Peanut Butter Chewies with Chocolate

I've been slacking lately, I know. The last couple times i've baked it hasn't been anything new to put up. I made these the other day along with some pumpkin shortbread bars that I don't want to talk about (don't u hate when u follow a recipe exactely and it doesn't turn out??). So anyway, I thought these were good, but I probably won't make them again. Unless it's a new recipe im trying, I like to stick with things I really like instead of ones I think that are 'ok'. But that's just me. The source I got this from couldn't stop raving about them which is why I even decided to try it in the first place, because honestly, they didn't sound that good to me. But they're simple to make and also gluten free if that's somethin you're into.

Peanut Butter Chewies with Chocolate

sticky gooey creamy chewy

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 jar (18 oz ounce) peanut butter, crunchy or smooth

6 cups corn flakes
3 oz chocolate of your choice

Directions:

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and stir until the mixture comes to a full boil.
Remove from heat and stir in the whole jar of peanut butter. Mix well.
Add corn flakes to a large bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over corn flakes and mix well, taking care to coat all of the corn flakes.
With a tablespoon or cookie scoop, scoop out and form into 1-2 inch balls, depending on your preference, and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.
Put the chocolate in a small bowl and melt in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies. I put them in the fridge to cool so the chocolate would harden.

Day 26: Peppermint Patties (No Bake)

It kind of sucks knocking doors. Usually we knock on a few before someone opens the door. We have a baby, and cookies it's not like we're salesmen..Today we went to 2 places then the 3rd was another chiro student's place. Then we knocked on a door and the man (i dont think he had very good english) just said no no no and that was about it we said ook...And the person next to him Matt saw peek through his blinds but they didnt open the door. Then the next one was a lady, she wasn't feeling very good and she didnt want our cookies, she said we woke her up so we just said ok maybe we'll come visit you when you feel better. Then the last house was a man and woman they were from China and had poor English but atleast they were nice. They took our cookies and said they've been here since 1996, the woman used to live in SF. It's awesome when you get people that are really friendly, it's a lot easier to keep it up but when people don't care it's like why bother? Anyway, we've meet a lot of good people and that's what it's about!
This recipe was found on joyofbaking. I don't really know what these would be classified as..not really a cookie, maybe candy? mint? Anyway these taste just like the York candy or those little ones in the bag with the silver and green wrapper. They're gluten and egg free for anyone with those issues. They are soo easy to make and takes no time at all! Except while they're chilling..but put them in the freezer and they're done in no time! It depends on how big/thick you make yours but I got 19 out of this recipe.

Peppermint Patties

Ingredients:

2 cups confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tsp. mint extract or 1 tsp. peppermint ext.
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp. heavy cream
8 oz. dark or bittersweet chocolate
1 tbsp. vegetable shortening

Directions:
1. With standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the sugar, butter, extracts and heavy cream. Add the ingredients in that order so they combine correctly.
2. Once the ingredients are combined, turn the mixer to medium speed and beat another minute or 2 til the mixture looks a bit like a paste.
3. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and using a teaspoon , scoop out a small amount of the mixture and roll between your palms a 1" ball.
4. Once all the balls are made, flatten each one with your fingertips to make a patty.
5. Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
6. While they're chilling, melt your chocolate and shortening in a double boiler or in the microwave and let it cool to room temp.
7. Take the patties out of the fridge and coat each one in the melted chocolate/shortening mixture, using the 2 forks (spoons work better for me though) to help you turn them over to coat well on each side.
8. Put them back in the fridge to chill again 2 hours.
9. Store any leftover patties in the fridge, separated with waxed paper.

Day 22: Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

The first place we went to today was a man that lives by himself. He's been living at his place for about 15 years. The next place was an old lady that has a live in (M-F) caregiver, who answered the door. We didn't meet the lady that lives there but we've seen them before outside. I'm not sure if she speaks English but the caregiver said she speaks Portugese. I hope the weather next weekend is good! I just looked it up and it looks like there's a chance of rain that day. We don't have very many chairs so we're going to set up the few we have and maybe just put blankets out on the grass, so that's not gonna work too well if it's wet. We were also going to get a projector like we used for the talk at the church and set it up, not for the presentation (it'll probably be too light outside) but for afterwards we were going to watch a movie on it, if the weather is permitting. So if anyone wants to stay after they can. It's not something we'll announce other than on here, we'll probably have somethin kids can watch. Either way we're gonna watch a movie on it. We used it last night except we had the projector set up in our livingroom, it was pretty fun.
I found this recipe and photo on joyofbaking. Next time I want to make coconut macaroons I will try a different recipe. Not because this one was bad but I have a couple other recipes I'd like to try.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
Ganache:
4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large stainless steel bowl whisk the eggs until well beaten. Stir in the sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Finally, stir in the coconut, making sure that all the coconut is completely moistened.
Place small mounds (about 1 tablespoon) of the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing several inches apart. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on the baking sheet.
for about 10 minutes and then place on a wire rack to cool. Dip or spread the bottoms of the macaroons in the melted chocolate and place the macaroons, chocolate side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet. Refrigerate the cookies for about one hour, or until the chocolate hardens. Store the macaroons in the refrigerator.
Ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk or spoon until smooth. Let cool to room temperature before using.
Makes about 2 dozen Macaroons.

