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Squirrel Bars

February 28, 2010 By

My hubby hates Peanut Butter (how they let him in the Navy, I’ll never now…I’m pretty sure a hatred for PB is about as un-American as you can get!), so whenever he’s gone, I make lots of peanut butter desserts. I made these for a Spouses Club meeting the other night…they’re one of my go-to desserts, a little different, super easy, and YUMMY!

They’re called “Squirrel Bars”.  They come from a cook book called Just a Matter of Thyme, and the woman who created the recipe originally called them “Swirl Bars”, but her daughter had trouble saying “swirl”, so she renamed them “Squirrel Bars”.  Love it! Anyway…here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup peanut butter (I sometimes use a little more)
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 6 oz. chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and baking powder.  Spread mixture in a greased 9″x13″ pan.  Sprinkle chocolate chips  on top and bake for 3 minutes.  Take out and “marbelize” the top (run a knife through the melty chocolate chips one direction, and then the other, kind of like you’re cutting them, and swirl chocolate around). Return to the oven for another 18-20 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars.

Enjoy your weekend!

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THE SEARCH HAS ENDED!!!

February 22, 2010 By

Yes folks.  I have found it.  The PERFECT chocolate chip cookie. Soft and chewy, sweet and a little salty–perfect.  Well, just about as perfect as a cookie can be.  Part of me wants to hoard this recipe away where no one can find it and everyone will forever be impressed with my chocolate chip cookies, but I’m not that mean.  Or maybe it’s just that I can’t keep a secret.  Either way…you can find the recipe over at The Cookbook Chronicles.

I’m not even going to rate these, because I would give them a perfect score!  Really, they’re just that delicious.  What makes them so puffy and yummy?  Bread flour and high quality ingredients (chopped up chocolate rather than the standard Nestle Tollhouse Choco-chips).  I’m here to tell you, they make a difference! If you make these, let me know what you think!  Happy Baking!

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The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Search Part II

February 8, 2010 By

For my second stab at the perfect cookie and tried the chocolate chip cookie from my childhood.  It’s from a cookbook my mom uses a lot called Just A Matter of Thyme.  My mom emailed me this recipe last year, but she usually doubles the batch, so the version she gave me was for a double batch…problem was, she doubled every ingredient EXCEPT for the flour!  So every time I would make them they would turn out really flat.  Luckily, she gave me the cookbook for Christmas and I discovered the error this weekend when I tried to make them from the recipe in the cookbook.  They turned out much, much better.  I don’t know if they’re the perfect chocolate chip cookie, but they are pretty darn good.

Here’s how I rate these (on a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible, 5 being outstanding):

Look of the Cookie: 4, This cookie looked very nice.  They had a great color, but they could have been a bit thicker.

Taste of the Cookie: 4, This cookie is pretty darn good.  I don’t think it’s perfect, but it’s close!

Texture of the Cookie: 4, These were nice and chewy, but I wish they were a bit denser.

Taste of the Batter: 3, The batter was decent, but not out of this world (I liked the batter better when I had half the flour!).

Total Score: 15/20

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup margarine
  • 3/4 cups brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 12 oz. pkg chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions

  1. Blend together softened butter and margarine until smooth. Cream with sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Add to the creamed ingredients and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips (and nuts).
  3. Scoop cookie dough onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Do not crowd; allow at least 2 inches between each cookie.
  4. Bake at 350 oven for 10 – 12 minutes.
  5. It is very important not to overbake. The cookies should be lightly golden brown, but not shiny on top.

This dough will keep nicely in the refrigerator for several weeks, enabling you to make just one dozen at a time.

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The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Search

February 5, 2010 By

I LOVE chocolate cookies. They are my favorite cookie and one of my favorite sweet treats!  The last year or so, I’ve tried a few different recipes, and frankly, I’m just not happy with any of them!  They were all pretty good (and no I did NOT sit down and eat ten cookies in one sitting from one of those batches), but I just don’t think any of them were amazing enough to become my “go to” recipe.

So today I’ve decided to launch THE GREAT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE SEARCH to find THE cookie.  The elusive perfect chocolate chip cookie.  I know it’s out there!  It’s only a matter of tracking it down.  Specimin #1: “Thick, Chewy, Chocolate Chip Cookies” from Sunset.  These cookies were super simple, I threw them together in five minutes or so, and the batter was pretty good, but the final cookie was a bit of the dry, floury side. You may also notice that the chocolate chip: dough ratio is a bit on the low side, but that’s because I had already opened this particular bag of chocolate chips to partake in a few a week or so ago, so the low ratio is due to me, not the recipe! Here’s an up-close picture of the cookie:

My final judgment (on a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible, 5 being outstanding):

Look of the Cookie: 3, This Cookie looked okay, I’ve seed better, I’ve seen worse.

Taste of the Cookie: 2, I wasn’t a huge fan of the taste of these, they tasted a little bland and really floury.

Texture of the Cookie: 4, I loved the texture of these.  They were very chewy, but a bit crumbly.

Taste of the Batter: 3, The batter was pretty good, not outstanding though.

Total Score: 12/20

So…the search continues!  If you have a recipe you think I should try, be sure to let me know!

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