Giant Cheat Day Cookie: Double Peanut Butter Chip Cookie (And Then Some!)

You may not know this yet, but my husband Mike is a big fan of peanut butter. He eat's it right out of the container, in his lunches with celery sticks, on top of puddings and yogurt and of course in peanut butter cup form, he is a fiend! So when I was experimenting with Giant Cheat Day Cookie flavors it seemed obvious that I would make this Double Peanut Butter Chip Cookie just for him.

I like to share recipes with you that are versatile and easy to play with. This is certainly one of them, you can change it up as much as you like. For this particular cookie, you can throw in dark chocolate chips or chopped candies, I love to dip my peanut butter cookies in chocolate and let the choclate harden. Oh. My.  Adapted from this post at Sally's Baking Addiction, Jessica and I came up with a few different flavors and dubbed them the ultimate Giant Cheat Day Cookie. The Double Peanut Butter Chip Cookie get's a double dose of peanut buttery goodness in the form of two heaping tbsp's of crunchy peanut butter and a generous 1/4 cup of peanut butter morsels. 

This is the recipe you reach for (after your yoga pants) when you come home at the end of a long work week and want a break from all the low-fat, sugar free desserts you've been sticking to. If you're like me and currently trying to shed some pounds, you're not going to be making these every day. It's a treat, cuddle up with one of these huge sweet, salty cookies with a hot cup of coffee or an equally giant glass of milk, because...seriously, how are you gonna dunk it? It's as big as a plate! 

We played with different flavors from classic chocolate chip, to cinnamon chip oatmeal raisin, but the peanut butter cookie was my favorite. That is saying a lot because typically I don't even recognize a cookie as a cookie unless it has chocolate in it! Do you blame me? I encourage you to try some of the other flavors as well, and also to try your own variations- limit your mix in's to about a 1/4 cup. I added a little too much to my cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies and they turned into an expansive gooey mess. Delicious...but a mess.
For a softer cookie take a minute or so off of the baking time and let the cookie cool a little before
attempting to move. Enjoy!

Giant Cheat Day Cookie: Double Peanut Butter Chip


2 tbsp crunchy all natural, salt free peanut butter
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp egg  (scramble an egg in a cup really well take your 2tbsp of egg from here, reserve the remainder for another cookie or for egg wash on another baking project)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup peanut butter morsels
A pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl or a mug mix the sugar, peanut butter and egg until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and scoop onto an ungreased cookie sheet or silicone baking mat. I flattened out the dough, just a little was all it needed. I also dotted the top of the dough before baking so there was a morsel in every bite. In my oven it took about 10-12 minutes. Bake a little longer for a crisp cookie (what I prefer) and around 10 mins for a softer cookie (what basically the rest of the world perfers)

All the makings for one giant double chocolate chip cookie! 

Variations:

Giant Cheat Day Chocolate Chip Cookie

Replace the peanut butter with 2 tbsp room temp butter and the 1/4 cup peanut butter morsels with semi sweet morsels. Mix ingredients and bake the same way.

Giant Cheat Day Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Replace the peanut butter with 2 tbsp room temp butter and the 1/4 cup peanut butter morsels with equal parts cinnamon chips and raisins and add 2 tbsp uncooked oats. Mix and bake for 12-14 minutes. This cookie spreads out a bit more, and is SUPER soft!

Giant Cheat Day Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

Replace peanut butter with tbsp room temp butter and the 1/4 cup morsels with semi sweet chocolate chips, add 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. Mix and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Got Milk? 

   

Brown Baggin' It

Hello out there!

How are you guys?

Things have been going incredibly well here. This past week we've had some amazing weather. I've been doing a little gardening and Sunday we spent the whole day at the lake with friends, enjoying the water, some refreshments and  of course, BBQ!

So...there is this amazing little tool on my dashboard here on Blogger, and it tells me that there has been a crazy spike in new readers lately. I have to say it took my breath away and I am extremely grateful. I feel that I am falling in love with this blog more and more everyday. I find myself missing it on my days off! And you all are a part of that. Knowing that somehow, I have reached all of you and that *hopefully* you're enjoying what you've found...well, that makes it all worth while.

Today we are going to talk about LUNCH. I used to hate packing my lunch for work. I would always end up with some soggy messy sandwich at the bottom of my bag by lunch time and there is nothing worst than that, is there? Then, once my stomach started revolting against gluten (and bread was no longer an option) I found myself taking packaged foods to lunch because they were so easy. Stuff from the frozen foods section or canned soups that were laden with sodium and not super filling.  Over the years and through much trial and error, I have figured out a way to have healthy, delicious lunches packed and ready to go at all times. All it takes is a little forethought, some prepping and the right tools to create some wonderful lunches that will not go soggy on you. I was posting a lot of my lunches on FB recently and many of my friends starting begging asking me for some tips. So here we are.

