Peanut butter sandwich cookies with milk chocolate filling + two favorite Tumblrs

I’ve been obsessing with sandwich cookies lately – I want to bake each and every recipe for sandwich cookies I see (and no, I haven’t forgotten about biscotti, believe me). :)
I’d planned making one of Martha’s fabulous cookies but the jam I had around was very chunky – the jam is actually quite good but not thin enough for filling the cookies. I turned to the Karen DeMasco’s wonderful book and made these fantastic cookies, which allowed me to finish off a jar of peanut butter as well. Win/win situation. :)

You know that when I like something I really like it and because I am a movie junkie I have now two favorite Tumblrs: “Old Love” and “This Had Oscar Buzz” – I am sure some of you will love them, too. :)

Peanut butter sandwich cookies with milk chocolate filling
slightly adapted from the wonderful and delicious The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets with Ideas for Inventing Your Own

Cookies:
1 ¾ cups (245g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons (84g) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (100g) light brown sugar, packed
¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (115g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil, such as canola
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg

Filling:
168g (6oz) milk chocolate, chopped
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup (35g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon table salt
¾ cup (180ml) heavy cream

Start by making the cookies: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar and confectioners’ sugar on medium-high speed until creamy. Add the peanut butter and beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the oil, vanilla and egg and beat until just combined. Add the flour mixture beating just to combine.
Roll the dough into balls – 1 ½ leveled teaspoons of dough per ball – and place them onto the prepared baking sheets, 2cm (1in) apart. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the cookies are golden brown on the edges, about 12 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to a wire rack and let cool completely (unfilled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week).

Make the filling: combine the chocolate, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove the cream from the heat and pour it over the chocolate mixture. Stir until the ingredients are melted and the mixture is smooth. Refrigerate until thick enough to spread. Using an offset spatula, spread the filling over the flat sides of half of the cookies. Sandwich with the remaining cookies*.
Filled cookies are best eaten on the same day but can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

* there was some filling left; I believe that ¾ of the filling recipe would be enough to fill all the cookies

Makes about 50 sandwich cookies

Peanut butter brownies + your comments on a certain post

I’ve been thinking about the comments you left on my post about Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook and thought I might have been misunderstood by some: I agree with the fact that some people are naturally thin and can eat tons of food without gaining 1 single pound – I have cousins and friends that way. Nothing against those people – I wish I were one of them! :D
And I don’t think that one has to be chubby to be a good cook, either - I was joking about the skinny cooks/cookies thing. I don’t buy GP as a cook/baker, but I adore Sophie Dahl, for instance. Something completely personal, I know.

And since I’m not part of the blessed group of people who can eat all the sweets they want, I made these brownies, had one – it was delicious – and sent the other squares to my nephew; he plays a lot of sports and will burn these calories in no time. :D

Peanut butter brownies
slightly adapted from DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style

½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, chopped
252g (9oz) bittersweet chocolate (66-72% cacao), finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (47g) all purpose flour
½ cup chunky peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square baking pan, line with foil leaving an overhang in two opposite sides, then butter the foil as well.
Combine the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water). Stir constantly until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt, mixing well until completely incorporated. Stir in the flour, mix well, then transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top.
Place teaspoonfuls of peanut butter on the surface of the batter, then swirl the peanut butter into the batter using a fork until it looks marbled. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the brownie has a smooth sheen and looks dry (the peanut butter portions will be tacky). Let cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve.

Makes 16

Flourless peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies

Flour – an ingredient always present in my pantry, essential for someone who loves baking like I do. But sometimes we can go on perfectly well without it and it’s not necessary at all – like Renée Zellweger in “Cold Mountain”. :)

My peanut butter cookie recipe hunt started with this amazing book, but I was really after a flourless version, which I found on Epicurious.
The cookies turned out delicious and tender and were a hit with my little sister, who apparently did not like peanut butter. :) Just be careful when transporting the cookies, because the lack of flour makes them a bit fragile.

