Peanut Butter No-Bakes

aka Peanut Butter Rolled Oat Clusters

My brother always made these growing up.  It's probably the only thing he ever cooked.  Now Jed makes them.  Pretty soon Buddy will be making them as well because he requests them as our Family Home Evening treat each week.

Ingredients:
  2 cups sugar
  1/2 cup milk
  1/2 cup butter
  1/8 tsp salt
  1 cup peanut butter
  1 tsp vanilla
  3 cups rolled oats
  *optional: 1/3 cup cocoa

Directions:
  Combine sugar, milk, butter, salt in 3 quart pot; stir.  Bring to a full boil for exactly one minute.  Remove from heat. Add peanut butter and vanilla.  Stir until smooth.  Add rolled oats; mix well.  Cool slightly until mixture holds shape.  Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and let cool.

Chocolate Fudge Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

My mom sent me this cookie recipe awhile ago. I just now got around to trying it. YUM! My cookies didn't look nearly this good (I think my dough needed to chill longer, and I needed to push harder with my glass) but they sure did taste delicious!



Dough:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
Filling:
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
For the dough: Cream together the butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and vanilla. Set aside. Sift together the flour and cocoa, add to the creamed mixture, and mix well with a mixer or hands. Chill for 30 minutes.
For the filling: Mix the peanut butter and powdered sugar together and form into 1-inch balls. Chill until ready to complete the cookies.
Wrap 1 tablespoon of dough around each ball of peanut butter and place on a cookie sheet using parchment paper. Flatten all with a glass dipped in sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 9 minutes, or until done. Allow to sit 5 to 6 minutes before placing on racks to cool completely. Enjoy. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jun/19/this-grandma-bakes-good-goodies/#ixzz0xXATZsrV

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies - Christmas Style

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies - Christmas Style*

Mix:
2 cups butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla


In separate bowl, mix:
5 cups flour
1 1/2 TBSP. baking soda
1 cup cocoa


Mix all together - stir until crinkly (dough looks dry, it's okay).

Add 1/2 to 3/4 bag of mint Christmas M&Ms.
(If it's not Christmas, I use milk or white chocolate chips.)

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

These are delicious. I think I probably ate 2/3 of them myself... giving a few away and sharing a few with my husband, and letting my kids have tiny bites from mine.


*When I first posted this recipe in 2005, the mint M&Ms were small, like Plain M&Ms. When I added this picture in December 0f 2008, they are the size of Peanut Butter M&Ms and not as great for cookie making. I'm mad.

Cake Box Cookies and Homemade Oreos

Cake Box Cookies

Ingredients:

1 box of your favorite cake mix.
(Devil's Food is pretty rich... we've been liking Milk Chocolate Cake Mix lately.)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of oil.
Chocolate chips, M&Ms, etc. (whatever you want, however much you want)
(Or, to be healthy, add two eggs, 1/4 cup oil, and a 1/4 cup applesauce).

Directions:
Mix ingredients together. Scoop onto making sheet.
Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until cracked on top.


Variation: Homemade OREOS

Ingredients:
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
3/4 cup shortening

Frosting Ingredients:
1 cube butter (softened)
4 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions: Mix together cake mix, eggs, and shortening. Roll into balls. (Try to make them the same size since they'll have to pair up). Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes. Let cool completely.

Mix frosting ingredients until creamy. Don't soften butter too much. Spread between two cookies. Enjoy.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
(this is actually the recipe from the Quaker Oats Lid)

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1 cup raisins

Directions:
Heat oven to 350.
Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool one minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.
Makes about 4 dozen.
For Bar Cookies: Bake 30 to 35 minutes in ungreased 9x13 metal baking pan.

Oatmeal Chocolate Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Chocolate Raisin Cookies
A Pampered Chef Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or ground cinnamon)
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups old-fashioned or quick oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate covered raisins
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 35o.
Combine flour, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice; mix well and set aside.
Beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and beat well.
Add flour mixture; mix well. Stir in oats, raisins and pecans, if desired.
Make into 1 1/2 inch balls, drop on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.
Bake 13-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Cool 3-5 minutes then move to cooling rack.
Makes 3 1/2 dozen. Store in tightly covered container

Oatmeal Cream Pies

In my haste to quickly write up all of my favorite oatmeal cookie recipes the other day, I forgot this one. Which I've made twice in a week now. Yummmm!


