Peanut Butter Overload Cookies from Table for Two

Peanut Butter Overload Cookies - made dough January 29, 2024 from Table for Two 

1 3/4 cups (219 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (129 grams) creamy peanut butter (not natural peanut butter)

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (110 grams) dark brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 2/3 cups Reese's peanut butter cups, chopped

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter, granulated and brown sugar until no butter lumps remain. Add peanut butter and mix to combine. 
3. Add in eggs, milk, and vanilla extract, mixing to combine.
4. Add dry ingredients in two additions and mix until just combined. Fold in peanut butter cups.
5. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw or shiny. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

This is a good, solid peanut butter cookie recipe. It's amped up by the peanut butter cups but if you want to take it a step further, you can also add peanut butter chips to the dough. Be sure to reserve a handful of the peanut butter cups to chop up and press (gently) over the cookies as soon as you take them out of the oven.

The dough was easy to handle and they didn't spread much, always a hallmark of a good cookie dough. The texture isn't super soft but has a slight crispness to it but is still chewy. It's hard to explain but most peanut butter cookies are like that, even those made without shortening.

Some peanut butter cookies are a trifle fragile because of that airy crispness. These were fairly sturdy so I thought sending them in military care packages would be okay, especially since I vacuum sealed them and put the sealed bags inside ziploc freezer bags, not just for additional protection and cushion but also to keep the peanut butter flavor from permeating to the other baked goods in the box.

Amish Buttermilk Cookies from Amish Heritage

Amish Buttermilk Cookies - made dough February 8, 2024 from Amish Heritage

1 cup butter, softened (or 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening)

2 cups brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Glaze

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon buttermilk or milk

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition, until just combined. Add buttermilk and vanilla; beat to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture in 3 additions, mixing on low speed after each addition until just combined.
5. Portion into tablespoon-size dough balls and evenly space on prepared baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once cookies are cool, combine glaze ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, whisking until completely melted and smooth. Drizzle warm glaze over cookies.

A lot of my baking experiments are driven by what ingredients I need to use up before they expire. In this case, it was buttermilk. Yes, I know I can use buttermilk powder to avoid the expiration issue but rehydrated buttermilk powder just doesn't feel like using the richness of the real thing. Because it isn't. I also know I can freeze buttermilk for later use but where’s the challenge in that?

Buttermilk is always tricky for the uses I need it for. I've tried buttermilk "brownies" but they end up so cakey, they're really cakes, not brownies. It's always dicey how well they'd survive overseas shipping in military care packages. Normally a good use of buttermilk is in pancakes. Or biscuits. Or bread. None of which I can mail either or eat all by myself. 

So I went hunting for buttermilk uses in cookies. Turns out there are a lot of Amish cookie recipes out there. How genuine they are, I don't know. But I got this recipe from someone who used to be Amish so I'm going to assume that's pretty genuine.

This dough was more like a heavy, sticky batter than actual cookie dough and past experience baking with buttermilk in cookies taught to me expect this will be a cakey cookie. And it was. It didn't spread so much as puffed up and smoothed out. This isn't the kind of cookie you want to underbake too much as it doesn't set into a "fudgy" texture so much as seem like uncooked cake batter. But if you bake it too much, it can easily get dry. I underbaked the test cookie very slightly so you can see the middle in the picture below is a little moist and sunken. The baked ones puffed up and stayed puffy.

Surprisingly, although I'm not normally a cakey cookie sort of person, I liked these cookies. The flavor was good, like a nice little vanilla cake in cookie form. But be aware that's exactly what these are - cakey cookies. Or somewhat mini cakes in cookie form. I did end up packing and shipping them for a (large) care package and hopefully they'll survive the mail. The recipe made a lot so I baked them all off and included them in a large box going to a military chaplain to distribute. Between a full batch of this recipe and several other cookie batches I made, I ended up shipping 12 lbs of cookies. Hope they make it okay.

Molasses Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sweet Recipeas

Molasses Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough February 4, 2024 from Sweet Recipeas 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, oats, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add molasses, egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
3. Add dry ingredients in two additions, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined and no floury streaks remain. Fold in white chocolate chips.
4. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough balls in granulated sugar, coating completely, and evenly space on baking sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheet for several minutes before transferring cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

I'm not a big fan of molasses or molasses cookies. I find the taste too strong for me. But I have increasingly started to like some ginger molasses cookies and some gingerbread recipes. So I thought I'd give this a try, bearing in mind, out of the couple dozen or so a typical batch makes, I only eat one as a taste test. The rest I ship in military care packages. So it's not like *I* have to love it as long as others might prefer them.

When I took a first bite of this one, I thought "yup, too strong a flavor for me". But as I ate more of the cookie, my taste buds obligingly adjusted themselves and I ended up liking this cookie more than I expected. Texture was good and the strong molasses flavor was complemented by the mild sweetness of the white chocolate.

The oats also give it some chewiness and provide a counter-blandness to the molasses. So I thought the 3 main flavor ingredients combined really well together. I don't know if I'll ever really become a big fan of molasses (taste buds say "no") but in relatively small doses like this, I liked it well enough. This would be a good holiday cookie as well or any time of the year if you want to mix up your baking and add some variety beyond (my) usual chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, sugar cookies, etc.

Classic Cake Brownies by Lisa Yockelson

Classic Cake Brownies - made January 30, 2024 from Brownies & Blondies by Lisa Yockelson

1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

1/4 cup unsifted cake flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons shortening

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon superfine sugar

2 extra large eggs

2 extra large egg yolks blended with 1 tablespoon milk

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and shortening on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat another 2 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the egg yolk-milk mixture until combined.
5. On low speed, beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla extract.
6. Add dry ingredients and beat until just combined.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely before cutting and serving.

