peanut butter cookies

om nom nom. i'm not usually a peanut butter fan so i'm not sure what possessed me to make these monday night. i also don't know what i did wrong because they turned out way too flat. oh well, i think i like flat pb cookies because the thicker ones usually turn out too dense for my liking. i will probably make these again this week just to see if i can figure out why they turned out so flat. i only chilled the dough for about an hour because i'm impatient, and i also used a #20 scoop which was too large and therefore only got about 18 cookies. i really hate the criss-cross fork look so i used the bottom of a cut crystal candy dish dipped in sugar to press the balls down instead. it left a cool pattern but it didn't stay once the cookies spread out.

betty crocker's peanut butter cookies

prep: 15 min; chill: 2 hr; bake: 30 min
makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar

1. mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, margarine, and egg in large bowl. stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. cover and refrigerate about 2 hours until firm.
2. heat oven to 375*.
3. shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. place about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. flatten in criss-cross pattern with fork dipped in granulated sugar.
4. bake 9 to 10 minutes or until light brown. cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet. cool on wire rack.

i think they're pretty tasty, although i don't eat very many pb cookies so i don't know how they'd measure up to others. i just love the way they look. all uniformly round with a slightly crackly, sugary top instead of the usual fork marks.

ice cream sandwiches

i don't really like ice cream but ended up buying a pint of ben and jerry's peanut butter cup a few days ago when i just had to have a peanut butter cup milkshake. there's no way i'd eat the rest of the ice cream any time this year so i decided to use cookies from yesterday to make some ice cream sandwiches.

my first attempt was a scoop of semi-melted ice cream plopped onto a cookie with another one squished on top. that didn't really work because the peanut butter cups prevented me from being able to squish everything together evenly.

after some thought i spread some ice cream on a plate and used a round metal measuring cup to cut out a round of ice cream. (i would've used a circular cookie or biscuit cutter if i had one.) then i simply put it on a cookie and then set another one on top.

my only problem with this is the size. you almost have to be snake-like and dislocated your jaw in order to take a bite! i toyed with the idea of making an open faced sandwich but ultimately decided bigger is better.

chocolate chip cookies, take two

my mother gave me a gift card to williams sonoma for my birthday. yesterday i finally went there to spend it.

i ended up getting vanilla bean paste ($11)and a medium-sized stainless steel cog-and-ratchet scoop ($21)anyway, today i just had to bake cookies to try out the scoop and vanilla. this time around, the cookies were actually the right size instead of huge.

all ready to go into the oven! look at those vanilla flecks. look at that beautiful shape. yum!

after fourteen minutes of oven time, they were all ready.

i sampled one and that is a good cookie! i don't really remember what it tasted like the previous time i made them, but this is a damn good recipe. i believe last time it was a bit too doughy for my liking (well that's what happens when you make them twice the usual size), but this was amazing. crispy outside, soft and chewy inside. very rich.

here's the recipe, in case you missed it. i used half and half instead of milk and a generous amount of vanilla bean paste instead of extract. the recipe yielded exactly 12.5 dozen for me when i used a scoop, which i think is too cool.

amazing chocolate chip cookies

in a fit of boredom i volunteered myself to bake cookies for a touring band that's stopping by minneapolis. at first i wanted to do cupcakes, but i realized they might have problems storing them especially since all of the recipes i wanted to use suggested refrigerating them. so i decided on cookies. although cookies confuse me somewhat (how do you know when they're done? you can't just stick a toothpick in!) i went for it.

after searching for different ideas i finally selected alton brown's "the chewy" chocolate chip cookie recipe. omg. so good! although my scoop is probably 2x too large (i only got about 16 cookies and the recipe is supposed to yield 2.5 dozen) they turned out beautifully.


and yes, i'm back to unappetizing cell phone camera pictures. i'm broke as hell so i can't get more batteries for my regular camera. and i seem to have misplaced my memory card AND usb cord so it's not like i could transfer photos anyway.

here is the recipe:

the chewy
from food network's alton brown


2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

yum! i can't wait to make these again. and this time, actually be able to eat more than one! (it's a reggae band so they have lots of members. i'm giving them all of the cookies, save the one i ate for "quality inspection".)