Magical Marvelous Memorable Cookies

Yeah, so it's been almost a month since my last post.  October was stupid busy.  Hubs and I went on a 2200 mile road trip from Alabama to Ohio to DC to the mountains of North Carolina and back home again.  All in the span of 10 days!  We visited family, ate, drank, drove, ate, did touristy things, drank, ate and drove some more.  I'll tell you all about that in the coming days.  When we got home we were faced with a whole lot of cray cray in the form of a guy interested in our house....that's been dragging on for the last three weeks.  I swear I'm going to write a book about all of the crazies we've come across when we sell this place.  There has only been one normal family walk through here.  The rest have come from other planets.  If it's ever over, I'll tell you all about that too.

And speaking of crazy.  These cookies are crazy delicious.  I found the recipe over at Food52.com and while I'm not enamored with the name, the cookies are out of this world.  They're really just a compost cookie that's salty and sweet, crunchy yet soft, chocolaty and addictive.  

If you're looking for a way to kick up your basic chocolate chip recipe, try this one.  And it totally adaptable to whatever you have in your pantry.  The recipe called for pretzel pieces, but since I hate pretzels, I used potato chips.  If you don't have any, leave them out and use your favorite cereal.  It's your cookie, you decide.

 

Just make them.  I guarantee you won't be able to eat just one.  Oh, and a little warning.  You're going to have to restrain yourself from eating all of the dough before you get them baked.  Just sayin.

Have y'all seen the great crop of Fall cookbooks?  I've kept our UPS girl extremely busy over the past couple of weeks!!  This is my haul so far and I can't wait to get started.  Are there any that I'm missing??

 Here's the cookie recipe:

Magical Marvelous Memorable Cookies

Food52

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granola (or other cereal)
1/2 cup crushed salted pretzel pieces (or other salty snack food)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped chocolate candies, or a small bar of good dark chocolate, chopped into chunks
1/2 cup chopped pecans or other nuts, optional (If you don't use nuts, you may want to add more cereal, snacks or chocolate to compensate.)
You may want to add a little cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, or whatever you fancy.  I didn't .

Instructions
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. In another bowl, beat butter and sugars at medium-low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute longer. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula. Add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl again.

(For this step you can use a wooden spoon or your mixer on slow speed.) Add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add granola, pretzels, chocolate and nuts, and mix until well incorporated, ensuring that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

Scoop dough into balls, each about 1 1/2 tablespoons, then roll between palms into balls. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart, 8-12 per sheet. Freeze at least 20 minutes, or refrigerate at least one hour before baking. (They will still spread a lot.) Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are deep golden brown, 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Let cool completely before gently moving cookies to wire rack. They will be fragile, especially on the edges.

Spiked Coffee Cookies

Are there two ingredients that bring out the best in each other better than coffee and chocolate?  OK.  There might be, but are there any more enjoyable?  They're like Batman and Robin, Ginger and Fred, Sanford and Son, Demi and Ashton.....maybe not the last one, but you get my drift.

These are intensely chocolatey, cakey cookies with just a whisper of coffee.  It's subtle, but it's there.  Perfectly.  As for the glaze, I may or may not have doubled the amount of Kahlua because that's the way I roll.

I think I'll make these this summer and forego the glaze and sandwich two cookies together with some coffee ice cream in the middle.  What the heck....why wait until summer!

Spiked Coffee Cookies

King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup coffee liqueur (such as Kahlua)

1 large egg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

glaze:

1 cup chocolate chips

6 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon coffee liqueur

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.  Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

To make the dough:  In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar,  Add the liqueur, egg, baking soda, salt and espresso powder, beating until smooth.  Beat in the cocoa and flour.

Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets.  Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, until they appear set and you can begin to smell the chocolate,   Remove them from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

To make the glaze:  In a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl, or in a saucepan set over very low heat, heat the chocolate chips and cream, stirring until the chocolate melts.  Continue stirring until you made a smooth glaze then stir in the liqueur.  Spread the tops of the cooled cookies with the glaze.

