the center of each one until the top of the cup is level with the top of the cookie. Then refrigerate the cookies in the pan (if you are impatient like me...if you aren't, just let them cool completely on the counter :-)) for about 20 minutes. Then use a paring knife to loosen the cups and pop them out of the tin.

 Enjoy while the peanut butter cup is still melted...the gooey chocolate and peanut butter is soooo good!  Leave some for Santa and I guarantee you won't receive coal!

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Have you ever stared through the glass case at Starbucks, longing after those luscious cranberry covered beauties, while thinking, “I’m already spending $5.00 (not to mention the calories!) on my coffee...”, so you passed over them while they called your name, beckoning you to return?  I know I have.  I am so proud of myself every time I ignore those crimson jeweled triangles as they whisper, “Chelsea, Chelsea”.  But I could resist no longer.  This year I had to cave.  So instead of giving into the tart and tantalizing triangles behind the Starbucks case, I made some of my very own!  Now I can have them with my coffee every day (perhaps I should have told people a size larger when I mentioned clothing for Christmas…)!  If you love cranberries, please make these.  I promise they will make your mouth sing and your soul feel glad this Christmas season.  I found the blondie recipe from Taste of Home.  I appologize I do not have any process pictures; I was slacking...but here is what I did to construct this delectable Christmas treat:

Ingredients

Blondies
¾ Cup butter

1 ½ Cups light brown sugar, packed

2 Eggs

¾ Teaspoon vanilla

2 ¼ Cups flour

1 ½ Teaspoons baking powder

¼ Teaspoon salt

1/8 Teaspoon cinnamon

½ Cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

6 Ounces white chocolate chips

Frosting
4 Ounces butter, softened

4 Ounces cream cheese, softened

2 Cups powdered sugar

1 Teaspoon vanilla

Topping
½ Cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

4 – 5 Ounces white chocolate chips

Zest from 1 orange

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9 x 13 pan by spraying with cooking spray.  I also put parchment paper into the pan, cut large so that it hung off the sides, so I could remove the blondie bar from the pan easily when it had cooled.  Just press it against the spray so it sticks to the pan, and then spray the top of the parchment for good measure. J

Step 2

Melt the butter for the blondies and combine it with the brown sugar.  Allow it to cool enough that it won’t scramble your eggs.  Then add the eggs and vanilla and let them combine with the butter mixture.  Then add the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and mix until they are just combined.  Then add the cranberries and chocolate.

Step 3

Spread the batter in your pan and bake the blondies for 18 – 22 minutes (mine took closer to 22), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let them cool on a wire rack, OR, if you are like me and are utterly impatient, throw them in the fridge to cool for awhile!  But don’t be like me.  Patience is a virtue, don’tcha know?

Step 4

Prepare the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together.  Then add the powdered sugar and mix until it is creamy.  Then add the vanilla.

Step 5

Remove the blondies from the pan if you want to be fancy, or just leave them in the pan.  Either way, go ahead and frost them!  Then sprinkle the ½ cup of chopped cranberries on top.

Step 6

Using a double boiler, and making sure the boiling water does not touch the bottom of your chocolate bowl or pan, melt the white chocolate with the orange zest.  When it has melted, drizzle it on top of your blondies.  When the chocolate has cooled, you can slice the blondies into rectangles, triangles…or heck…just eat the whole pan!  They are THAT GOOD! J

Merry Christmas, my fellow foodies!

Girl Scout Inspired

Samoas Style Cookie Bars

This past winter, I learned just how much I was missing growing up in a coconut adverse family.  This is because this past winter, I realized there are more Girl Scout cookies than Thin Mints and Tagalongs.  I was introduced to a cookie with a perfect little shortbread crust, bathed with luxurious caramel, encrusted with toasted coconut and encased in decadent chocolate – I was introduced to the Samoas.  I was hooked at first bite.  We tried to ration that box full of the perfect cookie, but alas, before long, the midnight dips into the cookies came to an end when my expectant hand came up empty.  At that moment, I knew I had to recreate this cookie.  I chose to change it a little, adding my own spin and twists on it.  This is what I did.  I hope you enjoy.  As for me, they will carry me through the year until a little girl in a green uniform knocks on my door next year.  I hope I don’t scare her when I shriek with glee…

Ingredients
Shortbread Cookie Crust
1 ¼ Pound butter, unsalted

¾ Cup sugar

3 Extra large eggs

¾ Teaspoon vanilla

4 ½ Cups flour

½ Teaspoon baking powder

¼ Teaspoon salt

Caramel

4 Tablespoons butter, unsalted

3 Cups sugar

5 Tablespoons light corn syrup

1 Cup heavy cream

3 – 4 Cups shredded coconut

11 ½ Ounces chocolate chips (I used bittersweet)

Sea salt

Step 1

The first step in making these cookie bars is to prepare the crust.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cream the butter and sugar together; it will take about three minutes for them to combine perfectly.  Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix until they are completely combined.  Finally, add the dry ingredients and mix only until they are just combined.  We don’t want to overwork that flour!  Then spread the dough into an ungreased sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until it is just starting to brown around the edges.  Remove the cookie crust and let it begin to cool while we move on to step 2!

Step 2

Next, we want to toast the coconut.  With the oven still at 350 degrees, spread the coconut on a sheet pan and put it in the oven.  Stir the coconut every 2 – 3 minutes, until it is a toasty golden brown.  It will take anywhere from 7 – 15 minutes, depending on how moist your shredded coconut is.  When it is toasted, let it sit while you move on to step 3.

Step 3

This is the most tricky portion of the recipe, but it is not nearly as scary as most caramel recipes…so just bear with me and we will get through it!  You will want to use a rather large pot for this because it will boil up later on and we don’t want it to cook out of the pot and onto the stove – what a mess that would be!  I used a medium sized soup pot that has a nice, thick bottom (that way my sugar would not burn).  Turn the heat on to medium to medium high and add the sugar and corn syrup to the pot.  Now, this is not the time to answer the door or start a load of laundry…this requires your complete attention.  You will need to stir the mixture (I used a wooden spoon with a nice long handle due to a later part of this process) about every 30 seconds to 1 minute.  It usually takes me about 5 – 10 minutes, but cook and stir the mixture until the sugar has completely melted and it has become an amber color.  Now, please be careful at this point!  You will need to reduce the heat to low and add the cream and butter.  BUT BE CAREFUL!  It will bubble up and you will need to stir.  For me, this means a potholder and my longest handled wooden spoon and stirring until the steam is too much and then taking a break.  Do not burn yourself!!!!  Just cool your hand a moment and stir again.  When the mixture has been combined to a smooth caramel, pour it over the cookie crust.  Use your spoon to make sure it is spread evenly.

Step 4

Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the caramel and press slightly (without touching the hot caramel, of course!).

Step 5

While that begins to cool, use a double boiler or homemade double boiler (pot with water covered with a bowl) to melt the chocolate.  Make sure the bowl is not touching the boiling water.  Stir periodically until the chocolate is perfectly smooth.  I then put the chocolate in a squeeze bottle to top the bars.  You could also use a pastry bag with the writing tip.  Another option is just to take a spoon and drizzle it over the top of the bars.  Regardless of how you accomplish it, just get the chocolate on the cookie! J

Step 6

I then sprinkled sea salt over the top of the bars and let them cool to room temperature.  Then I put them in the fridge for an hour to make them easier to cut.  I cut them and stored them in the fridge.  I recommend letting them come up to room temperature before serving because the cookie is much softer and the caramel is not as likely to break a tooth (dentist’s orders! Haha). 

Enjoy!