Peanut Butter Cookies with Dry Cherries

 

https://www.marthastewart.com/1520405/peanut-butter-cookies-dried-cherries

Prep:

30 mins

Total:

2 hrs

Yield:

Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1 cup natural smooth peanut butter, such as Smucker's All Natural 
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar 
• 3/4 cup light-brown sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1 cup dried cherries, chopped 
• 1/2 cup salted cocktail peanuts, chopped
  

  Directions

  Instructions Checklist

  • Step 1

    Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter on medium-high speed until smooth. Add peanut butter and both sugars; beat until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat just until combined.

  • Step 2

    Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add cherries; toss to coat. Add flour mixture to peanut-butter mixture; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in peanuts.

  • Step 3

    Scoop heaping-tablespoon balls onto baking sheets, 3 inches apart; flatten each slightly. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until just set, 16 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 week.

  Cook's Notes

  Since this recipe yields a lot of cookies, you can portion out half the dough into balls and freeze them on baking sheets until solid, then transfer them to resealable plastic bags to store in the freezer until you're ready to bake more.

  
  

My notes: 

1. Made exactly as the recipe stated. Next time I would chop the cherries a little more finely. 

2. I refrigerated overnight. I used heaping tablespoon which resulted in 2-3 inch cookies, which was perfect, honestly, because peanut butter cookies have that dryness and you can’t really commit to a larger peanut butter cookie in my opinion. 

3. It makes a lot, I’m freezing most of my dough. 

4. Good, but not really all that special. Would not make again especially, but also wouldn’t avoid it. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart (TK’s 2022 bday)

 Made this recipe from Martha: 

Ingredients

For the Crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Valrhona) 
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• 1 large egg 
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream 

For the Brittle

• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup 
• 2 tablespoons water 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt 
• 6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) cocktail peanuts, finely chopped in a food processor 

For the Filling

• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter 
• 3/4 cup heavy cream 
• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate (61 percent), chopped 
• Pinch of salt

Directions

Instructions Checklist

• Step 1

  Make the crust: Whisk flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until combined, scraping down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low, and gradually beat in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with cream and beginning and ending with flour mixture. Shape dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before rolling.

• Step 2

  Roll out dough into a 7-by-16-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Fit into a 4 1/2-by-14-inch rectangular tart ring on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Push dough into corners of ring to create sharp edges; trim so that dough is flush with top of ring. Prick dough all over with a fork. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

• Step 3

  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line crust with parchment, pressing so that it is flush with dough, especially in corners. Fill with pie weights or dried beans; bake until edges are set, about 20 minutes. Remove weights and parchment; bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

• Step 4

  Make the brittle: Bring sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to brown. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until golden brown. Stir in baking soda, salt, and peanuts until well combined (mixture should be the color of peanut butter). Immediately pour onto a nonstick baking mat, spreading out as thinly as possible with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Finely chop half the brittle with a heavy knife to yield 1/2 cup. Reserve remainder for another use.

• Step 5

  Make the filling: Heat peanut butter in a microwave until fluid, about 30 seconds. Pour 1/2 cup into crust, and top with chopped brittle, pressing it into peanut butter. Freeze tart until peanut butter is firm, about 10 minutes. For ganache, bring cream to a boil; pour over chocolate in a small bowl. Add salt; let sit 8 minutes.

• Step 6

  Meanwhile, fill a disposable pastry bag with remaining fluid peanut butter (if peanut butter has thickened, microwave it 10 seconds), and snip off end. Whisk ganache until smooth, and immediately pour into tart, smoothing with a mini offset spatula if necessary. Pipe peanut butter in continuous diagonal zigzag lines down length of tart. Draw a wooden skewer perpendicularly through peanut butter lines in a zigzag motion down length of tart. Then draw skewer in a continuous sideways loop pattern down length of tart to create swirls.

• Step 7

  Refrigerate tart until set, at least 1 hour and up to 8 hours. Cut into wedges, and serve.

  
  

My notes:

1. The crust was not really that yummy. I admittedly used TJ’s cocoa powder, not Valhrona but still, it really fell flat— didn’t taste chocolate-y and was dry. I ended up taking the crust off and tossing it before eating my piece. 

2. I didn’t have the tart pan, so I used a 9 inch round cake pan lined with parchment, it came out just fine. 

3. The brittle and the rest of it came out well, and was yummy. I used 71% chocolate in the ganache and omitted the salt (as I felt everything was already on the salty side). Next time I would use exactly 6 oz of peanuts (I eyeballed 1.5 cups) because otherwise the brittle gets too crumbly. 