Even though I work at a restaurant, I still pack a lunch nearly every night. I really really want to eat at the restaurant every night, but that would be a horrible thing for my waistline, so I don't.

Chopped Salad with Roasted Turkey Breast

Of course, while I am packing my lunch I also pack some for Mike, who is the easiest man to cook for. He will eat nearly anything and he does not need variety like some people (me). I pack him a lot of wraps, salads or whole wheat crackers with tuna, because of my gluten sensitivity we don't keep bread in the house so we almost never do sandwiches. This is good news for you, my dear readers, because if you've come here to get some ideas for non-sammichy lunches, you have come to the right place!

Here's what we are going to do...I am going to give you a little shopping list for the beginning of the week. Then I am going to give you some ideas (with photos) of how we do it at the H.N.E home. And here's the most important part...I want you to report back. Yes, some homework! Tell me how it is going and what you're packin.'

Deal? Alrighty, here we go...

Utilizing Leftovers, Chickpea Patty Parmesan. Veggies and Fruit.  

I start off "our week" with a trip to the grocery store that is solely dedicated to lunches. And I say "our week" because we work, respectively, in Law Enforcement and Food Service...so our work week is not the typical Mon-Fri schedule. I assume that some of you also have unconventional work weeks, just go out the day before you go back to work and fill up that fridge. Make sure that you have an hour or two to dedicate to packing all this stuff too. And double check that you have all the little helpers you will need to pack effectively.

Things like, multi compartment plastic containers, dip holders, plastic baggies, foil, cello-wrap, even cupcake liners are SO helpful in packing the perfect lunch. Some other things to take into consideration is how many people you're packing for. If you have 2 children, your shopping list will be much larger than the one I am giving you! What are your families favorite snacks? How well will the foods you're choosing hold up in a sack lunch? Does the person taking the lunch have access to a fridge or a microwave? It would be a super lousy idea to give Mike potato salad, for instance, because some days he doesn't have access to a fridge. His lunch just sits in his back pack all day.

Shopping list:
(remember, this is the one I use. Take this as a guide and make the necessarily changes to suit your family)

1 lb low fat deli meat (turkey, usually, or turkey pastrami or roast beef)
1 package single serving cheese snacks (baby bell, mozzarella cheese, laughing cow)
1 package of whole wheat crackers (we love Ak-Mak crackers, or anything from Trader Joes!)
A bunch of veggies (avacados,cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, carrots- pre cut is nice)
Salad greens- rinsed and chopped
A bunch of fruit (strawberries are my favorite, blueberries, cherries, grapes, apples etc. I never do chopped bananas though! Ick!)
Tuna fish- if the recipient of this magnificent lunch has access to a fridge (or if you're brave enough to just go with an ice pack)
Whole wheat or Gluten free pasta
Pasta Sauces
Canned Beans (black beans are our favorite)
Ground Turkey- pre cooked w/ salt and pepper only!
Chicken Breasts- pre cooked w/salt and pepper only!
Bacon- pre cooked
Sweet Snacks (chocolate covered raisins, sugar free cookies, 100 calories brownie bars, sweetened dried fruit, yogurt with jam)

Salad Snack Packs with cheese and berries. 

The idea here is to do all your prep ahead of time. Before the groceries even hit your fridge, you want to rinse all the produce and get it chopped up and ready to go. Then when you are ready to pack lunches, it's all about assembly. Most weeks my fridge looks like my walk in at work- with all my veggies cleaned, cut and ready to cook.

The first thing I do is check to see how many days Mike and I work that week. Mike and I both work 4 days this week and I also have class on 2 of those days. Now that I know how many lunches I need to prep, Then I check my cabinets to make sure I have enough clean plastic lunch containers. If I don't I buy more find them and clean them up.

 Then I take a look into the fridge, all my prep is there, but I make sure there aren't any left overs I can use up. Peeking in the fridge now I see some chili beans and smashed potatoes (made yesterday for our BBQ) that I can use as sides. I also see some chicken and broccoli pasta I can use as a main or a side, knowing I made that day before yesterday I will remind myself to take that lunch first!

Now I move on to the new lunches. I make a smallish batch of pasta and leave it undressed. Throughout the week I use that in our lunches with some pasta sauce as a side or toss it with oil, vinegar and veggies for a cold pasta salad.

Chicken Taco Salad with Sour Cream & Guacamole

 With the precooked ground beef, I make 2 taco salads using a little less than a cup of meat per lunch, a bunch of salad greens, tomatoes, olives and some chopped avocado. I pack us some sour cream in little dip containers and put a baggie of flax seed chips from TJ's into each of our lunches.

