For Easter Monster wanted to use all our spring cookie cutters. We wanted a recipe that she could make herself and really I don't have any good sugar cookie recipes...mostly because I find sugar cookies dry and boring. I let her pick a cookie recipe out of the cookbook with the guide line that it have a roll-able dough and this is the one she wanted to try.
Good choice!
Here is a link to the recipe on the Hershey's Kitchen Peanut Butter Cut-Out cookies
As usually I wasn't able to follow the recipe perfectly and had to make it up as we went along.
We had no peanut butter chips or pecans... I am looking forward to making these again following the actual recipe.
I am also really impressed with Monster, Hershey has this recipe listed as Skill Level: Advanced
We substitute creamy peanut butter for the peanut butter chips and creamed the peanut butter and butter together instead of melting it in a pan. We skipped the pecans altogether. Nuts are tricky in my house. I happen to love all of then (except pistachios) and My Love happens to avoid all of them. So adding them is the equivalent to saying,"MaWHAHAHA! They are all MINE!" Hence, they are often skipped.
Monster did most of the mixing...and her arms got tired holding up the hand mixer.
Then she rolled out the dough. The dough was soft so we worked in small batches. It was pretty easy to explain to her how each time you re-roll the dough you want to keep it about the same thickness every time. Also the shapes could be pressed back into shape most of the time if you accidentally broke off a piece... we had a few ducks lose their feet and some poor ear-less bunnies.... But don't worry! She rescued them!
She discovered that the cookie cutters didn't stick if we dipped them in sugar first. I had nothing to do...Monster was able to do this all herself! When she was having trouble moving them from the counter to the pan she solved it herself by getting a frosting knife and using that as a spatula!
The cookie cutters she used were tiny so it made alot of tiny yummy cookies, perfect for popping in your mouth.
I am sure she could do the stove top one with a little more watching over, but I see no reason your kids can't do the recipe the way she did, perfect for a Saturday afternoon "I'm bored!" cure.
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookies. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Brownies
Today is not a great day or a bad day... it is a very confusing day.
I got a promotion, but will be taking my new place sooner then anticipated. I will be in management, which is good. The original plan was get a week of training and then transition into it. Then a Co worker who has a parallel position had bad things happen... she has to move out of town suddenly. So, instead of gradual I will be trained by her today and then take her shifts the rest of the week, that would be the bad.
Means a crappy schedule and more importantly a friend is moving far away.
She used to bring in cookies every time she baked them, but we never really worked together enough for me to get them...they were always eaten by the time I got there. It soon became a running joke between us.
As a going away present I am making her cookies!
Well, brownies too.
Of course the cookies were no problem, just went with the new favorite
Chocolate Peanut butter Thumbprints!
As I was making them the 2 elder kids wandered in and began to help. They discovered I have the most amazing talent to make a ball of dough in a measuring cup of sugar magically roll around and get totally covered with the sugar.
That is the next trick they want me to teach them... heck I didn't know I could do it till I did it.
Eldest...errr...Raven wanted mostly to pick at the chips and chunks...sampling every step of the batter. Thunderous then mostly engaged in verbally discouraging her.
They both got some practice in on using the beater and the scarpers. I kept encouraging them to practice more. I didn't mention that they will be making their own dinner a lot more often so they had better practice fast.
I showed them how to layout all your ingredients before you start baking to be sure you have it all.
Raven loves the smell of vanilla, she asked me if there are any shampoo the smells like vanilla. I told her "Probably. You are old enough to make your own hair tonics, why don't you make some with vanilla?" She is thinking about it.
Thunderous made the observation that the brownies are the opposite of the cookies!
They happen to be on opposite pages in the cook book as well.
I think that means they balance each other.
It was simple to whip these up. The problem we have run into is we must have used much to small of a pan. It is taking about twice as long to bake as the instructions call for. Looking at it in the pan I am sure that is the problem. It rather looks like a cake instead of a brownie!
I, yet again, can not find the recipe on the Hershey's site to link to it for you. This time instead of typing it for you I took a picture of the page and will post it...let's see if you can see it okay.
You MUST let me know if this works!