Momofuku Milk Bar's Compost Cookie

If you don't leave this cookie out for Santa, you're making a mistake.  A big one.  I made these for Hubs this weekend and I've already been promised this, this AND this.  I'm just sayin!!   That's how good they are.

This recipe comes from the new book Momofuku Milk Bar, which is the desert arm of David Chang's Momofuku empire and all I can say is that it's simply genius.  I mean, who thinks of developing recipes from Cereal Milk?  Now there are many "recipes within recipes" and none are overly difficult, but you will have to plan on some extra time being involved.  Believe me....it's worth it.

Back to the cookies.  The name, Compost Cookies, is pretty self explanatory and accurate.  You pretty much throw in whatever is in the kitchen....including coffee grounds.  Suriously!  They're designed to be an oversized cookie which is genius, because you get a little something different in every bit, so you want a lot of bites!  It's also that perfect combination of crispy and chewy/salty and sweet.  I'm telling you they're quite possible The Best Cookie I've Ever Eaten.  I've already called The Food Network about getting on their TV show.  

Make the cookies.  You'll be richly rewarded!!

Here's the recipe:

Compost Cookies

Momofuku Milk Bar

Ingredients:

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

2 tablespoons glucose (you can substitute 1 tablespoon corn syrup if you don't have glucose)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (I just had regular size)

1/2 cup mini butterscotch chips (ditto)

1/2 cup Graham Crust (recipe follows....this is an example of the "recipe within a recipe")

1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats

2 1/2 teaspoons ground coffee (This is pre-brewed ground coffee and any kind except instant works fine)

2 cups potato chips (Book recommends Cape Cod potato chips "because they aren't paper-thin, so they don't break down too much in the mixing process".)

1 cup mini pretzels

Directions:

1.  Combine the butter, sugars, and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes.  (Don't skimp on the time here.  It's really important to beat the mixture for the full time.)

2.  Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute.  (Do not walk away from the machine during this step, or you will risk overmixing the dough.)  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

3.  Still on low speed, add the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, graham crust, oats, and coffee and mix just until incorporated, about 30 seconds.  Add the potato chips and pretzels and paddle, still on low speed, until just incorporated.  Be careful not to overmix or break too many of the pretzels or potato chips.  You deserve a pat on the back if one of your cookies bakes off with a whole pretzel standing up in the center.

4.  Using a 2-3/4 ounce ice cream scoop (or a 1/3 cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan.  Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat.  Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week.  Do not bake your cookies from room temperature  -  they will not bake properly.

5.  Heat the oven to 375 deg. F.

6.  Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans.  (I only got four cookies on each pan.  They really expand.)  Bake for 18 minutes.  The cookies will puff, crackle and spread.  After 18 minutes, they should be very faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center.  Give them an extra minute or so if that's not the case.

7.  Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage.  At room temp, cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Graham Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup milk powder (powdered milk....I tried to make "milk powder" more difficult that it actually was. Duh)

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1.  Toss the graham crumbs, milk powder, sugar and salt with your hands in a medium bowl to evenly distribute your dry ingredients.

2.  Whisk the butter and heavy cream together.  Add to the dry ingredients and toss again to evenly distribute.  The butter will act as a glue, adhering to the dry ingredients and turning the mixture into a bunch of small clusters.  The mixture should hold its shape if squeezed tightly in the palm of your hand,  If it is not moist enough to do so, melt an additional 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons butter and mix it in.

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

If you hate coffee, you're probably not going to like this recipe. However, hubs does not drink the stuff and he has no problem with these!  They're not like drinking a cup of Starbucks (too strong for my taste) but you'll definitely taste the coffee flavor.  They are perfect with a tall glass of milk!!

I think the addition of the white chocolate chunks and cinnamon chips helps to temper the slightly bitter taste of the espresso powder.

