Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Buttercream Filling

- Michael 1 Comment

Peanut butter. It’s back. Yes, I think I have a problem. I’ve been trying to avoid using it for a bit, because so much of my stuff contained it. Then my friend Naomi happened across a facebook group full of recipes and spent an evening posting things on my wall along the lines of “OOOO MAKE THIS” followed by “ACTUALLY NO, THIS!”. The majority of them caught my eye, but I decided they’d be better for an occasion. I picked out something I could do that would be easy to share. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Peanut Buttercream filling. The key with these is to make sure that the cookies are that little bit chewy. It takes them from ordeal, to incredible.

Peanut butter filling

The other problem I had was that they didn’t spread as much as I’d expected. This meant that they ended up a bit tall and bulky. The later ones I baked for a minute or two less, and squashed them slightly with the back of a spoon to make them a little thinner.  Unfortunately I lost the original source for this piece, so I don’t know who to credit.

IMG_1635

 

Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies with Peanut Buttercream Filling
 
Print
Ingredients
  • For the cookies
  • 130g flour
  • 88.5g cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 120g unsalted butter, softened
  • 134g granulated sugar
  • 55g firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 110g chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp instant espresso powder
  • For the filling
  • 256g Powdered sugar
  • 90g unsalted butter, softened
  • 113g Creamy peanut butter
  • (Possibly) 1-2tsp milk
Instructions
  1. Mix together the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt) and set aside.
  2. In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars until fluffy.
  3. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla. Add the espresso and beat until combined.
  4. On a slow speed, add the flour mixture in three stages, each time until it has just combined. After the last addition, add in the chocolate chips.
  5. Place the dough in the fridge and allow to chill for at least an hour, for it to firm.
  6. Once you feel it has chilled for long enough, remove from the fridge. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
  7. Divide the dough into two equal sections. On a clean surface, form the dough into two equal rods. Rolling them out until they are around 12 inches in length. If they are shorter than this, don’t worry too much, you’ll just have larger cookies!
  8. Cut up the rods at intervals of about 1 inch.
  9. Place on greaseproof sheets in the center of the oven, around 1 inch apart.
  10. Bake for between 10-15 minutes. You want them to still be soft and chewy so it may be worth testing with one or two to begin with. I started baking them for around 13 and cut it down to 11 in the end. (As I said above, I pushed down some of them with the back of a spoon to make them spread better).
  11. Allow to cool partially before transferring to a wire rack.
  12. For the frosting. Starting on a slow speed, cream together the butter and the powdered sugar. Slowly increase the speed to medium and add the peanut butter. You may find that you need a small amount of milk to make it combine better.
  13. Spread on the top layer of a cookie, being fairly liberal with the amount, and then push down another cookie on top.

IMG_1644

IMG_1643

Jam Thumb Cookies

- Michael Leave a comment

Jam. You just can’t beat it. The sun came out in Leeds yesterday, which of course prompted everyone to go crazy. On a wonder into town with my friend Gareth, I came across the craft fair in the Corn Exchange. Amongst the general stands selling jewellery (and one selling all the different possible types of fudge, red bull, really?) I came across a stand selling homemade Jam. I had quite a lengthy chat with the owner, about the different types of jams that she made and ended up walking away with a selection, the cogs already whirring in my head as to what I could do with them. I settled for a jar of raspberry, jar of  ginger and a jar of scotch whisky marmalade.  I decided on thumb cookies. Tiny, nut-covered, jam filled pieces of joy.

Jam Selection

 

Jam Thumb Cookies
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 115 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 50 grams granulated white sugar
  • 1 large egg, separated
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 130 grams all-purpose flour
  • Dash of salt.
  • 80-100 grams hazelnuts, almonds, pecans or walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
  • 60 - 120 ml raspberry jam
Instructions
  1. Heat your oven up to 180°C (160°C fan).
  2. Spread the nuts over a baking tray (I chose pecan), then place in the oven for around 10 minutes to toast. Once these are done, allow them to cool for half an hour then either chop them finely by hand or put them in a food processor and blitz until fine.
  3. Keep the oven on and line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
  4. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Then beat in the egg yolk and the vanilla extract. Beat until combined. (Ensure you save the egg white).
  5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt (if you used salted butter, don’t worry too much about including the salt).
  6. Mix the flour mixture into the butter mix, starting on a slow speed and gradually increasing it. For a long time it just looks like bread-crumbs. Stick at it and eventually it combines into a pastry like dough. Mix until it has just formed.
  7. If it’s too soft, put it in the fridge for between 30-60 minutes.
  8. Divide up into individual balls, each around 2.5cm across. You’ll get around 20 from the batch.
  9. In a small bowl, whisk the egg white until it’s froffy.
  10. Spread the chopped nuts out on a flat surface (I used a plate). Individually dip the balls into the egg white, then gently roll them over the chopped nuts to coat.
  11. Place on the baking tray and using your thumb (or handle of a wooden spoon) press a hollow into the top of them gently.
  12. Fill the hole with jam.
  13. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, until browned.
  14. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Jam thumbprint cookies

