Super easy, spur-of-the-moment cookies!

I've managed to bake a bunch of things since my last post, but have been such a lazy bum recently and haven't gotten around to posting them yet! However, I did make these cookies today that I thought turned out really well, and were a quick way to satisfy my need for freshly-baked cookies!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

yield: around 15 small cookies

1 c. smooth peanut butter

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. dark brown sugar

dash of vanilla (probably around 1/2 tsp.)

1/3 c. quick-cooking oats

1 tbsp. honey

1/3 c. m&ms (or chocolate chunks/chips)

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together all ingredients (except for m&ms) until well-mixed. Fold in m&ms.
3. Drop in tablespoon-sized balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten them out to about 1/2" thick.
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

These cookies were really tasty, and perfect for an easy, yummy, after-work snack!

xoxo

Elvis-y Oatmeal Cookies

The other day while I was at the grocery I thought to pick up a bag of reese's peanut butter chips! So I was trying to think of a recipe to use them for, and came across this recipe for banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies which I thought would be really good with peanut butter chips and also a great way to use a banana I had that was turning speckled! Well, here is the slightly altered recipe, with the addition of peanut butter and different sugar composition since I ran out of granulated sugar!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

yield: around 22 large cookies

1 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

sprinkle of cinnamon

sprinkle of ground nutmeg

5 tbsp. butter, softened

2 tbsp. peanut butter

1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. oats (I used quick, but I think rolled would be better)

1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chunks

1/2 c. peanut butter chips

2 bananas, roughly mashed

1. In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon together and set aside.
2. In your mixer, beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until completely blended.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until blended.
4. On low speed add the flour mixture until it is just incorporated.
5. Mix in the oatmeal, chocolate chunks, and peanut butter chips until evenly distributed.
6. Add the mashed banana and mix until evenly distributed.
7. Wrap the cookie dough in clingfilm, and refrigerate for 12-36 hours.
8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350F, and cook for 15 minutes on a silpat or greased baking sheet!

These cookies are quite rich, but so tasty and chewy! But then again...I love anything with a combination of peanut butter, chocolate, and banana (best sandwich ever: whole wheat bread, peanut butter, banana slices, and mini chocolate chips...it's even better when it's grilled)!

Happy Eating!

Update: these cookies got really soft and smooshy really fast in my cookie jar, so I made a peanut butter-chocolate marshmallow filling (using fluff, confectioner's sugar, skim milk, cocoa powder, and some peanut butter), and turned them into whoopie pies! They were soooo good and refrigerated really well!

A Tasty Surprise Dessert!

So I was incredibly psyched today because...it was the first day of Wimbledon and Roger Federer won! Needless to say, I do not intend to leave my house for the next 2 weeks. Tomorrow I plan on making a green and purple-colored dessert in honor of my favorite Grand Slam! In other news...I decided to bake some more of the cookies from the chocolate chip cookie dough that I made the other day. While they were in the oven, I came up with a brilliant beyond brilliant idea...individual ice cream cakes with cookie dough base! So, I quickly took out the mini springform pans from my cabinet, took the cookie dough back out of the fridge, and got to work making the cookie dough base. The recipe is pretty simple, but here it is:

Personal Ice Cream Cakes

Enough cookie dough to cover the bottom of two 3" springform pans

1 1/2 c. haagen dazs low fat vanilla frozen yogurt (or vanilla ice cream)

2 reese's peanut butter cups

1/3 c. chocolate syrup

2 tbsp. smooth peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 300F and cover the bottom of 2 3" springform pans about 1/3" high with cookie dough. Bake for around 20-25 minutes, of until the sides of the dough begin to turn golden and pull away from the sides of the pans.
2. Let the pans cool for around 5 minutes on a wire rack, then transfer to the freezer to cool for around 10 minutes, or until very cold.
3. Next, take the pans out of the freezer one at a time, and spread 1/2 c. of frozen yogurt over the cookie base. Insert a peanut butter cup into the middle of the frozen yogurt and lightly press in. Cover the pan with a piece of tin foil, and return it to the freezer. Repeat this with the other pan.
4. Allow the pans to set in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Then, cover the last layer of frozen yogurt/peanut butter cup with 1/4 c. of the frozen yogurt for both pans. Re-cover with foil, return to the freezer, and allow to set for at least 30 minutes.
5. Mix together the peanut butter and chocolate syrup. Take the pans out of the freezer, and cover the frozen yogurt with half of the chocolate-peanut butter mixture. Re-cover and return to the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
6. Serve!

These turned out soooooo well! The crust was a bit tricky to cut through, which might be remedied by cooking it a few minutes less...but still...so yummy!

Whoopie!!

So, this summer has been pretty lazy and unproductive so far...except in the kitchen. Since I got back from college I have pretty much been baking or cooking something new every day and I figured I should share some of the more successful recipes with friends! I've already made a ton of things, but I'll start with my favorite recipe I've made so far: Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies! I got the basic recipe from the blog Dinner with Julie, then I tweaked it a bit so I could add some peanut butter to it! So, without further ado...my first posted recipe:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

yield: around 12 pies or 24 cookies

for the cookies:

3 tbsp. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. skim milk

1/2 c. milk chocolate chips (I used ghiradelli)

for the fluffernutter filling:

1 jar marshmallow fluff

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Jiff's)

2 c. confectioner's sugar (approximately)

2 tbsp. skim milk

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until well mixed, then add the egg and vanilla.
3. In another bowl, stir together the flours, cocoa, and salt.
4. In yet another bowl, stir the baking soda into 1/2 cup of very hot water.
5. Add 1/3 of the dry mix, 1/2 of the milk, and 1/2 of the baking soda mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mixture. Once it is combined, add another third of the dry mix, the rest of the milk, and the rest of the baking soda mixture. Once that is combined, add the rest of the dry mixture.
6. Take the mixer bowl out of the mixer, and fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Drop large round spoonfulls 2" apart onto a greased cookie sheet (I used a silpat) and bake for 12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed up and spring back when lightly pressed.
8. Let the cookies cool for a couple minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
9. While the cookie are cooling, make the fluffernutter filling. First, mix together the marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, and milk. Then, slowly add the confectioner's sugar until the mixture reaches a frosting-like consistency (basically, so it holds its shape but is not too dry). You can add more peanut butter if you so desire!
10. Once the cookies are cool, sandwich every two cookies together with the fluffernutter filling.

These pies were a HUGE hit with my family! They are really rich, but sooooo tasty! Another idea is to make a coconut marshmallow filling, in which you omit the peanut butter, and replace it with about 1 cup of sweetened coconut flakes.

Bon Appetit!