Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

A student told me today he had four brothers and another one on the way. I looked at him and said, "That's half a year of entries in your writing notebook!" 

That line, tweeted from an elementary school teacher, lingered with me last night. For that little boy, growing up as one of six brothers will provide him with endless inspiration for writing. Even a simple car ride gains significance, showing him the value of compromise when he makes a deal with Brother #3, trading his place in the front seat of the car for a pack of baseball cards. 

Writers return to their favorite writing territories again and again, lingering with them, revisiting them in entirely new ways and ways that feel utterly familiar. These territories draw us back to our favorite authors, knowing we'll find a bit of something familiar in each new book they publish.

Right now, peanut butter is my territory. It's where I'm lingering. It focuses my recipe searches and my grocery store purchases. Recently, I've been experimenting with chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies, trying out countless variations to find one worthy of sharing with all of you. 

This is definitely it. They're almost too large, but you won't hear anyone complaining. They're soft and chewy,  loaded with extra oatmeal. They're a little light on the sugar which really lets the peanut butter shine through.

Make a batch to share, and freeze a few to have when the urge hits in the future. This is one territory you'll certainly want to return to again and again.

Dark Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies

In just a few short hours, New York City food bloggers are scheduled to descend on the Brooklyn Flea to raise money for No Kid Hungry. The list of food being brought looks incredible.

Mini flourless chocolate cakes.

Coconut lime shortbread.

Smoked bourbon chocolate.

Lemon bars with a lavender shortbread crust.

S'mores brownies.

The list continues on, and I'm delighted to be contributing these dark chocolate chip pistachio cookies. They're overflowing with pistachios and dark chocolate chunks (the quantities of those included almost mirror the quantities of all other ingredients, combined).

Anything with four minutes of butter and sugar mingling has to be delicious, and these cookies are no exception. They've got layers of flavor, and they make the typical chocolate chip cookie far more exciting.

We'll be at the Flea from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., unless we sell out before then! Stop by!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are all about flexibility.

You see, I ran out of brown sugar about a week ago, and I forgot to pick some up at the store last weekend.

Disclaimer: I could have solved my problem. Easily. Within a five-minute walk from my apartment, there are at least two 24-hour grocery stores and bodegas that would definitely have brown sugar. Also, it was the middle of the day. And it was beautiful out. I could have left the house and enjoyed it.

Needless to say, I didn't. I proceeded to make cookies with no brown sugar, substituting molasses and white sugar instead.

I was nervous at first. The dough had that distinctive molasses taste at first, and I worried it would show its face in the final product. It seemed too strong.

I persevered. I kept eating cookie dough. All of a sudden, I didn't mind the molasses at all.

Then I let the dough chill for a few hours and baked it up.

I bit into the first one before it cooled.

Delicious. No molasses taste at all. Chewy, with a bit of a crunch on the outside. Just loaded with chocolate chunks. 

I made these cookies for my mom to celebrate her birthday, loaded with oatmeal just like she likes them. I shipped them off this weekend in hopes they'll be to her today. 

Happy birthday to you, Mom! Sending lots of love your way. Like the molasses, I hope these cookies will substitue a bit for my absence. Wish I could be there with you today!

Perfect Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Do you have plans tonight?

Cancel them.

Or at the very least, postpone them by the ten minutes it will take to get out the ingredients for these cookies, whip up the dough, stick it in the fridge to chill, and do the dishes.

Trust me, those ten minutes will be well worth it.

I lived far too many years of my life not knowing cookies like these existed, and I would just hate for someone else to make the same mistake.

I know what you're saying. Katie, isn't this the eleventh chocolate peanut butter recipe you've blogged about in the past two years?

Yes, it is, and I'm not ashamed.

Because this one is different. All the previous recipes were good. Some were really incredible. But they were all complicated. Like this chocolate peanut butter mousse cake, for instance. It's ridiculous decadent, and not overly complicated to assemble, but it will certainly require lots of planning ahead and a special trip to the grocery store.

That's not the case for these little treats.

