The Chocolate Lady Dishes

My mom – Nana Shirley – shares another yummy cookie recipe with us today – and it’s no surprise that it involves her favorite peanut butter and chocolate!

It’s a tradition that I travel to our daughter’s and help “babysit” with grandchildren while their parent’s attend the Home School conference for 2 days.

The responsibilities related to the “babysit” part has changed as the children are growing older, but they still like to eat!

My hubby does not share my love of peanut butter, so this was an ideal opportunity to bake Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies from my “stash” of wanting-to-bake recipes!

I had no marshmallow creme jar in my pantry, but I found a great substitution!  Melting 16 oz marshmallows in 3 – 1/2 Tablespoons white corn syrup in a double boiler equals 1 jar of marshmallow creme! I used the microwave, but stopped & stirred each minute.

The cookies are cake-like. Do put them 2 inches apart to keep the desired shape. The filling could use more peanut butter for taste. Be prepared for some filling strings as you spread it!

This recipe was “Grandkid Taste Tested” – and it passed!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies
Makes 30 sandwiches

Cookies:

1 12-oz pkg. miniature semisweet chocolate pieces ( I used regular size, except for sprinkling on top)
2 Tbsp. milk
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 – 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp.baking soda
1 tsp.baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 cup softened butter
1 cup marshmallow creme
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 1/4 cup miniature chocolate pieces to sprinkle on cookies.

In microwave-safe bowl combine 1 cup of the chocolate pieces and 2 Tbs. milk. Melt. Set aside.
In bowl beat butter & peanut butter with mixer until combined.

Add sugar, soda, baking powder & salt. Beat. Add eggs, milk, vanilla & melted chocolate. Beat. Add cocoa & flour. Beat. Stir in remaining chocolate pieces.

Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with reserved miniature chocolate bits.
Bake 9 minutes or until tops are set. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

To assemble, spread flat sides of half the cookies with filling. Top with remaining cookies.

Filling: In bowl beat softened butter, creamy peanut butter, marshmallow creme &  powdered sugar with mixer until combined. If needed beat in the milk until spreading consistency.

Everybody has a signature cookie – the go-to recipe that never fails.

This one is mine.

The original recipe “Oatmeal Crispies” came from my Grandma Griner and were a staple in her kitchen when my mom was growing up.

Later they were a staple in my mom’s kitchen. She added chocolate chips and would often bake them as bars.

Now that I’m the mom – I did some more substituting to make them my own.

I added peanut butter in place of some of the margarine and I added baking powder.

The result is my signature cookie – and it is a staple in my kitchen!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies  (aka Auntie M Cookies)

1 cups peanut butter
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups oatmeal
2 cups chocolate chips or M & M’s or combination

Cream together the peanut butter, margarine, white sugar and brown sugar.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and oatmeal.  Add to the creamed mixture and mix well. The dough will be very thick.

Stir in the chocolate chips and M & M’s.

Drop by teaspoonful on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until just starting to brown.

You can grind the oatmeal in the blender before you add it to the flour mixture. It gives a great oatmeal flavor without the extra chewiness.

These travel well and keep really well in the freezer.

Enjoy!

My mom, known to you all as “Nana”, has finally emerged from behind the sewing machine to return to the kitchen! Today she shares a yummy gluten-free chocolate  cookie recipe…

The last couple of months have been spent sewing bolts of white & blue satin into dresses & vests to be worn at our granddaughter’s wedding last week.

Not a lot of time was spent baking! We keep a “stash” of homemade soup & desserts in the freezer – frozen in individual containers for busy times like this.

This frozen “stash”,  along with our “stash” of home-grown veggies, became our meals for the last few weeks.

Needless to say, our stash had dwindled down to the less than desirable variety and since Papa needed something packed everyday in his lunch – he suggested we take an afternoon and build up our “stash” of cookies in the freezer.

I couldn’t complain since we seamstresses also needed nourishment with our afternoon tea break.

I pulled out our “stash” of recipes collected from magazines this winter. Each of us picked a new recipe to try.

This recipe caught my eye because it was chocolate (of course) and flour-less. You have to work to get the egg white mixed into the other ingredients, but do not beat the whites first, just keep stirring & pressing.

The cookies are crisp on the outside and very chewy in the center with a rich chocolate flavor! They add a nice variety to our cookie “stash!”

Chewy Flour-less Chocolate Cookies (gluten-free)

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1 cup coarsley chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Mix together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, & salt. Gradually add egg whites, stirring with a spoon until mixture forms a dough. (Mixture should be thick enough to form into balls; if not add more powdered sugar and cocoa. Add nuts; mix well.

Form dough into 15 balls. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake 16-19 minutes, until glossy and crackled. Remove from pan. Cool completely

Yield: 15 cookies
per cookie: 110 calories, 7 g. fat, 0mg chol.,1 g prot.,16 g carbs., 1 g fiber.,45 mg sodium.

Happy “stashing!’
Nana

I’m a chronic recipe clipper.

I have notebooks full of recipes that I cut from magazines and newspapers just waiting to be tried!

Recipes like this one.

I ran across it the other day and thought it looked really yummy – they only problem was that the recipe started with “To the basic sugar cookie dough (recipe on page 196) add…”

Oops. I didn’t save page 196.

So I substituted my favorite sugar cookie recipe – a sour cream version that is rich and soft.  The shortbread turned out great – and looked really fancy!

If I was short on time, I’m sure a refrigerated sugar cookie dough would work just as well – just throw in the chocolate chips, press it into the pan and bake.

The round springform pan and the chocolate/raspberry glaze will make it look like I spent hours!

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

1/2 cup margarine or butter
1 – 3 ounce package cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Cream together the margarine, and sugar. Add the cream cheese, egg, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Add it to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Press into a 9 inch round springform pan.  Score into 16 pie shaped wedges.

Bake at 350 degrees for 27-30 minutes.  Let cool. Remove the sides of the pan and drizzle with chocolate sauce and/or melted raspberry jam. (I did both!)

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday on Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday over at Beauty and Bedlam.

It was a trip down memory lane in my kitchen this week! It was yet another cool, rainy afternoon and we needed a fun activity to pull us all out of our doldrums.

It was time to bake.

I was flipping through my recipe file and found my Waffle Cookie recipe – still written in my junior high handwriting.

I remember Mom baking these cookies for my siblings and I growing up.

It was time for me to introduce my own kids to this easy-to-make treat.

Angel Girl helped me mix up the dough (which was really yummy to sample!) and bake these goodies.

The first ones we overcooked a little – then we realized that they were a little soft when they come out of the waffle iron – but will firm up as they cool.

Chocolate Waffle Cookies

1-1/2 cup sugar
1 cup shortening (we used margarine)
4 eggs
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream the sugar and shortening (margarine) together. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well. Add dry ingredients and mix together.

Preheat your waffle iron and spray lightly with cooking spray. Drop dough on iron (I used about 1/3 cup of dough for each cookie). Close the iron. Remove the cookie when done. (I just used the light that signals when the waffle is done – the timing working perfectly!)

Now to serve them…

My favorite way to eat them was with a big spoonful of hot fudge sauce on top!

But they were also very tasty – and cute – as a “Waffle Sundae” with a scoop of ice cream, chocolate syrup, and sprinkles.

But the kids also loved them with a scoop of ice cream or raspberry sherbet as a yummy ice cream sandwich.

Any way we served them – they were a yummy way to brighten up some attitudes!

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Lisa over at Stop and Smell the Chocolates and at Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.