Halloween Scream - Monster Cookies

It was a dark and stormy night........  when the Monsters attacked......

mmmmmm    grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggg

It was the annual Halloween Chili Feed, so I figured I should make some cookies fitting the occasion.  Monster cookies are kind of a odd baked beast.  Seriously, I love Peanut Butter Cookies and Oatmeal Cookies and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies as well as Cowboy Cookies (Oatmeal Chocolate Chip) but Peanut Butter and Oatmeal with Chocolate is kind of a odd combination to me. It's like throwing all your eggs in one basket and hoping it's not a disaster.  I guess I had never really thought about it when I was a kid.  Every time Grandma made them, we all went nuts for them...  Maybe we were just bedazzled by the colorful M&Ms... Though they are much more colorful now, than they were when I was young (Red & Blue didn't exist and I miss the tan colored ones). Maybe my taste buds have changed.  The kids went nuts for them though, just like we use to when we were young. Maybe it's an age thing.  Who knows. 

There is a plus to these cookies though, between the Peanut Butter and the Eggs, no further binders are needed... Meaning they contain no wheat flour, so they are a "gluten-free". That is unless there is hidden gluten in M&Ms...   Hmmmmmmm

Monster Cookies

1 1/2 cups chunky Peanut Butter
8 TB unsalted Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Granulated Sugar
3 large Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 1/2 cups Quick Oats
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Kosher Salt
1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1 cup M&M's Dark Chocolate candies

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the Peanut Butter and Butter until well combined.

Add the sugars and continue beating until light and fluffy.

Add Eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the Vanilla Extract.

Add Oats, Baking Soda and Salt, stirring by hand to incorporate.

Add Milk Chocolate Chips and M&M's, stirring until uniformly spread through the batter.

Use a scoop (I used a #24 but that is the largest I have.. a #12 would have been better) to portion the dough on an ungreased baking sheet.

(I found candy eyes earlier this month and since I did not get around to decorating sugar cookies by floating royal icing on them, I decided to give the monsters eyes)

Bake 17 to 20 minutes (depending on the size of scoop you use), careful not to over bake, they should look a little bit moist in the center when removed from the oven.... Allow them to cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheets to allow the cookies to finish baking.

Transfer to wire racks and cool completely before storing in an airtight container so they can't escape.

Apparently, I should have gotten the lid on faster....  ;)

Mangia!!
~~

Here Comes the Sun - Sunflower Butter Cookies

Everyone is familiar with Peanut Butter cookies.  Those sweet and salty biscuits with the clever hatch marks on the top.  Did you know that other nut butters work just as well as Peanut butter?  Yep, it's true.  And since I know several people with peanut allergies, who are also allergic to tree nuts of all kinds, I have started turning to my favorite substitute on a regular basis.   Sunflower Seed Butter.  

True, they don't taste exactly like peanut butter cookies, but they are pretty close.   In fact, I think sunflower seed butter tastes more like peanut butter than the almond butter does.

Sunflower Butter Cookies

1/2 cup (4 oz) (113g) Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup (4.5 oz) (130g) Sunflower Butter
1/2 cup (3.5 oz) (100g) Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup (3.6 oz) (102g) Dark Brown Sugar
1 large Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 cups (6.6 oz) (187g) AP Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

You know the drill...

Place Butter and Sunflower butter in the bowl of you mixer and beat until well combined.

Add the both the Sugars and cream them together.

Add the Egg and mix until emulsified, then add the Vanilla and mix a little longer.

In a small bowl, whisk Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt together.

Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl and beat on low speed until well combined and a soft sticky dough forms.

Remove the dough from the bowl, wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees
Roll Walnut sized balls of dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Using a fork, create hatch marks on the cookies, flattening them slightly. 

(This is a requirement, don't ask me why, it's just tradition - though I have been told that if this is not done, it will cause a distortion in the space-time continuum)  ;)

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Then grab a big glass of ice cold milk and enjoy.

