Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints

My love for peanut butter is so great that I think I could work it into breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then still be okay with it in dessert or snack form. Of course, in reality, I do manage to eat it in moderation, but that doesn't keep me from bookmarking most every peanut sauce or peanut butter dessert I come across.

When I found cookies that were a spin on the classic PB & J sandwich in Living, I immediately tore out the recipe. For several months, I've been dying to make them, but I didn't quite trust myself to have the 40 or so cookies that it yielded laying around (or even 20 from a half batch). My willpower just isn't what it should be these days.

My solution: Beckett and I would make them to give out as favors for his birthday party! Then I'd get to try them, but would be able to give most of them away. My plan backfired a little, since I only had one left over after they were evenly divided for the treat bags, and I had to share that one with Beckett. For such an anticipated cookie, only getting half didn't cut it. Not to mention that Sage was disappointed he didn't even get one. Since I've gotten feedback they were awesome, I now am going to have to make them again!

I didn't feel the need to alter this recipe, nor did I try to healthify it in any way (it was for birthday party goodie bags after all!) but I do have a few recipe notes to share:

* I used Polaner Seedless Raspberry (our household favorite with peanut butter!) to fill mine, but you can use any flavor jam or jelly you wish.

* I used closer to 1/3 of a cup of jam than 1/2, and used the microwave instead of the stove top to loosen it up. About 10 seconds or so did the trick.

* When baking Peanut Butter Kisses for the holidays, I read the tip that regular natural peanut butter won't allow the cookies like these to correctly set, and that a natural peanut butter spread should be used instead. When I went to make these, I was a little short of the PB spread, so I used a 1/2 a cup and then used a 1/4 a cup of regular creamy natural peanut butter.

* For the final baking step, the recipe calls for cooking until edges are golden, 6-7 minutes. I baked mine for 9, and never got a "golden edge," but that time seemed just right. Perhaps this was due to my peanut butter combination?

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints
from Martha Stewart Living
yields around 40 cookies

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for rolling
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Beat together peanut butter and butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined.

Scoop level tablespoons of dough and form into balls. Roll each ball into granulated sugar (a great job for little helpers!) and transfer to parchment lines baking sheets. spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake until cookies are puffy, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and make indentations in the center, by pressing with the handle end of a wooden spoon. Return to oven and bake until edges are golden, 6-7 minutes more (see note above).Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool completley.

Heat jam in a small saucepan, stirring until loosened, about 30 seconds (or alternately, in the microwave in a microwave safe dish, for about 10 seconds.) Spoon about a half teaspoon into the indentation.

Cookies can be store in a single layer for up to a week.

Merry Christmas!

Hello, all! Just wanted to take a quick second to wish all of you who celebrate Christmas a very merry one, and to those of you who don't, I hope you are having a lovely holiday season as well!

I have had absolutely no time to blog lately. Christmas is a very busy time in a flower shop, so I've been working a lot, and then coming home and staying up late baking and preparing for Christmas.

Speaking of baking, I made these cookie tray for our neighbors and coworkers. Despite this not so pretty photo, they came out quite nice I thought. I pretty much stuck to the original recipes, so I am going to just include the links instead of reposting them.

I made:

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies (aka Peanut Butter Blossoms) from Savory Sweet Life - I had to add an extra few tbsp of peanut butter to help bind the dough

Swirly Chocolate-Peppermint Bark from Confections from a Foodie Bride

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Ocean Spray- I used 2 cups Craisins and used white chips instead of chunks, increasing it to 3/4 cup

And at the request of my two year old...

Gingerbread Men from McCormick- Even after chilling overnight, the dough was very soft and sticky. It took a little playing around with but we found that if we rolled it in between parchment paper and then placed it in the freezer before cutting the men out (while we had another batch in the oven) that it was fine as long as you worked quickly. It was worth the extra effort, I thought, because the cookies had great flavor and a perfect consistency that was neither too soft or too crisp. I decorated them with not-so-perfect little faces and mini M&M buttons.

I am off today and pretty much done with everything I need to do, besides running out for a quick errand- can you believe I work in a flower shop and I forgot to get flowers for my own dining room table???- and then finish cleaning and prepping for tomorrow. We are hosting Christmas brunch for half of our family tomorrow and then spending the rest of the day at my mom's, who does Christmas like no one else and makes it an absolute blast! I'm so excited to spend time with family and most especially to get to re-experience it all through the eyes of my young child.

I hope you all have an absolutely wonderful Holiday weekend spent your loved ones!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

As much as I say I am not a big fan of sweets, that isn't quite true. I'm just not a fan of most sweets. As crazy as it sounds, I don't really care for cake (or cupcakes), unless it's something boring like carrot cake. I'm not a chocolate person; I'd much rather have vanilla (or better yet, peanut butter!) And most of the time, I'd rather just go without altogether. Sometimes though, I do enjoy a little treat, and I tend to prefer things like oatmeal cookies, key lime pie or some kind of fruit studded bread or muffin.

