Homemade Oreos

Today is my little brother's birthday (Happy Birthday Bro!), so I thought it fitting to post the cookie that he chose for his birthday treat this year. Technically, he chose "dipped Oreos" but one first needs Oreos in order to dip. He did mention that the Oreo's didn't have to be homemade, he just wanted different flavors of dipped cookies. The hubby said asking me to send commercial Oreo's was like asking Gordon Ramsey to send a Big Mac. I snorted in derision and told him I was probably more like Guy Fieri sending take-out from a diner, drive-in, or dive he visited. In the end, I opted to make the Oreo's before dipping them. 

25 Pasta Recipes

Hey-o!

Happy Day-After Christmas folks! Did everyone have a great holiday with lots of friends and family? We sure did! Due to the holiday festivities yesterday, there was little time for blogging. The hubby and I have been go, go, GO! for the last couple of days. I'm definitely feeling it, and am ready for life to slow down just a bit. We've got our niece and nephew staying the night with us tonight, but come Monday, I should have some alone time. We aren't even planning anything for New Year's Eve, thank goodness. At the top of the list of my least favorite holidays you would have New Year's Eve. I'm always so-done with the holidays and usually 5 lbs overweight by the time it rolls around. This year, we are staying in. The more you progress into your 30's, the less you care about going out. Missing out on something. Not being in the pictures the next day. All the things that mattered so much in your 20's? Eh. I take em' or leave em' now.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Time for my favorite cookie of the year!

These Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies are so darn yummy. Seriously. Both sides are soft and chewy, studded throughout with chocolate chips. The chocolate side is decidedly chocolatey, while the peanut butter side is perfectly subtle. It tastes like peanut butter without being dry and mealy. Always a good thing when you are talking about cookies! And while these cookies do require chilling (keep that in mind when you go to make them. Believe me!), they really aren't too much work. I loved the technique of rolling the two doughs together, so creative. More on that later. In the meantime, let's go over how to make these delicious drops of heaven!

25 Chocolate Recipes

Thanksgiving is upon us, my friends!

It's true, October would have been the perfect month for  25 Chocolate Recipes. That being said, I think November is a great month for this round-up too. For a couple of reasons-

#1. Not everyone likes Pecan Pie. Or Pumpkin Pie. I guarantee there's people out there that might want a chocolate dessert for Thanksgiving.

#2. Christmas and holiday baking are right around the corner. There are plenty of cookies, candies, and cakes in this round-up to choose for cookie swaps or last minute party gifts.

#3. I mean, it's chocolate. Come on. It's good 12 months out of the year. It's good for 52 weeks out of the year. It's good for 365 days out of the year. You get the picture.

So, yeah. Shall we jump right in?

*Warning- pictures may induce drooling, cravings, and a one-track chocolate brain. Proceed at your own risk :-)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Oat Bars

Did you guys try my Carmelitas?

If you did, and you became *obsessed* with them like I did- you're in for a treat! These chocolate-peanut butter bites are basically a modification of their caramel counterparts. I feel like the Carmelita recipe is such a solid recipe that you can sub out the caramel and chocolate for other combinations, and win big.

25 Muffin and Quick Bread Recipes

Happy Friday everyone!

It's been a long time since I posted a round-up, so I thought, why the heck not? Time to get back to my round-up's. First up, muffins and quick breads. I heart muffins and quick breads. I feel like muffins are the perfect jumping off point for someone just learning to bake. The recipes are simple and most of the time, forgiving. If there was one tip I could offer for the muffin newbie, it's this- mixing is not your friend. Cakes and cupcakes differ from muffins in the fact that mixing is paramount to the quality of your final product. Air is usually incorporated into those baked goods by creaming the butter and sugar. Most muffin recipes use baking powder or baking soda to cause the muffin to rise. Therefore, mixing until your arm falls off is not required. In fact, most of the time you'll find that the more you mix a muffin, the denser and tougher the muffin will be. Therefore, you'll want to mix the muffin ingredients just until the elements are moistened, but no more. Some of the recipes can even be made in one bowl. 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins

 

Guess what???

