Cooking Up a Storm

Strawberry Vodka Limeade

Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies

Alabama Raised Venison Sausage Chili 

Fresh Lime and Agave Nectar Margs

Maple Bourbon Glazed Salmon on Spring Veggie Quinoa

Salty River Bars 

Five Grain Pizza with Mozzarella, Feta, Spinach, Onion,
Green Pepper, Garlic & Italian Turkey Sausage

Brown Butter Peanut Butter Truffle Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've been experimenting with brown butter lately. Before I made it for the first time a couple weeks ago, I did not care for it....I did not know of its powers...I was missing out. Then while I was melting the butter to create brown butter for the first time, I knew. I knew what it must feel like to be in Snape's potion class at Hogwarts whipping up a love potion because after first smell of the browning butter, I was in love. Who knew that just melting the butter for a few minutes and allowing it to brown could change its flavor profile completely. What kind of witchcraft is this!?! I will never look at butter the same. 

About theses cookies. I couldn't resist them when I saw they are made with brown butter. Little did I know that I was baking cookies that could possibly replace our currency. Next time you go get gas, offer the cashier one of these cookies as payment and that should suffice. These went fast. As in, less than 24 hours. Although, there were seven boys in my house last night, so I guess 24 hours is really not that much of a feat. As my friend Mark (one of those cookie-snatching boys I was speaking about earlier) was eating one, he took a bite and said "hey, these are actually pretty good".. he then walked away and a few seconds later he returned with another cookie. I eyed him suspiciously and asked how many cookies he had actually eaten...I don't remember hearing a response coming from his cookie filled mouth. I'm convinced he ate at least four last night. Now you know how I bake so much and am not extremely overweight....I have boys around every corner and in every crevice of my house to eat what I make, thankfully. I did have one before swim practice this morning though. I was going to workout. I burned it off. Then I got home and had another one. I had just worked out. I burned enough calories to eat a cookie. Life is good. 

The peanut butter truffles are hand mixed into this cookie dough until just incorporated and complement the chocolate and brown butter smashingly. This is not a full on peanut butter cookie, but that doesn't mean these cookies don't have a mean peanut butter flavor. Think of these cookies as a chocolate chip cookie gone rouge...they are bad and they know it. 

From: Budding Baktress
Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Truffles

- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Cookies

- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

- 1 cup brown sugar

- 1/2 granulated sugar

- 2 large eggs, at room temperature

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

1. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil and spray with no-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix powdered sugar and peanut butter until smooth. Spread in baking dish and flatten with hands. Place in freezer for at least 30 minutes.

2. To brown butter, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Whisk frequently and heat until it's golden brown and giving off a nutty aroma. 

3.Remove from heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl; allow to cool to room temperature. This is important because if not cooled to room temperature, the warm butter can cause the cookie to be flat after baking.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. 

5. Remove peanut butter truffles and cut or tear into small pieces; place back in freezer for at least ten minutes. They won't look perfect and don't have to be cut into perfect squares...as you can tell.


Try and resist nibbling on these truffles...I dare you!

6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and browned butter. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. 

7. Using a wooden spoon, stir in flour, baking soda, and salt until just incorporated. 

8. Fold in chocolate chips. Gently fold in chunks of peanut butter truffle. You want them to be visible, not completely blended into the dough. (Note: This makes a lot of peanut butter truffles. Use as much or as little of it as you want!) I used about three fourths of the truffles.

9. Scoop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, flatten slightly with hand, and bake for 9-12 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely.

Sweet & Salty

Wait, where did Christmas go? One moment I was singing carols and wrapping presents and then the next I am saying goodbye to family members. The Christmas season has come to a sudden halt and the new year is rolling in. With all the anticipation built for the Christmas season it seems only fitting that there should be the a at least a few weeks to taper off the holiday. But sadly our tree has already come down and not a single light, angel, or nativity scene is in sight. Time seems to drag on after Christmas in anticipation for beautiful Spring time. But don't worry, with all the unexciting events January and February promise, I have a plethora of baked goods I want to share with you that I whipped up over the holiday. Woohoo. To start, I made a recipe I have been eyeing for awhile: saltine cracker toffee. You heard me. I made it along another great dessert: peanut butter Ritz dipped in chocolate. I am a big fan of these Ritz treats and when I found the saltine recipe I knew I'd love it because of its salty and sweet combo. I always feel as though I'm am breaking rules when I make salty/sweet desserts. Complete opposites?....dang right I'm combining them. Both of theses recipes are easy-peasy and take only minutes to make, plus they make you feel like a rule breaker.


