Peanut Butter & Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

I think most people who baked as a child have a fond memory of licking the bowl clean after a cake had been made. This was of course in the days before Edwina Currie put paid to any raw egg antics and spoilt all the fun.


When I was recently asked if I would like to review The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook by Lindsay Landis I was rather intrigued. A whole cookbook based on raw cookie dough - how does that work? Lindsay has basically taken the concept that, like me, most people enjoy the raw cake/cookie mix as much as the finished product and encorporated said raw mix (albeit egg free and thus Edwina friendly) into a whole host of recipes from cookies and cakes to truffles and French toast. In fact she pretty much covers the whole baking spectrum, all presented in a very user friendly bound book. 


I gave the Peanut Butter & Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies a go as I've been wanting to find a good recipe for them. This recipe is basically a peanut butter cookie base with a chocolate cookie dough topping. All measurements in the book are given in US cups - fine by me as cups measurers are so quick.  The cookie base was pretty straightforward.  It called for rolling the dough in sugar before baking but I didn't do this and don't think it ruined the cookies in any way.  The cookie dough topping also included some chocolate chips but I felt that the mixture was rich enough so left them out. 


The cookies turned out really well and are delicious. The cookie dough topping does make for an indulgent creation but I quite liked it. It is definitely a bit strange biting into the combination of cooked and uncooked dough but good nonetheless. While there are some recipes in the book which don't appeal to me personally (Cookie Dough Bread Pudding) there are plenty that do.  I plan on making the Cookie Dough Ice Cream and I think the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles would make a good alternative to the usual Christmas ones. 


The Recipe (as made by me)


For the cookies:
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Whole Earth)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup plain flour
1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tspn salt


For the cookie dough:
2 tbspns smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tspn salt
1 tbspn double cream
1 tspn vanilla extract


For topping:
Dark chocolate, melted


1. Preheat the oven to 180c.  Beat together the peanut butter, butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Slowly add the flour and bicarb and mix until the ingredients are incorporated and the dough comes together (I found it quite crumbly but it worked fine when I made it into balls for baking).


2.  Roll dough by the tablespoon into 1 inch balls.  Arrange on parchment lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Lightly press down the cookies using the back of a teaspoon or your thumb, slightly flattening the cookies and creating a small indentation. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until set.  Let cool for 1 minute, then further define the indentation in the centre of each cookie with the back of a teaspoon. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


3.  To prepare the filling, beat together the peanut butter, butter and sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.  Mix in flour, cocoa powder and salt on low speed.  Add cream and vanilla and beat until incorporated.  


4. Place 1 tspn of dough on each cooled cookie.  Drizzle with melted chocolate, if wished.

Honey, Sultana & Cinnamon Cookies

Cookies are a bit like the no 52 bus to Victoria for me - you wait for ages for one then several come along at once. Well that's certainly what my cookie, or I should say biscuit, making is like.  They're just not something I make very often but I've made quite a few over the last few weeks. 


I saw the recipe for these super easy cookies on the back of a Doves Farm Spelt Flour packet.  I added in the sultanas as I have a half used bag in the bottom of the cupboard and I do prefer my healthier style cookies with a bit of fruit in them. The recipe can be found here - just throw a couple of handfuls of sultanas as you go.

They were lovely, soft cookies and felt reasonably healthy to boot.  This is my entry to this month's Alpha Bakes Challenge hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes, whose letter this month is 'H'.

A Triple Chocolate Cookie Challenge

When I received an email asking me if I'd like to review Domino's Triple Chocolate Cookies I'm not going to lie, I was more than a bit sceptical. It's one thing to get a takeaway pizza but takeaway cookies?  They did however suggest that I compare their cookies to my homemade version. At that point I thought why not and rather liked the challenge they'd set. I do have to admit at this point that I've never actually made triple chocolate cookies before but it was a good excuse to try out a new recipe.


I found said recipe on epicurious.com and it can be found here. I made the cookies before I ordered in the ones from Domino's. I went down the all American cookie route and made mine big and bold.  It was a pretty easy recipe and they tasted chocolately yet quite light.


Later that evening, I took the opportunity of Mr CB being away for the night to order in a rather nice pizza and cookie feast.  My verdict on the cookies? They were a lot smaller than I thought they would be but were pretty damn good.  They had a denser brownie like texture on breaking into them and had lovely gooey milk and white chocolate chips. What surprised me most was that they weren't too sweet.  I don't think I would go down the route of ordering in cookies but let's face it not everyone likes baking as much as I do.  If you are among the latter group then I would say go for it as you won't be disappointed.

