Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I decided to go through my Pinterest and find a recipe or two that I had all the ingredients for. I wanted to make a flourless cookie or some kind of healthy for you snack. I stumbled upon this recipe because I have a ton of peanut butter in the house. And when I say a ton I really mean a lot lol. I have two jars of Jif and a Wegmans one and two of those are not open! It's not that I have a peanut butter problem we just enjoy it haha. I noticed that I had all the ingredients for these cookies except for the chocolate but then I noticed that it says you could substitute chocolate chips instead! SOLD! These are basically just a flourless peanut butter cookie with chocolate in them. I enjoyed them but they weren't my favorite cookie. They came out kind of chewy and bigger than I expected. But that didn't stop me from craving them once I had one of them. 

Credit for today's recipe goes to: averie cooks

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter 

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

6 ounces semi-sweet, dark, or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips may be substituted)

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-combined and the sugar is fully incorporated and is mixture is no longer gritty or granular, about 3 minutes. Stop to scrape down the bowl as necessary. Add the baking soda and beat to incorporate. Add the chocolate and beat to just incorporate

2. Transfer dough to airtight container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to 5 days, before baking.

3. Preheat oven to 350F. Using a 2-inch cookie scoop form dough mounds and place on prepared baking sheet, spaced 2 inches apart (8 to 10 per tray).  Slightly flatten the mounds before baking. Bake for 8 to10 minutes, until edges are set and tops are barely set, even if slightly under baked in the center.  

4. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months

With using a 2 inch cookie scoop this yielded about 14 very large cookies. I think the next time I try this recipe I will use my smaller cookie scoop

I don't feel like the refrigerating is necessary. It didn't really do anything to do the dough to make it more firm or anything like that. I think you could put these right in the oven after mixed and they would come out ok. 

These spread out quite a bit and I was surprised by that because the recipe says to make sure you flatten the cookies before baking. Like I said before I would make them smaller next time and I'm sure they won't come out as big.

I think 8 minutes is the best time for these cookies. Any longer and they come out too tough.

These aren't good for you cookies. The large cookies I made are 7 PPVs but if I make them smaller next time I'm sure they will be less points.

I was surprised I didn't love these like I have loved everything else from Pinterest. But it wasn't a disaster. They came out ok and even my husband liked them. I think I might attempt them again in the future with my few notes to see if that makes them any better.

I hope everyone enjoys!!

Amy Sue *^_^*

Chocolate Chip Blondies

Well I started this new exercise program today called Turbo Fire. Not sure if anyone has heard of it, I didn't until I met Katie. However it's a program promoted by Team Beach Body and made by the same people who do Insanity and P90X. I'm sure you've heard of those two lol. The kit comes with all the DVD's you need for a 12 week exercise program. They even give you a class schedule. I was super excited to start this program because I'm getting really close my overall weight loss goal. I knew I needed something that was higher in intensity and from what I can tell from this first work out this one will be. It's a lot of moves I already know because I've been doing kickboxing with Jillian Micheal's for the last month but the music just gets ya going and moves you so much more! I messed up a few of the moves but I'll get them, I always do in the end, but I still had lots of fun. And for an almost 40 minute workout I was sweating pretty good. I took my before and after pictures the other day and today my husband did my measurements. I can't wait to check back in 4 weeks to see what I might have accomplished.

Since it's been a good for you week I decided to try a recipe from Weight Watchers this time around. I'm naming these Chocolate Chip Blondies. You can find the original recipe here: Weight Watchers. How about that not a recipe from Pinterest lol! They are a nice light snack for anyone who would like something sweet for the night. They are pretty big so one serving is more than enough. This was also my first recipe using my new mixer. 

Chocolate Chip Blondies

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cup(s) all purpose flour  

1 1/4 cup(s) unpacked brown sugar, firmly packed  

1 tsp baking powder  

1/3 cup(s) unsweetened applesauce  

2 Tbsp mineral water  

2 tsp vanilla extract  

4 large egg white(s)  

1/3 cup(s) milk chocolate chips  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

2.Combine flour, brown sugar and baking powder in a large bowl; mix well. 