I bet you have all the ingredients in your pantry right not. Creamy peanut butter. Dark brown sugar. One egg. A little vanilla. A touch of baking soda.

Throw the ingredients in your stand mixer, whisk up for three minutes, and then pack away for at least four hours, or until chilled.

Avoid cracking the fridge open every few minutes as you walk by, or there will be very little dough left when you're ready to bake the cookies.

Eat them warmed up for a few seconds or at room temperature. Just make sure the chocolate is a little soft when you bite in.

I better go.

There are only two of these bad boys left on my counter, and they're calling to me.

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and M&M Cookies

My cookie sheet doesn't fit in my new oven.

It turns out the oven in my new apartment is smaller than I thought. At least the fridge is full-sized. You wouldn't believe how many over-priced Brooklyn apartments have mini-fridges, the kind it's really only appropriate to have in a college dorm or next to your desk at your office.

This would not have been a problem had I noticed in advance or had I decided to make cookies when cooking stores were still open. But no, I only noticed when I was trying to shove a cookie sheet full of cookie dough (that had already been chilling for 5 hours, as per Matt and Renato's instructions) into the oven. It didn't fit. Either direction. It wasn't even close.

Yes, I could have given up and decided to just eat the raw cookie dough.

I won't lie.

I did do a bit of that.

But instead, I decided to get creative.

I used my toaster oven's baking try. It holds two cookies at a time for 12 minutes of baking and 8 minutes of cooling on the pan immediately after. I made about 20 cookies before I gave up and decided to freeze the remaining dough.

I'm glad I went ahead with baking. These cookies are incredible. They're moist and chewy, a fantastic combination of chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal cookies loaded with chocolate.

These are not your mama's cookies. One cookie is about the equivalent of two normal-sized cookies, but I won't tell if you decide to have more than one.

Raspberry-Chocolate Macaroons

I, sadly, am a cook without a food processor. Living with roommates for years allowed me to avoid getting some of those tools that you really don't want to go without in the kitchen.

Several of them I replaced quickly. I had to have a saute pan and a pot large enough to cook noodles. A surprise housewarming party provided other essentials: a tea kettle, a lemon juicer, an ice cube tray and even a can opener (yes, moving to my own apartment left me short one of those as well).

At my old apartment, I used my roommate's food processor for everything. It made pizza and pasta dough making a snap. Pestos ground up in a matter of minutes. I no longer needed to chop chocolate for hours to make chocolate babkas. Hit "on" and the chocolate was chopped in seconds.

Though I've certainly adjusted to life without a food processor, there are just some recipes I can't make without it. I've had Deb's raspberry coconut macaroons bookmarked for months in anticipation of a visit home and access to my parents' food processor.

The wait was certainly worth it.

These macaroons are sweet and tangy at the same time, and you get a little bit of bittersweet chocolate in each bite. The simple coconut base allows all the flavors to shine through.

I can usually successfully keep my distance from cookies after I bake them, but I brought these on the airplane with me over the Christmas break and found myself cracking open the lid to the container again and again.

Happy 2013!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie Bars

I've been winning contests since I was a kid. I'm not talking about the kind of contest where you need to have real skill and talent to win.

I'm talking about the contests where you enter your name and can randomly have your name drawn out of a hat as the winner.

I don't know what it is. Maybe since I won young, I've been more tempted to enter since then, increasing my chances over those who just walk by and think they don't have a chance.

Just a theory. 

As a kid, I won the huge Christmas stocking at the grocery store. It was taller than me. Taller than my dad, even. It was stuffed with cheap grocery store toys, and I loved it.

From the library's summer reading program, I won an awesome pair of roller skates. With whatever color wheels I wanted. :) 

I won a free library worth of books for my classroom (200 new Scholastic books), and a free library of books to give to another classroom in my school.

Most recently, it was The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook, published by Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil. I won it from a delightful blog giveaway she hosted.

It's amazing. I am nothing if not a cookie dough lover, and the cookbook, which features her egg-free cookie dough, shows you how to bring cookie dough into every baked good you can think of.

Since I've been on a chocolate and peanut butter kick since I was born, I had to bring peanut butter into her chocolate chip cookie dough brownie bars.

