Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Here’s another treat to get you through the winter months. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies! We had a big snow fall last week, 8-10 inches of snow (with a layer of ice sandwiched in-between) which is a big deal around here. The city practically shut down. Businesses closed. They don’t plow most streets because it’s… sort of rare, but not that rare! And they don’t use salt on the roads because it’s bad for the roads and the environment and will end up costing more money in the end with repair work. So you have to drive with chains on your tires or plan to walk to places, hunker down and light a fire. And maybe make some cookies if you have power. And we did! I couldn’t believe it. Huge snow/ice storm and we didn’t lose power. 

I was almost going to make the Peanut butter and Chocolate Blondies again, but they are so rich. Amazing as they are I really just wanted something a tad lighter. And these are just that. A little less butter, and a little less peanut butter. And also cookies, so rather than baked all at once in one pan, you can do as I did and bake small batches at a time. The dough stays fine in the fridge for a week and you can have fresh baked cookies in just a matter of minutes. Bake 6-12 cookies at a time. Whatever you want. Easy. You can freeze the dough as well if you want to take a break from cookie baking/eating. Since it’s just the two of us I find it makes more sense to do these small batch desserts. Some things freeze well post-baked and taste good defrosted, like cakes, but cookies? I think fresh baked is best.

The original recipe was named “Chewy” Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, which mine were not, maybe because I used honey rather than corn syrup? I’m not sure. The only thing I changed here was that I used honey instead of Corn Syrup. But I don’t have corn syrup and didn’t have any plans to use it so I replaced it with honey. No complaints! These cookies were awesome! I would definitely make them again. Enjoy! And stay warm!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, softened 

• 1/2 cup peanut butter 

• 1 cup packed brown sugar 

• 1/2 cup white sugar 

• 2 eggs 

• 2 tablespoons honey

• 2 tablespoons water 

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

• 1 teaspoon baking soda 

• 1/2 teaspoon salt 

• 2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate 10 oz bag

Preheat oven to 375F° (190C°). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl cream together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the honey, water, and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then stir the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls 3 inches apart onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Allow cookies to cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 36 cookies.

Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake. or rather a Black Forest Gateau. Gateau just means cake with cream and fruit filling. I didn’t know that so thought to pass that along. I asked Jeff what kind of cake he would like for his birthday and he showed me this Black Forest Gateau on BBC good food. It looked amazing! I searched around for other recipes online and came up with the one I’m posting here. I’m really happy with the results so decided to take some photos and do a blog post. The cake part of the recipe is from Call Me Cupcake and the rest, the filling and topping, is from my previous cake recipes, with the exception of the brandied cherries which I sort of made up, there are so many different ways to make them, but they came out really good! It’s not cherry season so I used frozen cherries. I couldn’t find any Bada Bing cherries in a jar (I didn’t need 6 jars!), which would have looked nice on top of the cake, but I just worked with what I could find. It’s weird these days why it’s hard to find certain things, not just toilet paper but jalapeños at Whole Foods? None? Really? oh well. We just have to make do with what we have and appreciate what we do have. 

I’d like to think of this as a beautiful mess. It came out much messier than I expected, I wanted a few drips of ganache down the sides and it proceeded to pour over like a waterfall out of control. But hey that’s ok. Jeff sort of marveled at all the layers and things going on. Puddles of chocolate? Who can complain about that. This cake will make you smile, I promise. Most of this is make-ahead-recipes so it’s quick to assemble on the day your serving it. You really could make everything the day before, then just warm the ganache, assemble and chill before serving.

Oh, I just remembered, another thing I couldn’t get with my grocery delivery was Mascarpone for the frosting. So I ordered an extra pint of whipping cream and made it myself, you can find the recipe here, it’s very easy to make. It needs to strain for at least 12 hours so it’s best to do it at night and it will be ready the next day. I’m finding all these weird things I’ve made over the years coming in very handy lately!

The Cake

• 4 ounces butter, 1 stick

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• pinch of salt

• 2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large egg

• 1 1/3 cup sour cream

• 3/4 cup hot water

Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour three parchment-lined 9-inch cake pans. Cut the butter into chunks and melt in the microwave or stove top and set aside to cool.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl, stir to combine. Add the salt, sugar, eggs and sour cream, whisk together, then slowly whisk in the melted butter and hot water (so you don’t cook the eggs!) Stir until completely smooth. Divide the batter between the three prepared cake pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center is set and a test knife comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in their pans before inverting them onto a cooling rack. Let cakes cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour before assembling. Cakes can be made ahead and refrigerated.

The Cherries

You could buy brandied cherries and use straight from the jar but I couldn’t find any. I had frozen cherries so this is how to prepare either frozen or fresh cherries.