Saltine Cracker Toffee
From: The girl who ate everything

Ingredients:
- 40 salted saltine crackers or enough to line your pan
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 cups milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips


*You can either use salted butter or salted saltines but not both. I used salted crackers and unsalted butter in this one. 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the cookie sheet. 

2. In a small pot combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil. Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. Mixture should be a deep caramel color. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely. 

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 6 minutes. It will get all bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let sit a couple of minutes to melt. I stuck mine back in the oven for about 30 seconds or you can slightly melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 1 minute then spread it on. Spread melted chocolate. Cool  completely and break into pieces. 

Chocolate-covered peanut butter Ritz

Ingredients:

- 2 cups milk chocolate chips

- ½ cup creamy peanut butter

- ¼ cup powdered sugar, sifted

-32 Ritz crackers

Directions:

1. Place chocolate chips over a double boiler and melt.Place peanut butter and sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.

2. Spread a small amount of the peanut butter mixture onto a cracker and sandwich together with another cracker. Repeat until all the crackers and peanut butter filling have been used.

3. Place crackers onto a parchment line baking sheet and place in freezer for about 30 minutes.

4. Once the chocolate has melted, using a fork, dip the chilled peanut butter sandwiches into the chocolate until completely covered. Shake off any access chocolate and place back onto the parchment lined baking sheet.

Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and set aside to dry, about an hour.

5. Carefully peel from the parchment and serve. Store in fridge

-Sarah-

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Walking through the grocery store, I spotted it: Peanut butter filled Oreos. And at that moment, I realized my calling. A peanut butter pie had to be made with a peanut butter Oreo pie crust. Peanut butter is one of life's greatest gifts. Fact. There is really not much to say about this pie except it is delicious and rich. Fact. It is made with cream cheese so it has a little cheesecake taste to it, which I am obsessed with but people like my mom try to avoid because of the calories...like I really care about that. When a dessert has as much flavor as one tiny bite of this pie has, it is worth eating. Peanut butter pie might be one of my favorite pies after tasting this, although I want to try different recipes for this pie until the best one is found. I believe peanut butter pie is one of those staple desserts that the best recipe for it must be sought out. But this pie has a crunchiness that makes my head spin, not to mention the nice crunch that comes from the Oreo crust too. Peanuts and chocolate chips are added to the filling to balance out the sweetness of the pie and cool whip is spread over the top. Pretty much this pie tastes really good.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

- 32 Oreo cookies, finely processed into crumbs, I used peanut butter filled but you can use any kind you want
- 5 1/3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- Small pinch of salt

For the crunch:
- 1 1/4 cups salted peanuts, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 tsp. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- Dash of ground nutmeg

For the filling:
- Half a container of Cool Whip
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp. milk

For the Topping:

- Other half of Cool Whip

- Mini Reese's cups

Directions:

1. To make crust, preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch spring form pan and place on a baking sheet. Mix oreo crumbs,  melted butter, and salt in a bowl. Make sure all crumbs are moistened. Press the oreo mixture onto the sides and bottom of prepared pan. Put in freezer for 10 minutes and the bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Let cool completely. 

 

2. To make the crunch, in another bowl combine 1 cup of the chopped peanuts, mini chocolate chips, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Toss with a fork to mix and set aside. (Resist snacking on this as it is addictive.)

3. To make filling, use the mixer with the paddle attachment and beat the cream cheese with  confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth.  Beat in the peanut butter, milk, and 1/4 cup of the chopped peanuts until well combined.

4. Using a spatula, fold in the cool whip and peanut mixture. Once all ingredients are incorporated, scrape into cooled pie crust.  

5.  Refrigerate for about four hours or until the filling firms. Top the filling with cool whip and Reese's cups.

It got messy. 

-Sarah-

Adapted from: Annieseats