It was the right choice. As we've been over, peanut butter makes almost everything with chocolate in it even better.

And I made them in muffin tins to create individual cakes. Just to be cute.

They come together in a snap because you can whip up the cookie dough while the brownies are baking. When you top them with a scoop of ice cream, they get even more fantastic.

Sesame Seed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made the most delightful mistake while making these cookies.

I finished beating the eggs, sugar, vanilla and soy sauce. Yes, soy sauce. You read that correctly.

I removed the beaters from the mixer and licked them. It's one of my favorite parts of baking.

Then, I read the next section of the recipe: Combine the egg/sugar mixture and the flour mixture. Mix on low speed until the flour is incorporated.

Oops. Kind of. Sure I had to wash the beaters, but then I got to put them back on, blend up the cookie dough, and then remove the beaters and lick them again.

It was exactly the kind of mistake I love. It was much better then the time I left the six tablespoons of butter out of my rhubarb muffins. Six tablespoons of butter split between 10 muffins makes a HUGE difference. There's a reason you haven't seen those muffins on here. :)

 

Often when I make chocolate chip cookies, I love the cookie dough and eat a ton of it, and I maybe eat one cookie once they're cooked. This twist on the chocolate chip cookie is different. Yes, the dough is incredible. I ate plenty of it. I don't worry about the raw eggs. I savored every bite.

But when the cookies came out of the oven, they just called to me. With the early summer weather we have now, the chocolate chips stayed soft, and they almost melt into the rest of the cookie. The cookie is a bit saltier than most, thanks to the addition of the soy sauce, and the black sesame seeds add a nice crunch to each bite. I've had several and had to bring them to a work meeting so I wouldn't continue snacking.

If you make these, make the same mistake I did. You'll be glad.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Easter Nests

Are you as obsessed with Cadbury Mini Eggs as I am?

They are, by far, my favorite Easter snack. They were always in my Easter basket growing up. When I went away to college, my mom would send them to me every year. Now, I certainly keep packages of them in my freezer to snack on from time to time, although they don't seem to last long in my house.

Why? They're just perfect (if you don't pay attention to all the artificialness). They've got a hard shell and a creamy center that just melts in your mouth. The chocolate is tasty. And, they come in such fun colors.

Although I've eaten them every year, I've never baked with them, so I decided to take the plunge this year. Some of the recipes already out there featuring these guys are out of control.

This chocolate pie from What's for Dinner Tonight, Dear? is just gorgeous. See the nest filled with mini eggs in the center?

These little coconut nests from Sister View remind me of robin's nests, and I love how they used just the pale blue eggs to fill the nests.

Simple Bites presented their Simple Easter Cupcakes, a yellow cupcake with a chocolate nest on top.

My contribution to cooking with these little gems is a simple one. Chocolate peanut butter Easter nests. Chocolate, peanut butter and chow mein noodles, mixed together and shaped.

They're a little messy, but they really couldn't be easier to make. They scream "SPRING!" Which on a dreary day like today is just what I need.

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Bars with Samoas

I didn't like rice crispy treats much as a kid, probably because they were missing chocolate. And because most of the rice crispies I had were the pre-packaged, factory-made kind.

I probably hadn't had one in years, and I certainly hadn't missed them.

I should have just left it at that. I should have known better.

Because now that I've experienced these brown butter rice crispy treats, I'm addicted. I've had four rice crispy bars in the past two days alone.

I started with brown butter, which gave the bars a nice, nutty flavor. A pinch of sea salt creates that perfect contrast between sweet and salt.

I should have stopped there.

But, there were Girl Scout Samoa cookies sitting on my dresser, just calling my name. I opened the package and started chopping.

I lined the bottom of the pan with the rice crispy mixture, and then I topped it with a generous layer of chopped Samoa cookies. That received another layer of rice crispy mixture, followed by a final layer of Samoa cookies.

They're to die for. Each bite has a bit of sugar, a bit of salt, and some coconut and chocolate thrown in for good measure.

Be warned.

