Peanut Butter Cookies (recipe)

Every thing has a national or international day these days.

Not only is social media a headache to keep up with how are we meant to keep up with all these celebrations of literally everything. I mean today (June 22nd, 2018) alone is National Take your Dog to Work day and National Onion Rings Day and don't forget National Chocolate Eclair Day.  

Now don't get me wrong I have used national days to my advantage. Like the 12th of June is National Peanut Butter Cookie Day so naturally on social media I am that annoying person going 

"Hey Everyone!! It's National Peanut Butter Cookie Day didn't ya know? Why not check out these Peanut Butter Cookies I made and if you want to make them too check the recipe out on my blog now!"

But I forgot all about National Peanut Butter Cookie Day. I was going to share these with you. However that never happened, the day just passed me by. So, here ten days later I am sharing with you some peanut butter cookies.

They are still good cookies even if they weren't eaten nor blogged about on 'their' day. The worst part is I can't shamelessly promote it by claiming its National Peanut Butter Cookie Day. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

160g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

114g unsalted butter, room temp

150g light brown sugar

50g sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

125g peanut butter, smooth/crunchy

50g-75g salted peanuts

50g peanut butter chips (optional)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. 

Beat the butter, and both sugars together until creamy and light. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until combined. Add the peanut butter and beat to combine. Add the dry ingredients in three batches mixing until just combined in-between each addition. Fold the peanuts and peanut butter chips if using into the cookie dough. 

Cover the cookie dough and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or up to 3 days. 

When ready to bake remove from the fridge while you heat the oven to 170C/350F and line the baking trays with grease proof baking paper. 

Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and roll into a ball and place on the prepared baking tray. Once you've used all the dough, gently press down on each one with a fork in a criss-cross pattern. 

Bake for 10-13 minutes depending on your oven. The less you bake the softer the are and the longer the more crispy they are. Because cookies can look under-baked when they come out trust your timer and oven especially if you want softer cookies. 

Leave to cool and enjoy with a glass of cold milk! 

Peanut Brittle: Patience is a Virtue

There are some things in life that take action and others that take patience. Sometimes it’s good to know your flaws and one of my biggest ones is patience; I have very little. My two little people take 95% of that little patience which leaves only 5% for everyone and everything else. However, it never stops people or things from testing that 5%.

Myself included. There are some challenging bakes and desserts that I have avoided making for the sheer knowledge that with very little patience I would not be successful at making them. I also have in the past behaved like a toddler when things didn’t turn out exactly how I wanted. Recently as I feel that I am getting older, funny how certain events make you feel like your growing up more then others, I am testing my patience more and more.

One day when I had some time to myself, meaning no kids or husband to distract me I set to making Peanut Brittle. My good friend has a partner who loves the stuff and would live off of it if he could. It was a surprise gift and one I will hopefully be repeating for him again soon. However, I will share the recipe here in case he or my friend ever wants to try making it themselves!

This is an American recipe using cups and American ingredients. The light corn syrup can be bought online or at bigger Tesco’s that have a World Food Section. You will also need a medium or large heavy bottom sauce pan, a sugar thermometer that has the sugar stages listed on it and easily clips to side of said pan. The last thing you need is patience! You don’t want to rush this otherwise you could burn yourself; hot sugar can give 3rd degree burns so be careful!

Peanut Brittle

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 cup of water
1 cup of light corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter
3 cups (1 pound) of unsalted shelled peanuts

