Chocolate Peanut Butter Suprise Cookies

These cookies are so good. That is, if you like peanut butter and chocolate, which I believe is one of the best combinations there is. They are a little complicated, and take some time to make - not just a whip-it-up, throw-it-in-the-oven, kind of recipe, but they are well worth the extra time. Soft, chocolaty cookie on the outside, sweet, creamy peanut butter on the inside. Yum.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (I left this out, just because I almost never put salt in cookie recipes.)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus you'll need more at the end for rolling)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter (you'll need to divide this into 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup powdered sugar


1. Preheat the oven to 375*F.

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set this aside.

3. In another bowl, beat together sugars, butter and 1/4 cup of peanut butter until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the egg, beating to combine. Stir in the flour mixture. Set this aside as well.

4. In a medium bowl, mix together the powdered sugar and 3/4 cup of peanut butter, until smooth.

5. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Pull off about a tablespoon of the chocolate cookie dough and flatten it with your hands. Take a little less than a teaspoon of the peanut butter mixture and place it in the center of the chocolate cookie dough. Wrap the cookie dough around the peanut butter center and press it closed. Roll the cookie into a ball, and roll the cookie in sugar.

6. Place the cookies on the baking sheet. (They will spread somewhat, so be sure to space them apart with room for spreading.) Flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass.

7. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool. I made about 25 cookies from one batch.

Like I said before, these cookies were delicious. In mine I substituted some of the cocoa powder for chocolate chips, and I liked having the chocolate chips in the dough. I used four tablespoons of cocoa powder and four tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips. (If you do that, you also have to take out 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of butter).

Also, when I made these the first time, I had way too much of the peanut butter mixture for inside the cookies, and ended up dumping a bunch of it. Next time I make these, I'm going to try doing 1/2 cup of peanut butter with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

For a peanut-butter and chocolate lover, these are a must have. In fact, I think I might make a batch this afternoon. :)

*Disclaimer: I found the recipe and picture on Pinterest, linked from this blog.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

These cookies are similar to your average chocolate chip cookie, but they are just a little bit fluffier and have a bit of a different texture. The flavor is a little bit sweeter as well. Also, these cookies stay softer longer than a regular chocolate chip cookie would, which is great for me, because I love soft cookies. (Also, the cookie dough for these is delicious!)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 small package instant vanilla pudding (3.4 oz)

2 eggs, room temperature

2 cups chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugars, butter, vanilla extract, and vanilla pudding mix. Beat until creamy. Add eggs. Add the dry ingredients and still until well combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375*F for 8-10 minutes.

These would be great for a cookie exchange, or a party, or just a quick afternoon snack. This recipe made almost 50 cookies for me, and it took me less than an hour. They were so simple... but sometimes the simple things are the best.

"Success" Poem

Success is...

being strong in times of weakness,
having faith in times of hopelessness,
shining brightly in times of darkness,
persevering in times of struggle,
being patient in times of waiting,
being always loving, always forgiving, always trusting, always believing.

-Anonymous


and just for fun, I'm adding a couple of not-so-recent pictures I've taken.

In Nevada.

Nevada sunset.





DIY Post-It Note Goal List

I enjoy crafty projects. I am not always very good at them. But I like them.

About a week ago, I tried my hand at a Do-It-Yourself Post-It Note Goal List. It's a really simple idea,  easy to do and easy to personalize. After I made it, I decided to test it out for a week  before I actually blogged about it. It looks nice, and it keeps things neat and organized, so that your list looks like this :

My finished project.

and not like this:

For starters, you'll need an 11x14 inch sheet of thick drawing paper or cardstock, a pencil, some markers, a ruler, a few Sharpies, and of course, a nice block of Post-Its.

Supplies.

You'll probably find yourself needing other items as you start working on this, but you can decide that for yourself. These are the basic supplies you'll want to have handy.

Sketch out the design you want to use with just a pencil first. I'll demonstrate how I set mine up, but you might want to do yours entirely differently. I started with a 1/2 inch border, then made one large box at the top for my header (4.5 x 10 inches). Inside the header, about a half of an inch from the edge of the header, I made one, 3-inch box.



My outline.