If it's hard to tell from the pictures the difference between these brownies and the Sour Cream Brownies from the same baking book by Lisa Yockelson, you're not alone. Although they had slightly different ingredients - this one was made with shortening, milk and unsweetened chocolate vs the other one had sour cream, a little cocoa powder and chocolate extract, I'm not entirely sure I could taste the difference in a blind taste test.

They were similar in the softer texture and were both not richly chocolatey. Still good chocolate flavor but not quite enough to make your taste buds slap you around. While they were good, I have to admit I'm not sure they were worth all the extra ingredients and fussy little steps like separating eggs and whisking yolks with milk. Or having odd measurements of slicing off a tablespoon of butter from a stick or 3 tablespoons of shortening instead of just quartering a stick of shortening. I bake too much to deal with a lot of fuss. I'm always glad to try a new recipe but this didn't stand out enough to make again with the additional ingredients and steps than a more straightforward recipe for good brownies.

Disney Grand Floridian Chocolate Chip Cookies copycat from Mommy Mouse Clubhouse

Disney Grand Floridian Chocolate Chip Cookies copycat - made dough January 17, 2024 from Mommy Mouse Clubhouse 

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

12-ounce bag of chocolate chips

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and powdered sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla, until just combined.
4. Add flour mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Portion dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill for up to 24 hours.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 330 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls on baking sheets and bake 12-14 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

I've never been to the Disney Grand Floridian or tried their chocolate chip cookies but a friend mentioned them and wanted my opinion on copycat recipes of the Grand Floridian cookies vs Levain Bakery. I like to have informed opinions so I thought I'd try this copycat. 

There are a lot of copycats out there for the Disney Grand Floridian cookies (who knew?) but I decided you can't go wrong with a blog that's clearly by a Disney aficionado. This also was slightly different than the typical chocolate chip cookie recipe in that it uses powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar so I figured it'd be worth a try.

The dough handled well and wasn't too soft or sticky. I like to let chocolate chip cookie dough "age" in the refrigerator for at least a day to develop the flavors and I did that with this as well.

The upshot is this is a good cookie. But - and don't come at me, Disney fans - I thought it was just a typical good chocolate chip cookie. It runs more to the bready-chewy side in terms of texture vs the buttery, crisp edges, rich chewy middles side of my more favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes.

I'm sure when you check into the Disney Grand Floridian and get handed warm chocolate chip cookies as part of your experience, it's going to be the best thing ever. In my kitchen, with hundreds, if not thousands, of chocolate chip cookie recipes notched on my baking belt, this is a good recipe that I'm glad I tried but probably won't remember as it didn't stand out. 

We all have different tastes and mine tend to lean more towards the behemoth cookies with crisp edges, caramelized brown sugar-buttery flavor and underbaked middles of Levain Bakery copycats or even the last Gideon's Bakehouse copycat recipe I tried. 

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Scotchies from Sally's Baking Addiction

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Scotchies - made dough January 25, 2024 from Sally's Baking Addiction 

1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup (200 grams) brown sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoons unsulphured or dark molasses

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups butterscotch morsels

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until well combined and creamy, 2-3 minutes,
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until just combined. Add molasses and vanilla extract, mix to combine.
4. Add dry ingredients in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined. Add oats and beat to combine. Add butterscotch morsels and mix to evenly disburse.
5. Portion dough into small dough balls, cover and chill for several hours or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls and bake 13-14 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Do not overbake.
7. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.

I keep saying I find butterscotch too sweet for me so I don't bake with it often. But I think I've unlocked the key to making it more favorable to my taste buds. And that's pairing it with oats. Or more specifically, with oats in a caramelized oatmeal cookie. Like this one.

These did spread a bit so don't make the dough balls too big or you may not be able to fit them into a large round cookie cutter to swirl them to a more uniform shape once they come out of the oven. I managed it with most but not all.

Still, regardless of appearance, these were fantastic. Yes, the butterscotch morsels were still sweet but their sweetness was offset by the sturdiness of the oats and the caramelization of the cookie from baking provided a complement to the flavor. 

I enjoyed the heartiness of the test cookie and these appeared to ship well since they were pretty sturdy. The texture at the edges was crisp and the middle was nicely chewy from the oats.

Sour Cream Brownies by Lisa Yockelson

Sour Cream Brownies - made January 25, 2024 from Brownies & Blondies by Lisa Yockelson

3/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate

1 cup granulated sugar

2 extra large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon chocolate extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Toss 1 teaspoon of the mixture with the mini chocolate chips; set aside.
3. In the top of a double boiler set over hot water, melt butter and unsweetened chocolate, whisking until completely melted and combined. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
4. Add sugar to melted chocolate mixture, whisking to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition to combine. Add sour cream, chocolate extract and vanilla extract, mixing to combine.
5. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Spread batter into prepared pan, smoothing into an even layer.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

I went back to the queen of brownie recipes for this one. I'm making my usual sporadic effort to use recipes from baking books I have, all nicely gathering dust on my bookshelves.

Fortunately, brownies are a staple in almost every care package I send to deployed military service members for Soldiers Angels so I can try as many brownie recipes I want and have something that ships well and is appreciated at their destination.

This one had a softer bite than my go-to brownie recipe and wasn't an intensely chocolatey but was still good and easy to make, two requirements for brownie bakes. I didn't have enough mini chocolate chips so I went with regular-sized ones. But, given the softer texture of the brownie, the large chips were a little jarring. At least to me as I prefer a straightforward fudgy texture with no chip interference. 

Still, these were good and if you've got a little sour cream to use up, this is a solid recipe to make. You can't taste the tanginess of the sour cream given the chocolate but the sour cream adds to the softer texture.