Santa Would Love These Cookies!!!

    It’s finally the Christmas Season! I love it not for the gifts but for what the true Meaning of Christmas means to me the closing out another year, spending time with friends and family.  One last attempt to make the world a better place through charitable giving!  I also love what Christmastime brings around…. FOOD! I love the cookies, pies, cakes, casseroles, Mac and Cheese, and Candied Sweet Potatoes. I will admit it I was taught at a very early age to love and enjoy food.  I finally had a day off and I decide to make some cookies. I love baking cookies around Christmas, it makes the house smell yummy, its nice to nibble on during a Charlie Brown Christmas Special (thank you Hulu.com) and I always have to make cookies for Santa in hopes he would get me what I wanted usually an ant farm or a chemistry set. However, OLD Santa Nick (Mom) brought clothes and dolls that I would eventually dissect.  To me there are three traditional cookies you have to make for Santa Claus (aka the Parent buying the gift) they are Chocolate Chip, Sugar Cookies or Peanut Butter Cookies.  I decided to take a twist on traditional Peanut Butter Cookies add in A little banana and white Chocolate chips and Viola the recipe below.

Peanut Butter Banana Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ¾ cup peanut butter banana Spread (Harry and David)
• ½ cup butter softened
• 1 egg
• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
•  ½  teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of granulated brown sugar
• ½ cup~ 1cup White Chocolate Chips
• 30 ml 99 Banana Liqueur or ½ tsp of Imitation Banana Extract
• 1 teaspoon of Honey
• Splash of Vanilla extract

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, banana liqueur, honey and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy,for about 2~3 mins. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt mix well( cause sometimes when not mixed properly you can get cookies that taste like baking soda)  Add in the White Chocolate Chips.
3. Refrigerate the batter for 30 mins.
4. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place balls, about 3 inches apart on lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake until light brown, 9 to 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheets for a minute; transfer to rack to cool completely. For chewier cookies, bake at 300°F for 15 minutes.

*Next time I will attempt an egg free cookie by using just Banana’s instead of an egg.

*I accidently brought Granulated Brown Sugar but it worked just as well.

 Reference:

Rich Creamy Peanut Butter Cookies

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/rich-peanut-butter-cookies/

Peanut Butter Cookies by Elise  Posted Dec 18, 2005

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/peanut_butter_cookies/

Hey you get 2 for 1 deal I had Extra Peanut Butter so I made Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars.

 

Peanut Butter Toffee Bars

·         1 cup Peanut Butter Banana Spread

·         1/2 cup Crisco Butter flavored Spread, softened

·         3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

·         1/2 cup brown granulated sugar

·         1 tsp. vanilla extract

·         1 tsp. 99 Banana Liqueur

·         2 eggs

·         2 cups all-purpose flour

·         1/2 tsp. salt

·         ½ cup  White chocolates Chips and

·         ½ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

·         Several Hershey Kisses

DIRECTIONS

1.      Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 8x8-inch baking pan; set aside.

2.      In large bowl, with electric mixer, beat Peanut Butter, Spread, brown sugar, brown granulated sugar and vanilla until thick and creamy, about 5 minutes.

3.      Beat in eggs, then flour blended with salt. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Evenly spread into prepared pan.

4.      Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven to wire rack and immediately sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes.

5.      Evenly spread melted chocolate, then sprinkle with cool completely. To serve, cut into bars.

My co-worker demolished them before I knew it. 

Reference:

http://www.countrycrock.com/Recipes/9277/1/Peanut-Butter-Toffee-Bars.aspx

Bake a Cake! Apple Spice cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

You should bake this cake. Why? Because it is:

1. Easy
2. Yummy

I found this recipe on Lick the Bowl Good. It is a perfect fall cake, and the recipe is good for small families.
( originally adapted from The Cake Book then further adapted by me)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cardamom
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups Gala apples, peeled and chopped into 1/3-inch pieces
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

First you need to read the ingredient list and make sure you have everything.
Second read the whole recipe beginning to end so you know what you are doing, when you are doing it.
Everything goes better if everything is at room temperature, so get all the cold ingredients out and let them come up to temperature.

Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Grease and Flour and 9x5 loaf pan. Get together the first 8 ingredients (all the dry shit) and whisk it together in a bowl (duh). Peel (or don't, I did) your apple. Chop your nuts. Get a second bowl and a hand mixer or a stand mixer and whip that butter. While your butter is getting all big and fluffy measure out the buttermilk, and the brown sugar. Get your sugar in the butter once the butter in FLUFFY. Then get those two fluffy together. Next add one room temperature egg (cause you did what I said and got your shit out early), mix it in, add the other, mix it in, and add vanilla.

Now you need to add in your dry ingredients and the buttermilk, alternately. So you start and end with dry every time you bake a cake.
Use a spatula to stir in your nuts and apple chunks. Put your super yummy batter (it smells good don't it, go ahead and taste a little) in the loaf pan and bake it up for about 30 minutes.

Take it out of the oven when it is done.
Make your Frosting!

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon maple flavoring or 1 Tbsp. real maple syrup (you better use real)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of salt
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Whip your ROOM TEMPERATURE cream cheese and butter until it is...FLUFFY!
Add Vanilla, Grade B real Maple syrup, spices, and salt. Lastly add your powdered sugar.