Oatmeal Cream Pies from Cottage Living

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups uncooked quick-cooking oats
Cream Filling (see recipe below)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.

3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Add oats; stir well. Add to butter mixture; stir until well blended. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pan; cool on wire racks.

4. Spread 1 tablespoon Cream Filling over each bottom side of half of cookies; top with remaining cookies, right side up.

Yield

Makes 3 dozen oatmeal cookies or 18 cream pies

Cream Filling

Prep: 5 minutes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, scraping bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy.

Yield

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Jan Moon , Cottage Living, SEPTEMBER 2004

Triple Cookies

I'm totally addicted to sweets. If I wasn't out of eggs right now (and I hadn't JUST made cookies on Saturday) I would be baking a batch of these cookies right now. They are my latest addiction. So yummy!

Triple Cookie

(Totally not its real name, but I got the recipe from my sister-in-law and she didn't attach a name to them so I've just been calling them Heather's cookies. But it gets all weird if you call them Heather's cookies and you don't even know Heather. )

Ingredients:

1 c. butter softened
3/4 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 bag Heath bar pieces (in baking aisle)
1 bag Chocolate chips
1/2 bag White chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 375.

Soften butter in mixing bowl. Add brown sugar, sugar, egg and
vanilla. Mix.

Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix 2 more minutes.

Add in Heath pieces, chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. It
seems like the ratio of stuff to dough is too high, but it works.

Scoop out w/the big scoop and flatten the balls. Cook
for 10-11 minutes. They still look really, really gooey. Let sit on
cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to cool. They'll set up
and finish cooking and be gooey in the middle.

Makes 24 w/the big scoop.

Pumpkin Cookies

image from coppergifts.com

I realize that just about everyone makes pumpkin shaped sugar cookies this time of year, decorates them with orange and green frosting, M&M eyes, a candy corn nose and a licorice smile, but these aren't sugar cookies... these are actually pumpkin cookies. My mom made them for my class parties all through elementary school. The recipe is actually for Pumpkin Cookie Pops, you know, with a wooden stick in them... I'm not that good.

Sort of like this picture ... but with candy decorations.

Halloween Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup each shortening and butter or margarine

1 ½ cup each packed brown sugar and granulated sugar

4 eggs

4 tsp vanilla

7 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

5-6 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Assorted candy decorations

Directions:

Beat together the shortening, butter and sugars until creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until blended. Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice; gradually add to the creamed mixture, beating well to blend. Cover dough and chill until easy to handle.

Roll our dough (a portion at a time) on a floured surface about 3/8 inch thick. Cut with Pumpkin shaped cookie cutters. Transfer cookies to ungreased baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart. If dough becomes too soft, wrap and chill.

Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes (10 on stoneware, 9 on darker sheet), or until very lightly browned. Cool. Spread with orange icing and decorate with candy corn eyes/noses, licorice mouths, etc.

Icing: 1 cup powdered sugar and about 3 tsp milk. Tint with orange and green (stems) food coloring. 2 boxes of powdered sugars ices about 35 large cookies.

Turkey Cookies

I saw these in a Pillsbury ad and thought they were so cute.

Snickerdoodles

I love snickerdoodles. They are probably the first cookie I ever made all on my own. You see, in my house, the cookie baker is my dad. And if anyone knows my dad, he's a "if it doesn't involve chocolate, why make it?" sort of guy. So the snickerdoodle recipe I've always used is actually from a Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cookbook.

I've been making these cookies for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure where I was introduced to the snickerdoodle, or even if I had an especially strong affection for them. Maybe I just liked the word "snickerdoodle." This was MY cookie. The ones I made whenever I had to bake cookies for anything. Now that I'm avoiding chocolate due to my insane pregnancy belief that it's what's causing my heartburn, I'm breaking out my classic, non-chocolate dessert recipes. Enjoy.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1½ cups sugar

1 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

4 TBSP sugar

4 TBSP ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl cream the 1½ cups sugar and the butter. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In small bowl stir together flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Stir into butter mixture until well mixed. In the same small bowl combine the tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls*; roll each into the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Put balls 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 375°. Makes about 36.

*if the dough is too sticky to mold into a ball, refrigerate it for a bit.