Oh and there's no "x" in esssssspresso, people!  Just a little pet peeve of mine.  :)

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

KingArthurFlour.com

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, very soft

1 1/4 cups brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons espresso powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups cappuccino chips or chocolate chips (I used KA chocolate-espresso chunks)

1 cup cinnamon mini-chips

1 cup white chocolate chunks

Directions:

Place butter, sugar, salt, espresso powder and vanilla in bowl and mix well.  Add the egg and mix until well blended.  Add the baking soda and flour, mixing until blended.  Stir in the chips and chunks.  Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto lightly greased, light-colored (or parchment lined) baking sheets

Bake the cookies in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-14 minutes. until their bottoms and edges are lightly browned; the tops shouldn't darken.  Remove them from the oven, let them rest on the pan for 5 minutes, then slide them onto a rack to cool completely.

TWD - Pecan Powder Puffs

When I saw "Pecan Powder Puffs" on our March list, I remember thinking, "I wonder what in the hell those are?"  Never heard of them.  When I opened the book this morning and started reading Dorie's description, she said they were also sometimes called "Pecan Balls" or "Mexican Wedding Cakes".   Still clueless.

And since there was no picture in the book, not only did I have no idea what they were supposed to taste like....I had no idea what they were supposed to look like.  This is where following directions comes in handy!!

Up until I coated them with powdered sugar, I was still flying blind.  But after that sugar coating when on, a little bell went off.  These look like those snowball cookies that are always on Christmas platters.  And that's what they tasted like......only much better than I ever remember them tasting!  These are addictive, little, bite-size suckers...slightly sweet, slightly crunchy and I love how the powdered sugar kind of melts on your tongue.   Plus, they take no time to throw together and you can always change up the nut/spice combinations for a little variety.

Thanks, Tianna for a great pick.  You can get the recipe at her site, Buttercream Barbie.

Banana-Maple Oat Breakfast Bars

We've all been reading for years how important breakfast is to maintaining a healthy weight, but I have to admit I'm not a huge breakfast lover.  I just don't like to eat when I first get up.  Give me my cup of coffee and I'm good to go until about 10:00.  Unfortunately that doesn't always fit into my schedule.  Three days a week, I meet with my trainer at 9:30 which means I need to eat at least a little something so I can make it through the workout.  Oatmeal is usually my choice, so when I read the recipe for these bars I thought they would be a nice substitute.  And easy to grab and eat on the way.  These would also be a perfect little treat for your kids lunch box.  They're just sweet enough for a kid to like and full of healthy whole grains, fruits and nuts.

A word of warning.....the combination of banana and maple syrup baking fill the kitchen with an irresistible aroma.  It's really hard to wait for these to cool to eat one!!  These will keep for a week to 10 days, wrapped, at room temperature, for for several months if frozen.

Here's the recipe:

Banana-Maple Oat Breakfast Bars

adapted from King Arthur Flour "The Baking Sheet" Magazine

Early Spring, 2010

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 small or 2 large) mashed bananas
3/4 cup plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/4 cup sunflower or vegetable oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (King Arthur)
3/4 cup dried fruit; apples, apricots, dates or dried cranberries (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients in the order listed.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for an hour; this will allow the oats and whole wheat to absorb liquid from the batter.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Lightly grease a sheet pan or line with parchment.

Spread the batter in a even layer in the pan.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until light golden brown at the edges.  Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Cut the bars into 2 1/2 x 3 inch bars and transfer to rack to cool completely.

TWD - Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

I'm, once again, not playing by the rules this week.  I'm supposed to be making Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream but instead I'm skipping ahead and giving you Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies.  I'm really getting tired of this rebel role I've been playing.  (hehe)

Mr. B and I were leaving town on Monday morning and since I'm the world's best procrastinator I didn't decide to knock out TWD until Sunday afternoon.  Needless to say, I didn't have all the required ingredients on hand to make the ice cream.  But I did have everything needed for these cookies.  Decision made.

These are sooooo good.  What I like best is that you can really taste the espresso.  And on a little side note.....THERE IS NO "X" IN ESPRESSO!    It's not pronounced eXpresso, people.  Major pet peeve of mine.  Anyhooooo.....these are perfect little cookies.  I'm already planning on making these again and again and again.

