PB and Chocolate Chip "pod" Cookies

Last night I went to a Chrismukkah party and though it wasn't required to bring anything it was a perfect opportunity for me to bake cookies! As you know I rarely bake, unless for an occasion, so that's exactly what this was. I decided to make this recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Mr. Goodbar Cookies) that was one of the very first I found and bookmarked. It's from a Weight Watchers friendly blog that seems to no longer be active. But in any case, here goes.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover two baking sheets with parchment paper (I used a silpat for one and foil for the other)
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter together with a hand mixer on a high speed. Add in the egg and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
- With the mixer on a low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Drop dough by tablespoons onto the baking sheets, forming 24 cookies total.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes
- Transfer to a cooking rack and cool completely.

The original recipe said to use the bottom of a drinking glass to press down on each dough ball and then use a fork to create criss-cross marks; I didn't do this. My dough was very crumbly and it was hard for the balls to stay together so when I tried to press them down they just fell apart, so I stopped. The original also mentions how her cookies didn't spread and mine didn't either! It was very frustrating. They ended up like little pods of cookies, as you see below.

In the end, yes they tasted good (I mean peanut butter and chocolate don't often taste bad together), but they looked not so good. They were definitely not an attractive cookie; however, still ended up being a success at the party and got eaten up! They're only 2 PointsPlus/cookie so definitely a good Weight Watchers option, if you can get past the weird look.

My New Go-To Cookie

Been a while since I posted, but I have in fact been busy slaving away in the kitchen.

A good friend moved to Michigan for grad school and throw a going away party at the beginning of August! I decided to bake her cookies as a sweet sendoff! The recipe was for Chocolate-Cherry Heart Smart Cookies from In Good Taste.

They were super fast and easy and so delicious!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup all-purpose white flour
1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup dried cherries
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
cooking spray

Directions:
- Lay out all ingredients and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine flours and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stir with a whisk.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat; add brown sugar, stirring until smooth.
- Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.
- Add cherries, vanilla, and egg; beat until combined.
- Fold in chocolate.
- Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray.
- Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.
- Cool on pans 3 minutes or until almost firm.
- Remove cookies from pans and cool.

The Final Product!

As mentioned in the title of this post, these cookies were great! The cherries added a little bit of tartness to a regular chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. And because they were so fast and easy to make I would definitely come back to these. I got about 26 cookies out of the recipe making it 2 pts/cookie.

No Bake Cookie

I like the idea of "no bake" cookies because obviously they are super easy and very time friendly. I had some peanut butter left over from the fluffernutter cookies last week so I thought this No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies via Coconut & Lime was a perfect way to use it up! And I was right!

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Bring sugar, butter, and milk to a full boil, remove from heat, add oatmeal. Stir. Then add vanilla and peanut butter. Stir. Drop by teaspoonfuls on to waxed paper. When cool, pack in single layer in Tupperware or other air-tight container to store.

I got about 70 cookies out of this, but they are pretty small. Bite size if you will and come out at 1 pt/cookie. I took them to a "Lost" watch party a friend was having and they were a huge hit! Gobbled up quite fast, and everyone really seemed to like that they were "bite-size." Mmmm.

Fluffernutter-y

Fluffernutter sandwiches used to be one of my favorite things as a child. The combination of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter - how can you go wrong?! So when I found this recipe for Fluffernutter Cookies via Picky-Palate.com I just couldn't resist! This was the second recipe for the big party...

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I used JIF of course)
1 large egg
1 cup marshmallow cream


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix the peanut butter and egg until well combined. Slowly stir in the marshmallow cream until just combined. You want to see the marshmallow cream not fully incorporated, almost like swirled through. With a cookie scoop (I just used a spoon), scoop dough onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet (or tin foil). Bake for 12-15 minutes or until baked through. Let cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.

I got about 21 cookies from the recipe (the original said about 18).


These turned out OK to me. I was a little disappointed, maybe because I love those sandwiches so much. Anyway, I would have preferred them to be a little softer, so would suggest baking them for 10 minutes. But all in all, another fun recipe to try.

As far as pts 2 per cookie, not too bad, but not worth it in my opinion.