Heat the oven to 200F or 390/400F grease and line two baking sheets, I used ones that had a slight side to them and store the sheets in the oven. That way when the peanut brittle is poured on them, it will spread smoother. Also grease a metal spatula generously with butter.
Mix the baking soda aka bicarbonate of soda with the water in a small bowl and set aside.
In the medium to large sauce pan, I mentioned above, mix the sugar, water, and corn syrup and heat on a low to medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 25 minutes until it reaches 240F or soft ball.
Add in the butter and peanuts, continue to cook on a medium heat for about 13-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until it reaches 300F or hard crack. This is where you’ll want to be diligent to make sure it doesn't burn. Take off the heat and stir in the baking soda mixture, it will froth up and be all frothy and bubbly.
Pour about half of the mixture onto each prepared baking sheet (after you’ve taken them out of the oven) and quickly spread until it’s about 1/4 of an inch thick using the already buttered spatula! Leave to cool completely for a minimum of an hour. Then have fun breaking it into pieces. I started by slamming the baking sheet down on the counter and continued to break up with the handle of my spatula. Keeps in a sealed container for 2 weeks…if it lasts that long it’s really addicting!

notes: recipe adapted from Betty Crocker’s Red Book

Gooey Clusters (Homemade Goo Goo Clusters)

Raise your hand if you like chocolate, caramel, marshmallow fluff, and salted peanuts! If you enjoy all of those ingredients separately be prepared to love them all together! (you can put your hand down now) 

These Gooey Clusters are a simple and easy treat to throw together to impress friends, family, and a load of internet people you don’t know!

I need to say the sentence above in your best announcer’s voice. That’s how I hear it being said out loud!

See, it totally sells them when you’re saying it in an announcer sort of way. An announcer voice can get people to do anything. Including making sweet chocolate treats! 

Or you just write a blog and get people to put their hands up and talk in announcer voices and to make cake! 

Back to the Gooey Clusters! These babies don’t require any fancy gimmicks to get someone to make them. They sell themselves! The only words you need to make these are:  chocolate, caramel, marshmallow fluff, and salted peanuts  … plus you need to know how I did make them! The recipe is as follows….

Gooey Clusters

150g Dark Chocolate

12 tsp salted peanuts

12 tsp caramel sauce

12 tsp marshmallow fluff

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a simmering pot of water, make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water.

Once it’s melted place 12 teaspoons of the melted chocolate in the bottom of 12 fairy cake cases lined in a muffin/cupcake tin. Then add a teaspoon of peanuts, caramel sauce, and marshmallow fluff to each case before topping again with a tsp of dark chocolate. Leave to set in the fridge for 2-4 hours. If they aren't all gobbled up right away store in the fridge. Also the caramel sauce and marshmallow might leak out of holes, but that’s okay!

notes: Gooey Clusters are inspired by a popular candy (chocolate) bar called a Goo Goo Cluster, that is very popular in parts of southern America: the base is a marshmallow-y nougat base topped with a layer of caramel and peanuts and completely covered in chocolate. The recipe/idea was inspired by The Chew Food. Life. Fun. 

Homemade Roasted Peanut Butter & book review

The Ginger & White cookbook was published earlier this year it shares the recipes from a beloved coffee shop(s) in London.

It stresses the importance of good coffee not the milky nothing coffees in chain cafés. In fact it’s the first thing the authors and owners (Tonia George, Emma Scott, & Nicholas Scott) show you how to do before they even get to the amazing recipes in this book.

I am always looking for a good cup of coffee. It’s not just about the coffee though they cover everything you’d expect from a café. Breakfast & Brunch, Lunch, Sarnies, Baking, and Pantry bits & bobs.

Normally I would head straight to the baking section of any cookbook and I’m not going to lie it’s where I first looked. They have delicious looking scones, cakes (a few gluten-free), and loaf cakes, but it was the Sarnie section that I was drawn too!

With recipes for Goats’ curd & baby spinach on white stick with red onion marmalade, Pulled ham hock on potato soudough with roasted mustardy shallots, and Salt beef on sourdough with cucumber pickles & mustard mayo where else would you want to go to lunch? Heck these sandwiches would be good any time of the day!

Still to me the best sandwich in the world is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It’s the American child in me. So, when I saw they had a recipe for homemade Roasted Peanut Butter I knew I was in love.

I whizzed it up and enjoyed my childhood favorite with an adult twist. My friends’ grandmother makes all sorts of jams and she gave me a homemade apple plum jam that I used to make this sandwich!

