Delicious Peanut Butter Cookies

When BBE (best boyfriend ever) & I decided to go to New York City to celebrate (1) our 3 year anniversary, (2) my birthday, & (3) him being done with finals, I started looking for a hotel that was less than $150/night – no luck! Lucky for us, his wonderful childhood friend offered us her place while we were there free of charge! How lucky are we?? Since we couldn’t offer her money (Hey! We’re broke!), the next best thing to show someone you appreciate them is…baking! And bake I did J

I had never made peanut butter cookies before, so I decided to do a trial run before baking the ones I wanted to take to NYC with us. BBE loved that idea! They turned out AMAZING. I would suggest these cookies for family during Christmas time or for a holiday cookie exchange...or really for anything! They aren’t the usual chocolate chip or sugar cookie, so it's a nice change.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter (or chunky if you like that kind of thing...gross)
Hershey's kisses
Sugar in the raw


*I prefer to use Spenda Brown Sugar Blend & Sugar Blend when baking

 


Directions:
1. Sift together dry ingredients & set aside. (I didn't have a sifter when I made them, & they tasted great without sifting!) Cream butter & sugar in bowl using paddle attachment. (I don't have a paddle attachment, & they turned out great!) Add egg & vanilla & beat until combined. Add peanut butter & continue beating on low speed. Add dry ingredients & beat until just blended. Cover dough & transfer to refrigerator. Chill until firm [about 1 hour]
2. Heat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with a silpat (You guessed it, don't have one of these either! I just sprayed the cookie sheet with some non-stick spray...worked great!) Form dough into one inch balls. Roll balls in sugar. Place balls on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart & press down slightly with your palm - not too hard because next, using the tines of a fork, make a crisscross pattern in the dough. [If you push down too hard with your palm, the cookies will be too flat once you make the crisscross pattern]

After pressing them slightly with my palm

Crisscross pattern with a fork - ready for the oven!

3. Bake until rich golden brown, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.
*If you want to use Hershey's kisses like we did (YUM!) add the kisses about 1 minute after they're out of the oven. I also sprinkled a little extra sugar on the top - what calories??

ENJOY!


XOXO,

Fall Recipe - Apple Pie

Some where along the way, apple pie has become my signature dish for all family gatherings. I don't really have a consistent recipe that I follow, but it always turns out yummy! I need to start adding in more of my own touches, but here's what I did for this Thanksgiving in Richmond with my long time friends :)

Crust Ingredients:
* I make more crust than it says to because when I "weave" I seem to need more for some reason - could it be that I eat it?? Possibly. So this is the Deep Dish Double Crust instructions
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick (or 1 cup) WELL CHILLED Crisco All Vegetable shortening
6-10 Tbs ice cold water

Instructions:
1. Blend flour & salt in medium bowl.
2. Cut the stick into cubes (about 1/2 inch) and cut it into the mixture until it's all mixed with some small pea-sized pieces remaining.
3. Add about half the recommended Tbs of water & mix around with a fork. Add water by Tbs until the dough is moist enough to stick together.
4. Eat some.
    **Some people may find step 4 unnecessary and kind of gross. I assure you it's necessary & delicious!
5. Divide into 2 balls & roll them out. I use wax paper instead of a floured surface because it works better & it's MUCH cleaner!
6. One goes in the bottom of your pie pan (duh!)
7. Keep the other ball cold while you prepare the filling!

Filling Ingredients:
6 apples, peeled & sliced
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs flour
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbs lemon juice

Directions:
1. Peel & slice the apples. I like to make a game out of it - can I peel the apple in ONE try? [Think Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle] Try #1 was SO close, but I got it on try #2!! So proud of myself :)

Try 1

Try 2 - success!!

2. Mix together the sliced apples & all ingredients in a large bowl until the apples are covered. Pour them on top of the pie crust & try to arrange them so they're kind of level.

3. Roll out remaining dough & cut it into strips for weaving. This takes some trial & error to get it right. 

 **My tips: don't roll it too thin or it will be hard to rearrange once it's on the pie. You can kind of see in the picture below they way I've found it easiest to weave - lay all the horizontal strips down and then fold them over as necessary to add the vertical strips. The dough definitely needs to be cold! 

The horizontal strips on the left are folded up so I can put a vertical strip down

Ready to bake!

3a. I always add extra butter to the top of the crust too. I melt about 1 Tbs of butter and pour it over the crust so it gets in the holes. Butter just makes everything better!

4. Put in the oven at 425 for about 45 minutes. 

On display at Pam's, yummy!

If you have any tips for an apple pie recipe, let me know! Always looking for ways to make it better :)
XOXO,