With the sliced deli meat, I make clubs with lettuce, tomato, pickles, bacon, spicy mayo and meat, no cheese. If I had pesto sauce or hummus made I would use that instead of mayo. I make 2 of these for Mikes lunches, slice them in half and, wrap 'em.

I make two giant salads with the prepared tuna fish, for me, since I have a fridge at work. I make a large green salad with all the fixins (lettuce, tomato, olives, pickles, carrots, radishes!) and scoop about 1/4c to a 1/2c of prepared tuna on top.

Now we each have the minimum amount of 4 lunches per person. However, I need a little variety and I have 2 extra lunches that need to be packed for my school days. So I take the cooked chicken breast and make 2 large chicken salads with greens and lots of chopped veg. I pack some dressing into my dip cups and keep the chicken wrapped separate from the greens so Mike can warm it up- he hates cold chicken!

Sandwich wraps all ready to go! HEY- Did you know if you click on
this photo, it will get bigger? I JUST found that out!

In each plastic lunch container I give us a healthy side- black beans for the taco salad, chopped fruit for the wraps and salads. I also give us each a cheese snack and a sweet snack. If I am feeling particularly energetic I might throw together a few small snack packs that have cheese, cracker, meat and fruit in them. On really busy days these little guys have saved my life (and probably the lives of a few innocent bystanders).

Variations:

Chop the cooked chicken breast and mix with mayo to taste. Add salt and pepper, a tbsp of curry seasonings and a splash of hot sauce. Use as filling for a wrap, with salad greens or with whole wheat crackers.

Use the cooked ground turkey and black beans to make a yummy low fat burrito, add cheese and avocado and wrap tight with a paper towel and cello-wrap.

Mix a cup of the prepared pasta and sauce with a cup of ground turkey meat and some cheese as a nice filling main course.

Wrap 1 slice of deli meat around a mozzarella cheese stick, pack some marinara dipping sauce and crackers for a delicious high protein snack.

Try and have fun with it. I love cutting my veggies into cute shapes and using my brightly colored cupcake liners, remember we eat with our eyes first!

Now that you are armed with all the basic know how, I hope you will start brown bagging it! Now more soggy ham sandwiches in your future kids, get packing!!

Bruschetta Madness!

Lately I have been doing a lot of entertaining. Somehow, our my house became our default spot for Thursday girls nights. Not that I mind of course, entertaining is one of my all time favorite things to do. And if I don't have to go out after a long week at work to enjoy the company of my girlfriends than that is alright by me!

A thing we gals like to do is set a theme for our girls night dinners. So far we have done "Kids Night" where indulged in chicken nuggets, tator tots and of course mac and cheese (homemade, obviously!).

"Sushi Night" where we all brought one item needed to make California and veggie rolls, it was so much fun teaching ourselves (and by teaching ourselves I mean my girlfriend Maile teaching US) how to roll the sushi. Recently we did a pizza bar where we all got to assemble our own individual pizzas and baked them to order. It is a lot more fun and interactive than one person cooking in the kitchen away from the group and you should just hear the great gossip we come up with while we cook! 

So this Thursday I was thinking of doing small bites for a change. And I remembered a few years back when my dear friend Jessica was turning twenty....uh...twenty ONE, yeah....and her mother asked me to cater the party at their vineyard in Paso Robles. I made my very favorite small bite... Bruschetta.

Now, I happen to love Bruschetta for many reasons. I love bread. I love finger food. I love topping things with other delicious things and I love the idea of a totally blank canvas. Tiny one bites can be anything you want them to be. Case in point, I saw Giada De Laurentis make this amazing looking cheese tart with blue cheese, pears and prosciutto and I thought...that NEEDS to become an appetizer. I tried them out for Jessica's birthday party and they were a huge hit. They are amazingly simple to put together and full of so much flavor. Sweet, savory and surprisingly bright flavors.

So my favorite one bite has inspired next weeks girls night. Try it out and see if you're inspired. Turn your favorite sandwich into an hors d'ourve, play with flavor profiles and textures too. I've included this "bruschetta" like recipe to get your creative juices flowing!

Tell me what you're putting on toast these days!



Pear Gorgonzola and Prosciutto Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 large baguette
1 8 oz container of cream cheese, room temp
1/4 c gorgonzola crumbles
1 tsp fresh thyme
1tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 medium sized pears, your favorite variety, quartered and sliced thinly
6 thin slices of prosciutto
local honey ( I used a raspberry honey from our farmers market)

In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, Gorgonzola  thyme and black pepper. Taste. I omit salt because I like the natural saltiness from the cheese, but please correct the seasonings accordingly.  Set this mixture aside at room temp. Meanwhile, in a large pan, saute the sliced pears over high heat until slightly browned around the edges. For a crisp, fresher taste and texture you may skip this step. I happen to love the deep sweetness that comes from a cooked pear.  Cut the baguette into thin slices and toast in the oven, set aside.