Mangia!!
~~

PB & J's Evil Twin - Peanut Butter & Dill Pickle

My dad introduced me to the awesomeness of a Peanut Butter and Dill Pickle Sandwich when I was very young.  It was a guilty pleasure of my youth to be eaten when Mom wasn't around.  Sort of a male bonding thing. All three of us boys enjoyed them immensely. Seriously, I am not kidding.

I know I sound like I have completely gone off the deep end.  I know is sounds weird and possibly even disgusting.  My mother would agree with that assessment.  Then again, she hates peanut butter to begin with.

Trust me, I am not insane, (OK, maybe a little, but that's beside the point) there is just something magical that happens to peanut butter when you add the sharpness of a Dill Pickle to it.  It becomes sort of sweet.  That combination of sharp vinegar laced with dill & salt works it's VooDoo on the lowly peanut, creating a whole new flavor that is sweet & creamy, yet salty and savory shot with the pungency of apple cider vinegar.   It is a strange phenomenon that I cannot really explain, but it's delicious. (or at least I think so, but I like Balsamic Vinegar Ice Cream too)

Now mind you, I have only eat this sandwich when I'm fortunate enough to be in possession of a jar of my dad's homemade dill pickles.  But even though I cannot personally vouch for store bought Dill Pickles in this application, I am fairly confident they will work just as well as my dad's do.  The most important thing is the  peanut butter. No JIF, Peter Pan or Skippy.   Just good old peanuts, ground into "butter", with a little salt added.  Me, I prefer the crunchy version, but creamy does work.  It's just the Sugar & HFC laced stuff you need to avoid.  As well as those that include non-peanut oils such as soy bean and palm.

I am also a big fan of seedy bread when doing this... Seriously seedy bread.  Like the bread version of an everything bagel. It adds just a touch of heft to the sandwich.

PB & DP Sandwich

2 slices Seedy Bread, toasted
Natural Peanut Butter
1 Dill Pickle, sliced

First Toast the seedy bread and grab the peanut butter. (It doesn't need to be organic, just natural and untainted) ;)

Your gonna have to stir it up of course, cause it doesn't contain any artificial emulsifiers and always separates.

Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on each piece of toast.

Time to unveil the pickle, and slice it thin.

Lay down the pickle slices.

Place one piece of toast on top of the other and slice in half.

Enjoy...  I know I sure did.  The flavor of childhood memories.

Mangia!!
~~

Dog Catcher in the Rye - PB Puppy Biscuits

I was torn about what to blog about this evening....  It's been one of those days.  Saturday and nothing pressing to do. So I spent most of the day in the kitchen making Streusel Scones, Cream of Bell Pepper Soup and Peanut Butter, Oatmeal & Rye Biscuits for Puppy.  Sounds like an odd dinner, No? LMAO

So after several coin tosses and a round of eeny meeny miney moe...  The Peanut Butter Biscuits won.

Dogs do not "taste" the same way we do.  In fact, they have 1/6th the amount of taste buds that humans have; about 1,700 as opposed to 9,000 in humans.  A dogs sense of smell, however, kind of makes up for the lack of taste buds.  Since, you cannot "smell" salt, nor can one "smell" sugar...  They are completely unnecessary ingredients when it comes to dog treats.  Since both of these can be detrimental to the health of your canine pal, it's best just to leave them out.

The key to a good dog treat is smell.  The more "aromatic" your dog treat, the more they will enjoy it.  Peanut Butter or Hazelnut Butter are excellent additions to these canine crunchables.  Does your dog not care for peanut butter?  That's OK, you can substitute 4 ounces of shredded Cheddar for the Peanut Butter and make Cheese Biscuits.  Neat-o Frito, huh?

Why am I so stuck on uncommon flours for my dog treats.  They tend to be whole grain flours instead of refined as wheat so often is, and they are either gluten-free or only contain minuscule amounts.  Gluten intolerance in dogs seems to be on the rise.  Otto, my previous companion, had gluten issues (it caused hot spots) so I am not taking any chances.

PB PBs 

(Peanut Butter Puppy Biscuits)

260 g (2 cups) Barley Flour
60 g (1/2 cup) Oat Flour
60 g (1/2 cup) Dark Rye Flour
235 ml (1 cup) Peanut Butter
1 Large Egg
60 ml (1/4 cup) Olive Oil
118 ml (1/2 cup) Water

Whisk the all three flours together in a large bowl.

