Mini Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I bought a package of mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's a few months back because I thought they would be really tasty in cookies instead of chocolate chips.  I was correct and I know I am not the first person to think so! This is a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe but I added the peanut butter cups instead of chocolate chips.  A totally different way to get the flavor of a peanut butter cookies in addition to the chocolate.  This recipe has you make large cookies, but they would last longer if you made them smaller. Or you can just eat twice as much!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups + 2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
12 oz package mini peanut butter cups (unwrapped, and chopped if not already bite-sized)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325°. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a silicon mat. Place butter and sugars in a mixer bowl, mix on medium high until well-combined, 2-3 minutes. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix on low just until combined. Stir in peanut butter cups until distributed. Chill dough 15 minutes.
Scoop 1/4-cup dough balls onto a lined baking sheet (if making large). Bake 11-15 minutes, until the edges brown and the center is still soft. Let cool on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Makes: 16

INGREDIENTS:

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper and butter lining.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don't set.

With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

Spooky Spiderweb Brownies

I came to an important realization while making this recipe: I cannot follow directions.  I have been excited about making these brownies for months ever since I decided to host the Halloween potluck at work.  Normally I opt for box-made brownies because I think they are just as good (Sacrilegious, I know).  

I found this recipe on King Arthur Flour and they seemed simple enough and so perfect for a Halloween party.  The picture shows one large spiderweb, seemingly thick so I assumed that one 8'' pan would suffice.  I'm pretty sure I even read that in the footnotes. Wrong!  I ended up having to cook these brownies so long since the batter was so thick in one pan that the spiderweb turned brown. Horror or horrors!  I decided to post it anyhow since it's such a cute idea and the brown web doesn't look too horrible.  Let's just hope it isn't rock hard! 

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Serves: 2 dozen

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp espresso powder

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 cups chocolate chips

Spider web mixture:

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp All-Purpose Flour

1 large egg yolk

1/2 tsp mint flavoring (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan or two 8’’ round pans.  In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Or simply combine the butter and sugar, and heat, stirring, until the butter is melted. 

Continue to heat (or microwave) briefly, just until the mixture is hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it'll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating the mixture to this point will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.

While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips. Spoon the batter into the lightly greased 8" pans.

To make the spider web:

Combine the cream cheese, sugar and flour in a small bowl, and mix until smooth. Add the egg yolk and flavoring (if using), mixing until smooth once again. Transfer the mixture to a disposable pastry bag, and cut just the very tip off the end.

Place a small pool of the mixture in the center of the brownie batter. Draw circles around this pool, about 1 inch apart, moving out from the center each time. Once the circles are drawn, take a table knife, wet the tip, and draw it back and forth through the circles. Once you've gone all the way around the circles, take up your pastry bag again. Use the remaining filling to trace the path where the knife traveled, to create the spokes of the web.

Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, until the brownies just barely pull away from the edge of the pan. The center will rise while baking, but will sink back level once the brownies are cool. Remove them from the oven and cool before cutting.

Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

 

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Makes: 3 dozen

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

8 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, 4oz coarsely chopped, 4oz cut into 1/4-inch chunks

1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.  Melt coarsely chopped chocolate with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.

Transfer chocolate mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla; mix on medium speed until combined.  Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.  Fold in chocolate chunks. 

Scoop batter using a 1 1/2 inch ice scream scoop; place 2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces begin to crack, about 15 minutes. Transfer on parchment to wire racks.  Let cool 5 minutes.  Cookies an be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

NOTE: The cookies should seem a bit soft when you take them out of the over.  They firm up as they cool, so be careful not to over bake them.

Crisp Salted Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

The original recipe called for white chocolate, but I used dark chocolate since that was all I had on hand.  Don't be fooled, the salty crunch on top is what makes these cookies so good!

 

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 16-18 mins
Makes: 24 cookies

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt
14 tsp (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

6 ounces good-quality chocolate bar, chopped (not chocolate chips, they are almost always artificial).

1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (like Maldon or fleur de sel) (for sprinkling on top)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down bowl again. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add oats and white chocolate and mix until well incorporated.

Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using fingertips, gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie.

Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.