I got a promotion, but will be taking my new place sooner then anticipated. I will be in management, which is good. The original plan was get a week of training and then transition into it. Then a Co worker who has a parallel position had bad things happen... she has to move out of town suddenly. So, instead of gradual I will be trained by her today and then take her shifts the rest of the week, that would be the bad.
Means a crappy schedule and more importantly a friend is moving far away.
She used to bring in cookies every time she baked them, but we never really worked together enough for me to get them...they were always eaten by the time I got there. It soon became a running joke between us.
As a going away present I am making her cookies!
Well, brownies too.
Of course the cookies were no problem, just went with the new favorite
Chocolate Peanut butter Thumbprints!
As I was making them the 2 elder kids wandered in and began to help. They discovered I have the most amazing talent to make a ball of dough in a measuring cup of sugar magically roll around and get totally covered with the sugar.
That is the next trick they want me to teach them... heck I didn't know I could do it till I did it.
Eldest...errr...Raven wanted mostly to pick at the chips and chunks...sampling every step of the batter. Thunderous then mostly engaged in verbally discouraging her.
They both got some practice in on using the beater and the scarpers. I kept encouraging them to practice more. I didn't mention that they will be making their own dinner a lot more often so they had better practice fast.
I showed them how to layout all your ingredients before you start baking to be sure you have it all.
Raven loves the smell of vanilla, she asked me if there are any shampoo the smells like vanilla. I told her "Probably. You are old enough to make your own hair tonics, why don't you make some with vanilla?" She is thinking about it.
Thunderous made the observation that the brownies are the opposite of the cookies!
They happen to be on opposite pages in the cook book as well.
I think that means they balance each other.
It was simple to whip these up. The problem we have run into is we must have used much to small of a pan. It is taking about twice as long to bake as the instructions call for. Looking at it in the pan I am sure that is the problem. It rather looks like a cake instead of a brownie!
I, yet again, can not find the recipe on the Hershey's site to link to it for you. This time instead of typing it for you I took a picture of the page and will post it...let's see if you can see it okay.
You MUST let me know if this works!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprint cookies
These are our new favorite cookies!
the recipe is simple and the girls had fun making these.
I looked on Hershey's site but I could not find this recipe. So I will retype it here as it appears in our Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook
Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprints
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa or Hershey's European style Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
additional granulated sugar
*Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In small microwave-safe bowl, place 1/2 cup peanut butter chips. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 30-40 seconds or just until chips are melted and smooth when stirred; set aside.
*In large mixer bowl, beat butter granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add melted peanut butter chips; beat well.
*Stir together flour, cocoa and baking soda; stir into peanut butter mixture until well blended.
*For each cookie, shape 1 tablespoon dough into ball; roll in additional granulated sugar. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet; with bottom of glass, flatten cookies to 1/4-inch thickness. Using Thumb, make indention in center of each cookie.
*Bake 6 to 8 minutes or just till set. remove from oven. If necessary, using the tip of a spoon, press indention in center of each cookie; immediately place 1 teaspoonful peanut butter chips in each indentation. Soften 1 to 2 minutes; spread melted chips into swirl. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
About 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
This is now the Go To cookie recipe.
Eldest made some for a class project and got an A+
We also have made them with chocolate chips and mint chocolate chips in place of the peanut butter ones. They were all good!
This is a fun cookie to make too! Who doesn't want to stick their thumb in a cookie?
Great. Now I want to bake them again.
the recipe is simple and the girls had fun making these.
I looked on Hershey's site but I could not find this recipe. So I will retype it here as it appears in our Hershey's Chocolate Lover's Cookbook
Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprints
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) Reese's Peanut Butter Chips, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Hershey's Cocoa or Hershey's European style Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
additional granulated sugar
*Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In small microwave-safe bowl, place 1/2 cup peanut butter chips. Microwave at HIGH (100%) 30-40 seconds or just until chips are melted and smooth when stirred; set aside.
*In large mixer bowl, beat butter granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add melted peanut butter chips; beat well.
*Stir together flour, cocoa and baking soda; stir into peanut butter mixture until well blended.
*For each cookie, shape 1 tablespoon dough into ball; roll in additional granulated sugar. Place balls on ungreased cookie sheet; with bottom of glass, flatten cookies to 1/4-inch thickness. Using Thumb, make indention in center of each cookie.