Day: 18 No Bake Cookies

We went by 3 places today. One of which was another student's place. We didn't realize they lived there, but it's ok because we still got to deliver to people we don't know. One man we went to didn't accept the cookies, he said he just ate and was full. The next place was an old lady, she said she fractured her hip just last week. She eats cookies though and accepted them. Both her and the man we visited had been living in their places for about 30 years. The lady asked if we had a black and white cat, which we did but went missing almost a year ago. She said he used to come up and sit on her lap when she was on the porch. I'm surprised she remembered him.
Ok, another no bake recipe.These cookies are so so easy and they taste pretty good! That is, if you like oatmeal because there's a lot of it. It only takes about 5-10 min. to make these. I just put them in the freezer for 10-15 until they're firm instead of waiting an hour. So start to finish in 20 min. you're done and eating!
*I made 1/2 the recipe and ended up with about 12 cookies

No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups white sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cocoa, sugar, milk and butter. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 1 minute.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the salt, vanilla, oats and peanut butter.
3. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow cookies to cool for at least 1 hour.

Day 17: Chocolate Chip Ball Surprise

We met a few people today. The first place we went to they were really cool. They found a turtle on the sidewalk today and had him in a box by the door. We've seen them with some kids before so we thought they were their kids, but it was their grandkids. The garages around here are open (there's no doors) so you can see right in and we've noticed before that theirs is made into a "man cave." I guess the lady that lives on the other side of the unit is never home so she doesn't mind if he uses the whole garage and in return he mows her lawn. The next place we went to was a pretty big family. Both sides of that unit are family, in 1 side lives a lady and the other side is another family member (brother in law or something). But they were really nice as well, and even offered us some of their pizza. Both families we visited today seemed interested in the health talk but they both also had parties that day. I guess that's what we get for planning it on Memorial Day weekend. We did get their info. though so we can let them know when the next one is.
I've made today's cookies a couple of times before. The recipe comes from a food network contestant in a cookie contest. This wasn't the winner, but it's really good. I made them today since we were out of eggs (these are egg and also gluten-free). They taste somewhat like peanut butter and chocolate rice krispy treats.

Chocolate Chip Ball Surprise

yield: 30 cookie balls

Ingredients:
1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c. creamy peanut butter

3 c. powdered sugar

3 c. rice krispies, crushed

1 c. semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

2 (12 oz.) pckgs. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, using your hands, combine butter, peanut butter, sugar, rice cereal, and mini chocolate morsels. Roll mixture into 1 inch balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the freezer. In a double boiler over simmering water, melt semi-sweet morsels. Stir constantly until melted and smooth. Dip frozen balls into chocolate and place back on parchment lined baking sheet. Place in freezer for 5-10 min. until the chocolate has set. Store the balls in an airtight container at room temperature.

Day 11: Brownie Meringues

I forgot to get a picture of yesterday's recipe. Oops! Oh well. We went to the Osborne's neighbor today. It's a family of 3 that live there. We didn't get to meet the husband but the wife and daughter were there. The mom said she's recovering from a car accident, she had to have surgery in her neck from whiplash. She was raised on this street and has moved away and come back a couple times. Today we had Meringue cookies. I chose this one for today mainly because I was tired and didn't feel like putting much effort into it..especially after all the baking yesterday. But I don't think i've ever had them before.. I don't really care for them though. They looked really good but when I ate it, it just didn't have the substance of a regular cookie and left me unsatisfied. But if you're into them or haven't tried them, here's a recipe. (I didn't drizzle the chocolate on top..I was lazy).

