Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

After we tried these cookies, Dave and I decided we needed a new name (the original name is Magic in the Middle).  While I like the name, I wanted something that conveyed exactly what you're getting into with this cookie.  It's not terribly creative and I'm open to other suggestions. We wanted something akin to Peanut Butter Bombs, but alas our creative juices were halted by the mind-numbing deliciousness of this cookie.  Seriously they are that good. The chocolate cookie is soft and rich and the peanut butter is just enough to cut through and give you the ever-satisfying combination of peanut butter and chocolate. These are an 8-ounce glass of milk kind of cookie.  I love how they spread and get a cakey like texture.  Mine cracked a little--I think my dough was starting to dry out, so work quickly or pop the dough in the fridge.

A King Arthur Flour recipe, I loved taking the opportunity to use the double Dutch process cocoa I picked up while I was there.  It's a very rich cookie, so I'm glad to have tried the cocoa with another flavor, peanut butter, to give some balance in flavor.  Since my dough was a little crumbly, I did add a little milk to bring it together--1Tablespoon was enough, but you could add up to 2 if necessary.  I measured out my peanut butter filling by teaspoons and ended up with 40 portions instead of the recipe's 26.  Then when I used a level small cookie scoop to portion out the chocolate dough, I ended up being able to get 36 cookies.  I guess my instruments were little smaller than the original baker's, but I would recommend making all your peanut butter balls first so that you can get as close to even as possible.  Another tip from King Arthur Flour: if you want to double this recipe, go ahead, but add an extra egg to the dough for better results.

Cinnamon Spiced Almonds

My father-in-law loves almonds.  He also loves to shop Costco.  One day, several months ago, he was wandering around Costco and spied a deal on almonds. So the bargain deal made its way into the cart and that was that. Pleased with his purchase, when he got home he dug into his bag of almonds.  And then proceeded to tell my mother-in-law that the giant bag of almonds he got such a deal on tasted terrible.  When my mother-in-law looked at the bag, she asked him where in the store he found them.  Apparently the deal was in the baking aisle.  That's when my mother-in-law explained that they were raw almonds, not the roasted ones he was used to finding in the snack aisle.  And then she packed them into a zip top bag and held them for me when I stopped by a few days later, figuring that I could use them in baking.  Since then, the almonds have had a home in my freezer, and while I've used a few now and then, I really hoped to find a way to use them up in one sweet treat.  After seeing candied almonds in a local store for the holidays, my wheels started turning.  These are excellent, slightly sweet with a little cinnamon and spice to balance the nuttiness of the toasted almonds.  And so super easy to make.  You'll wonder why you've never done it before.

This recipe came from Sarah and Dulcie at Two Tarts and I really liked how they used a few different spices to create a seasonal sweet flavor to pair with the almonds.  Alternatively, you could include a variety of nuts such as almonds, walnuts or pecans to make a nice selection of flavors.  Packaged up in little bags, these would make great hostess gifts.

Seven Layer Mess Bars

Despite the name, these are not a flop!  In fact, they're pretty darn good and a twist on the traditional seven layer bar.  Dave was very pleased with how they turned out, even though he's not sure he's ever had the original style seven layer bar.  I was happy to make something so yummy since the circumstances of how these bars came to be were a little, well, unconventional.

It was one of those days where I had a leftover bit of an ingredient that I had to use up or throw away.  Since wastefulness is not a trait in my kitchen, I knew I had to make something, but what?  And to top it off, the ingredient was something I rarely use in my kitchen: most of a can of sweetened condensed milk.  I'd used a scant 1/4 cup of the stuff to make the Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies I guest posted at Mom's Crazy Cooking, but what was I going to do with the rest of it.  Somewhere in my mind I vaguely recalled a recipe for some sort of bar that used sweetened condensed milk, so I pulled out the one cookbook flashing in my head--my nondescript Christmas Cookies book.  Lo and behold, I found a recipe that I thought being short by a 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk wouldn't be a big deal.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  I hope you baked something delicious and are sharing it and the day surrounded by the people you love.

Dave and I are off for a week in Disney World with my family.  I'm looking forward to lots of sweet treats, hoping I can figure out how to replicate them for you later.

Merry Christmas,

The Cookie Princess

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Remember last year when I made the White Peppermint Snowballs? They were ok, but kind of a disappointment.  So I looked for another recipe to incorporate peppermint candies into a holiday cookie and found these.  They are perfect and I'm glad I opted for chocolate chip version.  I like to use semi-sweet chocolates chips, but white chocolate would also probably be quite tasty.  Either way, the crushed peppermint candies provide a very nice twist to a chewy cookie and it has a nice holiday feel.  Dave liked how the cookie was flavored by the candies, rather than eating a cookie and running into a piece of candy mid-bite.

Jen at Beantown Baker posted this recipe and it's a great one.  Not having any bittersweet chocolate chips, I loaded mine completely with semi-sweet chips, but you can use any combination you'd like.  I resisted the urge to use any peppermint extract, which was the right call.  Any more peppermint flavor would have been too overwhelming.  I'm pretty sure these would be Santa approved and there's a good chance you've got some candy canes floating about right now, so what are you waiting for?