I saw my first hummingbird of the season last night! I was soooooooo excited. The hubby and I were watching "Mad Men" when I caught the first glimpse. Yes, the hubby and I are quite behind on "Mad Men". We actually hadn't watched a single episode since we left Portland. We estimated this left us at the Season 4 finale. However, we estimated this after we had re-watched all of Season 4 and before we subsequently realized we watched it in Portland. For the love. Here's the funny part- both the hubby and I remembered some moments from Season 4, but for the most part, it was all new. We cannot figure out, for the life of us, how we watched all of Season 4 in Oregon, and somehow don't remember most of it. Anyhoo, we've recovered from that faux pas and we've steamed ahead. We just started Season 6. Just as enthralled as ever. In fact, it's making me want to create cocktail recipes and Chicken Kiev for the blog... but back to that hummingbird-

25 Delicious Cookie Recipes

Time for this month's roundup!

Sure cookies are the hip thing at Christmas, and around Valentine's Day, but if we are going to be really honest, cookies are good all the time. They have been the bane of my existence since I've learned how to bake, the reason those last 3 stubborn pounds hang on.

Top Recipes of 2014

Well peeps, it's almost 2015. Only 2 more days. 2 days that are holidays to me every year. 2 days, you ask? Yes. Today is my birthday (!!!) and tomorrow is, of course, New Year's Eve. I coast right into the new year every year after 2 lively days of celebrating.

Oh my gosh, typing that sentence just brought Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song" to mind. "Instead of 1 days of presents, we get 8 CRAZY nights". LOL. Instead of 1 night of celebrating on New Year's Eve, I get 2 crazy nights :)

Salty Peanut Butter Cup Bark

Well, we've made it!

Hold on to your hats folks, you're in for several Christmas treat-related posts. There will be so much chocolate, peanut butter, caramel, funfetti, and nuts you'll be begging for a week of salads come January. Ok, admittedly that's probably a bit of an exaggeration. But if you're anything like me, you'll be done with the sweets come January. 

However, today is not January. Today we begin with a salty yet sweet, crunchy, chocolatey,  peanut buttery treat. Peanut Butter Cup Bark!

You're only going to need three ingredients. Well, technically four, but the fourth ingredient is peanut butter and most people keep that in their pantry. Bark is soooooo easy to make. I wanted a salty, cracker crust on the bottom of the bark. I ended up crushing the Ritz crackers (or the totally cheap store brand variety, thank you very much) and spreading a super-thin layer of cracker crumbs before I laid the chocolate down. Make sure and spread the thinnest layer of cracker crumbs. Only the crumbs touching the chocolate will actually stick to the chocolate, so keep that in mind. Less is more here. I love the hint of saltiness the cracker crumbs bring to the table. 

After spreading the cracker crumbs, melt some chocolate melting candy and spread it evenly over the cracker crumbs. I poured it as evenly as I could to avoid disturbing the cracker crumbs. I found if I used a spoon to spread the chocolate in one direction, the cracker crumbs pretty much stayed put. Even so, you may disturb some of the cracker crumbs and that's ok. It doesn't really affect the outcome of the final product. 

I will tell you that I was pretty pissed when I was making my first batch. When I was spreading the chocolate around and the chocolate kept picking up crumbs, I was mad. Wanting to throw my spreading spoon out the back door kind-of mad. I have learned, through trial and error, to just power ahead when I think I've ruined something. Sometimes I really do ruin things, but sometimes the final product turns out just fine. And that was the case for this candy. I chopped up the Reese's and drizzled the peanut butter over the bark and dejectedly placed the tray in the fridge. I wasn't sure what would happen, if the candy would turn out ok. 

And the candy turned out just fine. 

I pulled it from the fridge and began to break it apart. The bark behaved exactly like it was supposed to, and I breathed a dramatic sigh of relief. And then immediately popped a second batch into the fridge. 

This candy was one of my favorites that I made this year. It's true, I love peanut butter cups so it's not much of a stretch that I love these. I just have to keep telling myself to keep my mitts out of that peanut buttery tupperware. It's hard though...

I've got all my treats done, save for my Snickerdoodles. In hindsight, I probably should have given myself three days to make all the cookies, instead of two. That's a lot of work for two days. Anyhoo, Snickerdoodles will be made today. Which hopefully means I'm shipping this afternoon. Shipping may happen tomorrow, though. Either way, I'm facing a weekend with no deliveries on Sunday so I'm not stressing too much about getting these out today. 

Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Ingredients (makes 1 (11x13) pan of bark):

1 roll of Ritz crackers (About 35 crackers)

1 (16 oz) package of chocolate melting candy

1 (12 oz) package of Reese's Miniatures, chopped

1/3 cup peanut butter

Directions:

1. Line a 11x13 pan with parchment paper. Set aside. 

2. Place Ritz crackers in a Ziplock bag. Using the flat side of a meat tenderizer, smash crackers into crumbs. Spread crumbs along the bottom of the prepared pan.

3. Melt chocolate melting candy according to package directions. Evenly spread chocolate over the cracker crumbs.

4. Sprinkle chopped peanut butter cups evenly over chocolate. 

5. Heat peanut butter in the microwave, 30 seconds to 1 minute or until melted. Drizzle peanut butter over the bark. 

6. Place pan in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the fridge, and break into pieces. Store in an airtight container. 

Printable Recipe

Looking for other peanut butter treat recipes? Try these!

Soft and Fluffy Peanut Butter Cookies

Oreo-Reese's Peanut Butter Truffles

Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday

Soft and Fluffy Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookie time!

I remember, very clearly, the first time I realized that baking wasn't just tossing some ingredients together and throwing them in the oven. I was young, in elementary school I believe. Third or fourth grade. My childhood best friend and I decided to make some peanut butter cookies. In what kind of house are third graders allowed to pull everything out of the cupboards and turn the kitchen into a demolition zone? A house where my friend's mom ran a boutique out of the downstairs of their house, that's where. 

My friend and I had the fantastic idea to mix flour with some milk to make a batter. Yes, when you are in third grade flour and milk sound like cookie dough. I wasn't even aware ingredients like butter, baking soda, salt, and, not to mention, SUGAR were in cookie dough. We then took the flour mixture and wrapped it around balls of peanut butter. As in, balls of peanut butter plucked straight from the jar. I remember at the time feeling excited and expecting amazing cookies. We stuck them in the oven for about 5 minutes.

What we had when we were done was oh-so gross. Squishy, doughy balls of nastiness were what we had. All that plus a blob of thick peanut butter in the middle. We tasted them, and I think we were afraid to admit defeat. "Not bad!" I told my friend. "Hmmm." she replied. The moment I will never forget is the moment that my mom came to pick me up. She pulled into the drive, and immediately had 2 very enthusiastic children running up to her car.

"Mom! We made cookies! You have to try them!" I excitedly chattered to her.

And try them she did. Her face was, and still is, unforgettable. The memory can still make me laugh. Her face said, "What the hell did I just put in my mouth??" To her credit, I don't remember her spitting out her bite. I'm fairly certain she didn't finish that cookie, though.

This is the moment I realized baking is harder than it looks. I was teased about those cookies for years. I'm still teased about them today. Luckily for you all, I've come a long way!

This batch of Peanut Butter cookies is a lot more technical than flour, milk, and peanut butter. Thank goodness right? However, this is a really, really easy cookie to make. The dough took me about 20 minutes to throw together, I took a shower while the dough chilled, and then I was ready to bake. It was a really fast process, and if you are looking for an easy, tasty drop cookie recipe to share, you've found it! I actually made this batch for my dad, since I never got around to making cookies while he was here. I shipped these yesterday, so these cookies are literally crossing the country as we speak. They may be traveling across your state as you read this. There's a good chance, it is 2700 miles from Kentucky to Oregon. 

Not to say these weren't taste tested. I do taste-test every batch.

Don't worry Dad. I only taste-tested what was necessary :)

Happy Tuesday friends!

Ingredients (makes 2 dozen cookies):

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 egg, room temp

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Mix in peanut butter. Mix in egg. Mix in vanilla.

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour through salt. Whisk to combine. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, mix until just combined. Cover, and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. 

4. Using a 1-tbsp cookie scoop, drop cookies onto cookie sheet. These cookies don't spread much so I baked 12 to a sheet. Slightly flatten the cookies after dropping them. 

5. Bake in oven for 9 minutes. Remove from oven. Cookies will look slightly undone, but will set as they cool. Leave on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then carefully remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storage. 

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these!

Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie for 1

Zucchini Cookies

Double Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesdays, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party