Cookie Carnival: Sweet Banana Peanut Butter Cookies

Today my oven was happy with me. Today Cati put on my oven gloves, touched the oven, and said "ahmm ahmm ahmm." Today I went back to my baking basics and baked cookies. I baked cookies that I knew would be crowd pleasers in my house because Alex loves peanut butter cookies and I love every combination of peanut butter and bananas.

The cookies themselves were soft and chewy and had such a beautiful golden color. Cati and I munched on a couple of cookies before I got to filling them. For the filling, I kept everything the same except changing the ingredients to 1 banana, 1/4 cup cream cheese, and 1/4 cup peanut butter. I did this because I only wanted to fill half of the cookies but I actually had enough filling for nine out of the 12 cookies. You can't even taste the rum in the filling and once you eat the whole cookie sandwich, all you taste is the deliciousness of that banana-peanut butter combination.

As a random side note, we got Cati's backpack a few days ago and it is the cutest thing ever (Pottery Barn clearance, woo hoo!)! She wants absolutely nothing to do with it but I hope she grows to like it because I am dying to get a picture of her carrying it. I'm actually really excited about her starting school and meanwhile Alex is shedding tears. Ironic, huh?

 

For more on baking with Cookie Carnival head over to our lovely host's blog, Tami's Kitchen Table Talk.

Sweet Banana Peanut Butter Cookies
Source: Anna Olson on Food Network
Yields 12 cookie sandwiches


Cookie
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons golden brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon rum
pinch cinnamon
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

For cookies, preheat oven to 350° F. Cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in peanut butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture and blend in. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet and crisscross mark them with a floured fork. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, until cookies just start to colour around the edges.

For filling, in sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add sugars and increase heat to medium-high. Stir until melted and bubbling. Add rum (watch out for flames). Add cinnamon. Stir in bananas to coat, set aside.

Cream together cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Mash bananas and add to cream cheese mixture until smooth. Chill for 20 minutes.

To assemble, fill between 2 peanut butter cookies to make sandwiches. Repeat with remaining cookies.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

I had been meaning to make these cookies for Cookie Carnival for the whole month of October. Isn't it annoying when you want to do something but for some reason or another you keep putting off? Then you do whatever it is and you wonder why the heck you put it off in the first place? Well, that's exactly what happened with me and these cookies. The cookies were beyond delicious: soft, chewy, sweet, spicy, pumpkin-y, and gooey with white chocolate.

 

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Source: My Baking Addiction
yield | 48 cookies

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter; softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cherries; roughly chopped

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until light and fluffy.
3. Add pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract; mix well. Add flour mixture; combine until all ingredients are incorporated. Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cherries.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Storage: Cookies store well in an airtight container for up to three days.

Notes: Get creative! Add in whatever strikes your fancy, I can imagine a variety of chocolates, nuts, and dried fruits will really make the flavors and textures of this cook truly amazing.

Cookie Wednesday: Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

There have been exciting developments around here. Catarina finally likes her swing! This is a wonderful development because it means more time in the kitchen for me. Woo hoo! I've been able to get some baking done because she'll hang out in the swing calmly for about 30 minutes. You have no idea how awesome this is! I'm still going to stick to desserts with quick prep time but I feel like this opens up a whole new baking world.
Anyway, this week's cookie is one of the cookies selected for Cookie Carnival. Remember them? I used to participate and then fell off the wagon but now I'm back. Tami, our new host, was gracious enough to forgive my absence. I decided to go with the Outrageous Chocolate Cookies (versus Berry Cream Cookie Snaps) because I was in the mood for something chocolaty. I got what I wanted because these are the most chocolaty cookies I have ever had in my life. You absolutely must have these cookies with a glass of milk; the cookies just scream,"Eat me with milk!" Another reason for the milk is that these cookies are very rich and you will need something to help wash them down. These cookies are best out of the oven, in my opinion because they are soft, warm, and chocolate just oozes out of them.
Outrageous Chocolate Cookies
Source: Martha Stewart (here)

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.
PS for info on Cookie Carnival make sure to contact Tami at Tami's Kitchen Table!

