Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend Karey told me about her sister-in-law Lara's recipe blog, and I've been in love with it ever since. If you've never been to Recipe Shoebox, check it out! Lara updates regularly, and she includes a wide variety of family-friendly, healthy, and delicious recipes. One day recently I wanted to bake, but wanted something different than our usual chocolate chip. I'm not crazy about plain peanut butter cookies, but I found Lara's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and we all loved them. Thanks, Lara! Click here for Lara's post of this recipe.

1 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy, depending on on personal preference)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips

Beat butter, peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually beat in dry ingredients. Stir in morsels. Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

(Bonny's note: This dough also refridgerates well if you want to bake small quanitites at a time.)

Oatmeal Carmelitas

This is yet another fabulous recipe from Jadi's blog. These are so chewy and delicious, and they kept for several days. I made them on a Tuesday and the following Sunday they were still really good. The only thing I did differently here was that I didn't add nuts because Ryan doesn't like them. You will love these! Thanks again, Jadi!

For the Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 sticks)

For the Filling:

1 (12.5 oz) jar caramel ice cream topping
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 (6 oz) pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips (or a little more)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13-inch pan. In a large bowl, blend all crust ingredients on low speed until crumbly. Press half of crumb mixture (about 3 cups) in bottom of greased pan. Reserve the remaining crumb mixture for the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine caramel topping and 3 tbsp of flour. Remove partially baked crust from the oven; sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts. Drizzle evenly with caramel mixture; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake an additional 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Refrigerate 1-2 hours until filling is set. Cut into bars. Enjoy!

No Bake Cookies

I learned how to make these cookies at a church activity when I was a teenager, and I've been making them ever since. They are so easy to make and really yummy.

1 stick of butter
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. milk
2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 1/2 to 3 c. oats (depending on how dry you want the cookie. I prefer using 2 1/2 cups.)

Mix butter, cocoa, milk and sugar into a large pot, stirring frequently. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute without stirring. Take the mixture off of the heat and add the peanut butter, vanilla, and oats. Spoon out onto wax paper. The cookies take about 15-30 minutes to set. Enjoy!

Mini Ritz Cookies

I got this YUMMY recipe from Jadi's blog. She used Ritz crackers, spread peanut butter between them, and dipped them in chocolate. I made a minor change by using peanut butter Ritz Bits (the little ones), and dipping them in chocolate. This is soooo easy and the result is awesome. I'm sure the full size ones are great and can't wait to make those, but I also really like the mini version. They're a great bite-sized treat. It goes without saying that the kids loved them, too.

1 package Ritz Bits peanut butter crackers

Milk chocolate chips

White chocolate chips

A little bit of vegetable oil

Melt about 1/2 an 8 oz bag of milk chocolate chips, 1/4 of an 8 oz bag of white chocolate chips, and about 1 tsp of vegetable oil in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Dip peanut butter crackers in chocolate until covered. Use a fork to remove them from the chocolate. Put wax paper on a cookie sheet and place the chocolate covered crackers on the wax paper. Place cookie sheet in the fridge for 10 to 20 minutes so chocolate can harden. Enjoy!

Easy Ice Cream Cake

I got this recipe from an old coworker of mine named Teri. It is really easy and yummy--a great summer dessert--and much less expensive than buying an ice cream cake. I think it tastes just as good as a store-bought one (if not better!).

1 package Oreo cookies
1 stick butter
1 container of cookies n' cream ice cream, softened
1 container of Cool Whip

Break Oreos into small pieces (you could probably use a food processor but I just put the cookies in a large mixing bowl and used the bottom of a glass cup to break them. I think bigger chunks work better than a powder). Take out some (1/2 to 1 cup depending on how much you want on top) for sprinkling on the cake when finished. Melt butter and mix with remaining crushed Oreos. Press into a 9 x13 pan. Put in freezer for a few minutes to set. Remove from freezer and spread softened ice cream over crust. Spread Cool Whip over ice cream. Sprinkle the Oreos you set aside over top of cake. Store in freezer until ready to serve.

I have made half-and-half cakes before--put cookies n' cream on half and another type of ice cream on the other. You could also use another type of cookie (like a peanut butter cookie) with whatever ice cream you wanted.

Blondies

After a rich, decadent dinner of sole (fish) stuffed with crab and scallops, loaded baked potatoes, and fresh, juicy tomato wedges, I decided to try this recipe. I got it from a "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook I got for my wedding. This was my first time trying this recipe and I thought it turned out nicely. It calls for less butter and 1/3 the chocolate of my cookie bars, but is still very rich, buttery, and chocolaty. Grayson took one bite and said, "This is DELICIOUS!" I loved melting the brown sugar and butter in the pan together--it looked so pretty. :)

2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 c butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 c semisweet chocolate chips
1 c chopped nuts

Grease a 9x13 baking pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat brown sugar and butter over medium heat until butter melts and the mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. Stir in eggs 1 at a time; stir in vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces and nuts. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (avoid chocolate pieces). Cool slightly on a wire rack. Cut into bars while warm.

I didn't add nuts to mine, but think they would add a nice crunch. This would be delicious, of course, with milk or vanilla ice cream.

Oreo Balls

I got this recipe from my friend Jadi's recipe blog, and they are delish! I mean seriously--chocolate, cream cheese...what's not to love?

1 package Oreo cookies
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
23 oz bag milk chocolate chips melted with 4 tbsp vegetable oil

Crush Oreo cookies into a fine powder in a blender or food processor. Soften cream cheese and mix into Oreo powder (in a mixer, not by hand). Place a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Once the mixture is well blended, roll into balls and place balls without touching on cookie sheet. Once all the mix is rolled, place cookie sheet in freezer for 15 minutes. While the balls are setting, melt the chocolate and vegetable oil. Dip the balls in chocolate and place on another large sheet of wax paper. Put the dipped balls in the fridge for several minutes so the chocolate will harden. I made my balls pretty small, so this made 4 dozen. Enjoy!

My Dad's Chocolate Chip Cookies

My dad makes (no bias, of course) the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. Here's the recipe and Dad's technique.

2 sticks (1 c) butter, softened
3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
3 c (or 1.5 12 oz bags) chocolate chips

I use a Kitchen Aid, but you can also hand mix of course. Cream together butter and sugars for several minutes. If you are hand mixing, you would whip until you see air bubbles. I don't usually get this with the Kitchen Aid, but you want to mix this for a while so you get enough air in the mix.

Add eggs. Mix only until blended completely. Add vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix only until blended. Add flour, and mix only until blended. Depending on how melted the butter was, you might need closer to 3 c flour. Add chips and mix.

Spoon onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until edges are golden brown. I prefer to leave the center a little underdone and let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes after I pull them out of the oven.

For cookie bars:
Spread entire batch of dough into greased 9 x 13 glass pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until edges and top are golden brown. When you first pull this out the middle will probably still be underdone, but if you let it rest for at least 20-30 minutes it will firm up.

Serve with milk or ice cream and enjoy!