Brownie Meringues

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

1 c. semisweet chocolate pieces (6 oz.) melted and cooled

1/2 t. vinegar

3/4 c. chopped walnuts

1/2 t. vanilla

1/2 c. sugar

Dash salt

1 t. shortening

1/2 c. semisweet chocolate pieces

Directions:

Grease cookie sheets; set aside. For meringue, place egg whites in a large mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 min. Add the vinegar, vanilla and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl). Add the sugar, 1 T at a time, beating on high speed about 4 min. or until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight) and the sugar is almost dissolved. Fold in the melted chocolate and nuts.

Drop mixture from teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min. or until edges are firm. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool. In a small saucepan heat the 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate pieces and the shortening until melted. Drizzle over cookies. Makes 24 cookies.

* Letting the egg whites stand at room temp. allows them to gain greater volume when beaten with sugar than if they were cold.

Day 10: Macadamia Chocolate Bars

We didn't get to deliver to a new person today, but we did a few to people we already know. We were really busy and just didn't get around to it. I also didn't get a chance to take a pic. of today's recipe so i'll have to do that tomorrow. For now, here's the recipe:

Macadamia Chocolate Bars

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
3 T. milk
1 t. almond extract
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 c. macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
10 oz. milk or semi-sweet chocolate bars

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 in. baking pan.
Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the milk and almond extract. Sift in the flour and salt and form into a dough. Add half of the macadmia nuts and mix well. Spread into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 min. or until lightly browned around the edges.
As soon as it is out of the oven, cover with the chocolate bars, then return to the oven for 2 min. Once out of the oven leave for 1 min. to let the chocolate melt. Once melted spread the chocolate evenly over the baked dough. Scatter over the remaining nuts and leave to cool completely. Cut into 21 bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Day 9: Chocolate-Filled Almond Macaroons

The cookies we made today did not turn out. I'm not sure why..and it's the first time I've used almond paste. I saw this recipe on Martha Stewart a little while ago and she had a man on who had a bakery and this was one of the things he sold there. Ours turned out flat and we didn't really like the flavor..but i'll still post the recipe if anyone else wants to give it a try. Now I have a big bowl of ganache I don't know what i'm going to do with.. So instead we made some cookies from the frozen dough we have. We took them to an older lady that we were refferred to from yesterday. She accepted and told us she had been at her place since 1992. We invited her to the health talk, a couple times I think we forgot to invite people..not sure that any of them will even come, but who knows. She told us we could try going to her neighbor tomorrow but that he isn't often home. So hopefully we'll get to catch him tomorrow. Here's the recipe, if anyone ever tries making these let me know how it goes. (The recipe calls for 8 oz. of almond paste and I only had 7..maybe that had something to do with them being runny and flat..but either way we didn't care for the taste.)

Chocolate-Filled Almond Macaroons

Makes about 36 cookies
1 3/4 cups Ganache (recipe follows)
1 (8-ounce) can almond paste (1 cup)
6 tablespoons sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten, room temperature

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together almond paste and sugar on medium-high until almond paste breaks down and mixture is well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add almond extract and salt; beat until well combined.
With the mixer running, add egg whites, 1 teaspoon at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. The batter should be smooth and thick enough to pipe.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a No. 4 (1/2-inch) pastry tip. Holding pastry tip about 3/4 inch above the parchment paper on prepared baking sheet, pipe a quarter-size round of batter onto parchment paper. Lift the bag off the batter a slight sideways jerking motion of your hand, producing a flat, rather than pointy, top on the cookie. Continue piping cookies about 1 inch apart, trying to finish with as small a peak as possible to leave tops rounded and smooth. Wet a finger with warm water to smooth out any remaining peaked tops; sprinkle generously with sugar. Let stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes so that a thin, crisp crust develops on outside of each cookie.
Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and back to front two-thirds through, until set but not browned and still gooey in the centers, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack; let cookies cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.
To fill cookies, place 1 teaspoon ganache on the bottom of one cookie, sandwich with the flat side of a second cookie. Repeat process with remaining ganache and cookies.

To make the ganache:

Makes about 7 cups
1 pound semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped
4 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Place both chocolates in a large heatproof bowl; set aside.
In a medium saucepan, mix together cream, honey, and salt. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into saucepan and add vanilla bean, if using. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Pour over chocolate and let stand until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes; whisk until smooth.
Strain chocolate mixture through a fine mesh sieve, discarding solids. Stir in vanilla extract, if using. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until ganache stiffens, at least 6 hours and up to overnight.