Roasted Peanut Butter
from The Ginger & White Cookbook

500g unsalted peanuts, with skin

1 tsp sea salt

175ml groundnut oil

1 tbsp clear honey

1 tbsp demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C/160Cfan/gas4. Take two glass jars straight out of the dishwasher and place them in the oven to dry while you roast your peanuts so they will be sterilized when you’re done making the peanut butter.

Place the peanuts in a large roasting tin and roast until golden, 35-45 minutes. Move them around about half way to insure even browning. The skin will peel off to revel a nice tan color underneath. Once they are a nice bronze color (plus the smell fills the kitchen) they are ready.

Place the peanuts, still in their skins, to a food processor or blender with the rest of the ingredients and blend until combined and a consistency you are happy with.

If it feels too thick add a little bit more oil, you want it to be paste like. You can add more honey or sugar to taste. Transfer it to your sterilized jars, seal tightly, and label with the date! Or spread some on toast right away and enjoy!!

notes: The Ginger & White cookbook was provided for my review. All opinions are my own for further information please my contact/policy page. This post was written for day 11 of Blog Every Day in May blogging challenge the topic was British Sandwich Week. #BEDM 

Happy Peanut Butter Cookie Day!!

June 12^th is National Peanut Butter Cookie Day. I love peanut butter and I love cookies. It’s also my close friends birthday today and she loves peanut butter cookies too! So, I just had to celebrate this national day this year!

There are so many “national” days that I can’t and I won’t ever try to keep them up with all of them. But as I said just above today was just too good to pass up.

I have made a lot of peanut butter cookies in my short baking career and there is only so much you can do to a peanut butter cookie.

Making them taste like, a childhood favorite, Nutter Butters is an ingenious idea! They are huge so it will probably be a better idea to make them smaller then I did, as I've ended up halving them. No way I can eat one on my own the size I've made them! The filling I could eat by itself. I love peanut butter. I've said that already. My fickle heart talking again…

These come from Hedy Goldsmith and her book Baking Out Loud. I found the recipe in more the one place all over the net. As they are on the cover I am assuming they were like her hit single that was released to the press to give everyone a taster of her book.

Anyway I have given it to here, with my own commentary in the directions! Happy National Peanut Butter Day!! Happy Birthday Lauren!!

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup plain flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 cup rolled oats

¼ cup salted peanuts

114g unsalted butter, at room temp

½ cup (packed) light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

½ tsp salt (kosher)

½ cup creamy peanut butter, at room temp

1 large egg, at room temp

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

1. Preheat your oven to 190C/375F and line your tray(s) with parchment paper/nonstick liners.
2. Sift the flour and baking soda in a large bowl, then add the oats and peanuts.
3. Beat the butter for a few minutes, once it’s smooth add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt and beat for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides before adding the peanut butter, beat until just combined. Then add the flour and beat until just combined. We don’t want any over mixing!
4. Using a tablespoon shape the dough into balls about the size of a walnut or if you’re like me the size of a golf ball. Place them on your lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart and smoosh them slightly down with the palm of your hand. Apparently you should have 36 cookies to make 18 sandwiches, I had like 24 so only like 12 sandwiches.
5. Bake them 11-13 minutes, if you have more then one baking sheet about half way through switch from top to bottom and turn them around to ensure even baking. Once they are golden brown around the edges they are ready!
6. Let them cool completely on a cooling rack.

Peanut butter filling

3 cups icing sugar

145g unsalted butter, at room temp

¾ cup creamy peanut butter, at room temp

1 ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

½ tsp salt (kosher)

Place everything in the bowl of your mixer and beat for a bout 3 minutes until it’s soft and smooth. Once it’s all come together gather it all together and on your counter shape into an 18 inch log. However I did not have enough cookies to sandwich together 18… see step 4 above. Once it’s a log cut into 1 inch pieces. Place the filling pieces on one side of half the cookies and sandwich with the remaining cookies! Gently press down so that the filling reaches the edge. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days! I doubt they will last that long! 

notes: National Peanut Board; Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies; Peanut Butter Blossoms; my Baking Out Loud review I'm watching MTV Hits Kelly (Clarkson) vs Ke$ha top 10 not really sure why? They really aren't comparable. 