4. Overall, good, but the crust, which took the bulk of the prep time, was so underwhelming, I will unlikely make again. I made it on Tuesday and served on Wednesday, and it was fine. It is rather pretty, though. 

Vegan brownies (uses flax eggs)

 Saw this on Insta, tried it out because I had some leftover vegan butter. 

From A Big Man’s World:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 6 tablespoon brewed coffee can use for water
• 1 cup chocolate chips of choice
• 1 cup coconut sugar * See notes
• 6 tablespoon vegan butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour can use gluten-free all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1-2 cups chocolate chips of choiceoptional

Instructions

• Prepare your flax egg by combining your ground flaxseed with your brewed (chilled) coffee. Let it sit for 10 minutes, to form a gel.
• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a square pan with parchment paper and set aside.
• In a microwave-safe bowl or stovetop, melt your chocolate chips of choice. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, add your vegan butter and coconut sugar, and whisk well. Add in your prepared flax eggs, melted chocolate, vanilla, and almond extract, and mix well, until glossy.
• Sift through your flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder and mix until just combined. Do not overmix. If using chocolate chips, fold them through. 
• Transfer your brownie batter into the lined pan. Bake your brownies for 30-35 minutes. 
• Remove brownies from the oven and let cool completely, before slicing into 12 pieces.

My notes:

1. Not balanced, not chocolate -y enough, but good texture, and uses half of the normal amount of butter so would consider a retry. I also sort of messed this up the first time in that I accidentally used 6 oz of butter not 6 TBSPs, so I had to double the recipe and I didn’t double the amount of coffee, just added more water… I used imitation vanilla too

2. I modified the directions a bit— 1 cup chips = 6oz chocolate, so I just melted 12 oz of bars and also melted the vegan butter into it too because I didn’t understand how else to do it. I obviously only used vanillin and not the almond extract. I also used white sugar and not coconut sugar. 

3. Would consider making again only because the texture was pretty fantastic, considering it has half the the usual amount of butter. 

Lemon Pistachio Loaf (Vegan, like an olive oil cake)

 This recipe was from Ochre, in Chicago I thought although now apparently in Detroit 

Ingredients

Makes one 9x5" loaf

⅓

cup vegetable oil, plus more for pan

¾

cup (100 g) raw pistachios

Zest of 2 lemons

1¾

cups (220 g) all-purpose flour

1

cup (200 g) granulated sugar

2

tsp. baking powder

¾

tsp. kosher salt

5

Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

7

Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, divided

2

cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Step 1

Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 325°. Grease a 9x5" loaf pan with vegetable oil, then line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on long sides. Oil parchment paper (for insurance and an easy release).

Step 2

Pulse pistachios in a food processor until finely ground (it’s okay if some of the pieces are a bit larger). Set aside a heaping tablespoonful.

Step 3

Whisk lemon zest, flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and remaining pistachios in a large bowl. Whisk olive oil, 2 Tbsp. lemon juice, remaining ⅓ cup vegetable oil, and ½ cup water in a small bowl to combine. Pour oil mixture into dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula to combine. Be very careful not to overmix: This batter contains a high ratio of liquid, which means it can get gummy if overworked. Transfer to prepared pan and use a spatula to distribute batter; batter should come halfway up the sides.

Step 4

Bake cake until golden brown all over, it springs back when gently pressed, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50–60 minutes. It's okay if your cake has dipped a little in the center. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool completely in pan, at least 2 hours. Using parchment overhang, lift cake out of pan and place on rack. Peel away parchment.

Step 5

Whisk powdered sugar and 3 Tbsp. lemon juice in a medium bowl, drizzling in remaining 2 Tbsp. lemon juice as needed until you have a thick but pourable glaze. Pour glaze over cake, letting it drip down the sides (if your cake has dipped, you can always glaze the flat underside instead of the top). Immediately top cake with reserved pistachios, then let sit until glaze is set, at least 30 minutes.

Step 6

Do Ahead: Cake can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

My notes: 

1. Delicious, would make again. Pistachios really sing with the subtle lemon zest. Tastes like it’s spiced somehow even though it’s not. Crumb is like that of an olive oil cake. 

2. I would try to pulse the pistachios until quite well ground. Mine sunk in the middle a bit, and I wonder if the variable size of the nuts was a factor. I used APP and followed the recipe exactly, except I only made half of the glaze, which was plenty plenty. Next time, would consider using a little water/milk instead of all lemon juice in the glaze, as I found it on the sour side. 

3. Took about 52 minutes in the oven.