Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

"What is 'tired', Alex?" Yes, that's the correct $200 answer in the category, "How does Mindy feel today?" At this time and in this moment, "tired" is the answer to everything in the aforementioned category. There is simply too much I have to do in the next few weeks (38 things on my to-do list so far); however, I always seem to find enough time to bake something for somebody. After all, I'm on a mission to use up all the baking ingredients in my pantry, and since I have friends willing to eat whatever I make, it's a win-win situation. I prep and bake and they sit back and nosh. Seems fair. (Well, not really, but...)

I baked these cookies this afternoon for my friend Kurt. I had a whole canister of oats to use up as well as partial bags of both semisweet chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. There is no source for this recipe because I just "winged" the recipe for my Wings fan friend. (Yeah, I know. Not funny.) Once you've baked as many batches of cookies as I have, you can (usually) just throw together the standard amount of ingredients (give or take a 1/4 cup or so) and bake a decent batch of (edible) cookies. Alas, these cookies turned out fantastic. They're thick and toothsome with just the right amount of sweetness and hints of chocolate and peanut butter. They're not too sweet, not too rich...just perfect cookies with a slightly crunchy exterior and a chewy interior.

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla extract.

In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt; mix into butter mixture. Fold in oats, chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

At this point, cover bowl of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Ten minutes prior to baking the cookies, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll dough into balls and place onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. (I baked the cookies in two batches of 12.) Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 24 cookies

 

Toffee-Peanut Butter Rounds

I made these cookies Friday night for my brother and my friend Kurt. I took a few bites of one, and I must say that I loved this cookie. They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside....the perfect cookie combination if you ask me. The dark brown sugar adds a nice but subtle molasses taste to these cookies and also compliments the presence of the peanut butter chips. You could use all light brown sugar if that's all you have on hand, but definitely use dark brown sugar if you have it in your pantry. I used Plugra butter, too. Any kind of butter you have on hand is fine, but I think all cookies and baked goodies taste better with the higher-quality European butters like Plugra (and Lurpak). Use candy bars instead of the pre-packaged toffee bits. You will want bigger chunks of candy in these cookies than the pre-packaged toffee bits offer. Please let me know your thoughts on these cookies if you try them. Enjoy!!!

Toffee-Peanut Butter Rounds

Source: Adapted from Good Housekeeping 2002 Annual Recipes

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup peanut butter chips
4 chocolate-covered toffee candy bars (1.4 oz. each), coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat melted butter and eggs until blended. Add granulated sugar, light brown sugar and dark brown sugar. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Beat in flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Stir in oats, peanut butter chips and toffee.

At this point, cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before proceeding. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F while dough is chilling.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased large cookie sheet. Bake cookies 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough. Store cookies in tightly covered container at room temperature up to 1 week, or in freezer up to 3 months.

Yield: Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Note: I got 44 cookies.

Chubby Hubby Cookies

I was contemplating what to do with the peanuts and pretzels I had leftover from last night's dinner. As I was looking though my electronic file of recipes, I came across these Chubby Hubby Cookies from last year's Christmas cookie contest in the St. Petersburg Times.

I admit pure skepticism about this recipe at first glance. I kept looking at it, more specifically at the last ingredient, and thinking, "This is too weird. Just how good can cookies with crushed pretzels in them taste?"

The answer? AWESOME!!! These cookies are fantastic. They are quite toothsome with a crunchy outside and a slightly chewy middle. When you first bite into them, the first thing you notice is the peanutty flavor. Then you notice a faint saltiness and crunch from both the peanuts and the crushed pretzels. The chocolate is noticeable but more as a background flavor to compliment the cookie instead of overpowering it.

For those of you who like Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream, I would be curious to know how these cookies taste in comparison. The thought of crunchy pretzels in frozen ice cream doesn't sound appealing to me, but since I now know not to judge a recipe by it's pretzels, maybe I should give it a try sometime.

Chubby Hubby Cookies

Source: Adapted from St. Petersburg Times

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1 cup crushed pretzels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Blend into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chips, peanuts and pretzels.

(At this point, I wrapped the bowl of dough in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.)

Drop heaping tablespoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 13 minutes, or until edges are lightly brown and centers are still soft. Do not overbake. Cool one minute on cookie sheet, and cool completely on wire racks. Store in tightly covered container.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen.

Notes: I halved this recipe (halved all the ingredients except the egg and pinch of salt). I still used 1 whole egg and a small pinch of salt. I got exactly 21 cookies which is the correct yield for a halved batch of these cookies. I also mounded the cookie batter instead of dropping it by heaping tablespoons.