When I recently came across these cookies, I knew I'd be making them the next time I had a need for an indulgent treat. Pumpkin and butterscotch are two of my weaknesses when it comes to desserts, and I couldn't help but be very intrigued by the unlikely combination. They were even better than I dared to imagine. I initially debated making only half of the recipe, and I probably ought to have. It's entirely possible I ate half of them myself. And I normally have amazing willpower around sweets. I took these to a family dinner, we all kept finding excuses why it was alright to have another. And I'm okay with that.



And just so you know, these aren't pretty. See those bland colored, misshapen cookies with the sunken chips. Those are the best looking ones from the batch. But you won't be caring about their appearance when you bite into one. I promise.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies
slightly adapted from Annie's Eats (originally from Joy the Baker)
yields 24 cookies

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup of canola oil
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch treats

Preheat oven to 325. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. (I only have one baking sheet, so it just took me a little longer to bake all of them.)

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and light in color, about 1 minute. Blend in the oil, pumpkin and vanilla extract until well combined.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Using a spatula, fold in butterscotch chips.

Drop by mounds (about 2 1/2 tbsps worth) onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them a few inches apart. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until tops feel set and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking. (Since I only did one sheet at at a time, I just baked them on a rack positioned in the center.)

Allow to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

I think this was cookie fate: I had an urge to bake something. The multiple jars of peanut butter in the cabinet seemed to be calling my attention, just asking to be used and preferably in cookies. As I was mulling this idea over, I thought of the opened bag of chocolate chips I had, and how delicious they'd be with peanut butter.

So, I as I was deciding if I wanted to actually find a recipe for such cookies (you know, since I didn't really need to have cookies- especially one made with tempting peanut butter- in the house) I get on the computer and check my email, then check my blog reader...and there is a recipe for Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter cookies. I took that as a sign that I had to make them.

This recipe comes from Ashlee at A Year in the Kitchen and is a recipe she created herself. We had friends over Saturday night and managed to restrain ourselves prior to them coming over so we could share these. (Okay, well, minus a couple.)These chewy, delightful cookies went over great and were quickly eaten! I didn't make any substantial changes except for minor substituting due to what I had on hand (crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy, dark brown sugar in place of light and bittersweet chips for the semi-sweet ones) so I am just going to link you to the original.

Week 7: NE Patriots vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers in London- English Shortbread

I just realized its been four days since I had a blog entry. As someone who blogs nearly everyday, that's surprising to me. It's not that I haven't been cooking and baking, its just I haven't had much worth sharing. There was a cauliflower pasta bake that was good, but not exactly great. The same for some pumpkin and black beans quesadillas- tasty enough, yet nothing to write home about. There were some yummy cranberry muffins from a recipe I've been experimenting with, and should be ready to share soon. (I think the next batch will be perfect.)

Anyhow, all of these were decent/good, but I did have one immense failure. This week the Patriots were playing the Bucs. Now I've grown up living very close to Tampa, and absolutely nothing came to mind as traditional Tampa food. But it just so happened the game was being played in London. I decided it would be fun to try an English recipe. After browsing some sites, I decided I didn't want to make a meal since pretty much most English dinners involve beef, which we rarely ever eat. I thought crumpets would be nice. Sage didn't seem too excited-he would've rathered me do a roast.

After an attempt at crumpets- which was nothing short of a disater- I realized I should done a roast. Lets see, first I forgot it called for an egg until after the batter had sat for 40 of the 60 minutes it was to rise, then I completely overheated my griddle (I haven't used non-stick cookware in a long time) and burned the first four badly. (And myself, unfortunately.) Then because I overfilled the rings about 3 times more than I should've, I only had enough left over to make two more. I guess my pan was still too hot, because not only did they not look like a crumpet should with bubbley little holes, they tasted somewhat burnt. Sage's words: Not your best work, honey. So after a few bites, they went in the trash, and I was coming to terms with the fact that I'd have no recipe to share for my little football-food challenge this week.

Only, I couldn't do it. Before deciding upon crumpets, I'd considered Shortbread. So next thing I knew I was in the kitchen, whipping up a batch. How I wish I'd done this first! These were so easy to make, and came out delicious- light, buttery, not too sweet. Sage was thrilled. (Apparently he loves shortbread? News to me.) I'll admit mine leave a little to be desired in the appearance department, but at this point, I wasn't in the mood to fuss. I do wish I had skipped the fork marks though. The recipe said it was the "trademark" of an authentic shortbread, but I'm pretty sure my toddler could've done a better job than I did. I think next time, I'll cut them out with a cute cookie cutter. This recipe yields 45-50 cookies, so I quartered it and got 9 two-inch squares. Since other than that, I did nothing to alter this recipe, I'm just going to link to the original.