And just in case anyone was thinking about disciplining me for breaking the rules again, I only have these two to blame.  I'm counting on their extreme cuteness to get me out of trouble!!

Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Baking: From My Home to Yours

Makes 32 cookies

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon boiling water
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)

1. Dissolve the espresso in the boiling water, and set aside to cool to tepid.

2. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter and confectioners’ sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very smooth. Beat in the vanilla and espresso, then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it disappears into the dough. Don’t work the dough much once the flour is incorporated. Fold in the chopped chocolate with a sturdy rubber spatula.

3. Using the spatula, transfer the soft, sticky dough to a gallon-size zipper-lock plastic bag. Put the bag on a flat surface, leaving the top open, and roll the dough into a 9 x 10 1/2 inch rectangle that’s 1/4 inch thick. As you roll, turn the bag occasionally and lift the plastic from the dough so it doesn’t cause creases. When you get the right size and thickness, seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible, and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or for up to 2 days.

4. Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

5. Put the plastic bag on a cutting board and slit it open. Turn the firm dough out onto the board (discard the bag) and, using a ruler as a guide and a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch squares. Transfer the squares to the baking sheets and carefully prick each one twice with a fork, gently pushing the tines through the cookies until they hit the sheet.

6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The shortbreads will be very pale–they shouldn’t take on much color. Transfer the cookies to a rack.

7. If you’d like, dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar while they are still hot. Cool the cookies to room temperature before serving.

TWD - Tarte Noire, Brrrr-ownies, Lot's of Ways Banana Cake and Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Dude you're getting some bang for your buck here today!  A complete month full of TWD in one post!  

I was seriously behind in my baking and didn't want to get booted from the group so I spent Monday in the kitchen catching up on TWD and Barefoot Blogger recipes.  My trainer was ecstatic!  He always gets whatever Mr. B can't eat!

Let's get started with the Tarte Noire.  I actually made this one last week for Barry's 30th birthday dinner.  We all loved it but when I gave a piece to my BFF's chocolate loving husband, I watched him throw half a piece away, so it obviously wasn't for everyone.  Since this was for Barry and he like a little chocolate with his chocolate, I opted for Dorie's Chocolate Shortbread Tart Dough.  

I'm giving this one two thumbs up.....it's quick and easy with great chocolate flavor (without being too heavy) and it elegant enough for your fancy dinner party (Mom....get that done.....it's your turn!!).

For the recipe visit dharma girl at bliss: towards a delicious life

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Next up.....Brrrrr-ownies.  These are essentiall just gooey, rich brownies with chopped up Peppermint Patties thrown in.  These were my friend, Jenny's, favorites but I didn't like the texture of the peppermint patty after it had been baked.  Got a little tough for my palate!  But if you like mint and chocolate together, you're gonna love these!

For the recipe visit Karen at Welcome to Our Crazy Blessed Life.

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Oh, oh, oh....the Lot's of Ways Banana Cake.  THIS was my favorite.  I took some real liberties with this one because with all I was baking, I certainly didn't need a whole cake in the house......trainer or no trainer!!  I halved the recipe and baked it in a springform pan along with substituting the coconut and dried fruit for some more decadent fillings.  And I also omitted the rum and added some oats!

Here's my version of the recipe since I butchered Dorie's!!

"I Did it My Way Banana Cake"

Makes 1 9-inch round cake

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup oatmeal

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup cocoa nibs 

1/2 cup cinnamon chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan (or round cake pan), set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the cocoa nibs and cinnamon chips.  Set aside

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugars on medium speed til light and fluffy, about 3 minutes  Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute more.  Turn the speed down to low and add the banana to the mixture, til just combined.  Add half the flour mixture, still on low speed, til just combined, then add the buttermilk, then the remaining flour mixture.  Add 2/3 of the cocoa nib and cinnamon chip mixture to the batter and stir til just combined, but do not overmix.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and spread evenly.  Sprinkle the remaining nib/chip mixture on top of the batter.  Bake the cake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool the pan 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack until room temperature before cutting

To see the original recipe visit Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities.

