Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies

Believe it or not, I am still using up the chopped candy pieces I acquired from the birthday party my friend hosted for her husband back in April. She had an ice cream-themed party with a gazillion toppings so you could build your own amazing sundae. At the end of the party, she sent me home with lots of the leftover toppings, not knowing what to do with them. I've been having a blast baking with them or snacking on them plain. Already used up the Oreos, Kit Kats, M&Ms, and mini peanut butter cups.

This time around, I took her crushed Butterfingers and decided to add them to a peanut butter cookie. And not just any peanut butter cookie. David Lebovitz's. I added some vanilla to his recipe, tossed the crushed Butterfingers in at the last minute, and shaped the dough into cookie logs so I could slice and bake. Oh man, these cookies are amazing. They are chewy and peanut buttery, and then they have these baked Butterfinger bits in them that add some caramelized crunch. I could not be happier with the result!

Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies

Adapted from a recipe by David Lebovitz in Ready for Dessert

Makes 30 cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural; I used Skippy)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 cup chopped Butterfingers (this is a rough estimate; feel free to use more or less!)

In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt). Set aside.

In a stand mixer or large bowl with hand mixer, beat the butter, both sugars, and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Blend in the vanilla and egg. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Stir in the chopped Butterfingers.

Leave in the bowl, covered, or shape the dough into a couple of logs wrapped in plastic wrap. Then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. You can also freeze the cookie dough logs in Ziploc bags to make cookies at a later date.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Drop balls of dough onto the baking sheet or slicing the logs into approximately 1/2-inch thick discs and space evenly apart. Use a fork to flatten the tops of the cookies. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating the sheets front to back and top shelf to bottom shelf halfway through baking. The cookies will look slightly underdone, but start to look golden around the edges. Underdone is the key to chewy cookies!!

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

Step-by-Step in Pictures

Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside...

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, and peanut butter...

Blend in the egg and vanilla...

Stir in the dry ingredients...

Stir in the Butterfinger bits...

Mix just until incorporated...

Shape into cookie dough logs and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or freeze in a Ziploc bag...

If you're going to freeze to bake at a later time, be sure to include some instructions on the Ziploc bag so you'll know how to finish off the baking!

When you're ready to bake, slice the log into discs...

Place the discs evenly apart on a baking sheet, then press down with a fork to create a crosshatch design...

Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. Err on the side of underbaking them...

Yummo!!

The Award for Coolest Eating Utensils Goes to...Bitten Silverware

A guy named Mark Reigelman, an artist, created this genius silverware. I'm not sure what it would feel like to hold these in your hands while eating - perhaps a bit (pun intended) sharp or uncomfortable? But worth it, right? Way to go, Mark. I am awarding you with the Happy Go Marni Award for Coolest Eating Utensils.


And now it's time to meet the man. This is Mark(s) Reigelman. In the Info section of his site, he dedicates a page to his Team. When you get there, this is what you see. A bunch of Marks. Ha!

Girl Scout Pie, er, Cookie Chart

Source: Wired Magazine

Photo Credit: Celine Grouard

Just read this in Wired Magazine. According to Girl Scout Cookie sales data, here's how the cookie crumbles. Most popular cookie is Thin Mint, followed by Samoas. BUT! If you combine the Peanut Butter Sandwich and Peanut Butter Patties, peanut butter cookies are very well represented, in fact inching out Samoas. Go PB! I hope I've gotten you in the mood; it's almost Girl Scout Cookie Season. This concludes today's cookie report.

Oreo Kit Kat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are the new kitchen sink cookie. Or maybe it's not new but I'm just late to discover this. You can pretty much take any chocolate chip cookie recipe and then toss in additional ingredients you have on hand. I can't vouch for the results each time, since what you add in might be extremely weird or even gross, but I can say it's a lot of fun to experiment, and a great way to get rid of leftover candy bits.


So recently I decided to take a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe, and add in chopped Oreo cookies and Kit Kat pieces. An Oreo cookie in a chocolate chip cookie is very meta, very redundant, and that is a very good thing. The Kit Kat pieces add some crunch because of the wafer, and they remain intact after baking.

Put on your lab coat and experiment with chocolate chip cookie mix-ins!


Oreo Kit Kat Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from a recipe in Southern Living Best Loved Cookies
Makes approximately 5 dozen cookies

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped or crushed Oreo cookies (the quantity here is flexible)
1 cup chopped Kit Kat bars (feel free to use slightly more or slightly less)

Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and the sugars until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.

Combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) in a small bowl, then gradually add to the creamed butter mixture. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips, Oreo cookies, and Kit Kat bars.

Chill the dough in the fridge for an hour or shape into logs, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze in plastic storage bags in the freezer for ready-to-go slice-and-bake cookies (just be sure to write the baking time and oven temperature on the bag as a reminder for later).

Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet, or slice 1/2-inch discs of dough from the thawed out dough logs that were in the freezer.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 7 to 12 minutes. I prefer soft, chewy, slightly underdone cookies so I bake on the shorter end of the time range. Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Beat the butter and sugars until creamy...

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated...
Beat in the dry ingredients...

Stir in the chocolate chips, Oreo cookies, and Kit Kat bars...

Chill the dough in the fridge for an hour...
Or shape the dough into logs, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze in bags until ready to use...
Place tablespoonfuls of dough evenly apart on a baking sheet...

Bake at 350 degrees F for 7 to 12 minutes, then allow to cool, and enjoy!

Dill Pickle Bread, Because Weird is Fun!

I think it took me all of 5 seconds to decide if I would make this bread. Usually there's a whole lot of deliberation before I decide what baking project I will take on. I'll sit with several cookbooks, mark them with post-it notes, and anywhere from an hour to 3 hours later, I've made my choice. None of that happened with this pickle bread. I basically read the title, read the pickle ingredients it called for (just to make sure it sounded pickly enough for my satisfaction), and made my way to the kitchen. It was that simple.

This bread truly tastes like pickles. And sure, that is a little weird but it is surprisingly good. The texture is an absolute 10. Soft and chewy. And it has a sour flavor similar to sourdough.

I will say, using a cup of pickle juice pretty much means there's no juice left in your jar of pickles. And the recipe only calls for one chopped pickle. So I guess that means you have to eat the rest of the pickles right then, or host a pickle party that afternoon so they don't go to waste. Or I guess you can save the pickles for later. But since you've used up the pickle juice, what liquid do you put back in the pickle jar so the pickles will last? If you are a pickle expert, please advise in the comments below!

My brilliant mom made the suggestion that this bread would be perfect for a corned beef sandwich. Or how about pastrami! Makes sense since you eat dill pickles at the same deli where you get your corned beef or pastrami sandwich. Why not in the same bite? Jewish delis, are you listening?

Dill Pickle Bread
Adapted from a recipe on What's Cooking America

1 generous cup lukewarm dill pickle juice
3 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large dill pickle, finely chopped

3 cups bread flour or unbleached all-purpose flour

In a standmixer or large bowl, stir together the warm pickle juice, yeast, and sugar. Add in the oil, dill, salt, chopped pickle, and 1 cup of the flour. Beat until incorporated. Gradually add the remaining two cups of flour, adding an additional tablespoon of flour at a time until the dough forms a soft, elastic ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Knead the dough on a floured work surface. Place in an oiled bowl and turn once to coat. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

Turn the dough out onto the floured work surface and shape the dough into a loaf by rolling or stretching it into a rectangle, then folding it in thirds like a letter, turning it over, and tucking the ends underneath.

Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, then sprinkle the bottom and partway up the sides with cornmeal. Place the shaped dough into the loaf pan and cover. Allow to rise in a warm place about 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Using a very sharp knife, make three diagonal slashes in the top of the dough. Brush the top with water. Bake for 25-35 minutes. If the bread starts to get dark brown but isn't done baking yet, cover the top with foil and return to the oven. To check for doneness, remove the loaf from the pan and tap the bottom with your finger. It should make a hollow sound. If it doesn't, return the loaf to the pan and return the pan to the oven to bake for a few more minutes.

When done baking, remove from the oven and allow to cool out of the pan on a wire rack.

Step-by-Step in Pictures

Combine the sugar, yeast, and pickle juice...

Chop up a pickle or two!

Add in the oil, dill, salt, chopped pickle and 1 cup of the flour...

Add in the remaining 2 cups of flour...

Mix and add a tablespoon at a time of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl...

Knead the dough, then place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour...

When the dough is ready, it will have doubled in size...

Shape the dough into a rectangle...

Fold the dough in thirds like a letter going into an envelope...

Tuck the ends under and pinch to seal...

Place in a greased loaf pan that has been dusted with cornmeal, cover and let rise about 40 minutes...

Once risen, slash the top of the loaf three times, then brush the surface with water...

Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 to 35 minutes...

Let cool out of the pan...

Slice and serve with butter or use for a corned beef or pastrami sandwich!