• 1 pound frozen cherries (defrosted in refrigerator)

• 1 cup brandy

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/4 cup sugar

Add the cherries, brandy, water, and sugar to a small saucepan and heat over medium until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 15 minutes and remove from stove, allow to cool and refrigerate in sealed container. 

The Mascarpone Whipped Cream Frosting

• 1 cup mascarpone

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat together the mascarpone, whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment at medium high speed until fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.

The Ganache

• 2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped finely (or semi-sweet chocolate chips)

• 1/4 cup heavy cream

• Plus more dark chocolate for shaving on top of cake later

Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream over a medium heat until just simmering, then pour over the chocolate, allow the chocolate to melt for a bit then whisk briskly until well combined. Set aside. (this should be your last step in cooking before assembling the cake)

Assemble!

Place your first layer of cake on a cake stand or plate. Spread a good amount, about 1/2” thick with the mascarpone frosting. Top that with almost half the brandied cherries. Place your second layer of cake and repeat with mascarpone frosting and cherries, but leaving a few cherries aside for the final top, unless you have extra fresh or jarred cherries to use. Place your final cake layer on top of that, then pour on the ganache, let it dribble down the sides of the cake. Add some chocolate shavings on top (a vegetable peeler works great for shavings) and add the remaining cherries. Chill well, at least an hour, before slicing. It’s kind of a mess, but a good mess!

Photo by Jeff McDonald

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Blondies

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Blondies. These are so good! I made them about a week ago and they’re all gone now. Jeff and I finished the last one today. The serving size I show here can be a bit much (or not!), so I ended up cutting the nine squares in half for 18 pieces total. It’s a nice snack size. I had been craving peanut butter and chocolate for like two weeks and I finally made this recipe. The original recipe was more of a thin bar, baked in a 9”x13” pan for 20 minutes, but I wanted something at least an inch thick so I baked them in a 9”x9” pan for about 40-45 minutes and they came out great. What I like about this recipe is that there is an extra layer of peanut butter inside, not a lot but enough to make it really good! 

I hope you are all getting along well, we’re fine here and I’ve been working on the garden a bit more, I’ve started some herbs and vegetables from seed, which I might blog about if it all works out, I’m learning all the time over here. But so far so good. It has been a bitch trying to buy seeds online, either no stock or way overpriced on Amazon, but my local nursery was well stocked with curbside pickup, and my neighbor gave me some seeds for Parsley, Dill and Cilantro. I used to buy starters for herbs, but some tend to bolt sooner than you want, so it’s better to just grow by seed and stagger the planting (seeding) so you always have a fresh harvest. 

This recipe is pretty easy and straight forward, like I said I used a smaller baking pan for a longer oven time and was really happy with the results. But you could try the 9”x13” dish for 20 minutes.

If you love chocolate and peanut butter you will love this! I do!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Blondies

• 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) salted butter

• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup

• 1 cup light brown sugar

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

• flaky sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x9 inch baking dish lined with parchment paper.

In a medium sized pot melt together the butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter over a medium heat on the stove, stirring frequently until melted. Stir in the brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla, transfer to a large bowl and then whisk in the eggs gradually to temper them so that they don’t cook. Stir in the flour and baking powder until well combined. Transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill 5 minutes or the refrigerator for 15 minutes, until the dough is no longer warm to the touch. Stir in the chocolate chips. 
Spread 1/2 the dough out in the prepared dish. Dollop and swirl the remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter over the dough. Add the remaining dough overtop, don't worry if it doesn’t fully cover the peanut butter. Transfer to oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until set in the center. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool and then cut into bars. Store for up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

Crispy Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crispy Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’ll tell you right now, this recipe is a keeper! I’ve been eager to make these cookies ever since I saw David Lebovitz’s blog post recently. I’ve made chocolate chip cookies before, you might remember my 2-ways post back a few years ago with that giant cast-iron pan cookie! And while those are good, these are much much better. These are absolutely delicious. They’re similar to Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. What makes them thinner and crisper? I compared the two recipes and while they’re quite similar in ingredients, this one here has less flour, less egg and the addition of water. Water? Maybe that’s the secret ingredient! 

In any case I made a couple changes, using dark brown sugar rather than light brown sugar, I think it works fine. And I chopped up 7 ounces of 72% Cacao dark chocolate bars rather than using chocolate chips, it’s up to you but I like the big chocolate pieces in the cookie. David has the dough balls scooped out around a 1/4 cup each, I think that might be too much, I used a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough, rounded it out into a ball and they were pretty large, you can see from my photo below that even spacing them out a lot they still ran into each other. You basically want a 1”-1 1/4” ball. I got out my big-ass baking sheet on the next round so they had plenty of room to spread. The following batches I went for more of a 1” size ball. And all of them were done more close to 15 minutes. Not only will the time depend on the size of the cookie, but if the cookie dough is left out of the fridge longer they might be done a minute or two sooner. So keep an eye on them towards the end.

