Softest Ever Peanut Butter Cookies

The most wonderful things in life are the simple ones; the ones we overlook and take for granted until they're stripped away from us. One of the things I hate about human nature is how much it takes to shake us and wake us up, to appreciate the everyday things that keep us going.

One of these very things for me is a weekend coffee date with my husband. There is nothing profound whatsoever about these outings, but there is something about the simple joy of sitting at a little table with the person I love most with a good cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle or a game of Yahtzee. It's our time to just be together and talk or think about whatever we choose, to laugh and to fall in love all over again. It's a time to just get back to the basics and relax after a busy work week and enjoy each other's company.

On the back-to-the-basics note, once in a while, it's nice to just dig up a simple favorite recipe; one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kind of recipes. I'm sure you all probably have a peanut butter cookie recipe at home but I'm telling you, these are a special favorite. I've had plenty of dry, crumbly peanut butter cookies in my lifetime but these are exceptionally soft and chewy AND easy to make. I can't take credit for this recipe - this one was generously shared by Della, a friend of the family, after a fun day of snowmobiling a few years ago. One bite in, I HAD to have the recipe. Thanks Della for sharing one of your best recipes with me and for the fun memories that go along with it!

Softest Ever Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, peanut butter and sugars. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. In separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add flour mixture in 1/2 cup increments to peanut butter mixture. Shape into 1-inch balls. Roll in additional sugar. Arrange on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Flatten with fork in criss-cross pattern. Bake 7-9 minutes. Enjoy!

The trick to keeping these soft and chewy is to not over-bake them. I took mine out before they turned golden brown around the bottom but at the point where they no longer had that shiny, doughy look to them. When in doubt, take them out! :)

Pin It Now!

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes

Fact: I'm a little insecure about my feet. They are very square-ish, look kind of hobbit-y (minus the hair...thank GOD) and have indeed been called "shovels" by a shoe salesman at the Puma store in Mall of America. They're alright for activities like swimming and hiking and biking and walking but there is one activity that my square little feet are just not very compatible with. Dun dun dun....dress shoe shopping. Ugh. Not only are most dress shoes are made for narrow feet, I have confirmed that my left foot is most certainly half a size bigger than my right foot. This is a pretty recent discovery.

So now, every time I go dress shoe shopping, #1 I know it's going to be a hassle because my feet were not designed to be confined by strappiness; and #2 I'm faced with a completely ridiculous moral dilemma. Do I buy the larger size and have blisters on my left foot and leave my right foot flopping out of its respective shoe? Do I buy two pairs of shoes and hope to find a friend with a problem opposite mine that I can give the smaller left shoe and the larger right shoe to? Do I do the unthinkable and swap shoes in the store to buy two correct fitting ones even though they're different sizes? Holy smokes! What's a kid to do? Admittedly, I've done the latter ONCE and only once...and then I felt guilty the whole way home and I think about that awful choice every time I look at the shoes. Thank the lord for Dr. Scholls' invention of those little heel inserts, because without them I would either be spreading this half-a-size difference to a lot of unsuspecting shoe-shoppers or keeping the band-aid company in business.

What does this recipe have to do with my hobbit feet? Absolutely nothing other than the fact that eating a cupcake this delightful looking AND tasting takes the sting of oddly shaped feet away completely. These have a wonderful subtle flavor and are incredibly light. I made these for a bridal shower and they were a hit! Don't go feeling like you need a special occasion to make these just because they have champagne in them. Give 'em a whirl!

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes

Makes about 2 Dozen Standard or 7 Dozen Minis

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 (16.25 oz) white cake mix
• 1 1/4 c. Pink Moscato champagne, room temperature
• 1/2 c. salted sweet cream butter, melted
• 3 egg whites
• 1 tsp. strawberry extract
• 1/3 c. strawberry preserves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F. Prepare standard or mini muffin tin with paper liners. In a large mixing bowl, combing cake mix and champagne. Stir in butter, egg whites and strawberry extract. Fold in strawberry preserves.

