Reese's Peanut Butter Temptations

There was never a truer name for a cookie. Temptation is right.

Be prepared to either gain a few pounds or exercise extreme forms of self-control.

Now that I have duly warned you, you are in for a treat. Packaged up in a delightful wrapping of peanut butter cookie dough, you'll find a miniature melty, of-course-always-amazing-no-matter-how-you-dress-it-up Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Yep. Right there in the middle of a cookie.

Genius, you say? So do I.

I was first introduced to these little gems as a young girl by an older lady on our street named Romayne, who took my siblings and I under her wing as her adopted grand kids. She refers to herself simply as "Grandma Ro" and we are blessed to know her- not only because she is as sweet and grandmotherly as they come, but because she is an amazing cook! After learning that these peanut butter cup cookies earned her accolades at the local county fair, it was with great boldness I asked for the recipe. She was gracious enough to share and I'll be forever grateful! I don't think a Christmas has gone by since then where I have not baked these delectable treats.

You won't regret trying these (unless of course you're on a diet- maybe not even then) for your holiday party or family gathering this year- they're sure to be a hit and may even become your family's new tradition!

Reese's Peanut Butter Temptations

(printable version)

by Hershey's (and Grandma Ro)

makes 40-60 cookies

40-60 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures (make sure you have enough!)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375. Remove wrappers from candies. If desired, line mini muffin cups with paper baking cups. Otherwise, grease lightly.

In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. In separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. 

Shape dough into 1 inch balls; place one in each prepared muffin cup. Do not flatten.

Bake 9-10 min. or until puffed and lightly browned; remove from oven. Immediately press peanut butter cup into each cookie. Cool at least 5 minutes in muffin tin, then remove carefully to cool completely.

{Oh-So-Cute} Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

Sometimes you just need cute cookies. And most definitely at Christmas. These adorable reindeer cookies deliver the cuteness factor in full force! From their chocolate brown eyes to their shiny red noses, they'll steal your heart away in no time! They are easy-peasy (being just a simple peanut butter cookie dough) and fun to put together! Kids will love helping poke the M & Ms into the cookies (just make sure you help them so they don't burn their fingers!).

If possible, do try and find mini chocolate covered pretzels for the antlers. As you can see from the picture, I did not. I couldn't find any that I thought suitably small, so I opted to try using regular mini pretzels. Unfortunately  there isn't any chocolate "glue" to hold these antlers on, so I improvised by using brown frosting to stick the "antlers" to the cooled cookies. It worked, but it's definitely more tedious. So scour your supermarket- surely the mini chocolate covered pretzels are out there!

However you assemble your team of reindeer, the effect on your friends will surely be worth it!

Peanut Butter Reindeer Cookies

(printable version)

adapted slightly from Bakergirl

makes about 40

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup shortening

3 TB milk

1 TB vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

chocolate covered mini pretzels

mini brown M&Ms

regular sized red M&Ms

Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat until just blended.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Divide dough in half and roll each half into a log about 8-10 in. long. Shape logs into triangles (3 flat sides), wrap in wax paper and chill about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375.

Working with one log at a time, unwrap and slice into 1/4 in. slices. Place on cookie sheet about 2 in. apart. Bake 7-8 min. or until set and just beginning to brown.

Remove from oven and immediately (and gently) press two mini pretzels into the tops  of the cookies (one of the flat sides of the triangle is the top of the head) for antlers. Press two mini brown M&Ms in for the eyes and one red M&M for the nose (at the bottom point of the triangle). 

Allow to cool 2 min. on the sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies

We have established the unrivaled, fabulous pairing of peanut butter and chocolate (at least in my book). But have you discovered the delectable combination of peanut butter and...wait for it...peanut butter???!!

 Redundant you say? Like a bad song that rhymes love with love?? Oh, no, my friend. Perhaps if the combination was ordinary peanut butter (is there such a thing? I think not.) and ordinary peanut butter. But when one of the peanut buttery components begins with the familiar "Reese's" which has always delivered such happy results...you know you must have stuck gold. And you would be correct.