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And for Mr. B's favorite....Chewy, Chunky Blondies.  I didn't really think about this when I was making them, but when he took his first bite he said, "Mmmmmm, chocolate chip cookies?"  He was essentially right.  They're just cookies in a bar form.  I made these as written except for the walnuts.  Left those out.  I was going to leave out the coconut also, but put it in at the last minute.  I wish I would have listened to my first instinct as you couldn't really taste it.

I served this with a scoop of coffee ice cream and some of David Lebovitz's caramel sauce!  Dayum!!  Tasty shizzle.

Visit Nicole of Cookies on Friday for the recipe.

So there you go.  A whole month of July recipes knocked out.   And I'm completely depressed that next week is August already!

Barefoot Bloggers - Cappuccino Oatmeal and Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Wow.  It was a whirlwind weekend here.  The 'rents blew in from Florida for mama 'rent's 70th birthday celebration and boy did we celebrate....parties at the house, out to dinner, the inaugural firing of the pizza oven.....so much shizzle to share.  Later.

But first, another late BB post.  I only have to post twice a month and I still can't get it done on time.  WTF?

Everyone in this family turns up their noses at the mere mention of a raisin so I knew I was going to have to change these up.  Since I'd just received a large package from King Arthur not to long ago that had some delunkshus cappuccino and cinnamon chips, I decided to go that route!  Great choice, if I do say so myself.

I doubled the recipe and added cappuccino chips to half and cinnamon chips to the other half.  These were a both a huge hit, but I personally liked the cappuccino ones the best.  I've also made these with butterscotch chips in the past and love those too, so these are a really versatile little cookie!  Oatmeal goes with everything, I guess!!

So try these out and put your own spin on them.  

Here's the recipe:

Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Ingredients


1 1/2 cups pecans  (I eliminated these)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 cups raisins (I substituted)


Directions


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

TWD - Thumb Prints for Us Big Guys

Those are cookies. Not eggs. The fact that they look like eggs didn't even enter my mind until I looked at the pictures. Oh.....and they're way better than eggs. And they don't even contain a single egg. I thought that was weird for cookies. Actually, this recipe only called for a whopping 8 ingredients (and I managed to leave one of them out!). Easy peasy!

I didn't have any hazelnuts in the house so I ground up almonds instead and used a Peach Amaretto jam. The combination of the Amaretto in the jam and the almond extract in the cookie was delunkshus! As you can see, I left off the powdered sugar because I was out, but I didn't miss it at all.

Thanks to Mike of UglyDudeFood or UglyFoodDude (I'm not sure if it's Mike's food that is ugly or Mike himself??) for this week's pick. These are super easy to put together and really, really good! Check out is site for the recipe.

TWD - Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

I so don't need to be eating these. I'm leaving for Hawaii in ten days, people. Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars don't need to beh in mah belleh. So I just had a tiny bite. Wow. Really rich and crunchy and chocolately. A little bit goes a long way.

The problem is, this recipe makes a TON of bars. I cut these into small bars and individually froze them. Hopefully that doesn't ruin them because these are perfect for Mr. B to snack on. He loved them.

Thanks to Lillian of Confectiona's Realm for this week's pick. Head over to her site for the recipe.

Oh, and I left out the raisins. They're not necessary. Ever.

Barefoot Bloggers - Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

I know. It's been a long time since there has been anything on this blog about food. The last food post was this one where I promised that I was going to make Ina's Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars.

And I did. And they were good......really good. And you should make them too!

I mean, really, is there anything better than peanut butter and jelly? Doesn't it immediately conjure up memories of your childhood? It does for me.

This is just a great little bar that I think actually got better on the second and third day. I liked them fresh out of the oven, but I loved them a few days later. They seemed a little more moist and the flavors just a little more blended.

As with most Ina recipe, this makes a ton of bars. A full sheet pan. Next time I'll halve it.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.