Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Every Christmas I try a new cookie recipe. Today I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise cookies, and now I am wondering where these have been my whole life!! They are SO good. I got the recipe from Pennies on a Platter. For any family that loves chocolate and peanut butter, I guarantee these won't stay around long!

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C granulated sugar (plus more for dipping)
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C creamy peanut butter, divided
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 C powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar, butter and 1/4 C of the peanut butter until light and smooth. Add in the vanilla and egg, beating one at a time to combine. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Set dough aside.

To make the filling, cream together the powdered sugar and remaining 3/4 C of peanut butter until smooth.

To assemble the cookies, spoon a generous tablespoon of chocolate cookie dough and flatten into a circle in your hands. Scoop a small amount of peanut butter filling mixture and place in the center of the chocolate dough. Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter filling, pinching ends together to seal. Roll the cookie in between hands to smooth into a ball. Roll into a bowl of sugar and place on the cookie sheet.

Use the bottom of a glass to slightly flatten the cookies. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. Do not over bake. Let cool on wire rack.

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I got two dozen cookies out of this recipe. My only comment would be that there was way too much peanut butter filling left over. You could easily get away with 1/2 a cup of peanut butter and 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar.

Overall I give this recipe a very high two thumbs up, and it is going straight into my cookie arsenal for years to come. Yes, these cookies are THAT good!!!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

A friend of mine shared this recipe with me, and it quickly turned out to be a family favorite. I made a big batch yesterday!

1 C butter, softened (orig. calls for 1 1/4 C, but I use 1 and it's fine)
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 C quick oats
1 1/2 C chocolate chips
3/4 C nuts (optional)

Cream butter and sugars. Mix in egg and vanilla. In separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix into wet ingredients. Add quick oats one cup at a time. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes.

"Cheap, Cheap" Chicken

For all of you frugal-minded foodies out there, I just thought I'd share my latest discovery on saving money and time in the kitchen! If you cook a whole chicken in a crockpot and then shred the meat, it will yield approximately 3 quart-sized ziploc bags of shredded chicken. Each bag is the perfect amount of chicken to add to a casserole, soup, etc. The process is so simple, I can't believe I haven't been doing it for years! Here's what I do:

Purchase a whole young chicken. Note that this was a double pack for $9.03. That means that each chicken cost me $4.50. Knowing that each chicken will yield 3 quart-sized baggies of shredded meat, that means that a meal's worth of chicken for a family of four is only $1.50!!!

I remove the innards (the only part of this process that I hate!), rinse the chicken, and place it in the crockpot. I pour half of a 32 oz. container of organic, low-sodium chicken broth over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

After the chicken is cooked, I lift it out onto a foil-lined cookie sheet and let it cool for at least a half hour until it is comfortable to handle. I shred the chicken into a big bowl. I usually do this while having a conversation with my hubby or watching tv. Depending on how old your children are, they can even be involved in the process!

Spoon shredded chicken into baggies, label, and freeze! Voila!

If you do this process four times a month, that gives you 12 meals' worth of pre-cooked, slow roasted chicken to add to whatever is on the menu for any given night! That averages out to three meals a week! It usually only takes me about 30 minutes to fully shred the chicken. Give it a try!

Ravioli Soup

Ingredients

1 lb. lean ground beef (2 1/2 C browned meat)
1/4 C soft bread crumbs
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 tsp. onion salt
2 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 T olive oil or vegetable oil
1 1/2 C finely chopped onion
1 28 oz. can Italian style or plain crushed tomatoes in puree
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 14.5 oz. can beef broth or bouillon
1 C water
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/4 tsp. oregano leaves
1/4 C chopped fresh parsley (or parsley flakes to taste)
1 12 oz. pkg. plain ravioli without sauce (frozen, or in the refrigerated section)

Directions

Brown the ground beef in a large pot; combine remaining ingredients except ravioli. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Thaw and cook ravioli according to package directions until just tender. Drain ravioli and add to soup. Heat through.