It’s January which marks the 7th anniversary of this blog! I can’t believe I’m still doing this, lol. I’ve learned a lot and have become much more comfortable cooking and baking and of course photographing the whole business. Much thanks to those that stop by to see what I’m up to, I appreciate your comments and such. I know blogging is not so much a thing these days but personally appreciate everyone out there that’s sticking to it and sharing recipes, how-tos and all that. The internet has become so toxic over the years, sometimes it’s nice to just chill out and read about cookies. I have quite a few recipes I want to share with you over the next few weeks, some of my favorites that have been on repeat. I think you’ll enjoy them. Speaking of enjoy, please please make these cookies, you won’t be disappointed.  David’s recipe is adapted from Joanne Chang’s Pastry Love: A Baker’s Journal of Favorite Recipes.

Crispy Thin Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 8 ounces (225g) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 1 cup (200g) superfine sugar (or put regular sugar in blender for a few seconds)

• 1/2 cup (100g) firmly-packed dark brown sugar

• 1 large egg, at room temperature

• 3 tablespoons (45g) water

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 3/4 cups (245g) flour

• 1 1/4 teaspoon flaky sea salt or kosher salt (if using Morton's kosher salt, use 3/4 teaspoon or 1 teaspoon for more profound saltiness)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 cups (280g, 7-10 ounces) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (chopped or chips)

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. Or use a hand mixer, doing this by hand will wear you out and take much much longer.

Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, add in the egg, water, and vanilla and mix until well combined.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add the chopped chocolate and toss in the flour mixture. With the mixer on low speed, stir in the flour and chocolate chunk mixture until thoroughly combined. Cover the bowl (or transfer to a container and cover) refrigerate the dough at least 3 to 4 hours, or overnight.

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange the dough, formed in 1-inch to 1 1/4-inch balls on the baking sheet, spaced at least 3-inches (8cm) apart. (They will spread, so expect to get 5 or 6 on a standard baking sheet.) Press the cookies down slightly with your hand and bake until the cookies have spread and just until there are no light patches across the center, rotating the baking sheet(s) midway during baking so they bake evenly. They'll take about 13-15 minutes, check the cookies a few minutes before the timer goes off and see if they need longer. The time will depend on the size of the cooker, larger will take a bit longer but only a minute or two more.

Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

Storage: The dough can be refrigerated up to four days, or frozen for up to three months. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to three days but are best the day they are baked.

Adapted from David Lebovitz who adapted it from Joanne Chang

CBD Coconut Bites

CBD Coconut Bites. Depending on where you live you might be seeing more CBD food and drinks around these days, which can be very expensive! But you can make your own for a fraction of the price. I’ve been making these for a while now, I was trying to get the right amount so that you could just have one piece, but I think two is better for the calming effects. A while back I worked with a hemp farm in Southern Oregon and posted the recipe for making your own CBD coconut oil which is pretty easy. Once you have that done these come together in no time. Recently I made them using a regular size muffin pan and they came out more like a peanut butter cup size and produced six pieces. The mini muffin pan will give you a dozen. They’re delicious, and pretty healthy too, made with CBD coconut oil, honey, chocolate, oats, nuts, good stuff. I’m looking forward to more CBD recipe development in the year ahead! Recipe below, enjoy!

CBD Coconut Bites

• 1/3 cup (1.5 oz) Dark Chocolate, chopped in small bits

• 1/3 cup  (1.5 oz) dry roasted hazelnuts

• 1/4 cup Cocoa powder

• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/4 cup toasted oats

• 1/3 cup CBD coconut oil

• 3 tablespoons honey

• 1/4 cup toasted coconut

In a non-stick skillet toast the oats until golden and set aside, then toast coconut for a minute or two until golden brown, set aside to cool.

Line a mini muffin pan with paper liners for 12 pieces, or regular size muffin pan for 6 pieces.

In a food processor place the nuts, cocoa and salt. Pulse a few times until the nuts are roughly chopped.

Place the CBD Coconut oil and honey in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until mostly melted, then stir in the nut mixture and toasted oats. 

Fill each cupcake tin with the mixture and top with toasted coconut flakes. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Store in refrigerator or cool place. 

Montana Hiking Bar

A couple of weeks ago we went to visit Glacier National Park in Montana and it was really spectacular. The day we were heading out to Many Glaciers on the east side of the park, we stopped by this bakery in East Glacier for a bite to eat. if you’re in that area it’s worth a visit. They had a hiking bar that was so good it inspired me to make my own. They also had some braided pastry with spinach and sun dried tomatoes that was absolutely delicious. 