*Bake 6 to 8 minutes or just till set. remove from oven. If necessary, using the tip of a spoon, press indention in center of each cookie; immediately place 1 teaspoonful peanut butter chips in each indentation. Soften 1 to 2 minutes; spread melted chips into swirl. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
About 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
This is now the Go To cookie recipe.
Eldest made some for a class project and got an A+
We also have made them with chocolate chips and mint chocolate chips in place of the peanut butter ones. They were all good!
This is a fun cookie to make too! Who doesn't want to stick their thumb in a cookie?
Great. Now I want to bake them again.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tropical Garden Cookies and Mary Kay
Today we had a guest baker with us. Eldest had a friend sleep over lastnight and they had a specific goal in mind. Her friend does not know how to cook, more then once she has been on the phone with Eldest at 8pm and later complaining she is starving and her parents wont be home for a few more hours. Eldest's initial responds was a disparaging, "Why don't you make something?" Then shock as her friend confessed she didn't know how. I thought she meant lack of confidence or familiarity with recipes.
No.
The child is the youngest (and last one at home) and has never even turned ON the stove. Someone always cooked for her. Eldest decided we had to teach her or her friend would surely starve! Her friend in return was shocked that Eldest not only knew how to cook, but had also cooked a Thanksgiving diner herself and made the whole dinner for the family once a week. At first she thought is was "just weird" but soon she thought it was amazing.
After they agreed on Eldest teaching her she talked her mom into buying a box cake and attempted to make that. I don't know all the details, suffice it to say no one could eat the cake.
So here was the plan: she would sleepover Friday. They would make pizza for dinner. They would make the snacks for the Mary Kay Color Party we were having Saturday. They would make lunch.
Eldest was sure there would be no problem and it would be fun. But as we started the pizza dough the little girl was wide-eyed and so nervous...she only watched as Eldest measured out ingredients and mixed it. She had no idea what seasoning she like so had no impute on the spices we add to our dough. She became so confused by the fact that milk or water changes the texture of the crust that she wasn't sure if she liked her dough soft or crispy.
We must not be very good teachers. We just mixed and kneaded it and let her watch. We decided not to discuss sauce and toppings and did it simply: light on the sauce mixed with garlic and basil,lots of cheese, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, and black olives. She seemed to like it once it was done. She didn't say much, just ate and ate and then said it wasn't like the pizza she's ever ordered.
Realizing that we might be taking for grated basic cooking skills we challenging the lunch menu to the very challenging meal of Top Ramon and Grilled Cheese & turkey sandwiches for lunch. Monster mastered the Grilled Cheese a few weeks ago, so she was in charge of that part. Thunderous is the Master Ramon Maker so he was in charge of that part...but before we could do that the girls had to mix the cookie dough.
We had originally intended to make 2 kinds of cookies and 1 brownie but were now worried we'd over load her and she'd never set foot in the kitchen again. So we decided on one cookie and a fruit plate with cream cheese dip.
Eldest started the dough and her friend was literally her shadow, she tripped over her a few times before they settled into a rhythm. We had a disagreement over whether the vanilla is added with the sugar and butter or if it should go in with the eggs. I relented and told her to do as the book said (with the sugar and butter) she met me half way and mixed it in after the butter and sugar but before the eggs. Her friend just looked onto that discussion with big eyes again.
We suddenly were running out of time!
Monster was buttering the bread and Thunderous was boiling the water. The friend was so proud to be able to say,"Hey! I've made that before (Ramon) and I've watched my mom make grilled cheese!" So we threw her in head first. Hey, we needed the extra hands.
She suddenly became everyone's helper. She put the top slice of bread on the sandwiches and flipped them (practically glowing with pride). She told Thunderous when the water was boiling and set the timer, then told him when the timer was almost done. She also held the bowl and scrapped the sides while Eldest added the dry ingredients and the chips.
OH! I missed the best part!
The recipe we decided on was Tropical Garden Cookies. It calls for both orange juice and orange zest. None of the kids had made zest before so they were all on even ground with that. All the kids ended up drifting into the kitchen and staying as we started the cookies (that's why they all ended up staying and making lunch together).