Flourless peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies
from Epicurious

1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup (175g) light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (170g/6oz) semisweet chocolate chips – I used 70% cocoa solids

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; line two baking sheets with baking paper.
Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Mix in chocolate chips. Using moistened hands, form generous 1 tablespoon dough for each cookie into ball. Place onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart.

Bake cookies until puffed, golden on bottom and still soft to touch in center, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool completely.

Makes about 24 cookies – I made the exact recipe above, used 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie and got 38

Peanut butter pound cake with coconut topping

Like the lovely Nina, I am, too, a pound cake addict: they are simple to make, taste great – and stay that way for a good couple of days – and after that can be turned into delicious toast.

This cake is fantastic and the topping is just as good – I “accidentally” left some in the pan after icing the cake and had to eat it with a spoon. :)

Peanut butter pound cake with coconut topping
slightly adapted from the wonderful Baking for All Occasions

Cake:
1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
140g creamy peanut butter
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon (255g) all purpose flour

Topping:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup (58g) light brown sugar, packed
3 tablespoons heavy cream
½ cup (50g) sweetened shredded coconut, plus a pinch extra to garnish

Start with the cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22.5x12.5x7.5cm (9x5x3in) loaf pan.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, with the paddle attachment if possible, beat the butter until smooth, 45 seconds. On medium speed, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the peanut butter and beat until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Still on medium speed, add the eggs gradually, beating well after each addition.
Now, on low speed, add the flour in two additions, mixing well until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan, over a wire rack for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Make the topping: in a small heavy saucepan, melt the butter with the sugar over low heat. Add the cream and coconut and stir until blended. Remove from the heat and spread over the cake. Sprinkle with the extra coconut shreds.

Serves 12 – I made ¾ of the cake recipe above and used a 20x9cm loaf pan; I made the entire topping recipe, though.

Peanut butter financiers

Every time I get a new cookbook it takes me forever to choose which recipe to try from it first – the exception was Rose's Heavenly Cakes: I had to start with the weirdest recipe (in my opinion, of course). :)

I have made quite a few financier/friand recipes so far and these have gone straight to the #1 spot around here (sorry, pear friands). :)

Peanut butter financiers
from Rose's Heavenly Cakes

75g whole almonds
10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, chopped
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (148g) icing sugar
6 tablespoons (60g) all purpose flour
4 large egg whites
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°C; butter and flour sixteen ¼ cup (60ml) capacity financier molds.
Spread the almonds in a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes, stirring a couple of times, or until fragrant. Let cool completely, then process the almonds with the sugar in a food processor until very fine. Pulse in the flour.
In a small saucepan, heat the butter over low heat until melted – do not use a dark saucepan otherwise you won’t be able to check the color of the butter. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and watching carefully to prevent burning, until the butter turn dark golden. Immediately pour the butter through a strainer into a small heatproof bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the almond flour mixture, beat well with a whisk, then gradually drizzle the hot butter over the mixture, whisking well. Add the peanut butter and whisk until evenly incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared molds, filling each about two-thirds full. Place the molds onto a baking sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the financiers are golden and spring back when lightly pressed in the centers.
Let the financiers cool in the molds for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.
Financiers can be kept in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 3 days, or 5 days in the fridge.

Makes 16 – I halved the recipe above, used 2 tablespoon-capacity pans and got 12 financiers

Peanut butter cookies

I went to the movies yesterday and it got me thinking about something: I usually consider myself a very impatient person and maybe I no longer should – after all, I saw a movie I’d been meaning to watch for almost a year. :)

I continue exercising my patient side: while the latest issue of my favorite food magazine doesn’t arrive – and for what I’ve seen on the website I’m gonna love it – I make recipes from the old issues.

Peanut butter cookies
from Donna Hay magazine

100g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (140g) crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (218g) light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 ¼ cups + 1 tablespoon (185g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (100g) demerara sugar, for rolling

Preheat the oven to 180°C; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Place the butter, peanut butter, vanilla and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until well combined. Add the egg and beat for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking soda over the mixture and beat in low speed until a smooth dough forms*. Roll one leveled tablespoon of dough into a ball at a time and roll in demerara sugar. Place on prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden. Allow to cool on wire racks.

