Tag Archives: peanut butter and chocolate

The Best Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

April 21, 2014 Keep It Sweet 7 Comments

Thick and chewy peanut butter cookies for peanut butter lovers only.

Wow, thank you so much for the kind notes, tweets, Facebook messages, etc. regarding our big news! We really didn’t tell anyone (other than our parents and siblings) until a week or so ago. Let me tell you, that is one hard secret to keep! When you are exhausted constantly, hungry ALL the time and just generally overwhelmed by the big life change coming, it is difficult to look anyone in the eye when they say “what’s going on” and you have to say “nothing.” Phew! So glad to be past that. I have a pregnancy-related post coming later this week and am happy to share even more as long as people want to read about it.

While many women suffer through morning sickness and get crazy food aversions, I was lucky to avoid that for the most part. There were a few foods here and there (mainly random vegetables and fish) that stopped appealing to me, but dessert was never one of them. In fact, anything that was carb-based sounded extra delicious. Cookies excel in that category!

So, a few weeks ago I took a look at my massive baking inventory and decided to make something that revolved around peanut butter. For peanut butter lovers, it’s hard to beat a perfectly chewy peanut-y cookie. This one is full of peanut butter, peanut butter chips, peanuts AND peanut butter cups. (Sorry Matt, this cookie is kind of your worst nightmare.) They were a big hit and I definitely enjoyed a couple myself. The amount of food I consume on a regular basis astounds me. While I’m trying to eat as healthy as possible (I figure that is the least I can do in taking care of the baby), there is definitely room for my sweet tooth cravings. Don’t expect me to start turning my nose up at dessert any time soon.

The Best Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

Save Print

Thick and chewy peanut butter cookies for peanut butter lovers only.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 15 cookies

Ingredients

130g (~1 cup) all-purpose flour
12g (1 ½ teaspoons) baking soda
113g (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
258 g (1 cup) creamy peanut butter
160g (~¾ cup) granulated sugar
117g (~1/2 cup) packed light brown sugar
100g (2 large) whole eggs, at room temperature
5 milliliters (1 teaspoon) vanilla extract
105g (~2/3 cup) chopped peanut butter cups
90g (~1/2 cup) peanut butter chips
75g (~1/2 cup) chopped peanuts

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside
Using a mixer, in a large bowl beat peanut butter, butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy
Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined
Reduce speed to low and stir in flour mixture just until combined
Stir in peanut butter cups, peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts
Chill dough for 2 hours
After, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper
Use a large cookie dough scoop to place cookie dough balls (about ¼ cup each) on top of parchment paper, 1-2 inches apart
Bake ~14 minutes until cookies are brown around the edges

Notes

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze for up to two months

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

This post contains affiliate links.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Peanut Butter Cup Heath Bar Brown Butter Cookies

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies

Funky Monkey Cheesecake bars

Blog, Recipes

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies: A How-To Video!

May 15, 2013 Keep It Sweet 26 Comments

Remember when I promised you eHow videos? Well, I’m going to try to get past my embarrassment and share them, yikes! You already have the recipe, but I figured you might like the video for how to make these Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies. I’d love to hear what you think!

Blog, Recipes

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies

April 20, 2013 Keep It Sweet 43 Comments

These peanut butter cookies are thick and chewy (like most cookies should be), sweet and salty, and absolutely delicious.

Last week was…. well, it sure was a week. Emotionally my head was somewhere else. As soon as I heard about the marathon bombing my heart just ached for everyone there. Then there was the explosion in West, Texas. It was too much for one country in just a few short days.

But then something amazing happened. Early Friday morning, my beautiful niece was born! Hannah is the most amazing baby girl and just like that, I was reminded of the wonderful miracles happening every day! I’ve been excited to be an aunt for months, but this brand new addition to the family is even beyond what I could have expected.