Bad Baker

I have been a bad baker as of late. I have completely neglected my Cake Slice, Cookie Carnival, and You Want Pies With That? duties. I promise to catch up! Cake Slice post will be going up on Wednesday and I am trying to think of a how to turn a family favorite dessert into a pie for this month's You Want Pies With That? theme. That one is really going to require me to get creative. Maybe the beautiful spring season will inspire me :)

Cookie Carnival: Chocolate Fudge Cookies

I feel like I have posted a lot of chocolate recipes lately. Somehow chocolate has managed to creep itself into a lot of the desserts I have made lately. I am not complaining though. I have come to really appreciate chocolate. Kate of The Clean Plate furthered my appreciation of chocolate by choosing Chocolate Fudge Cookies for this month's Cookie Carnival. These cookies were chewy, chocolatey, and crispy (compliments of the toffee). This is the type of cookie that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I omitted the cherries because we aren't fans of baked fruits, but I made up for it by adding extra toffee :)

Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Toffee and Dried Cherries
Source: Regan Daley's In The Sweet Kitchen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup tightly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup plump, moist, dried sour cherries (I omitted)
8 oz. bitter or semisweet chocolate chopped into chunks about the size of the cherries
1 cup English toffee pieces for baking such as Skor Bits

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two heavy baking sheets, not non-stick, with parchment paper and set aside. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into a bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars until light in color and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla. Stir in the flour-mixture in 3 additions, blending just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the chunky ingredients and mix until they seem evenly distributed.

2. Drop the batter by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets and place them in the center of the oven. If you have a large, evenly tempered oven, place the 2 sheets in at once, on two racks positioned close to the middle of the oven. switch the position of the trays once during baking. If your oven is small, or tends to have hot or cold spots, bake one tray at a time so the cookies bake evenly.

3. Bake the cookies for 15-18 minutes, or until barely set in the center and just firm around the edges. Rotate the sheets once or twice. Cool the cookies on the tray for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before storing. Store the cookies in airtight containers, layered between sheets of parchment or waxed paper for up to 5 days.

How amazing does this look?

Fabulous!

Cookie Carnival: Decorated Cookies

Kate of The Clean Plate was in the holiday spirit this month when she chose the cookies for Cookie Carnival. She gave us two recipes for roll-out cookies and let us loose. I had trouble with the chocolate cookie dough because I found it too crumbly and had trouble rolling it out, but the vanilla cookie dough was a dream and so easy to work with. I cut my cookies in holiday shapes and it so got me in the holiday spirit. I love this time of year! Time was running short so I didn't get to decorate the cookies as nicely as I wanted, but I had a lot of fun decorating them in the way that I did. I used royal icing and dirtied a lot of dishes making the different colors. I think they came out cute :)

Chocolate Roll-Out Cookie
Source: Dorie Greenspan
Yield: Makes about 60 small or 20 large cookies

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sprinkles or other sugar decorations (optional)
Royal Icing (optional)

Preparation
Sift first 5 ingredients and cinnamon, if desired, into medium bowl. Stir chocolate in metal bowl set over saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth. Set aside. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and beat until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in vanilla and chocolate. Add flour mixture and beat on low speed just to blend. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling out.

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to 1/8-inch thickness for smaller (2-inch) cookies and 1/4-inch thickness for larger (3- to 4-inch) cookies. Using waxed paper prevents you from adding too much flour, which will make the cookies tough.

Using decorative cookie cutters, cut out cookies. Cold dough is much easier to work with. If it gets warm as you're cutting out the cookies, place the dough—waxed paper and all—in the freezer for about 5 minutes.

Use an offset spatula to peel away the
excess dough and transfer the cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Gather scraps, roll out dough, and cut more cookies, repeating until all dough is used. If not icing cookies, decorate with sprinkles or other sugar toppings, if desired.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are firm on top and slightly darker around edges, about 9 minutes for smaller cookies and up to 12 minutes for larger cookies. Line baking sheets with fresh parchment as needed. Cool completely on rack. Decorate cookies with royal icing if desired. DO AHEAD: Cookies can be made 4 days ahead. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight containers.


Vanilla Roll-Out Cookies
Source: Dorie Greenspan
Yield: Makes about 40 small or 15 large cookies

For a lemony twist, reduce the vanilla extract to 3/4 teaspoon and add 1 1/4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel.

Ingredients
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
Sprinkles or other sugar decorations (optional)
Royal Icing (optional)

Preparation
Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and salt and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low and beat in vanilla. Add flour and beat on low speed just to blend. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Form each half into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap disks separately in plastic and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to 1/8-inch thickness for smaller (2-inch) cookies and 1/4-inch thickness for larger (3- to 4-inch) cookies. Using decorative cookie cutters, cut out cookies and transfer to prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. If cookies become too soft to transfer to baking sheets, place in freezer on waxed paper for 5 minutes before continuing. Gather scraps, roll out dough, and cut more cookies, repeating until all dough is used. If not icing cookies, decorate with sprinkles or other sugar toppings, if desired.

Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are firm on top and golden around edges, about 10 minutes for smaller cookies and up to 14 minutes for larger cookies. Cool completely on rack. Decorate with Royal Icing, then sprinkles or other sugar toppings, if desired. Let stand until icing sets. DO AHEAD: Can be made 4 days ahead. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight containers.

The Trees

The Snowflakes

The Gingerbread Men: The One of the Left is From Miami :)

Our Stockings This Year

Extra Dough, Extra Icing: A Special Message