Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ¹⁄₂ cups flour

½ cup Bob’s Red Mill Sparkling Sugar

Directions

1. Cream butter, peanut butter and both sugars together.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.

3. Add baking soda, powder and vanilla.

4. Stir in flour.

5. Roll into balls, roll in sparkling sugar. Flatten cookies, using a fork, in a criss-cross pattern.

6. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 6-7 minutes or adjust to suit your oven and size of cookies!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

·       3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

·       1 cup granulated sugar

·       1 large egg, at room temperature

·       1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·       1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·       3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (or dutch process)

·       1 teaspoon baking powder

·       1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

1.     Beat the butter for 1 minute on medium speed until completely smooth and creamy. Add the granulated sugar and beat on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract on high speed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

2.     Sift the flour and cocoa powder together in a medium bowl. Whisk in the baking powder and salt until combined. On low speed, slowly mix into the wet ingredients until combined.

3.     Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each portion out onto a piece of parchment to about 1/4″ thickness. Stack the pieces (with parchment paper between) onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Chilling is mandatory. If chilling for more than a couple hours, cover the top dough piece with a single piece of parchment paper. You can chill up to 2 days.

4.     Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. The amount of batches will depend on how large/small you cut your cookies. Remove one of the dough pieces from the refrigerator and using a cookie cutter, cut in shapes. Transfer the cut cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used.

5.     Bake for 10 minutes-- the cookies will still appear soft. Make sure you rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

6.     Decorate with icing or drizzle with chocolate.

Make ahead tip: Unfrosted cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Frosted cookies do not freeze well at all. You can chill the cookie dough for up to 2 days (step 3). You can also freeze the cookie dough before rolling for up to 3 months. Then allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Then allow to come to room temperature for about 1 hour. Then roll and continue with the recipe as directed.

No Bake Energy Bites

These delicious little no bake energy bites are the perfect healthy snack!

INGREDIENTS:

·       1 cup dry old-fashioned oats

·       2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes

·       1/2 cup organic peanut butter

·       1/2 cup ground flax seeds

·       1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

·       1/3 cup raw honey

·       1 tablespoon chia seeds 

·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.

2.     Once chilled, roll into balls about 1" in diameter. Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week. These can also be frozen for several months and are delicious straight out of the freezer.

3.     Makes about 20-25 balls.

Chocolate Stampede Cake

*** I like to layer this in little souffle cups instead of making an actual cake.

Ingredients

For the cake and mousse:

1 18 .25-ounce box devil's food cake mix (plus required ingredients)

14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks)

unsalted butter, diced

1/4 cup strong coffee

10 large eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups plus 6 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups cold heavy cream

For the shell and sauce:

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup heavy cream

5 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

To serve:

1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream

1 tablespoon sugar

1 pint vanilla ice cream

Directions

Make the cake: Prepare the cake mix as the label directs for a 9-by-13-inch cake. Bake; cool slightly in the pan, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.

Clean out the cake pan and line it with plastic wrap. Cut the cake in half lengthwise, then in thirds crosswise to make 6 rectangles. Using a serrated knife, slice each rectangle in half to make two layers. Arrange half of the pieces snugly in the cake pan. Crumble the remaining pieces and press tightly into 6 small balls; arrange 1 cake ball in the center of each cake rectangle in the pan.

Make the mousse: Heat the chocolate, butter, coffee and 1/4 cup water in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water), stirring, until melted. Remove the bowl from the pan; stir until cool. Reserve the simmering water. Fill a large bowl with ice water.

Whisk the egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a separate large heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water and whisk until pale yellow, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chocolate-coffee mixture and the vanilla and whisk until combined, about 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pan and set in the bowl of ice water; whisk until slightly cool but not thick, about 4 minutes.

Beat the egg whites and salt in a bowl with a mixer until foamy. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until almost stiff; gently fold into the chocolate-yolk mixture to make a dark chocolate mousse. Spread 5 cups over the cake and cake balls. Freeze until firm on top, about 30 minutes.

Beat the heavy cream and the remaining 4 tablespoons sugar until soft peaks form; fold into the remaining mousse. Remove the cake from the freezer; spread with the light chocolate mousse, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or overnight.

Make the chocolate shell: Stir the chocolate, heavy cream and 4 tablespoons corn syrup in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) until melted. A spoonful at a time, spread half of the shell mixture over the frozen mousse. Return to the freezer.

Make the chocolate sauce: Add the remaining 1 tablespoon corn syrup and the butter to the remaining chocolate shell mixture. Microwave 30 seconds, then stir until glossy.

To serve the cake, beat the heavy cream with a mixer until foamy. Add the sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Remove the cake from the freezer; invert onto a baking sheet and unmold, then invert again onto a platter, chocolate shell-side up.

Cut the cake in half lengthwise using a warm knife, then cut into thirds crosswise to make 6 rectangles; cut each rectangle in half diagonally to make 2 triangles. Top each triangle with whipped cream, ice cream and the prepared chocolate sauce.