We started with an orange. You might be surprised how unfamiliar whole/raw foods are to some kids, sad isn't it? I showed them how you can let the orange sit in a bowl of warm water for awhile so you can get more juice out of it. Then we all looked at the box grater, Thunderous was the only one who knew that's what it was really called (he watches Alton Brown), my 2 girls had their own names for it, the friend was silent. I showed them the side you can zest on..."Oh that's what that sides for?! I used it for cheese once. It didn't work too well." Monster said.
Aagggh! *face table* you have no idea how much that explains.
Moving on from that I showed them how simple zesting is and about the pith or white-stuff as we called it. I let Eldest start and then she let her friend do the rest while she started mixing the dry ingredients.
The friend must have been feeling more confidant, or maybe adventurous, because after finishing zesting the orange she jumped in to help everyone else.
When it came time to juice the orange everyone stopped for a minute to watch Eldest do it. She cut the orange in half and used a hand juicer to juice it into a bowl first so we could measure it. Apparently it was fascinating.
We ate lunch and let the dough chill. The girls decided to use the 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the cookies, Eldest likes big cookies. The first pan looked good but the second I had to suddenly remind them the cookies need to be equal sizes and about 2 inches apart. I wish we had the camera so I could have taken pictures for you!(still haven't found where it was packed so safely) It was crazy!
They set the temp and the time.
When the timer went off they were under done so I put them back in for 3 more minutes. It apparently was too long.
I haven't figured out all the quirks of my new oven, but I am trying. It seems to cook too slow, then too fast, and the bottoms of everything gets over done. So unfortunately the cookies, while not burnt, were a bit too dark on the bottom for my tastes. But I didn't say a thing. I wonder too if the extra sugar in the OJ burns a bit easier, we had all kinds of issues when we tried to bast a turkey in OJ in the past.
The kids all say the dough tastes better then the cookies and we have plans to try and incorporate it into cookie dough ice-cream this summer, which the friend is invited to and very enthusiastic about...who knew you could make ice-cream at home! This she has to see! (me too. we've never done it.)
The other friends who came for the party loved the cookies!
So I think the whole experience was a success.
I'll ask Eldest.
Thought here are only 4 cookies left I am not sure about making this one again. I liked them alot and want to try them on a different shelf and see if that cures the toasty bottoms. My Love is not big on flavored chocolate. Okay he REALLY doesn't like flavored chocolate. He keeps saying they were okay. But I don't believe him.
Monster gives them a thumbs up and Thunderous says they were okay (mini dad), but not as good as the cookie dough.
Okay, I think that settles it. I will have to try them again and not over cook them, maybe that will really tell us if they are repeat worthy.
No.
The child is the youngest (and last one at home) and has never even turned ON the stove. Someone always cooked for her. Eldest decided we had to teach her or her friend would surely starve! Her friend in return was shocked that Eldest not only knew how to cook, but had also cooked a Thanksgiving diner herself and made the whole dinner for the family once a week. At first she thought is was "just weird" but soon she thought it was amazing.
After they agreed on Eldest teaching her she talked her mom into buying a box cake and attempted to make that. I don't know all the details, suffice it to say no one could eat the cake.
So here was the plan: she would sleepover Friday. They would make pizza for dinner. They would make the snacks for the Mary Kay Color Party we were having Saturday. They would make lunch.
Eldest was sure there would be no problem and it would be fun. But as we started the pizza dough the little girl was wide-eyed and so nervous...she only watched as Eldest measured out ingredients and mixed it. She had no idea what seasoning she like so had no impute on the spices we add to our dough. She became so confused by the fact that milk or water changes the texture of the crust that she wasn't sure if she liked her dough soft or crispy.
We must not be very good teachers. We just mixed and kneaded it and let her watch. We decided not to discuss sauce and toppings and did it simply: light on the sauce mixed with garlic and basil,lots of cheese, Canadian bacon, mushrooms, and black olives. She seemed to like it once it was done. She didn't say much, just ate and ate and then said it wasn't like the pizza she's ever ordered.
Realizing that we might be taking for grated basic cooking skills we challenging the lunch menu to the very challenging meal of Top Ramon and Grilled Cheese & turkey sandwiches for lunch. Monster mastered the Grilled Cheese a few weeks ago, so she was in charge of that part. Thunderous is the Master Ramon Maker so he was in charge of that part...but before we could do that the girls had to mix the cookie dough.
