Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies

These cookies from Love and Olive Oil are great right from the oven, (Then again, aren't most cookies?) However, I wasn't a fan of how they held up over the course of a couple days nor was I overly impressed with how sticky the dough was to start. Overall, good cookie but not one I'll plan to repeat in our house.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Stuffed Cookies
Peanut Butter Filling

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt
Cookie Dough
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Large flake salt for sprinkling

In a bowl, mix together peanut butter filling ingredients until they form a smooth paste. Dollop 24 pieces of filling mixture onto a parchment or foil-lined baking sheet. Freeze at least 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. 

In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add dry ingredients, and mix on low speed until incorporated. Stir in mini chocolate chips.

Chill dough slightly if needed because of stickiness. Scoop 1 1/2-inch balls of dough (about 2 tablespoons per cookie). Spread dough around a piece of frozen filling, and roll into a smooth ball. Place on prepared cookie sheet, leaving at least 2 inches of space between cookies to allow for spreading. If desired, sprinkle cookies with a pinch of flake sea salt just before baking.

Bake cookies 11 to 12 minutes or until centers are just set. Remove from oven, and let cool on pans for 10 minutes, and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

Salted Caramel Twix Cupcakes

These Twix Brownies were so incredible that I wanted to convert them to cupcake form. My vision for a Salted Caramel Twix Cupcake turned out as well as I envisioned. My husband described them as one of my best "fancy" cupcakes, meaning one that he thought would sell well in a cupcake store. I really like how well it works to use the jumbo liners for cupcakes with layers to hold everything inside nicely.

Homemade caramel is still a work in progress for me. I tend to do better when I don't use the dry method, as I end up with quite a few clumps that never work themselves out, which is why this caramel sauce was a bit runny for me after straining it.

Definitely a repeat cupcake, although I still really want the brownies again. Cupcakes are good, but those brownies take the cake ... or cupcake?

Salted Caramel Twix Brownies
Cupcakes
24 circle-shaped shortbread cookies
2 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup water
Filling
1/4 cup salted caramel
Frosting
1 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup salted caramel
Garnish
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake tins with liners, and place a cookie in the bottom of each one. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt and baking powder.

Cream shortening for 30 seconds. Add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time. Beat 2 minutes longer after all sugar is added. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

Alternately add flour mixture and water, beginning and ending with flour. Divide batter evenly among tins.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, and then remove from tins to cool completely on wire racks.

Once cupcakes are cooled, fill with salted caramel using a pastry tip and pastry bag.

To make the frosting, beat butter until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually add powdered sugar, and then beat in salted caramel until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes.

To garnish, melt chocolate chips on medium-power in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds. Let cool completely to room temperature, and then drizzle over cupcakes with a fork. Makes 24 cupcakes.

Whiskey Cake

Whiskey isn't my alcohol of choice, but it is for my close friend as well as my brother-in-law. I'm not opposed to it, and I like to incorporate it into baked goods. This one-bowl cake from How Sweet It Is seemed like an easy and delicious cake to make.

My frosting/ganache didn't set right, so I'm not sure if I slightly goofed my measurements there. And I ended up with quite a bit extra, which was delicious right over the spoon and darn tasty spread warm over vanilla ice cream.The ganache is a solid idea worth repeating.

The cake itself didn't wow me, although I liked the pieces of chocolate melted into the cake. Probably not a repeat for us, as there are other whiskey recipes like Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes or Honey Whiskey Cupcakes that take the cake, so to speak.

Whiskey Cake
1/2 cup hot coffee
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Irish whiskey
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp.
1/4 tsp. salt
4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate. chopped 
Ganache Frosting
10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Irish cream liquor

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8x8 inch pan with butter, and set aside. In a measuring cup, whisk the hot coffee and butter until the butter melts, and then set it aside until ready to use.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, whiskey and vanilla. Stir in the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda and salt. Once it's about halfway mixed, pour in the coffee/butter mixture, and stir until you have a smooth batter. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Pour the batter into the greased pan, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is just set in the middle. Let cool completely before frosting.

To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a bowl. Heat the heavy cream and Irish cream in a small saucepan over low heat until it just bubbles around the edges. Pour the cream over the chocolate, and let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir continuously until the chocolate melts into the cream and comes together. Let sit for one hour at room temperature, and then spread the ganache all over the cake. (You could probably halve the ganache recipe, plan to have extra left over (which is a good thing) or have a frosting layer that's extremely thick.) Makes an 8 x 8 cake.

