Bready or Not: Double Peanut Butter Cookies
Peanut butter in the dough. Peanut butter and chocolate chips teamed up for flavor reinforcement. That’s why these are called Double Peanut Butter Cookies.
These taste like a cookie version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. Then there’s the texture. See, you whip a lot of air into the dough by mixing it for five minutes at the start, then you chill the finished dough for a prolonged period of time.
This combination adds LOFT. The end result is like a fluffy pillow of cookie. Seriously, these things don’t even spread when they bake. You need to compress them to be flat and bake evenly.
This dough will keep at least five days fully wrapped in the fridge. You can also freeze it. After baking, the cookies keep well for at least five days. Maybe longer than that. I can’t say. They were all eaten by that point.
If you love peanut butter, make these cookies. They will change your life.
Modified from Averie Cooks.
Bready or Not: Double Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter not homemade or natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, softened
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the egg, brown sugar, peanut butter, butter, and vanilla extract. A mixer is best. Pause every so often to scrape down the sides of the bowl, but continue mixing until the dough is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt until just incorporated. Add the peanut butter and chocolate chips.
- Place two large strips of plastic wrap on the counter. Divide the dough in half, compress it to be stackable, and completely wrap each big disc. Stash it in the fridge for a couple of hours or up to five days. (Chilling the dough makes the end result thick and pillowy! Don't skip this.)
- Preheat the oven at 350-degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out the dough. Compress each ball of dough to a thick oval; this is important because the dough won't spread much as it bakes.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges have just set. Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet another 10 minutes; they will firm up during this time. Transfer them to a rack to finish cooling, and start the next batch.
- Cookies will keep at least five days in a sealed container at room temperature.
- OM NOM NOM!
Reprints FTW
First of all, book news!
The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog had awfully nice things to say about The Clockwork Dagger and The Clockwork Crown: “Indeed, one of the things I find so winning about Octavia is her incredible compassion. When her enemies are hurt, she tends to them, as well as to her friends and strangers. She’s not a sap; she knows, the way doctors do, that triage is often necessary. The Clockwork Crown… provided a very satisfying conclusion to an excellent duology.”
I also have a Goodreads giveaway for The Clockwork Crown that ends Monday night! That’s TONIGHT! So enter and spread the word. Scroll down to find the widget.
Now, to the subject from the headline. I haven’t had much time to write new stories this year, but I have made an extra effort to seek out reprint markets. This has turned out surprisingly well. It amazes me that stories that were rejected five, ten times on initial submission are now selling multiple times as reprints–and for a heck of a lot more money, too.
Last week I shared the news about “Red Dust and Dancing Horses” in For Want of a Horse.” That same story will also be appearing next year in 2016 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide. That’s right, a middle-grade adventure anthology! How cool is that?! Plus, it’s very girl-positive, and that makes me REALLY happy. There will be a Kickstarter to expand the anthology; I’ll post more about this soon!
I also sold a reprint of my science fiction story “Overlap” to Science Fiction Short Stories from Flame Tree Press. They are publishing this as a deluxe hardcover–the book itself looks gorgeous! Plus, I’m tickled to share the anthology with several friends as well as classic authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, and Jack London. This book will actually be out in the next few months–in time for Christmas!
Now here’s the giveaway link for The Clockwork Crown, as promised!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Clockwork Crown
by Beth Cato
Giveaway ends August 03, 2015.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Sunday Quote isn’t ready for August
Read More“You always get more respect when you don’t have a happy ending.”
~Julia Quinn
Bready or Not: Legendary Macaroni and Cheese
I needed a make-ahead macaroni and cheese recipe. I already have several other reliable ones like Civil War Macaroni and Cheese and the Pioneer Woman’s recipe, but I didn’t need to babysit boiling milk or dirty a score of pots and pans as I was enjoying company over for a visit.
I have had John Legend’s recipe saved on Pinterest for years. I watched a video of him cooking the recipe with Martha Stewart and read tips from other cooks. I decided to halve the recipe, since this was a side for four people, and otherwise tweak things.
I did the bulk of the recipe in the morning. When it was time to start supper, all I had to do was heat the oven and add the paprika and bread crumbs. It baked up into an oozing, cheesy mass. Everyone raved over it. There were no leftovers.
My other mac and cheese recipes are great but this is the one I’ll keep handy for holidays or when company is coming. Tastiness and convenience? Heck yeah!
Halved and modified from John Legend’s Macaroni and Cheese, as featured on Martha Stewart.
Bready or Not: Legendary Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for baking dish
- 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese or a mix of cheddars, shredded
- sprinkle paprika
- bread crumbs
Instructions
- If you plan to bake this right away, preheat oven to 375-degrees. Butter or spray a 9x9 baking dish.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt and macaroni. Cook until al dente. Drain the water and return the macaroni to the pot. Add butter and stir until it has melted.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together evaporated milk and egg. Add seasoned salt, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Place about 1/3 of the macaroni in an even layer in the bottom of prepared baking dish. This should be just enough to cover the bottom. Cover with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat twice more with remaining macaroni and cheese.
- Pour the milk and seasonings mixture evenly over the contents of the baking dish. At this point, you can stash the dish in the fridge overnight or during the day until it's meal time.
- When you're ready to bake, make sure the oven is preheated. Sprinkle the top of the macaroni with paprika and bread crumbs.
- Bake until top layer is lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes; note that if the dish is cold, bake time will likely need to be extended to closer to 40 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Later this fall…
Later this year, a reprint of my story “Red Dust and Dancing Horses” will appear in an anthology from Lethe Press called For Want of a Horse.
There will recent stories like mine, as well as reprintings of fairy tales and classics by authors like Ambrose Bierce, L. Frank Baum, and Washington Irving. I’m rather tickled by the table of contents. Me and the writer of The Wizard of Oz, hangin’ out.
Look for more info on the book’s release this fall!
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