Notes

This soup is so easy to make and is a hearty meal! I had a friend taste test this and she has been raving about it ever since! The only note that I would add is that I didn't have all of the specific spices (for example, I had oregano powder, not leaves), so I just eyeballed it. I chose to use a family sized package (20 oz) of ravioli from the refrigerated pasta section instead of the frozen kind. I cooked all of the ravioli, and then added approximately 12-15 oz. worth, and saved the rest for lunch the next day.

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

'Tis the season for making pumpkin goodies! This recipe (from recipelion.com) caught my eye, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. The muffins made my house smell wonderful, and taste good with Autumn Spiced Tea!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup solid pack pumpkin
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 6-ounce package of semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; make a well in the center. In a small bowl, combine milk, pumpkin, butter and egg; add to the well in flour mixture. Add chocolate chips, stir until dry mixture is moistened. Spoon mixture into greased muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, remove from pans, completely cool on racks.

Notes
Instead of pouring the batter into the muffin tin, I decided to use the paper liners. Unfortunately, the muffins stuck to the paper! I've never had that happen before. Next time, I will either pour the batter in the pan or try foil liners. These muffins are very dense and rich, and oh so yummy!

Bacon-Wrapped Apple Barbecue Chicken

Ingredients
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
2 apples, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and grated
Juice of 1 lemon
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
8 slices bacon
Salt and pepper

In small bowl, combine barbecue sauce, grated apple and lemon juice. Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry. Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each chicken breast half. Place wrapped chicken in slow cooker and top with barbecue-sauce mixture. Set slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
(Recipe from All You magazine, October 2009)

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (6 oz)

Directions
Heat oven to 350F. In large bowl, stir brown sugar and butter until blended. Stir in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda and salt; stir in chocolate chips. Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Notes
I give this recipe a 5-star rating! I had all of the ingredients on hand, and I only had to dirty one bowl. The cookies were flavorful and had the perfect blend of chewy and crispiness. It would be very simple to substitute a cup of raisins instead of the chocolate chips too! This one is definitely going to the front of the cookie section in my recipe box!

Z is for Ziploc, Zinnias, and Zucchini!

It has been so much fun having a vegetable and flower garden this year! I spent the morning shredding zucchini in 2-cup amounts and storing it in Ziploc baggies for the freezer. Of course, I had to save a fresh supply to make zucchini bread! I have so many wonderful recipes from friends and family, so it was hard to choose. I decided to try my mother in law's recipe first. It couldn't be easier, and is as yummy as it looks!

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 C oil
2 C sugar
3 C grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 C flour
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C dates (or raisins, or dried cranberries, or chocolate chips!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together and pour into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for one hour, or until done.

Makes 2 loaves.

Blueberry Banana Bread

This is my banana bread recipe, but since I currently have a huge supply of fresh blueberries, I thought I would throw in a cup for a different twist!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
2 medium-size bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a medium-size bowl, combine sugar, bananas, eggs, and butter; beat until smooth. Add banana mixture to flour mixture. Stir until all of flour mixture is moistened. Add blueberries and gently mix. Place batter in a greased loaf pan, and bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Makes one loaf.

Lemon-Poppy Seed Pancakes

Ingredients

1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 cup fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries, thawed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 8-ounce carton lemon low-fat yogurt
3/4 cup skim milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. poppy seed

For raspberry sauce:
Stir together orange juice, honey, and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Add raspberries. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Strain through a sieve to remove seeds. Keep warm. Makes about a 1/2 cup.

For pancakes:
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. In another mixing bowl, combine yogurt, skim milk, egg, and poppy seed; add to flour mixture all at once. Stir mixture just till blended but still slightly lumpy. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto a hot, lightly greased or nonstick griddle or heavy skillet. Cook till pancakes are golden brown on both sides, turning when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and slightly dry edges. Serve with warm raspberry sauce. Makes 4 servings (3 pancakes each).