We drove along the Going-to-the-Sun Road where you will find many trail heads to stop and explore. It’s an absolutely beautiful ride. I thought it might be a little scary driving the road since it’s narrow with huge drop offs on the side of the mountain, but most of the way they have barriers, and where there isn’t (gasp) just look at the road or the scenery. I have some fear of heights but luckily it didn’t freak me out.

Going-to-the-Sun Road

Many Glacier Swiftcurrent Lake. This is definitely a destination and it's worth planning to spend some time here since it’s far away from other areas in the park, and you’re almost in Canada!

Swiftcurrent Lake at Many Glacier

Saint Mary Lake. I didn’t know until after we were back, but this is where the opening scene of The Shining is filmed, and that scene ends with the Timberline lodge at Mount Hood here in Oregon.

Saint Mary Lake

Trail to Virginia Falls and Saint Mary Falls, the forest burned due to a fire in 2015, and it wasn’t what I was expecting, the trail description was “Soon the trail enters the canopy of a dense conifer forest…” I hadn’t realized how much of the park burns every year, almost always due to lightning. But it was quite striking and beautiful with the black trees and colorful new growth.

Virginia Falls

Avalanche Lake. This is a beautiful hike with creeks along the way through the forest, it starts at Trail of the Cedars and brings you to Avalanche Lake where you can take a rest and enjoy the views. The trail is considered moderate, it’s about 2 miles climbing up but it’s not too steep and fun on the way back down. There were bears spotted not too far from where we were, and while it was tempting to go further and see them, we took the advice of going in the opposite direction of where the bears are.

Avalanche Lake

Hidden Lake Nature Trail from Logan Pass. It was our last day in the park and we had to be back in Whitefish early evening to get something to eat before catching the train back to Portland. When we arrived at Logan Pass parking lot it was packed, apparently you have to get there around 8am for easy parking, otherwise, like us, you will be circling that lot forever. But Jeff chatted with a ranger and he said we could park 3 miles east down the road and catch the shuttle back. So that’s what we did. We were lucky to find a parking spot on the side of the road near the shuttle stop. And so we waited, and waited, and waited (The shuttle coming from the east side can take up to a 1 hour wait, but on the west side it’s more like 20-30 minutes.) Time was ticking and we were wondering if we would have any kind of time for this hike, because you have to factor in getting back again. A couple days prior a ranger had told us if you’re ever in need of a ride in the park just hitchhike. So we joked about doing it and a woman there said she would do it if she didn’t have her kids with her. So we stuck our thumbs out on Going-to-the-Sun Road, many cars passed, but one stopped. It was this sweet older couple from Missouri that have been traveling all over the west including Alaska. We offered them money but they wouldn’t take it, at one point she mentioned Rice Krispies treats that were in the back seat! They were very cute and very nice people. We get to the trail head and discovered it’s a boardwalk almost the entire length until you reach Hidden Lake Overlook. I would say this was our least favorite trail. It was like climbing up stairs for 2 miles. You would think it would make it easier but I much prefer a natural path. I had read that this is THE place to see mountain goats, but we didn’t see any at all, I think you have to go early in the morning or early evening to see wildlife.

Hidden Lake Nature Trail

Hidden Lake Overlook

In addition to the trails there is much to see just along side of the road, we were there for 5 days and I feel like I would have wanted at least 10 days to explore. When you go to the park I definitely recommend bringing some food and leaving it in the car, or if you carry it with you it should be sealed up so that hungry bears don’t start following you. Lake McDonald Lodge has a restaurant but it’s not always open, and when it is open it's packed. I got most info on hikes at Hiking in Glacier, and it’s always good to check in on Glacier National Park’s website for any closures or delays. You can view the parks webcams here which is pretty cool. 

Below is a recipe for the hiking bars, you can make all different kinds but the basics are always the same with dried fruit, nuts, a syrup, a nut butter and oats. I didn’t want to have to buy 10 bags of different nuts and dried fruit, so I went to Trader Joe’s and bought a back of mixed nuts and a bag of dried fruit (dried cherry, strawberry and blueberry is good!) They have a great selection there. 

Montana Hiking Bar

• 1 cup dried fruit
• 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter
• 1 cup roasted salted nuts
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats or quick cooking steel cut oats
• 7 oz dark chocolate
• optional additions: chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, banana chips, vanilla, etc.

Spread the oats on a cookie sheet and toast the oats for 15 minutes in 350°F oven, then allow to cool.

Place oats, dried fruit and nuts in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Warm honey and peanut butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir and pour over oat mixture and stir until combined.

Line a 8”x8” baking pan with parchment paper, then spread the mixture in the pan, pressing down firmly until flattened. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave, then pour it evenly over the mixture, shake the pan to even out the chocolate.

Cover the pan and refrigerate 20-30 minutes until firm. Remove bars from pan and cut into 9 squares. Store in an airtight container for up to a few days. Store in freezer for longer duration.