Tex-Mex Cobb Salad

In an effort to balance the tremendous sweet tooth I possess, I was happy to find this salad on Foodie with Family. It's a great combination of flavors, and I've made a riff of it several times already this summer. It's fun to make a nice spread on a plate like she did, but it works just as well to toss everything into a salad bowl if need be.

This will continue to be a repeat, although I love it much more than my husband who protests many of the ingredients and had a rather boring salad. (Ignore the really poor quality photo. Check out the original post for pretty photos.)



Tex-Mex Cobb Salad
1 fresh ear of corn cut from the cob, or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 heart of romaine lettuce, cored, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup fully cooked (canned or homemade) black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup black olives, drained
1 cup pulled pork or chicken
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cheese
1 avocado, cubed and sprinkled with lime juice to prevent browning
1 fresh lime, cut into wedges
1 cup Fritos

Place a cast-iron skillet over high heat, and let it get hot enough for water to skip over the surface when sprinkled on the pan. Add the corn and a generous pinch of salt, and stir. Let the corn dry fry in the pan for three minutes, or until the corn is fragrant, has released some liquid and has some golden brown spots. Transfer the corn to a plate to cool.

On a large serving platter, arrange the romaine lettuce. Arrange the remaining ingredients on top of the lettuce in strips. Scatter lime wedges over the salad, and serve with Fritos. Makes 4 entree-sized salads.

Dark Chocolate Key Lime Truffles

I've mentioned before how key lime pie became a favorite for me and my husband while on vacation in Florida. Not that we (I) ate a giant key lime pie milkshake for breakfast one morning (shortly after eating Dunkin' Donuts. How were we supposed to know we'd find milkshakes that morning at a fruit stand?)

So this recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction obviously caught my eye because not only was it key lime, but it also involved truffles and dark chocolate rather than the white that is usually associated with key lime. These little gems are good. There's a bit of a process that Sally uses, which results in truly creamy truffles. I didn't snap any pictures because I wasn't completely in love at first and then ate them all without pictures. Worth a repeat adventure, although no promises on photos then either.

Dark Chocolate Key Lime Truffles
3/4 cup heavy cream
zest of 2 limes
14 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
Topping
18 oz. bittersweet chocolate
4 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 green candy melts

Heat the cream and lime zest in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir it until the mixture barely comes to a boil. Remove from heat, and allow the lime flavor infuse into the cream for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the chopped white chocolate into a medium heatproof bowl. Add the lime juice and butter to the bowl. Do not stir yet. Set aside.

After 30 minutes, place the lime-infused cream back over heat until it barely begins simmering again. Remove from heat, and strain it through a mesh sieve into the white chocolate to remove the zest. Gently begin stirring the white chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula in one direction. Do not forcefully stir it. Use gentle, circular motions. Once all of the white chocolate is completely smooth, cover with a piece of plastic wrap pressed on the top of the ganache filling. Let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour, and then transfer to the refrigerator for 5-6 more hours or overnight.

After chilling, the ganache filling will be smooth and a little soft, but still manageable.Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside. Make sure you have enough room in your refrigerator for the baking sheets because the truffles must chill after being rolled in the next step.

Measure 1 teaspoon of ganache filling, and roll between your hands into a ball. Place on the prepared baking sheet.(Keep wiping your hands on a paper towel or rinsing/drying them because clean hands work best for rolling the sticky stuff.)  Repeat rolling remaining truffles. Refrigerate the truffles as you melt the chocolate coating.

Place the bittersweet chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl. Melt in 30 second increments in the microwave, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Let the warm chocolate sit for 5 minutes to slightly cool before dipping.

Remove truffles from the refrigerator, and begin dipping into the chocolate. Place the dipped truffles back onto the baking sheets.  Melt the white chocolate and candy melts (if using) together using 30-second intervals. Using a fork or a squeeze bottle, drizzle over the truffles. Allow truffles to set at room temperature for at least 1 hour or chill for 30 minutes. Store in the refrigerator during warmer months, but serve at room temperature. Makes about 60 small truffles.