Don't take my word for it! Take the word of the empty plate after our home group Bible study! Take the word of the teenagers who scarfed down at least 4 or 5 a piece! Take the word of my husband, who keeps dipping his hand into the cookie jar, hoping it will be like the widow's flour and oil that never ran out (don't know what I'm talking about? Read 1 Kings 17:1-15! This might be a side note, but that's a great story!)!

Anyway....the point (yes, I am finally arriving at the point) is that the addition of Reese's Pieces to peanut butter cookies is phenomenal! These cookies are soft and chewy and the color, crunch and flavor of the Pieces adds the perfect touch. Okay, you can take my word for it.

Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies
(printable version)

Originally by The Cook's Illustrated

makes approx. 3 doz.

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup white sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup Reese's Pieces candy

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt in medium bowl.

Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars, beat until fluffy, about 3 min. with electric mixer. 

Beat in peanut butter, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. 

Gently stir in dry ingredients until well incorporated. 

Gently stir in candy.

Roll into fairly large balls (1-1 1/2 in.) and place 2 in. apart on baking sheet. 

Flatten slightly with bottom of a glass. 

Bake 10-12 min. (they will not look fully baked) or until lightly browned on edges, not on top. 

Cool slightly and remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: The Culinary Chronicles

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Cappuccino Fudge

Here we are, Crazy Cooking Challenge #2 already!! This month's challenge was to find the ultimate fudge recipe. What a delightful hunt! I have never made fudge before, so it was a bit of an experiment for me as well. Because this was my first time, after drooling over many decadent looking squares, I decided on a rather simple fudge, but as I am sure you will agree, it suits ME to a tee.

If you do not know by now, I am a bit of a coffee nut. Coffee snob. Connoisseur. Whatever. You get the idea. I like coffee. My kitchen fairly swims in it. Take a look at the previous post about Coffee and Cream Drops. See any clues?
Now that we've established (again) my infatuation with glossy brown beans (that includes cocoa beans!), we can move on to the delicious creation I concocted in my kitchen which included both. Cappuccino Fudge. It really was a snap to make- Annie wasn't kidding when she said it was simple. I really thought fudge would be more complicated than this (and maybe some are), but it was easy and turned out fantastic, so my confidence in fudge making is definitely bolstered to try something harder next time!

The first step is to line a pan with foil (hint: this makes for very easy removal later!).

Good old trusty foil.

Next, move over to your stove top! Another thing I like about this is it really only dirties one pot. Start with some marshmallow cream...this stuff is harder to get into the pan then you might think! It is SO sticky! Add instant coffee powder, sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt and heavy whipping cream. Annie's recipe only called for 1 tsp of instant coffee, but after reading some of the comments on her blog I decided I wanted to make sure it had a real distinct coffee flavor. So I put in a whole tablespoon.

Mix it all together until it's nice and smooth (I used a whisk for this part), while heating it over medium heat.

Once it really begins to boil, keep it there and turn on the timer! Here comes the tedious part: keep stirring while it boils for 5 whole minutes.

Then take it off the heat and stir in a bag of chocolate chips till they are melted and the mixture is creamy and smooth again. Pour the whole thing into your nice foil-lined pan and smooth it out.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours before you cut and devour!! Or. Share with your friends. Your favorite friends. Special treats are only for special friends, right?

This fudge tasted exactly as I hoped against hope that it would. A perfect marriage of coffee and rich chocolate. It was firm and the texture was smooth and it sliced beautiful into darling little squares.

If you want to get fancy, you could do like I did and serve each topped with a fine dusting of coffee powder (or cinnamon) and a whole coffee bean. Any way you slice it, this fudge is a perfect holiday indulgence your friends will love you for.

Cappuccino Fudge
(printable version)

by Annie's Eats (with tweaks)

makes about 36 squares

1 jar marshmallow cream (7 oz)

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

1 TB instant coffee powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line an 8” square baking pan with aluminum foil; set aside.

 In a 2 qt. saucepan, combine marshmallow cream, sugar, cream, butter, coffee powder, cinnamon and salt.

 Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 

Stir in chocolate chips until smooth. 

Pour into prepared pan. 

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. 

Place on cutting board and cut into 36 squares.

Source: Annie's Eats