And in the middle of all that, for every minute that I wasn’t glued to the news or hanging around the hospital maternity ward, I was prepping to film videos for eHow. 10 videos. In one day. AKA craziness. When I originally agreed to do this, I didn’t grasp quite how much work it would entail prepping to film, baking on camera, and rushing to clean up during the taping. In case you are wondering, it is a lot of work. Initially I was also really nervous. I’ve never done something like this before. Well, in all of the excitement of everything else. Okay, mostly because of the fact that I could NOT wait to finish taping so that I could get to the hospital and meet Hannah, I actually wasn’t nervous at all. There is another miracle for you! I think I’m actually more nervous to see how cheesy and awkward I ended up looking. If I’m not completely embarrassed by the final products, I promise to share them with you once they are done! [UPDATE: You can see the eHow video for the Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies here!]

So the good news for you? I made a few things that I really want to share the recipes for. These cookies for instance, make them. You know how much I love chocolate and peanut butter and this cookie is no exception. Thick and chewy (like most cookies should be), with a little crunch from those salty pretzels. Seriously, just make them.

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies

Save Print

These peanut butter cookies are thick and chewy (like most cookies should be), sweet and salty, and absolutely delicious.

Author: Lauren Lilling

Recipe type: Dessert

Makes: 24 large cookies

Ingredients

1 cup (4⅝ ounces) all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cups creamy peanut butter
5⅝ ounces (¾ cup) granulated sugar
4⅛ ounces (1/2 cup) packed light brown sugar
2 x-large eggs, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅔ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup pretzel pieces (1 ½ ounces)
Sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda, set aside
Using a mixer, in a large bowl beat peanut butter, butter and sugars on high until light and fluffy
Beat in the eggs and vanilla until combined
Reduce speed to low and stir in flour mixture just until combined
Stir in chocolate chips and pretzels
Chill dough for 2 hours
After, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper
Use a large cookie dough scoop to place cookie dough balls (about ¼ cup each) on top of parchment paper, 1-2 inches apart
Lightly sprinkle cookie dough with sea salt
Bake ~14 minutes until cookies are brown around the edges

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

And a few behind-the-scenes pictures for good measure

This post contains affiliate links.

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwiches

The Best Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

Pretzel Cookie Sandwiches

Blog, Recipes

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies {Guest Post}

October 11, 2011 Keep It Sweet 21 Comments

In the midst of my crazy life, I am so thankful for other food bloggers! It never ceases to amaze me how many of you there are that are willing to lend a hand when things get crazy. A couple of weeks ago, a few wonderful bloggers volunteered to guest post on Keep It Sweet and I can’t wait to share their delicious recipes with you. The first post is from Samantha at The Little Ferraro Kitchen. Her blog is pretty new, but she already has some delicious looking recipes like her recent Fresh Raspberry & Apple Crumble and Chicken Pot Pie! These cookies are no different.

Hello everyone! I am Samantha from The Little Ferraro Kitchen and I am soo excited to guest post for the beautiful Lauren from Keep It Sweet!

When she asked for fellow guest-posters recently, I jumped at the chance! See…I am a pretty “new” blogger and have only been blogging for a few months now. Keep It Sweetwas one of the first blogs I started to enjoy and I just knew this was the perfect start!

So because this is officially my first guest post ever! (wow!)…I present to you…Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies!

This is the best batter I have ever worked with. The combination of the creamy peanut-butter and butter creates the softest cookie. Mini peanut-butter-cups (need I say more?) snuggle their little cute sweet selves into their peanut butter pillows of perfection. If you have the patience to wait the few minutes until these cuties are done, take a messy bite and allow all that melting chocolate to ooze out of the center from it’s cozy home and just enjoy. I promise you, this will be your absolute favorite cookie.

[print_this]

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Makes about 3 dozen

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

1/2 C creamy peanut-butter

4 TB unsalted butter, room temperature

1 C brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 c granulated sugar (for rolling dough)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cream peanut butter and butter until well combined.

3. Add brown sugar and beat until well combined, scraping down bowl as needed.

4. Add eggs (one at a time), vanilla and beat until well incorporated.

5. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. I’ve gotten in the habit of using a sifter to get any “lumps” out.

6. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 2 batches.

* At this point I’ll use my spatula and do one last “mix” with the spatula and make sure everything is incorporated, but not to over mix.

7. Take the mixture out of bowl and wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for 30min.

* I do this for all my cookie dough.