Amaretto White Chocolate Biscotti

One of my best friends, Michael, was quite put out that he didn't get a loaf of Pumpkin Bread the other day. Never mind the fact he was out of town with work, and delivering it to him wasn't possible. But I promised I'd bake him something to make up for it.
I've been really liking the flavor of amaretto lately and wanted to incorporate it in what I made. I had some white chocolate chips left over and thought they'd go well. My first thought was blondies, since I've never made them before, but I was very low on brown sugar. So unable to come up with anything else, I used the Ingredients Search on allrecipes.com and found Marietta's White Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti. I didn't have macadamia nuts, but I knew almonds would be a good substitute.

These were much easier than I imagined they would be. I did have to add an extra 3/4 cup of flour to these, because my dough was more like a batter and would've been impossible to form into logs. Even with the extra flour, it was very sticky and not very dough-like. I just used my hands to scoop it onto the cookie sheet, and a spatula to shape it. I was worried I'd done something wrong, but they came out great. I made some changes, like extra amaretto, because I wanted that flavor to stand out, but for once, didn't try to make this healthier. Whole wheat biscotti didn't sound very good to me.

I guess I should admit I forgot to give Michael his when I saw him this weekend. And then I pretty much gave all of them out to various family members, so I'll be making something else for him. And for one of my other best friends, Sumer, too. Ants got to her Pumpkin Bread, and she was very sad. So any requests, guys?

adapted from allrecipes.com, makes around 25 biscotti
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons amaretto liqueur
2 cups all-purpose flour (may need to use an extra 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sliced almonds, chopped
2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a cookie sheet.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla and amaretto. In a separate bowl mix 2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. If dough is too runny, add extra flour. Fold in nuts and white chocolate chips.

Divide dough into 2 equal parts. Place each 1/2 of dough on cookie sheet and form into logs about 14 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. (Mine were really more like 15 x 2 1/2.)

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until very lightly brown. Cool for at least 20 minutes and cut diagonally into 3/4 inch slices. Arrange slices on baking sheet and continue baking 8 minutes, until golden brown. (For the second baking time, I cooked mine for about 12 minutes.)

Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal Bars

Wooed by my grocery store's clever Fall display, I made it home from my last shopping trip with a half peck of Gala apples. In our house, apples get eaten frequently by our toddler. However, even with him eating one or two a day, I knew I needed to start baking or cooking with them to use them up.

When I was making these, Sage said "Aren't we gonna, like, get fat from all this baking you've been doing?" I reminded him that we only eat a little and give the rest to someone else. Well, after tasting these, I'd better come up with some really healthy dinners the next few nights, because these won't be making it into the possession of any of our loved ones! Sage even declared these as possibly the best thing I've ever baked.

These were so tempting, we couldn't even wait last night for them to properly cool before sampling. Then we had to wrap them up and force ourselves to go to bed. Warm, they don't hold their shape well, but would be perfect for topping with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and eating with a spoon. For me, these are definitely a dessert and not a grab-and-go breakfast. They are quite sweet (although the sweet taste is much stronger cooled than warm) so when I make these again, I will reduce the sugar, add another apple or two, and I am pretty sure I could use whole wheat flour and they'd still taste amazing. A great thing about these bars is you could switch out the filling, using different types of fresh and/or dried fruit, or even jarred chunky applesauce, as the recipe originally suggests. I will definitely be experimenting with this one.

adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

2 apples suitable for baking, peeled, cored and diced

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbsp water

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup quick cooing oats

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

dash of ground cloves

Combine apples, cinnamon stick and water in a saucepan. Cover and simmer until apples are very tender, about 20 minutes. If there is excess water, drain most off. Remove stick, and mash apples with fork. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, oats, sugar and baking soda in a meduim bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (I don't have a pastry cutter, so I just pulsed it in the food processor and other than the oats gettting slightly chopped up, it worked just fine.) Reserve a half of cup of crumb mixture. Press remaining into an ungreased 11x7 baking pan.

Add cranberries and cloves to apples and stir to mix well. Spread over top of crumb layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Today I had my friend's eight year old daughter at my house for a few hours. After my son was picked up to spend the day with his nana, I quickly discovered without him, there wasn't much interesting for her to do other than watch tv. All I have is toys best suited for a toddler boy.

I'm not much of a baker, but I suggested we make cookies. I looked up a quick recipe on allrecipes.com, noted a few suggested user modifications, and dove into it. I quarted the original recipe (which yields 42) because I didn't want to have a bunch of cookies in the house. I wish I would've only halved it, because they are some of the best cookies I've ever made! Oh well, its for the best, really. I forgot to set the timer and had to guess, but they still came out perfect- slightly crisp on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.

This is the halved recipe (will make around 24)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup and 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli)

1.Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3.Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.