Easy Peanut Butter Graham Cookies

When I made these cookies, I thought I would experiment a bit and add in graham cracker crumbs. Most of my "experiments" don't turn out that well, but I was happy to find out that these were delicious! They are not all that different, but they have a subtle graham flavor and a great texture. They are a little more crumbly but still chewy at the same time. I even made Nick do a side by side comparison of the original and these, and these won! 

  Ingredients:

• 1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used Jif creamy)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt (optional)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl, stir together peanut butter and sugars until well combined.  Add egg, salt, and baking soda and stir until completely incorporated.  
4. Roll into tablespoon-sized balls and create a cris-cross pattern with a fork. 
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  
6. Slide parchment paper off baking sheet and let cool for at least 10 minutes, and enjoy!

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

The best thing about these cookies is that you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now, and they come together in just a few minutes. Oh, and they are delicious. They have a chewy texture and strong peanut butter flavor. They would also be good with chocolate chips or even dipped in chocolate!

Ingredients:(adapted from Joy the Baker)

• 1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I used Jif creamy)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt (optional)
• 1 tsp baking powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  
2. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl, stir together peanut butter and sugars until well combined.  Add egg, salt, and baking soda and stir until completely incorporated.  
4. Roll into tablespoon-sized balls and create a cris-cross pattern with a fork. 
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  
6. Slide parchment paper off baking sheet and let cool for at least 10 minutes, and enjoy!

Monster Cookies

Monster cookies are nothing new, but they are cookies that every baker needs to have in their collection because they are always a favorite. They are packed with peanut butter, m&ms, chocolate chips, and whatever else you want to put in them! The adaptability of this recipe is one of the great things about it. This time I added butterscotch chips, but you could also add peanut butter chips, raisins, toffee bits, nuts, etc! I went with a recipe that used all oats rather than a combination of oats and flour because I love the chewy texture the oats lend to the cookie. Also, the bright colors of the m&ms make them perfect for birthdays.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FRIENDS, MEGGO AND LIZ! 

 There are a million recipes for monster cookies, but I started with one from All Recipes and then made a few changes, which are shown below. Also, it made about 60 cookies so be ready to share :)
Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 4 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup m&ms
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a very large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Then add the eggs and vanilla and beat well to incorporate.
3. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing well.
4. Use an ice cream scoop to put on ungreased cookie sheet. My ice cream scoop was pretty small and I baked them for about 12-13. They may not look quite done, but you want to take them out before the look completely done or else they will become hard once they cool. Leave them on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes to let them set. Then move to a cooling rack.

 
 

Elvis Fluffernutter Cake

If the name of this cake isn't fun enough to make you want to bake it, maybe the delicious combination of banana, peanut butter, marshmallow, and chocolate chips is! I was actually surprised at how much I liked the combination of all those flavors in a cake. I thought that it might be too overwhelming, but it really wasn't. It was rich but delicious. I saw it on Cookie Baker Lynn's blog and immediately added it to my list of things to make. I followed the recipe exactly as written (except added a little extra milk to the frosting), and it turned out perfectly. I apologize that the picture does not do it justice.

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
3-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 mashed bananas, about 1 cup
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray 2 round cake pans with cooking spray with flour.
2. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating just to combine. Stir in vanilla and mashed bananas.
4. Pour batter evenly between the two cake pans. Sprinkle the mini chips over the top of the batter. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
5. Let pans cool for 10 minutes on a rack. Carefully invert layers onto the rack to finish cooling.

Frosting
2 sticks of butter at room temperature
1 cup of smooth peanut butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk (Original used 2 Tbsp, I used 3)
1 cup marshmallow fluff

1. With an electric mixer cream together the butter and peanut butter until it's smooth. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time. Add as much of the milk as you need to achieve the consistency you want.
2. Place 1/3 of the frosting into a separate bowl and fold in the marshmallow fluff till completely incorporated.
3. Frost the top of the first layer with the marshmallow frosting. Top with the second layer. Frost with the rest of the frosting and sprinkle mini chips over the top, pressing them into the frosting slightly.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Fluer de Sel

I made these cookies last week since Josh and Annie were coming to dinner. Of course, chocolate and peanut butter is always a good combination, but the addition of the sea salt sprinkled on top really made these cookies! I also liked the texture of them- they were slightly crumbly around the edges, but still soft in the center.
I found this recipe on the Whole Foods recipe page, and the only change I made was to omit the peanuts because I didn't have any on hand. The recipe said it makes 2 dozen cookies, but I got 2.5 dozen so I guess I made mine a little smaller. I will definitely be making these again in the future!
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Fleur de sel, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and baking powder and add to peanut butter mixture, stirring to combine well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop dough by the spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Press each mound of dough with a fork to flatten slightly.

Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle immediately with fleur de sel to taste. Let cookies cool on sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These cookies are a great basic cookie with the PB and chocolate combo. After the first day when the chocolate has fully re-hardened, they are great microwaved for 10-15 seconds to soften it back up. I just used a classic recipe from the JIF website.



Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup Shortening
• 1/2 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 36 Hershey Kisses, unwrapped

Directions:
1. HEAT oven to 375°F.
2. CREAM together shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well.
3. STIR together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until stiff dough forms.
4. SHAPE into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. BAKE 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
6. TOP each cookie immediately with an unwrapped chocolate piece, pressing down firmly so that cookie cracks around edge. Remove from cookie sheets to cool.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Reese's Cookies

I made these cookies for Blake's birthday. They are quite rich, but good! It was also a good use of leftover halloween candy. Also, you can substitute various Reese's candies such as fastbreaks or caramel Reese's cups.




1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. peanut butter
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. peanut butter chips
3/4 c. chopped Reese's cups
3/4 c. Reese’s Pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda; stir into the peanut butter mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, Reese's cups, and Reese’s Pieces.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. ***Let cool for 1 or 2 minutes on sheet before removing, or they will fall apart.***
Makes approx 4 dozen

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

These  peanut butter sandwich cookies are delicious and reminiscent of the  the girl scout cookies, Do-si-dos. The recipe from All Recipes had many good reviews for a good reason! They are full of peanut butter flavor, but not overwhelmingly so. I definitely recommend trying them- they won't disappoint!

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches (from AllRecipes.com)
Ingredients:
Cookies:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup quick cooking oats

PB Filling:

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and beat well.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir. Add oatmeal and stir.
3. Drop by teaspoons onto greased baking sheet, and press each mound down with a fork to form 1/4 inch thick cookies. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown.
4. To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butterwith the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the milk. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.