On the rest of the page, I made six more three inch boxes. These will be where the Post-It notes go, so if you want to use slightly larger or smaller post-its, make sure to adjust your sizes accordingly. I have a thing with everything on a page being evenly spaced, so I spent more time than necessary making sure the boxes were just perfectly spaced. I finally ended up leaving about a quarter of an inch between each box, and about 1 inch between the rows.

 After you're satisfied with how your sketch looks, trace over the lines with Sharpie, or some other sort of marker to make sure it stands out.



The next part was my favorite. I got out my colored pencils and markers and decorated the header and in between the boxes. You can doodle and decorate however you like, just make it so that YOU enjoy looking at it. If you like the way it came out, you'll  be more inclined to use it.







My finished page.



 Next, we can finally break out the Post-Its. First, you must decide on a time frame for your goals, or to-dos, or whatever you have decided is the subject of your list. I decided on weekly goals, but daily or monthly could work just as well.

In the box at the top of the page, get a Post-It and write in your timeframe. Mine is in the picture below.  





Don't forget, whichever time frame you choose doesn't need to be permenant. If you decide later you'd rather a shorter or longer timeframe, just replace the Post-It Note with a new one.



 Now make six goals, writing each one on its own Post-It. Stick those Post-In Notes in the little boxes you drew. Hang it up somewhere you'll see it often, and when you've completed one of the tasks/goals, take off the Post-It and dump it.

Like I said, I used it throughout this past week, and today I am finishing the final goal, which was writing two blog posts during the week. The list was easy for me to use, since it was just hanging there in front of me every day, rather than being in a notebook which can be closed and stuffed away in a drawer. Not to mention the satisfaction of pulling off a Post-It note with the completion of each task.




**Credit for this idea goes to this blog.

M&M Cookie Bars

I found this recipe about a week ago, from this blog. I have made them twice already, and the second batch is already almost gone. :) We devour them quite quickly around here.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• M&M's (I use about 1/2 cup per batch)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.




Cooling in the pan.


2. Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
3. Let it cool off slightly, and then beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the wet mixture.
5. Pour into a greased 8x5 baking dish (or similar size). I used an 8x8 baking dish and spread the dough a little thinner - but I got more cookies out of it. :)
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Watch them carefully though - if you bake them too much before you put the M&Ms in, they won't stick as well.  
7. Pull them out of the oven and top with M&Ms, gently pressing them into the dough.
8. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the top is set. The cookies shouldn't wiggle if you shake the pan back and forth. They should be a very light golden brown on the edge, and white in the center.
9. Cool completely in the pan (about 5 minutes) and then slice. I sliced my cookies fairly small, so I got 25 cookie bars.

 These cookies are actually pretty fast and very simple to make. At first, it took me some time to figure out how long to cook them for and get the perfect amount of softness and chewiness. They are worth the effort, though, and would be great for a party.

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

I found this recipe a few weeks ago through a site called Pinterest. I was a little hesitant to make these cookies at first because I wasn't sure how cake batter, pudding mix, and cookies would all taste mixed together. I am so glad I tried it because the cookies were soft and delicious. :)

Cake Batter Pudding Cookies

• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding mix (lemon flavored pudding mix tastes good too!)
• 3/4 cup yellow cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• a dash of salt
• sprinkles

Directions: 

 Preheat the oven to 350F.
 In a medium bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking soda, then set aside.
 In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together.
 Add in the budding package and cake mix and beat until well - blended.
 Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
 Next, add the flour mixture from the medium bowl slowly until well incorporated.
 Mix in sprinkles to your own liking.
 Roll into approximately 1" balls and place on greased baking sheet. I just used a spoon to make small blobs of dough on the tray, but if you find the dough too sticky to work with, try refrigerating it for 5-10 minutes.
 Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.



From Chef-In-Training

 It is a rare moment where I forget


From Pineapple-Grass

to take a picture of something I've baked,

but this happened to be one of them. I found the picture on the left from the website where I got the recipe from. The one on the right I found in a Google search, but it was more along the lines of what my cookies looked like.



And the Winner Is....

Kendall's favorite pair of TOMS.

About a week and a half ago, I announced a giveaway on my blog for the book 'Start Something that Matters' by Blake Mycoskie (the founder of TOMS shoes). Last night, I put the names of each person that commented in a hat and drew one out, and Kendall is our winner! You can see the original post and book review here.




And since this post feels so short, I'm going to go ahead and share some of my recent photography with you.