Assembly:

Have your cream cheese mixture out and ready along with your cooled pears and the prosciutto (I like to loosely separate the prosciutto ahead of time so I'm not fumbling with it later). Spread a thick layer of your cream cheese onto the toasted baguette, top with the prosciutto and then with the pear slices. Move to your serving platter and drizzle honey over each brushcetta generously.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Snack Cakes

I am sitting here with crumbs all over my shirt, melted butter dripping down my hands and chin, mouth full...way too full, trying to figure out how to convince you that this HAS to be the most tender, moist, subtly sweet, delicious snack cake I have had...ever...yep...ever.

I just want to start out by saying that I was surprised at how well this came out. Honestly and delightfully surprised, because all I was trying to do when I started out with this recipe was use up three over ripe bananas! I had no idea what was about to happen, I just knew I would rather fling these bananas at random strangers on my cul de sac than turn them into

MORE banana bread. So I went pillaging through some old cook books searching for inspiration. I found it in the form of a pumpkin bar recipe that was certainly more fall friendly, but useless given my abundance of banana.

So I simply swapped out the pumpkin for exactly the same amount of banana and made a few other small tweaks. I was worried it would mess up the texture or the richness that was intended with the 1 cup of oil I left out. But, I guarantee that after you make these peanut butter banana snack cakes you will literally ignore bananas on purpose to have an excuse to bake them again.

Disclaimer: If you're expecting some overly sweet dense gooey snack...keep looking. Because this ain't it. Not that I am judging, I live for those kinds of snacks, this just isn't THAT

snack...

What this IS though, is light and airy and fragrant and moist! Did I mention that yet? Too moist and delicious for frosting or chocolate chips (but seriously maybe next time?) because it really is just perfect the way it is, right out of the oven warm and begging for a small or large-ish pat of sweet cream butter. Maybe a tiny drizzle of icing or some strawberry jam if you're into the whole gilding of the Lilly sort of thing.

I adapted this recipe from this Pumpkin Bar recipe from my old Betty Crocker cookbook. I replaced the cup of oil with a cup of all natural unsweetened, unsalted peanut butter and replaced the 2 cups of white sugar with 1/2 a cup of brown sugar (and 2tbsp of white sugar) since I figured the banana's would add more than enough sweetness. Now as of this moment no one else in the house has tried them (Mike is sleeping as he has work early tomorrow, poor sucker!) so speaking from my personal preference, I think this recipe is a great balance of sweetness and savory. However, knowing my husband...the walking sweet tooth, he would prefer (and you might also be inc

lined) to add a full cup of brown sugar. That would certainly work and my husband would love you.

In all honesty, replacing the cup of oil with peanut butter will make you feel all wholesome and healthy so you don't have beat yourself up over adding more sugar and eating 2 or 3 snack cakes while your loving husband snoozes away in the next room.

You're going to need a large baking dish because this makes a LOT of bars. The original recipe says it'll make 39 bars but I can tell you that would yield some TINY cakes. I cut away all willy nilly like and ended up with 28 generous portions. You could also bake these in a muffin tin and I'd imagine you'd be able to get at least 3 dozen large muffins.

Ingredients:

3 medium size very ripe bananas (about 14-15oz)

1 cup all natural, sugar free, unsalted peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp white sugar

4 eggs

2 packets instant banana bread

flavored oatmeal (cinnamon flavor would work too)

2 cups AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

In a medium bowl combine flour, instant oat meal,baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; set aside. In a larger bowl cream together peanut butter, sugars and bananas until fully combined and batter is a pale light brown. Mix in eggs, one at a time then slowly incorporate dry ingredients and pour into a greased 10 by 15 baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes. I feel like mine took exactly 20 minutes but I can't say for sure because I didn't time it... What? You act like baking is an exact science or something, you'll figure it out. I believe in you. Grab a toothpick and do the cake test in the middle trick. If it comes out clean it done. Easy!

OH! And on a side note DO NOT do what I did and cut into these right out of the oven. The cake was way too moist to be hacked into right away. It was pissed, it got all ornery and fell apart on me. So please don't do that. It will be difficult because it smells amazing when they come out of the oven, but the wait is worth it. When they do cool down, DO slap some sweet cream butter on and grab a mug-0-milk and settle in. Then hide the pan till you can safely deliver these addictive little bars to friends and family, they will love you. Promise.