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

- Michael 2 Comments

Now, I am well aware that my first post was also Reese’s cookies. But I made these yesterday, and while they are fresh in my mind I just have to write about them. They are simply incredible. My friend Daryl showed me the recipe, which she found on Kitchen Magpie. Couple that with there being two of my colleague’s work birthdays today, one of which is an American woman who adores peanut butter, it was kind of a no-brainer. I’ve made “cookies” that contained peanut butter cups before, but they were sort of… squidged? Yeah, that’s the word, into the top of the cookies, which were slightly more cake-like. These actually contain the cup inside the centre of the cookie. It’s the perfect amount of indulgence. I always get such funny looks from the cashier whenever I turn up at the till with a basket full of nothing but Reese’s cups. These went down an absolute treat at work with one of my colleagues asking me to bake them, and only them, once a week for the rest of my time with the company.

DSC_0220

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 290-300g All-purpose Flour
  • Dash salt
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 115g Unsalted Butter
  • 150g White Granulated Sugar
  • 165g Packed Brown Sugar
  • 1½ tsp Vanilla extract
  • 2 Eggs
  • 150g Chocolate Chips (I used milk chocolate)
  • 12-15 Reese’s peanut butter cups
Instructions
  1. First of all, preheat your oven to 180°C (or 160°C fan).
  2. Cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Followed by Vanilla.
  4. Separately mix together the flour, salt and baking powder before mixing it in slowly on a low speed. (At this point I noticed that my cookie dough was a tad too sticky so I added a bit more flour until it firmed up a little.)
  5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  6. Now comes the fun bit.
 

Take a good sized dollop of the dough in your hand, don’t make it too large as this is just the base of the cookie. Squidge (yup, there’s that word again) the peanut butter cup into the top of the dough, flattening it slightly.

 

Squidge
Squidge

Take a similarly sized piece of the dough and cover the top of the cup, pushing it down around the edges of the cup.

Encased cup

Spread them out on a baking tray, covered with a baking sheet. Space them slightly, but don’t worry too much as they don’t spread a large amount. Press them down slightly.

Baking tray

Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven. Allow to cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.

DSC_0227

Fresh Cookies
They are incredible while still fresh and slightly gooey.

Reese’s Pieces Chip Cookies

- Michael 1 Comment
Peanut Butter Cookies

Now, here, is where my love affair with peanut butter starts to rear it’s beautiful peanutty head. I have a bit of a soft spot for Reese’s Pieces and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Much of my baking has included them, and not just because of my own soft spot. I love baking for friends, and around 90% of them love peanut butter and American candy. This means that if I’m baking for a crowd, it’s a fairly good go-to thing. At the time, Reese’s Pieces were on offer at Sainsburys. Half price. I just couldn’t not stock up. My excuse of course was “well I can bake with them”. (Please excuse the lack of imagery with some of my earlier posts, I wasn’t in the habit of taking so many pictures back then).

Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut butter infused glory.

Thus began my hunt for a Reese’s Pieces chip cookie recipe. I didn’t have to look far. Hershey’s obliged.

 

Reese's Pieces Chip Cookies
 
Print
Ingredients
  • 115g butter or margarine , softened
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 110g packed light brown sugar
  • 170g Peanut Butter (I’m pretty penniless so for me it was own brand)
  • 1 egg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 130g all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • A couple of bags of Reese’s Pieces
  • Dark Chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
  1. First things first. Pre-heat your oven to 180ºC and line a baking tray with a baking sheet.
  2. Cream the sugars and the butter together until fluffy. Cream in the peanut butter. I used a wooden spoon and some elbow grease for this, but a food mixer would be absolutely fine.
  3. Add in the egg and mix until fluffy.
  4. Meanwhile (if using a mixer), sift the flour into a bowl with the baking soda and salt.
  5. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mix into the mixture. If mixing by hand, add in instalments. Do this until the mixture is well combined.
  6. Finally, add in the Reese’s Pieces (and the chocolate if you’re using it. I like to do this just so it adds an extra dimension to the cookies, stops it being out and out peanut butter).
  7. Using teaspoons, drop on to the baking sheets. I sometimes vary the size here, so I have a few larger cookies, instead of loads of little ones.
  8. For firmer cookies, bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges have browned slightly. If you’d prefer them to be a touch chewier, bake for around 9.
  9. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes until they are solid enough to transfer to a cooling rack.