3. Add applesauce, water, vanilla extract and egg whites; blend well. 

4.Spoon batter into pan and smooth top; sprinkle with chocolate chips.

5. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into 16 pieces.

These are 3 PPV's each! Like I said they are big and 1 is more than enough to cure a sweet tooth.

I didn't have mineral water so I just used regular water. I didn't see the harm in it and from what I can tell it didn't change the recipe at all. 

These are not super sweet but good for a morning snack or an evening after dinner treat.

I think these would go great with any kind of tea :-)

Well there you have it! My first non Pinterest recipe. Don't worry I have more Pinterest ones coming up but I'd like to shout out to anyone who reads my blog. If you have a recipe you'd like me to try please let me know! I would love to feature any and all kinds of baking recipes on my blog. And of course I would give you total credit :-)

Amy Sue *^_^* 

Skinny Monkey Cookies

Alright! Since everyone has been asking about these I will post my blog now! Yesterday I decided to go onto Pinterest to look through some of my good for you recipes. Since I'm getting so close to my goal weight I've been wanting to try out better for you things and of course if I want to bake I need to put cookies on that list. I was looking through my healthy ideas board when I found this recipe and noticed I had all of these ingredients in the house! It's not often I find all these good for you ingredients in the house. I usually end up having to buy the fruit or lets say the butter most of the time. So yesterday I said I would make them tomorrow because it was the day before a weigh in and I didn't want to catch myself snacking on extra foods. Well this morning I made them. Of course they don't call for a mixer so I couldn't test out my new toy but soon I will ;-). They are called Skinny Monkey Cookies and they are really good! Credit for this recipe goes to: Once a Month Mom

Skinny Monkey Cookies

Ingredients:

3 bananas

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Dash of cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Mash bananas in a large bowl, then stir in remaining ingredients. 

2. Let batter stand for approximately 20 minutes, then drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired. 

3. Bake 10-12 minutes.

Makes about 30 cookies

I didn't have vanilla (again!) so I used almond flavoring. They taste different but just as good. I think you could use any kind of flavoring you wanted and it would turn out ok.

I was able to get about 32 cookies from this recipe and finally a good for you cookies! They are only 1 PPV!

These will not spread out so if you use a cookie scoop like I did you need to push them down to make them look like cookies.

They are gluten free and dairy free :-)

You can freeze them to make them last longer. Just make sure they cool completely before you do.

Well there ya go! The first of many good for you recipes. Enjoy!

Amy Sue *^_^*

Cookie in a Cookie!

I know it's been a while but I've actually been out of the house! It's been really nice to finally get out and enjoy the nice weather. Now it's back to being cold and chilly. Such is March in Rochester. But like I said I really got out and enjoyed the nice weather. I ripped up a lot of that mint patch in the back yard. That was a workout and a half. I'm not totally finished but I need the weather to be nice again to get it done. Then this past Sunday it was almost 60 out so I went for a run outside and guess what?! I ran my first 10k! This is a personal best for me because I have never run more than 5 miles before and a 10k is 6.22 miles or so. I did it in an hour and 3 minutes and I could of kept going that's how great I felt. I can not wait to do it again. I'm thinking about registering for the Rochester Half Marathon at the end of September. I want to have enough time to train and be able to get a good time. I keep trying to find ways to get extra miles in and I found one path that will give me at least 8 miles the next time I go out. I'm so addicted to running! I didn't think I would be but I am. Guess I should invest in a good pair of running shoes huh?

Guess what? I got a new toy! Check it out:

Yep I am now the proud owner of a Kitchen Aid mixer!! I'm so excited! I can not wait to use it. However now that I'm closer to my goal weight I'm probably going to be doing more healthy cookies and baking items  lol.

Speaking of bad for you cookies it's time for this weeks recipe! It's Cookie within a Cookie time! I've been wanting to attempt these for quite a while now. I remember read an article about them one day at work and thought they would be awesome to make. However I never got around to making sure I had all the ingredients for the recipe itself haha. This time however I was making lots of different cookies just because I could and this one stuck out to me. I really wanted to do something with Oreo's and I had a coupon for them so I thought why the heck not.

Credit for this recipe goes to: Picky Palate 

Cookie in a Cookie!