Chocolatey Chocolate Chip Cookie Cup

This is the easiest fancy cookie ever.



Chocolatey Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

Instead of the melty chocolate centers the official recipe calls for, I use Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures. Mmmmm... chocolate and peanut butter.

Ingredients:
1 pkg. of Nestle Toll House refrigerated chocolate chip cookie bar dough
1 bag of mini Reeses's Peanut Butter Cups

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease or paper-line 24 mini-muffin cups.

Place squares of dough into prepared muffin cups; press down lightly in center to make a well.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are set. About 5 minutes before removing from oven, place a Reese's cup in the center of each one. Finish baking. Cool in pans on wire racks for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

My Dad's Peanut Butter Cookies

image from www.jif.com

I love peanut butter. Period. My roommates in college thought I was weird when I'd eat a spoonful of peanut butter as a treat.

In high school my best friend's mom was one of those moms that always made the yummiest cookies, fudges and baked goods. She did her grocery shopping every Friday after work. One of those people. Sort of the epitome of a homemaker to me. My family took them a plate of my dad's cookies one Christmas and they were all flabbergasted by how yummy the peanut butter cookies were. We finally figured out it must be the peanut butter, so she converted to Jif peanut butter right then and there.

Here's my dad's peanut butter cookie recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp soda
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
Thoroughly cream butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients; blend into creamy mixture. Shape into 1-inch balls; roll in granulated sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Criss cross with fork tines or imprint with a potato masher.

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Chippy Peanut Butter Cookie

Yesterday I posted the recipe for the peanut butter cookies I grew up eating. Here are my newly discovered favorites. AND, since a lot of the time I'm just baking cookies for my own family's consumption and even though I know it's better not to, we could finish off an entire batch in a day or two, so I've started doing another thing my dad did when I was a kid. I freeze bars or tubes of dough in wax paper or Saran Wrap. That way I'm just baking up one sheet of cookies a night, plus, making one batch of dough ends up feeding us cookies for 4 or 5 nights rather than devouring them all in one sitting.

Chippy Peanut Butter Cookies
from Taste of Home

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 package (10 ounces) swirled milk chocolate and peanut butter chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chips.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks. Yield: about 4 dozen. Editor’s Note: This recipe was tested with Nestle swirled milk chocolate and peanut butter chips.

My Dad's Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chip Cookies... supposedly
via my dad

Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
5 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
16 oz Ghiradelli chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate, my dad uses semi-sweet. Eww.)

Directions:
Beat eggs until frothy. Add one cup at a time sugar and brown sugar. Gradually add 2 cups of melted butter. Mix slowly. Add 2 tsp vanilla. Change mixer blades to kneading blades. Mix in a separate bowl: 5 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp soda, and 1 tsp salt. Add to wet mixture. Add chocolate chips. Bake 7-8 minutes at 400 degrees. Take of pan immediately.

Interesting tidbit: My dad and I both follow this recipe and our cookies never turn out looking the same.

Surprise Cookies

So I tried out this Martha Stewart Surprise Cookie Recipe this weekend. It was pretty good, I mean, I ate a ton and all, but a little too rich for me. I'm more of a milk chocolate lover than really rich chocolate. I loved the idea of it all though... the chocolate cookie, the soft chewy marshmallow and the soft frosting on top. Yum. My husband wished the cookie wasn't so dry and crumbly. He wanted them to be chewier... he's thinking along the lines of a cake box cookie*. He greatly enjoyed the batter as well.

*Which, by the way, is one of the biggest reasons people come to my blog according to statcounter.com and Google Analytics.

Yummiest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

aka what I've been living off of for days


A good friend and possibly the kindest person I've ever known makes me these cookies every Fall. I finally got the recipe from her this year. They are yummy and make a lot.

According to my husband, they are kind of weird and taste better the second day.

Princess Sparkley loves loves loves them. But I'm not sure her taste in food is really trustworthy.

Buddy likes them okay, but again, he didn't inherit the sweet tooth the rest of us have.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 14 oz can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
2 tsp vanilla

5 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves

3/4 cup applesauce

1 bag chocolate chips


Directions:
Cream shortening, sugar and egg. Combine dry ingredients. Add half of dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Add applesauce. Add remainder of dry mix. Mix well. Add chocolate chips. It will be sticky. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.