Make a well in the center and add the remaining ingredients.

Mix with a spatula, or your hands until you have a somewhat cohesive, if mottled, dough.

Move dough to the counter and knead until smooth, if a little crumbly.

Wrap in plastic and allow to rest while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Roll on a rye floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut out biscuits (I made 1 pan of small 1/2 inch biscuits and 1 pan of larger 1 3/4  inch biscuits)

Place biscuits on parchment lined baking sheets. (you can place them very close, they do not spread)

Bake small biscuits for about 20 minutes and large biscuits for 35 minutes.

Cool on racks and let your puppy enjoy after a long afternoon of chasing your niece around the yard.

Good Dog!!
~~

Put Some Snap! Crackle! Pop! Into Your Candy - Crispy Almond Butter Balls

This is an OLD family recipe, though not a secret by any means. Just something that my mom use to make when we were kids, that I am really hungry for. Originally made with Crunchy Peanut Butter, I have opted for Almond Butter with Sea Salt due to the amount of persons I know who are allergic to peanuts. You could even use Sunflower Seed butter or Hazelnut Butter if you like; though Cashew might be a little questionable, not sure bout that one. Just be sure that the "Butter" you are using does not contain any sugar like JIF, Skippy and Peter Pan; which are LOADED with it already. When made with peanut butter, they are very similar to Reese's Peanut Butter cups, only round and with crispy rice in them... YUM!

I use to love making these when I was a kid. Aw heck, I will be honest. I just liked dipping them in chocolate, or rather, eating spoonfuls of melted chocolate when my mom wasn't looking. Yeah, I was a little stinker back then... Not that a whole lot has changed since I reached adulthood. ;)

The real reason I am making these though, is because I got a new toy to play with. A chocolate melter pot. Hopefully this will solve the issue of overheating the chocolate and having it UN-Temper and never harden properly. (We always had to store these in the refrigerator when I was a kid, to keep the chocolate from getting soft and gooey) And I can think of no better use for Rice Krispies than this, aside from a large bowl doused with half & half for breakfast.

So come on over and join me in the fun, along with Snap, Crackle, & Pop!

Crispy Almond Butter Balls

8 oz (226 g) Unsalted butter
17.5 oz (496 g) (about 2 cups) Creamy Almond Butter
1 lb (453 g) Confectioners' sugar (a whole entire box of C & H Powdered Sugar)
2 oz (57 g) (about 2 rounded cups) Rice Krispies (or other toasted rice cereal; not puffed)
16 oz (453 g) Milk Chocolate for dipping (just like Reese's Peanut butter cups)

Place butter and peanut butter in the top of a double boiler/Bain Marie;

Stir until melted.

Work in half of the Confectioners' sugar.

Remove from the heat and fold in the remaining Confectioners' sugar.

Fold in the Rice Krispies.

Using a small spoon or scoop, scoop out 2 tsp of the filling and press it into a 1 inch ball.

When you are finished, you will have about 72-76 balls; Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Line the counter or a baking sheet with waxed paper, then place down a cooling rack.

In a double boiler melt 16 oz Chocolate:
If you are using Semi-Sweet, do not heat above 110 degrees
if you use Milk, or White, do not heat above 100 degrees.
Or, if you have a chocolate melter, follow the instructions that accompanied your unit.

This is where I get to play with my new toy... :)
Mine says to melt 4 oz of chocolate on setting #2 (please not the coffee I had to consume to stay awake... Watched chocolate never melts)

Then turn to setting #1 to keep it warm and add the remaining 4 oz of chocolate (I assume this is somewhat like "seeding" the chocolate) The residual heat of the melted chocolate will cause the added chocolate to melt

Dip each Crispy Almond Ball, in the chocolate,

letting excess drip off.

Place each dipped Peanut butter ball onto the cooling rack (you want to keep the "foot" as small as possible.)

If chocolate is not setting fast enough, place baking sheet in refrigerator.

Store in an air tight container in refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Mangia!!
~~