I {heart} peanut butter!!

If you saw my last post you’ll know that I've acquired yet another book that mostly has to do with making sweet things. I had two things booked marked as I’m going to make these like right now. The first of the two were these Peanut Rice Krispies Squares.

It’s implied in the description part of the recipe that Jamie eats peanut butter out of the jar. I think every peanut butter lover does so. Since I consider myself a huge peanut butter lover I couldn't pass these up!

I also can’t believe I never thought of adding peanut butter before?  They are Peanutbuttery marshmallowey goodness in a bar!

If you love peanut butter as much as I do and have never tried this combination I suggest you do! 

Peanut butter Rice Krispies squares

75g butter

250g marshmallows

150g smooth or crunchy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

130g Rice Krispies

sprinkles (optional)

These are so easily molded into any shape just make sure you line the tin with parchment paper, it all depends on how think you want them!

In a saucepan once the butter has melted add 200g of the marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Take off the heat and mix in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Add the Rice Krispies and the remaining 50g of marshmallows and mix until it’s all covered. Moving fast put in your lined tin and smooth the top with a spatula or as Jamie says with another sheet of baking parchment and use your hands to smooth it down. Leave to sit for 2 hours or more on warm days. Cut into squares. I used my Wilton’s heart cutter, but they don’t look that much like hearts, ah well whatever. Sprinkle with whatever you want! They keep up to 5 days in an airtight container.

Check out Jamie Laing's new book Candy Kittens for extra flavors and ideas!!

I'm not gonna lie the other reason I made these first is because I had everything in my cupboard already! Stay tuned for the second thing I will be making from this book. I am hoping to do so this weekend, but we’ll see depends on the weather! 

notes: My review of Candy Kittens; 

Peanut Butter Brownies!!

These are a direct result of missing one ingredient. The original recipe called for white chocolate chips instead of peanut butter chips and pecans instead of peanuts. The only thing I was missing was the white chocolate, but I had peanut butter chips on hand so that is what I used!!

I love how they are not overly sweet and the peanut butter flavor isn’t completely over whelming. I do love my peanut butter so I thought I’d never hear myself say that!

This recipe has so many different ways it could be played with. Using dark or milk chocolate for the base sprinkled with white or milk chocolate or peanut butter chips. That’s what I love about simple recipes such as these! Enjoy!

how to make peanut butter brownies: 

10 tbsp (1 stick/114g) unsalted butter

8 oz (225g) peanut butter chips, I used Reese’s

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup sugar

1 cup plain flour

½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp salt

½ cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

6 oz (175g) semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped up bar)

1. Preheat the oven 350F/180C. Use a bit of the butter to grease your 8 inch square pan or brownie pan.
2. Melt the peanut butter chips and butter together.
3. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs and sugar. Add the flour, vanilla, and salt and mix well. Fold in the peanuts and melted peanut butter/butter mixture.
4. Spread the mixture in the buttered pan and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. Bake until firm, for about 25 minutes. I think mine were a little over baked so I would start checking them at 20 minutes. Remove and cool before cutting into squares!

 I am including them as part of my brownie quest although they don’t really fit into my rules of a ‘proper’ brownie. Which is a chocolate base! I would say they get a 3 out of 5 because of the not representing a brownie properly. ;0) But I do give them a 4 out of 5 on taste; 3 out of 5 on messy-ness; and a 3 out of 5 on texture. Which I think is my fault as I think I may have over baked them a tad see my note in the instructions!

