Archive for: Cookies
Not all peanut butter cookies have a strong peanut flavor to them. In fact, many don’t use all that much peanut butter in them to begin with. I usually make up for this by choosing a brand of peanut butter that I think has a good flavor, or by using crunchy peanut butter to add more obvious nuts to the cookies. This recipe is a little bit different because, while it uses more peanut butter than many recipes, it also uses less sugar, so that salty-sweet peanut flavor is more pronounced.
The reason that these cookies use less sugar is that they get a lot of their sweetness from honey, which is incorporated into the recipe in addition to some sugar. The honey is a great match for the peanut butter and, while it doesn’t have a strong flavor in and of itself (assuming you’re using your average clover honey, not something exotic and very strongly flavored!), it does lend a little bit of a floral taste to the cookies that sets the apart.
The cookies have a tender, slightly crumbly texture and a good overall flavor, and are not very sweet compared to most other peanut butter cookies. In fact, as long as your peanut butter has a bit of salt in it, you probably won’t want to add any more to the dough (salt-free peanut butters should add about 1/4 tsp salt). If you want to take the peanut butter and honey theme even further, use Peanut Butter & Honey Jif in this recipe to bring out those honey notes even more – or serve them sandwiching a layer of peanut butter and a splash of honey, like I did!
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There are all kinds of chocolate cookies out there. Thick cookies, thin cookies, crispy cookies and chewy cookies. I like them all, but every once in a while I come across a chocolate cookie that I like just a little bit more than the others and these Melt-in-Your Mouth Buttermilk Chocolate Cookies definitely fall into that category.
These cookies are alittle bit unassuming on their own. They’re not huge and thick, like the cookies you might see at bakeries. But they do have a very tempting dark chocolate color to them that starts to give away the fact that they are absolutely packed with chocolate flavor. These thin cookies are chewy and rich tasting, like a very fudgy brownie packed into a little cookie. The chocolate chips seem to melt in your mouth – along with the tender cookie itself!
I used Guittard Cocoa Rouge in these cookies to get that beautiful dark color. It might seem like there is a lot of sugar in the recipe, but there is also a lot of unsweetened cocoa powder, so the flavor balances out in the finished product; these cookies are not too sweet and definitely have a darker chocolate flavor to them. They keep well, but you won’t be able to stop with just one, especially when they’re still a little bit warm from the oven.
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Fresh pomegranate seeds (actually called arils) are a little too moist to do well in a batch of cookies. Dried pomegranate seeds are a little bit too dry and crunchy. Dark Chocolate Covered Pomegranate seeds, however, seem to be just right. The dark chocolate brings out some of the fruity notes of the dried pomegranate flesh, while it also serves to temper the crunch of the pomegranate seed.
They go particularly well in these rich, brownie-like chocolate cookies. Don’t be fooled by the “dry” outer appearance of the cookies – just think of that as the very top of the brownie. Inside, these are moist and very tender, with an excellent chocolate flavor. In addition to the chocolate covered seeds, I also included some chocolate chips and chopped, toasted pecans in here, so there is a real variety of textures and flavors (and a lot of chocolate, of course!) in each bite of cookie.
If you can’t find dark chocolate covered pomegranate seeds (which I found at Trader Joe’s), don’t worry. You can easily substitute another chocolate covered dried fruit, such as blueberries or cranberries, to get the tanginess of the fruit into the cookies. You could also use chocolate covered cacao nibs to replicate that hint of crunch from the pomegranate seeds. And, of course, you can just add in dried fruit, more chocolate chips or even more nuts depending on what you have in the pantry.
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These cookies have a great name that promises to deliver a lot of chocolate – and there is no disappointment when you take a big bite, because these definitely pack a chocolate punch. The inspiration for this recipe came from a Sunset magazine article that featured a Portland, Oregon bakery – The Sugar Cube - recipe for Triple Threat Dark Chocolate Cookies. I made the recipe from the magazine, and made a few small tweaks to make it easier and perhaps even more chocolaty. The original recipe made very thin cookies that were good for sandwiching, while this variation makes nice and thick cookies that bake up be very chocolaty and rich inside, and a little more decadent seeming than a thin cookie.
There are three kinds of chocolate in these. The dough starts out with a lot of dark chocolate melted into the batter and held together with not very much flour. I mixed in milk chocolate chunks, to add some sweetness to the dark background, and some dark chocolate chunks to make sure that the cookies kept their richness. Since walnuts are a frequent addition to brownies, they go very well with the dark chocolate flavors of these cookies. They’re not fudgy, like brownies are, but if you want to experiment with underbaking a batch I’m sure you could sneak some in there. Either way, you’ll have a great batch of these intense, rich, tender cookies to enjoy.
The dark chocolate I used had a high cocoa percentage of about 76% (I actually used a mixture of dark and bittersweet Guittard chocolate). I mention this because the amount of cocoa in your chocolate will have a slight impact on how thick your batter is. A higher percentage will yield a slightly drier batter. The mixture will still come together, but you may have to rely on a mixer or give your arm a good workout to blend all those chocolate chips and nuts into the cookie dough.
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Fans of the Girl Scout’s Do-si-do cookies, also known as Peanut Butter Sandwiches, will notice some similarities between them and these Toffee Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies. They look similar and both have a great peanut butter flavor to them. The signature element of those cookies is their light, crisp texture. These are chewier, making them a little more substantial, and I think they have an even better peanut butter flavor.
These peanut butter cookies have two ingredients that set them apart from your average peanut butter cookie: oatmeal and toffee. A little bit of quick cooking oatmeal in the cookie dough helps these cookies to bake up to be slightly thinner than your average peanut butter cookie, as well as a bit more tender. It also gives them a little bit of extra flavor. The toffee contributes a lot of flavor as well. Because it is finely chopped before being incorporated, it really almost melts into the cookies. When fresh from the oven, these cookies are tender and crisp around the edges, with a chewy center.
I sandwiched the cookies together with creamy peanut butter. The end result is a great combination of salty and sweet. That said, I must admit that the cookies are good on their own even without the filling!
These cookies are done when their edges start to turn golden brown. It may be tempting to overbake these cookies because they will look a little bit pale in the center when they’re golden on the edge, but overbaking them will only take away their chewiness.
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