Cookies of the Week 12 and 13

Week 12: Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Drops!

Warning: Don't Judge this cookie by it's picture:

I had some trouble focusing because of the different textures. grrrrrr. This cookie was really gooey and fell apart when people took them out of the cookie jar, which just means pure peanut butter chocolate awesomeness. My recommendations is that you pawn off unwrapping and chopping up the mini Reese's, that was the worst. The rest of the recipe is quite simple, Made from a saucepan. I got this recipe from www.hersheys.com.

You'll need:

• 38 to 40 REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

You'll do:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Remove wrappers from peanut butter cups. Cut each peanut butter cup into 4 pieces; set aside.
   
2. 2 Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add sugar and cocoa; stir to blend. Remove from heat; stir in eggs and vanilla. Stir together flour, salt and baking soda; stir into chocolate mixture. Stir in peanut butter cup pieces.*
   
3. 3 Drop by heaping teaspoons onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set and edges are firm. Do not overbake. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.
   About 4 dozen cookies.
   
   * For more visible peanut butter cup pieces, some of the pieces can be held back and then pushed into the cookies just as they come out of the oven. 

Week 13: S'mores cookies!

Who in their right mind doesn't like s'mores?! I mean really. Quoting The Sandlot is enough reason to love this campfire treat. So I found this awesome recipe for a S'mores cookie and of course I had to try it out!

Looks pretty amazing right? Yah, I know. So I found this recipe on www.kevinandamanda.com. These cookies have certainly gotten more rave reviews from my variety of taste testers than any other before. And I agree completely!

You'll Need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (7 full graham cracker sheets)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup Mini Hershey’s Kisses (or chocolate chips/chunks)
1 cup Jet Puffed Mallow Bits

You'll do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, use a food processor or blender to crush 7 graham cracker sheets into 3/4 cup fine crumbs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together. Add the chocolate and marshmallows and stir to combine.

Place 1.5 tablespoon sized scoops of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

My tips: Get the Marshmallow Bits! I made to batches of these cookies, the first one (in the picture) used regular mini marshmallows. The marshmallows puffed up and melted on the cookie sheet and it was nearly impossible to get all of the cookies off the sheet with out messing them up. The second batch (I went to Target to hunt for the bits, my local grocery store didn't have them) used the mallow bits and it was TONS easier and the cookies came out prettier also.

Happy Baking!