Fill each cup of muffin tin 3/4 full. Bake 14-16 min for mini cupcakes or 20-24 min for standard cupcakes (until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean). Allow cupcakes to cool in tin for 10 min. Transfer to rack to cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Champagne Buttercream

Ingredients:

• 1 c. salted sweet cream butter, melted
• 4-6 c. powdered sugar
• 2/3 c. Pink Moscato champagne, room temperature
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. strawberry extract
• 3-4 drops red food coloring
• Pink sugar pearls, optional

Directions:

Combine butter and 8 cups powdered sugar in large mixing bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients, mixing until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar to desired consistency.

Pin It Now!

Lemon Poppyseed Cookie Cups

A co-worker brought to my attention last week that you could give up all your food for the day for 6 cups of ice cream and still be within your caloric limit for the day. *sigh* How tempting. I am fairly confident that I could totally man-handle an entire carton of ice cream all on my own...with a baby spoon...in one sitting.

Ice cream does not fill me up whatsoever. I'm not sure if I was equipped with a hollow leg specifically for storing ice cream or what, but I swear it goes to a magical place. The day after I eat that ice cream, however, it goes to a no-so-very-magical place...like my rear. For this reason, I actually do eat my ice cream with a baby spoon. Seriously. It forces me to at least pace myself. So does the extremely small bowl I eat it from. I guess I feel like I'm getting a better deal eating a really full small bowl of something than a huge bowl that looks very empty-ish. 

Ta-da! Inspiration took place and that's how these delightful little lemon poppyseed cookie cups came to be. These tiny little dessert bowls have virtually endless filling possibilities. For my first go at it, I used a cream cheese filling and fresh fruits with a tasty vanilla dressing. Oh baby, what a winning combo. Give them a try!

Lemon Poppyseed Cookie Cups

Makes 2 1/2 Dozen

Cookie Cups

Ingredients:

• 1 c. salted butter, softened
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 (3.4 oz) pkg instant lemon pudding mix
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 2 tsp poppyseeds
• 2 tbsp. fresh lemon zest

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter, sugars and pudding mix. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Blend flour and  baking soda in a separate bowl and then combine with butter and sugar mixture. Stir in poppyseeds and lemon zest, combining throughly.

On an upside down non-stick muffin tin, form dough around each muffin cup to form a small bowl. Dough should be pressed very thin (about 1/8" thick). Bake 5-7 minutes or until cups are lightly browned. Cool completely before removing cookie cups from muffin tin.

Cream Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

• 16 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until mixed well. Spread about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese mixture in the bottom of each cookie cup.

Fresh Fruit Filling

Ingredients:

• Any combination of fresh fruits, to equal about 10 cups total (I used strawberries, blackberries and peaches)
• 1 (3.4 oz) pkg. instant french vanilla pudding mix

Directions:

Cut fruits to desired size and combine in a large bowl. Sprinkle vanilla pudding mix over fruit and stir to coat fruit evenly. Allow fruit to rest in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. The fruit juices should mix with the pudding for form a nice "dressing" but you can add water in 1/4 cup increments if needed to help it along. Stir before spooning fruit mixture on top of cream cheese in cookie cups (about 1/3 cup for each cookie cup). 

*I recommend filling your cookie cups just before serving to prevent them from getting soggy. Enjoy!

Pin It Now!

Salted Caramel Poked Cupcakes

Know what's nice about fall/winter? Mixing and matching and layering. It's absolutely wonderful to turn one sweater into 7 different looks just by layering it with different colors/patterns/textures, etc. Pinterest is a dangerous place to look at clothes and admittedly, it boggles my mind to think about EVER having a handbag and shoes and jewelry and nail polish to match every article of clothing I own. Just the thought of that is kind of stressful. And ridiculous.  Where do you store all of that?! All I can say is I will never have a wardrobe like that (but in my mind, my closet with that wardrobe in it is color-coded and fabulous looking).

Mixing and matching...I can handle that. It takes up a lot less room and it's waaaaay more affordable. I feel a small sense of accomplishment when I reinvent something from my closet that I've gotten bored with by paring it with different things than I normally would and SHAZAM! Whole new outfit! Anyway, the moral of the story is that these cupcakes are a delightful little mix-&-match victory. You might recognize the cupcake recipe from here but they've been transformed into a whole new recipe for deliciousness. These are poked and smothered with homemade salted caramel and topped with more of the good stuff. Give them a try and then at Christmas time, bust out the original ones too! It won't even be like the same cupcake.