We had originally intended to make 2 kinds of cookies and 1 brownie but were now worried we'd over load her and she'd never set foot in the kitchen again. So we decided on one cookie and a fruit plate with cream cheese dip.
Eldest started the dough and her friend was literally her shadow, she tripped over her a few times before they settled into a rhythm. We had a disagreement over whether the vanilla is added with the sugar and butter or if it should go in with the eggs. I relented and told her to do as the book said (with the sugar and butter) she met me half way and mixed it in after the butter and sugar but before the eggs. Her friend just looked onto that discussion with big eyes again.
We suddenly were running out of time!
Monster was buttering the bread and Thunderous was boiling the water. The friend was so proud to be able to say,"Hey! I've made that before (Ramon) and I've watched my mom make grilled cheese!" So we threw her in head first. Hey, we needed the extra hands.
She suddenly became everyone's helper. She put the top slice of bread on the sandwiches and flipped them (practically glowing with pride). She told Thunderous when the water was boiling and set the timer, then told him when the timer was almost done. She also held the bowl and scrapped the sides while Eldest added the dry ingredients and the chips.
OH! I missed the best part!
The recipe we decided on was Tropical Garden Cookies. It calls for both orange juice and orange zest. None of the kids had made zest before so they were all on even ground with that. All the kids ended up drifting into the kitchen and staying as we started the cookies (that's why they all ended up staying and making lunch together).
We started with an orange. You might be surprised how unfamiliar whole/raw foods are to some kids, sad isn't it? I showed them how you can let the orange sit in a bowl of warm water for awhile so you can get more juice out of it. Then we all looked at the box grater, Thunderous was the only one who knew that's what it was really called (he watches Alton Brown), my 2 girls had their own names for it, the friend was silent. I showed them the side you can zest on..."Oh that's what that sides for?! I used it for cheese once. It didn't work too well." Monster said.
Aagggh! *face table* you have no idea how much that explains.
Moving on from that I showed them how simple zesting is and about the pith or white-stuff as we called it. I let Eldest start and then she let her friend do the rest while she started mixing the dry ingredients.
The friend must have been feeling more confidant, or maybe adventurous, because after finishing zesting the orange she jumped in to help everyone else.
When it came time to juice the orange everyone stopped for a minute to watch Eldest do it. She cut the orange in half and used a hand juicer to juice it into a bowl first so we could measure it. Apparently it was fascinating.
We ate lunch and let the dough chill. The girls decided to use the 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop out the cookies, Eldest likes big cookies. The first pan looked good but the second I had to suddenly remind them the cookies need to be equal sizes and about 2 inches apart. I wish we had the camera so I could have taken pictures for you!(still haven't found where it was packed so safely) It was crazy!
They set the temp and the time.
When the timer went off they were under done so I put them back in for 3 more minutes. It apparently was too long.
I haven't figured out all the quirks of my new oven, but I am trying. It seems to cook too slow, then too fast, and the bottoms of everything gets over done. So unfortunately the cookies, while not burnt, were a bit too dark on the bottom for my tastes. But I didn't say a thing. I wonder too if the extra sugar in the OJ burns a bit easier, we had all kinds of issues when we tried to bast a turkey in OJ in the past.
The kids all say the dough tastes better then the cookies and we have plans to try and incorporate it into cookie dough ice-cream this summer, which the friend is invited to and very enthusiastic about...who knew you could make ice-cream at home! This she has to see! (me too. we've never done it.)
The other friends who came for the party loved the cookies!
So I think the whole experience was a success.
I'll ask Eldest.
Thought here are only 4 cookies left I am not sure about making this one again. I liked them alot and want to try them on a different shelf and see if that cures the toasty bottoms. My Love is not big on flavored chocolate. Okay he REALLY doesn't like flavored chocolate. He keeps saying they were okay. But I don't believe him.
Monster gives them a thumbs up and Thunderous says they were okay (mini dad), but not as good as the cookie dough.
Okay, I think that settles it. I will have to try them again and not over cook them, maybe that will really tell us if they are repeat worthy.
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