And, be sure to visit Deseret News to see their post about 30 different ways to bake with Girl Scout cookies, which includes this treat!

Salted Butter Kitchen Sink Cookies

I'm trying to create less waste. In cooking and in life. I'm trying to print off less papers from my computer, copy fewer unnecessary handouts for my students and reuse the sleeves on my coffee cups.

I'm trying to use my suitcase full of reusable bags instead of getting new plastic bags from the store.

And I'm trying to use up all the little extra bits of food I have lying around instead of throwing them away.  It's why I had vegetable fried rice for dinner last Friday (I used all the leftover rice from my Indian takeout dinner!). It's why I had barley risotto with sauteed cabbage instead of escarole.

And it's why I was desperate to do something with the three sweet treats I rarely buy: the Oreos I used to make this chocolate peanut butter torte, the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups I used to make these double chocolate oatmeal peanut butter cup cookies, and the M&Ms that filled these Valentine's Day blondies.

The situation felt particularly urgent because not only were these leftovers that needed to be used up, they were also particularly tasty snacks that called to me every time I entered the kitchen.

David Lebowitz's recipe for salted butter cookies called to me because I thought the extra touch of salt would be particularly nice with the overwhelming sweetness of all the mix-ins.

This is the perfect recipe for using up all those extra bits you have laying around. I can imagine coconut, any kind of nut, any kind of chocolate, and any kind of cookie working particularly well. A few recipes I peeked at really included everything--even Fritos and potato chips. If you get that creative, I'd love to hear about it.

Madeleines

I love that the madeleines sit in their pan in two straight lines.

Isn't that how they're supposed to do everything?

Twelve of them. In two straight lines. Just like in Madeline.

That's a book that has stuck with me for a long time. I think I'll always remember Miss Clavel sitting up suddenly in the middle of the night because something was not right. I particularly channeled her when I flipped my first ever batch of madeleines out of their pan.

Something was not right. They had little bumps in the center. Their backsides were far past the pale golden color I had anticipated, even though I had left them in for the minimum amount of time suggested. They were a little dry when I bit into them. They left a lot to be desired.

I flew into action. I started over, this time measuring out the dough for each madeleine mold carefully with a teaspoon, trying to approximate even amounts across the pan. I lowered the oven temperature 15 degrees (perhaps not necessary for you as my oven tends to run high). I lowered the baking time by two minutes, and I didn't leave the oven until they were done.

Then came the moment of truth. Martha requests that you remove the madeleines from the pan and then almost immediately flip them out.

There they were. The madeleines I had dreamed of. Soft and pillowy. A light golden brown on both sides. Moist. Pretty delightful.

To save the others, I dipped them in Schaeffer Berger bittersweet chocolate. Yes. I do think chocolate fixes most problems. A few minutes in the fridge to let the chocolate harden up, and I almost forgot how sub-par they were compared to the second batch.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Peanut Butter Chocolate Whoopie Pies

I just can't resist chocolate and peanut butter together. I know we've been over this recently, but it's all that's been on my mind lately. I decide to make muffins, and I can't stop searching for chocolate peanut butter ones. I see these cookies, and I imagine them filled with chocolate.

I made these no-bake chocolate and peanut butter bars recently, but they disappeared so quickly that I completely forgot to photograph them for you. I made chocolate peanut butter scones, which you'll see in a bit, and I ended up with several pictures of the last scone, half eaten, because before I had just focused on eating them instead of on my photography.

So, with all that in mind, I feel pretty good that I managed to get one picture of these chocolate whoopie pies with peanut butter filing. I made the large whoopie pies--the Pennsylvania Dutch-sized ones--and they were too massive to actually eat. Each cookie was about three inches in diameter and overflowing with peanut butter filling. We couldn't get through more than half a whoopie pie in a sitting, but that did give us leftovers for later. 

I'd recommend making much smaller whoopie pies. They don't seem big at first, but when you combine two cookies and a few tablespoons of filling they just start growing and growing!

Visit Baked Sunday Mornings to get the recipe and see all the different whoopie pies that were created this week! Next up: caramel popcorn with peanuts and chocolate!