*Adapted from Jessica Lagasse’s black-and-white brownies, Emeril’s New New Orleans Cook book by Emeril Lagasse (1993) To Make change the peanut butter chips to white chocolate and the peanuts to pecans. 

Peanut Butter and Blueberry Snack Squares!!

We were going to a friends for a play date and felt I couldn't go empty handed. 

I pulled this recipe out of my box of recipes I've ripped out of a magazine. It was one of the small free ones from Sainsbury's. They were super easy to make and were super yummy! All the kids enjoyed them! Perfect for a snack as the title implies! 

If you don't have a baking tin to hand, use a similar size plastic container; or spoon into mini cupcake cases, put on a tray and set in the fridge! I used pink and white marshmallows so mine turned out a weird pinky color. 

50g smooth peanut butter

50g unsalted butter

200g marshmallows

60g porridge oats (I used rolled oats)

75g bag dried blueberries

30g dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

75g cornflakes

Line a 20cm square cake tin with clingfilm. Put the peanut butter, butter, and marshmallows in a large saucepan. Warm over a low heat, stirring until melted. Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the oats, dried blueberries, peanuts, and cornflakes to the melted butter mix in the pan, and mix well until combined.

Spoon the mixture into the lined tin, and press down to flatten. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour until set. Cut into squares and wrap in foil to transport. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscotti and Swirl Cheesecake!!

7 years ago today I got married! At the time we caused a bit of scandal by basically eloping. However time has passed and the drama forgotten…that is until I made this cheesecake: 

It is massive and worth talking about. I however am not giving you the recipe! I know I am mean. It’s just that I already shared a cheesecake recipe from this book with all of youu. It’s from Tea with Bea by Bea Vo and the book is currently only 4.99 at The Book People. This book is worth buying. Some of the recipes look a bit daunting, but the few I've tried so far are easy to follow and turn out amazing. You can always visit them in London if you can't be bothered making your own! :0)  

I am however giving you the easy recipe for chocolate peanut butter biscotti. It also come from the book and is the crust of this delicious cheesecake that is so big I am going to have go to just start handing it out to strangers.

300g/2 cups plain/all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp salt

100g/ ½ cup light brown soft sugar

40g/2 tbsp natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

40g/2 tbsp golden syrup

3 tbsp sunflower oil

2 eggs (medium UK; large USA)

2 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla extract

80g/ 2/3 cup shelled whole peanuts (unsalted/honey roasted)

80g/3oz high quality dark/semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into pea-sized pieces

caster/superfine sugar, for sprinkling

70g/ ½ cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

Combine all the dry ingredients: flour, b.powder, salt, sugar, cocoa.

Whisk g.syrup, oil, eggs, water, and vanilla until well combined.

Add to the dry mixture and mix until just combined and there is no trace of the dry ingredients.

Add the peanuts and chocolate until just combined.

Bring the dough together into a ball, wrap in cling film/plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 145Cfan/160C/290F/gas3

Sprinkle the work surface with sugar. Flatten the dough roughly with your hands on the work surface.

Dot spoonfuls of the peanut butter over the dough.

Lightly roll the dough into a log about 6cm/2 ½ in wide and 2cm/1 in high (will spread when baking)



log before baking

Try to encase the peanut butter as it can burn when exposed.

Place a the log on a prepared baking sheet (lined with parchment paper)

Bake for 25-40 minutes until the top is completely hardened, and when tapped, feels sturdy and not squishy inside.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes.

Turn the oven temp down to 135Cfan/150C/265F/gas2.

Slice the cooled log, diagonally, into 1cm/ ½ in wide batons.

Lay all the batons flat on the same baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until nice and dry, then flip them over and bake again for the same amount of time.

Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 1 minute.

Cool completely. Will store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.  

I hadn’t realised that they used a fan-assisted oven for all the recipes in this book so when I made these it took FOREVER to harden. I didn’t bother cutting mine all nice and neat as the were for this cheesecake:  

…more then they were for coffee or tea!!

Enjoy!!