Salted Caramel Poked Cupcakes

Makes 24 Cupcakes

Homemade Salted Caramel

Ingredients:

• 1 c. salted butter
• 2 c. brown sugar
• 1 c. heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add brown sugar, heavy whipping cream and salt, stirring constantly. Allow mixture to boil for 1 minute and remove from heat. Cool completely.

Note: Reserve 1 c. caramel for pouring into pokes and drizzling over the top of the cupcakes. I re-heated that portion for about 10 seconds in the microwave just to make it a little easier to work with. The remaining cool caramel was mixed into the frosting (see recipe below).

Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 c. strong-brewed, hot coffee
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 3/4 c. flour
• 1 c. unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 c. buttermilk, well-shaken

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine chocolate chips & hot coffee in bowl, allowing chocolate to melt & stirring until smooth. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, soda, baking powder & salt. In another large bowl, beat eggs until slightly thickened and slowly add buttermilk, oil, vanilla & chocolate/coffee mixture, beating until combined well. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined well. Fill lined cupcake tins 1/2 full with batter. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from cupcake tin and cool completely. Using a straw, poke three 1" deep holes in each. Pour about 1 tsp. caramel into the holes of each cupcake.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 c. butter, room temperature
• 3 c. powdered sugar
• remaining salted caramel (from recipe above)

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and salted caramel. Add powdered sugar slowly to desired thickness. Spread or pipe frosting on cupcakes and drizzle with reserved salted caramel if desired. Enjoy (with a steamy cup of dark roast coffee)! :)

Pin It Now!

Mini Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Vanilla Maple Frosting

Isn't it weird when we make the transition from one season to the next how people just aren't quite sure how to dress? Some people kind of cling on to the last little bits of summer and wear shorts and a t-shirt while other people fully embrace the cold and skip fall altogether. These are the people who ride around on a bike bundled up like the Michelin Man in 60 degree weather. When I see people like that, I'm concerned for the days when a Minnesota winter actually happens. I'm not really sure how they'll see....or move.

I feel like I have a pretty good grip on fall...in fact, I am a self-proclaimed fall-clinger. I burn "fall" candles year-round, I love the fall color palette, I am most DEFINITELY one of those people who refuses to transition out of fall...until summer of the following year AND I am all about fall foods; Crock pot- friendly stews & soups, roasts, apple crisp and pumpkin anything. I love it.

Admittedly, I never used to appreciate spice-flavored desserts. I mostly equated a good dessert with a decent bit of chocolate being involved. I haven't grown out of chocolate but I definitely have developed a liking for spice-flavored desserts. Especially ones with cream cheese frosting.

Here's a little bite-sized welcome to fall: Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes with Vanilla Maple Frosting. The keyword there is "mini". The definition is mini is: have two for the price of one. Please note that this recipe makes a huge batch. If you'll only be serving a few people, you can half this recipe or the extras can be easily frozen until you need them. I put mine in a freezer bag and put that bag inside another freezer bag and they kept great. I would recommend waiting on the frosting until you thaw them.

Mini Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Makes 6 dozen mini cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 2 c. flour
• 1 (3.4 oz) pkg. instant butterscotch pudding mix
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a mini muffin pan or place a paper liner in each cup.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, pudding mix, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger & cloves. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light & fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating vanilla & pumpkin in with last egg. Stir in flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 14-16 minutes or until tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed. Cool in pan 10 minutes and transfer to rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Maple Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature)
• 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla 
• 1/4 c. pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 2-3 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 c. flour (optional)

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl, mix cream cheese and butter until light & fluffy. Add vanilla, maple syrup and cloves and mix well. In 1 c. increments, add powdered sugar. I added the 1/2 c. flour just to thicken it a bit so it would pipe nicer without adding extra sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. Spread on cool cupcakes. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon or cloves if desired. Enjoy!

Pin It Now!

Cranberry Quinoa Scone Bites

I think my parents could probably attest to the fact that I was THEE pickiest eater when I was a kid. Actually, the pickiest eater until I went away to school and started cooking for myself, discovering everything I'd been missing out on.

I distinctly recall a few pretty extreme episodes where I was not allowed to leave the dining room table until my plate was clean. Doesn't seem that complicated until you factor in my stubbornness. I was pretty much willing to sit there until I died, staring at the heap of (fill in the blank with about anything other than pizza- with no veggies- or a PB&J).

