7.30.2008

#5) Practice Peanut Butter Bites

Lately my kitchen, err my rental kitchen, I should say, has been in an uproar... Not only are the bf and I getting ready to go on a much needed vacation, we are also in the process of packing up to move to another apartment. Needless to say, measuring cups are missing, bowls are packed, and certain baking essentials are lacking (notably - EGGS). That being said, I still wanted to bake today. One ingredient I did have a lot of was peanut butter (*yummy) so I threw some in a bowl and hoped to find a sweet treat at the end of this experiment...

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
2.5 tbsp skim milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup flour
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
(*chocolate chips)

Steps:

-Cream butter, sugars, milk, and vanilla together.
-Stir in peanut butter.
-Add flour, cocoa, and baking soda.
-Roll into 1-inch balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet, sparated.
-Bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.

*Just before the first sheet of cookies was done baking, I removed it from the oven and pressed in the middle of each cookie with a spoon and placed chocolate chips in the dip. I then returned the cookies to the oven for less than 1 minute.
Although they look cute, my plan didn't work as I had intended. I wanted the chips to soften so I could swirl it with a spoon, leaving a chocolate topping on the cookies, but they were so messy I wouldn't even take a picture. BUT, they were tasty :p.

Discoveries:

-Eggless PB cookies bake out thinner and crispier than a traditional recipe.
-Anything bigger then a 1-inch ball produces a cookies too large and too flimsy for my liking.
-Increasing the cocoa may have given the cookie more depth.
-They still go great with a tall, cold glass of milk :)

6 comments:

  1. Peanut butter cookies are one of my favorites and those look good!

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  2. thanks kevin... and the verdict is in = delicious :)

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  3. Hi Dani, thank you for visiting my blog, and I'm here to answer your macaron query. I wanted to email you but I couldn't find it on your page.

    Macarons are temperamental little things. I'm honestly not an expert on them but I can recommend you some reading materials to get you started; I know a few excellent bloggers whose posts have helped me enormously in the past. The first source is issue no. 2 of Desserts Magazine--the online desserts publication: http://www.dessertsmag.com/. In it are the step-by-step guidelines to make french macarons, instructions courtesy of Helen of Tartelette (http://tartelette.blogspot.com). You will find many more macaron-related posts on her blog. She was the first person I went to when I had my macaron problem.Veronica of Veronica's Test Kitchen (http://kitchenmusings.typepad.com/), has also conducted various experiments in determining the best way to make macarons.

    These are what I find to be the best sources to start from. But it all really amounts to practice; the more you make, the better you get. If you have any further queries feel free to drop me a line. Good luck on your macaron attempt!

    PS. Really nice looking peanut butter cookies!! I'm sure they tasted awesome!

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  4. WOW oh WOW one of my favs and yours look delish :)

    Rosie x

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  5. Hi, your peanut butter cookies look really yummy so I'm going to try and make it...but I have one question. In the ingredients, you list baking powder and in the steps you list it as baking soda...so I'm not sure which one to use?

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  6. Sorry Anonymous!

    It should read baking powder.

    Let me know how they come out :)

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