* the dough was too soft, so I added ¼ cup (35g) all purpose flour and it worked perfectly

Makes 24 – I got 37

Peanut butter munchies

What do you do when bored?

One of my saviors is the Internet: I read about music, movies and, of course, food. I’ve found several great recipes online in the most boring times. A great source is ____ and its many galleries full of delicious food.

UPDATE: I got an email from bhg proposing a link exchange. Since they did fulfill their part of the deal, I've removed all the links.

I got the recipe for these peanut butter filled cookies and no longer felt bored. :D

Peanut butter munchies

Cookie dough:
1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (45g) unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup (88g) packed brown sugar
¼ cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:
¾ cup (105g) sifted powdered sugar
½ cup peanut butter*

For sprinkling:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and the peanut butter with an electric mixer until combined. Add egg, milk, and vanilla; beat well. Beat in as much of the dry ingredients as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining dry ingredients by hand with a wooden spoon. Form chocolate dough into 32 balls about 3cm (1 ¼ in) in diameter. Set aside.

For peanut butter filling, in a medium mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and the peanut butter until smooth. Shape mixture into thirty two 2cm (about 3/4-in) balls.

On the palm of your hand, slightly flatten a chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Shape the chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling, completely covering the filling. Roll dough into a ball. Repeat with the remaining chocolate dough and peanut butter filling balls.
Place balls 5cm (2in) apart on prepared baking sheets. Lightly flatten with the bottom of each cookie with the palm of your hand dipped in the granulated sugar.
Bake cookies in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until they're just set and surface is slightly cracked – mine needed 11 minutes.
Let cookies stand for 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool.

To store: place in layers separated by waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

* I had to add 1 tablespoon milk for the dough to become smooth (it was too grainy)

Makes 32 – I got 37

Double-chocolate peanut butter cookies

Chocolate is great paired with so many things: cherries, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, caramel… Not to mention the fantastic flavor one gets by combining white chocolate and citrus flavors. But I had never tried one of the most talked about pairings: chocolate and peanut butter.

I used to eat peanut butter spread on thick slices of bread as a kid but hadn’t tried it again in 20 years. Eating a spoonful of it took me back in time… It was a funny/good feeling.
I’d been meaning to try my hand at baking with peanut butter for a while (that’s why I did not eat the entire jar) and these cookies seemed the perfect way to start.

So, it’s true that chocolate and peanut butter belong together – like Aragorn and Arwen.

This recipe is a courtesy of the lovely and talented Lynn – I was out of milk chocolate chips and used white chocolate instead; even though I really liked the cookies, I think they would have been even better with milk chocolate, like Lynn’s.

Double-chocolate peanut butter cookies

168g (6oz) semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped – I used 60% cocoa
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (120g) packed dark brown sugar
¾ cup (165g) granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (240g) creamy peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (335g/12oz) white chocolate chips

Arrange racks in oven to divide it into thirds. Preheat oven to 150ºC/300ºF. In a double boiler, melt the semisweet chocolate over hot, not simmering, water. Set aside to cool to about room temperature.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a mixing bowl cream the butter and the peanut butter*. Add the sugars and beat until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until just combined. Add the flour mixture and the milk chocolate chips, and beat until no streaks of flour are visible.

Pour the melted chocolate over the dough and drag a wooden spoon through. You want to just marbleize, not combine. Leave streaks of chocolate.

Drop the dough in 1 ½-tablespoon mounds 2 inches (5cm) apart onto ungreased baking sheets (I didn’t read this and lined my baking sheets with baking paper). Bake for 23 minutes, or until just set but still soft. Rotate the baking sheets, top to bottom, halfway through cooking. Cool on the baking sheet for 30 seconds then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

* this info was missing on the post so I added the peanut butter in the end, after the flour mixture and the chips. It worked fine.

Makes about 55 cookies – Lynn’s cookies were bigger, made with 3 tablespoons of dough