Despite how delicious these little baby scone bites look and taste, I never would've touched them when I was a kid had I found out they had quinoa in them. Not because I had any reason to believe I wouldn't like quinoa, just because the name is odd. Quinoa (keen-wah) is not that scary. It's a super grain, is a great source of protein and fiber and has many other heath benefits. <- This is me giving you an excuse to have an extra one. Check out the ingredients list. You won't even have to feel bad!

Cranberry Quinoa Scone Bites

Makes 3 dozen | 20 minutes prep time

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. arrowroot starch*
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 c. coconut oil, room temp
• 2 tbsp. maple syrup
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/4 c. dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 c. quinoa, prepared according to package directions
• 1 1/4 c. old-fashioned oats
• 1 c. dried cranberries, finely chopped
• 1/2 c. shredded coconut
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, arrowroot starch, baking powder and baking soda.

Beat coconut oil, brown sugar, maple syrup and honey in a large bowl for about 3 minutes. Add eggs and almond extract. Beat for an additional 2 minutes. Beat in flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in quinoa, oats, cranberries, oats and pecans.

Using a cookie scoop, place dough onto parchment lined baking sheets an inch apart. 

Bake scone bites until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

*Can be substituted for an extra 1/2 c. whole wheat flour. I like the texture and flavor the arrowroot start gives these but a little extra flour works just dandy.

Pin It Now!

Ginger Peach Slice

Summer is a season happily welcomed by most. Me? Well, since the luxury of  "summer break" is no longer a reality, I find myself wishing for turning leaves, football and pumpkin spice flavored lattes a little prematurely by most standards of normal. I'm all about a sweatshirt, jeans and a warm beverage in hand. Sometimes you just can't win 'em all.Let's talk about the great things about fall, shall we?

SCHOOL SUPPLIES. Ugh. I'm not even in school anymore. I still love 'em. When I was a kid, EVERY class was color-coordinated. Every crayon (in the box of 24 that insisted I needed because 12 colors just wouldn't do) had my initials carefully scribed on it. I took school supply shopping pretty seriously. Normally just walking by the school supply section and realizing that yes, indeed, I can still get a pristine box of Crayolas for 25 cents makes me all tingly inside.
AWESOME SMELLING CANDLES. Like all the kinds that make your house smell like you just slaved away over made-from-scratch dominance even though all the effort you had to put into it was lighting a match. Those are nice.
PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES. Because, my life calendar runs parallel to that of a coffee shop, not of a normal calendar and when pumpkin spice returns, that means fall is here (even if it's really only mid-August). For this reason, you can count on me posting something about stores putting Christmas stuff out way too early...until the Ho Ho Mint Mocha comes back at Caribou. Then i'm fine with it.
FOOTBALL. Given. There is a lifestyle change that happens in early September and you'd be hard pressed to find any other way to get me to sit in front of a TV for 3 hours straight.
SWEATSHIRTS. The hooded model. Arguably the most utilitarian article of clothing ever created. It has a hood to keep your noggin warm. It has a roo pouch for hand warming or loot storage. It layers with ease. It's slouchy, it's cozy, it's comfy. It's a winner.
LEAVES. The turning ones, the crunching ones beneath your feet. I love 'em all. Thank you leaves, for making the most beautiful season of the year. :)

And that's my Fall Top 6. Because I couldn't narrow it down to 5. 

Anyhoo, this dessert was my mid-summer attempt at a little taste of fall. 

Ginger Peach Slice

Serves 12
Crust:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/4 c. full-flavor molasses
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. soda
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp. ginger
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Directions for crust:

Preheat oven to 375F. Blend butter, sugar and molasses. Add egg and beat well. In a separate moxing bowl, combine all other ingredients. Add 1/2 cup at a time to butter, sugar and molasses mixture. Stir until combined. Press dough into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Filling:

• 16 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 or 3 fresh peaches, sliced
• cinnamon
• nutmeg

Directions for filling:

With an electric mixer, blend cream cheese and sugar until thoroughly mixed. Add vanilla. Spread evenly over cooled crust. Scatter fresh peach slices on top and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg as desired. Enjoy!

Pin It Now!