Peanut Butter-Stuffed Semi-Sweet Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

There's something about the infamous combination of chocolate and peanut butter that pushes all self control out the window for me. The smooth, nutty textures and sweet flavour of peanut butter, mixed with a perfectly balanced combination of sweet and bitter chocolatey goodness, is like heaven.

I woke up today with the intention to bake, I didn't know what, but I was determined to find out. I keep a box of recipes in my bedroom- loose sheets from every imaginable food magazine, and print-offs from the many food blogs I follow. I came upon the recipe for Peanut Butter-Stuffed Milk Chocolate Sandwich Cookies from an Every Day Rachael Ray Magazine and was set. I've been intending to make these for months, but never got around to it. Today was the day I'd step into the world of PB + Chocolate. I have a profound love for peanut butter, but not so much for chocolate. BUT- when you put them together, I am sold. I love Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, and Reeses Pieces, and Nutella and Peanut Butter Sandwiches (they're actually delicious, trust me- they were a cornerstone of my high school lunches). So this recipe was

a natural decision for me. Plus, this dessert is like 2 in 1- you get TWO COOKIES & Peanut Butter smooshed into the middle of these two cookies, can it get any better than that?

Not to say this was labour intensive, but I did go through 3 mixing bowls, tons of chocolate, and lots of tasting (purely for the recipes insured success and upmost detail to cleaning the spatulas). I swapped the Milk Chocolate that the recipe called for, for Semi Sweet (totally not because that's the only chocolate I had...). As I put the chocolate dough spheres into the oven I was a little hesitant that the dough was packed too tightly to spread out wide enough. Sure enough, after the 15 minutes in the oven, I took them out and saw that the cookies hadn't spread out to my desired...spreadness?

Nothing the bottom of a drinking glass won't fix. First I touched a cookie to see how hard it was and woah, I was so wrong. The cookies were SUPER soft and gave way with a sort of crackling noise as little air bubbles within the dough were popped. This was the. softest. cookie. I had ever made- which means chewy goodness, which I got so excited for. So with a little press of the glass on the top of each cookie, they became just the right size.

They kind of remind me of a Whoopie (not as smooth and elegant) but the concept is there- chewy/soft cookie with a light and fluffy something in the middle. Assembling these was a joy because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel....where one would meet with my eagerly awaiting taste-buds. As I bit into a sandwich (which was still slightly warm from the oven) my teeth sunk into chewy/sweet bliss. The cookie was uber-soft and matched with the filling resulted with a gooey mess of textures and flavours- which is totally a good thing. The sweet and bitter chocolate combined with the subtle peanut butter flavour from the filling was fantastic!

These are definitely best eaten warm (and because they can't be fresh out of the oven again, I think a microwave will do). I think the Semi Sweet Chocolate substitution added a stronger chocolate flavour that totally worked. I will definitely be making these again.

I was looking forward to sharing some with my classmates at Humber College, but my building "F-building" flooded this morning- awesome? Apparently a pipe burst etc etc Although I know I should be more excited, it doesn't really affect any of my projects/homework being due. Bummer.

When I look back over this past week I realize I've baked a lot. Seriously.

Last Thursday I got together with my friend Allison to bake Peanut Butter-Chocolate Brownies ( I swear this is not a trend, I can, and do, bake with other ingredients besides these two). They turned out great, like every recipe I've ever tried from smittenkitchen. Allison blogged about it here @ her blog peanut butter + crackers, check out her post and some awesome pictures here.

Anyways, tomorrow I am attending Next Generation Day for Toronto Ad week and will be visiting TBWA Toronto, I am beyond stoked.

Till next time,

Addison

Banana Chocolate Walnut Bread

After coming home from spending the weekend with my family, I came upon a bunch of "heavily-spotted-ready-to-be-eaten" bananas. The only problem being-I cannot eat 4 bananas in the span of one day (not so appetizing). Realizing that Tuesday is my day off from classes, the abundance of free time that laid before me was calling for some excitement. For something delicious to fill the gap. My mind instantly rang "Banana Bread." My mom used to make Banana Bread every couple of months during my childhood. The sweet and subtle banana flavour paired with the nutty crunch of walnuts is a match made in heaven. I remembered that a previous issue of Cooking Light (October 2010) contained a whole section on Banana Bread's, perfect for the ripening bananas sitting on my bookcase. I didn't want to make just a classic Banana Bread, I was craving something a little more. That's when I came across the recipe for Banana Chocolate Walnut Bread. Perfect.
After receiving my very own Kitchenaid Stand Mixer from my Grandmother over Christmas, I've been looking for any and every excuse to use it. Today was that kind of day. Looking outside to a dreary and cold winter day, I knew that Banana Bread would make everything better. I am in love with comfort food, and that is what Banana Bread is to me. A comforting reminder of my childhood, intermingled between the moist textures and sweet flavours of this dessert/bread.
I began the recipe around lunch time (noon-ish) and as I placed the batter into the loaf pan, and then into the oven, the realization hit me that I wouldn't get to taste this for a whole hour. It was a painstaking hour indeed. The aroma of softly baking banana bread emitting from my oven was intoxicating. I'd lie if I said I didn't sit in front of the oven (every so often) waiting for the timer to hit 0:00.
As the timer buzzed, I rushed upstairs to release my dessert from it's warm and cozy oven. After letting it cool for 15 minutes, I finally cut myself a slice (the end piece first).
Biting into it was heavenly. The crisp and crunchy golden brown crust gave way to a moist-cakey sweet bread-dotted with chocolate chips. The combination of banana and chocolate is a wonderful one. The hour wait was well worth it, my craving satisfied as I popped the last bit of the end slice into my mouth. Now, what to do with the other 15 or so slices of Banana Bread...