Ingredients

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup packed light brown sugar

1 Cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

3 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

10 oz bag chocolate chips

1 bag Oreo Cookies, I used the double stuff

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream butter and sugars until well combined. 

2. Add in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

3. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda. 

4. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined. 

5. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough. 

6. Place onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake cookies 9-13 minutes or until cookies are baked to your liking. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Makes about 2 dozen VERY LARGE Cookies, Serve with a tall glass of milk, enjoy!

I was able to get exactly 2 dozen out of this recipe. 

Don't be shocked but the PPV of these cookies is 10 points lol. Are you surprised?

Sometimes the chocolate chips made it hard to put the cookie dough around the Oreo itself. I was thinking of maybe either putting in less chocolate chips or use mini chips the next time around.

I think these would be great if you used any type of Oreo  I'm thinking next time to do a chocolate chocolate chip cookie and the blonde Oreo's ;-) Keep and eye out for that one. 

Well there ya have it! These are very yummy for a once and while kind of treat but not an all the time type of thing. I sent most of them to my friend Shane and he said they were great :-)

I hope everyone enjoys them! Let me know if you try!!

Amy Sue *^_^*

Oreo Peanut Butter Brownies

Having an almost 4 year old in the house is very trying at times. She is so stubborn but then she turns around and can be so sweet. Some days it's hard to be mad at her and other days she does nothing but drive us crazy. I've heard this is pretty normal at this age but man is she driving me insane. I think the biggest issue we are having with her right now is potty training. We kept trying to potty train her before she turned 3 and before her brother got here but every time we wanted to try something came up. My mom, who was her sitter at the time, hurt her arm so we ended up putting her in an at home daycare. Then my daughter herself hurt her arm. After that we worked on it a bit on and off but nothing constant. I vowed that when her brother came along and I had those 8 weeks off of work I was going to work really hard to get her to go on the potty. Well needless to say my son was a handful and I was just so tired and I wasn't very consistent. When I went back to work my mom started watching her again and she got her started and she really did start to learn. Well here we are almost 8 months later and she keeps having accidents. Surprisingly she can poop on the potty but when it comes to going pee she still has issues. Usually that's the other way around right? I'm not evening worrying about getting her to do it at night I just want her to be able to do it during the day time. I don't know what to do though because she knows what she has to do but is just being stubborn and not doing them. Le sigh. 

Inspired by my daughter being all kinds of fun and crazy here is today's recipe. Oreo Peanut Butter Brownies! These are super evil but super easy to make. There are only 3 ingredients! I made these on a whim because my friend Tasha was coming over and I asked her if she wanted to bake something naughty. To which she replied uh yeah and she brought the ingredients over lol!! 

Credit for this recipe goes to: Good Ideas For You

Oreo and Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients 

1 box brownie mix, 8x8 inch size

24 Oreo Cookies

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 12 muffin cup baker with paper liners. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions.

2. Place Oreo into the cupcake lined muffin cups.

3. For each cupcake cup spread 1 teaspoon of peanut butter over 2 Oreo cookies and stack them on top of each other.

4. Spoon 2 tablespoons of brownie batter over each stacked Oreos and let it run down the sides of the cookies. If you have left over brownie batter, bake separately in a separate baker or muffin tin.

5. Bake cookies and brownies for 18 to 20 minutes, until brownies are cooked through.

6. Let cool completely then serve.

Makes about 12 servings. I actually got 13 out of this because I had extra brownie batter left over and an extra muffin tin. 

But not matter how many you make they are still 10 PPVs EACH! 

I actually only put the peanut butter in the middle of the stack of Oreo's. The original recipe calls for you to put peanut butter in the middle and on top. I didn't think if I did that it would fit all into the muffin tin. But I would try it any way you want.

According to my husband the brownie part was a little under done. I would cook a little longer than 20 minutes. Maybe 25-30 instead. 

I did try 1/4 of one of these and they are truly to die for. However I think the next time I make them will be for a special occasion so I don't have they laying around the house haha! 

That's it for this time around! I hope you enjoy and as always let me know if you try them!!

Amy Sue *^_^*