8. When dough is ready, unwrap from plastic wrap and scoop dough by the tablespoon, rolling into balls. A melon-baller is perfect for this!

9. Roll balls in granulated sugar and place on non-stick baking sheet.

10. Bake cookies until just about to puff up, about 5-7 minutes. (My oven is pretty fickle and is done at 5 min.)

11. When times up, take trays out of oven and work quickly! Place each peanut-butter cup in the center of each cookie and return to oven.

12. Bake for about 6 minutes more (again, my oven is no more than 5min), until cookies are golden brown and chocolate has begun to melt.

13. When done, let cool on baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring to wire wrack to cool.

[/print_this]

Thanks for having me, Lauren! I had so much fun making these fabulous cookies and I hope all of you do too!

Enjoy!

Recipes, Uncategorized

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with Chocolate Ganache

September 26, 2011 Keep It Sweet 74 Comments

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I had a hard time deciding what to make. I got picked to make a recipe from Authentic Suburban Gourmet and Lisa had a lot of tempting recipes. My list of options included an Apple & Fig Tart, her Toffee & Caramel Cheesecake and these Fig Muffins with Brown Sugar Topping. Ultimately, though, my inner-peanut butter loving self decided to make an adaptation of her Mini Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookies. To save a little time, I made the cookies into bars and was very happy with the result. I may or may not have eaten a few scoops of the peanut butter cookie dough while baking.

Speaking of eating something delicious, last night I got back from an amazing weekend in Atlanta that included a ton of delicious food. I’ll definitely be sharing some photos of my reunion-weekend eats.

In the meantime, I have to say, it was a bit of a surreal experience visiting Emory after five years away. It was enough time to feel like college was forever ago, but when I stepped on campus and traced the familiar routes around Decatur, Buckhead, the Highlands and more, it was as if I never left.

I’m a Northeast girl at heart, but Atlanta will always hold a special piece of it. There are great restaurants, lots of good shopping, and a friendly culture. I had to get to some of my favorite food places while I was there, but there is a reason that these places mean so much to me.

College was such an amazing time in my life, truly some of the best four years. I met some of my lifelong best friends, including my husband. Matt and I have so many memories that built the foreground of our relationship. My girlfriends and I have an uncountable number of stories that brought us together but also those that just make me laugh so hard my stomach hurts and tears roll down my cheeks. Being back in this place where I grew out of my insecure high school self and into a young woman who knew how to walk with a bit of confidence makes me feel so content. It was hard to say goodbye to my friends and a former home.

Luckily these were tucked away in my freezer Winking smile

[print_this]Peanut Butter Cookie Bars with Chocolate Ganache

Makes 24 bars

Adapted from Lisa’s Mini Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup salted creamy peanut butter (I used Skippy Natural)
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cooking Directions

Whisk flour and baking soda, set aside
Beat butter on high until light and creamy
Add peanut butter and continue to beat until creamy
Add sugar and beat into batter until light and fluffy
Add egg and vanilla, beat on medium speed until combined
Stir in flour and baking soda mixture
Refrigerate batter for at least 1 hour or overnight
When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees line a 13×9 pan with parchment paper
Once oven is hot, press dough evenly into prepared pan
Bake for 20-23 minutes or until firm in the center; set aside to cool

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cooking Directions

While cookie bars are baking, prepare ganache
Set up your double boiler; bring water to a simmer in medium pot over low-medium heat
Place heat-proof bowl of chocolate over the pot
Pour the cream over your chocolate
Whisk until chocolate mixture is melted and smooth
Place ganache in refrigerator until thick, about one hour
When ganache is thick enough that it won’t drip off a spoon, spread evenly over cookie bars
Store cookie bars in refrigerator until ready to serve

[/print_this]

Did you live somewhere else that has special memories?

Keep It Sweet Desserts

Tag Archives: peanut butter and chocolate

The Best Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies: A How-To Video!

Big, Chewy, Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Cookies

Make something from the blog? Be sure to share it on Instagram with the tag #KeepItSweetDesserts.

You might also like:

Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies {Guest Post}

Cookie cakes, dessert platters, pop-ups and more!