My Triple Chocolate Cookies.....

Domino's Triple Chocolate Cookies.....

Walnut Air Kisses

This weekend's baking didn't quite go plan. Ive been burning the proverbial candle a lot this week which has meant I've barely been at home. We had invited our neighbours round for some Christmas drinks on Sunday. I had plans to make various things for it but let's just say Saturday night's party put pay to that idea. I did however decide to make Walnut and Chocolate Kisses which I found in a book I got given last year called 'Cooking for Christmas'.


To cut a long story short I ended up resembling  one of those annoying Come Dine with Me contestants who rush round finishing their cooking and getting changed as the guests are ringing the doorbell. These biscuits are meant to be sandwiched with a rich chocolate ganache then topped with melted dark choc and half a walnut. My ganache just went horribly wrong - probably because I was rushing but also I think as I veered away from using Lindt chocolate for one that was on offer. Lesson learnt. So these ended up with no chocolate kiss filling and are just walnut biscuits but quite nice ones at that. I will make them again properly with the filling. I wasn't even going to post them but one our friends said how much he liked them so I changed my mind. Apologies for the poor quality photos - I had to quickly snap them on my phone. I've renamed because they really can't be called proper Chocolate & Walnut Kisses so when is a kiss not a kiss? When it's an air kiss of course. And as I live in London I know a lot about those .......


Ps wish I could claim to have made the mince pies but ( hangs head in shame) they are shop bought.


The Recipe

OK here's the thing I don't have the recipe on me! Oh dear. To be posted later.....

Chocolate Chip Apple Cookies

These cookies are my entry for this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge hosted by lovely Chele at the fantastic Chocolate Teapot  blog.  The ingredient to be paired with chocolate for November is apple.  I'm not overly keen on chocolate and fruit combinations but I do like being challenged to try making something I might not normally bake.  I wanted to do Chele's challenge early this month - partly because I failed miserably to enter last's month's event and also because I'm going on holiday so won't be posting for a couple of weeks. 


I thought about making an apple and chocolate cake but it just wasn't doing it for me. I then thought about doing an apple crumble incorporating white chocolate into the topping but I'm a bit of a crumble purist.  So after some internet research I finally decided on making these cookies whose recipe I found on www.food.com.  I'd say the chocolate slightly dominates the apple but only a little bit.  The apple was grated which meant it didn't produce a soggy cookie, in fact they are very cake like.  I'm just not sure about them but it then occurred to me as I tried my second that they fit my 'Jaffa Cake theory'.  I'm just not sure either about Jaffa Cakes but every time I'm offered some I always have to have at least two to check that I still don't like them. Let's face it if you don't like something you don't go back for more so these cookies are in the same category.  I'm not wild about them but I don't dislike them. Mr CB however loves them so it is definitely just a personal thing. 

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

"Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap." (Robert Fulghum)


This quote, which would probably result in world peace if taken on board by everyone, greeted me on opening The Cookiepedia by Stacy Adimando.  I have been sent this book to review and I'm pleased to say that my first dedicated cookie recipe book has lived up to its quirky layout and its inspiring opening quote.  Stacy is the deputy lifestyle editor of Every Day with Rachael Ray, the US food magazine (think a cooler Martha Stewart - the website is worth checking out for Rachael's amazing Tuscan wedding photos alone!).  Being a US author the recipes are in cups but the back inside cover has a fantastic conversion chart into imperial and metric. The book is divided into different types of cookies such as buttery, fancy, nutty & seedy etc and is peppered throughout with helpful tips.  For example, did you know that to get a taller, chewier oatmeal cookie, you should chill the dough for 10-15 minutes before baking? Well you do now!


Overall this is a really practical cookbook with spaces for notes, suggestions for alternative ingredients etc, while managing to have a fun kooky feel to it (excuse the pun).  I chose to try out the Chocolate Sandwich cookies from the Chocolaty chapter - when I presented them to Mr CB for the official tasting he said 'Ooh Oreos'.  I took that as a compliment!  The chocolate biscuit is quite salty, which I really liked. I made the cream filling as per the below but as it was very sweet I added some peanut butter to the last half to give an alternate filling, which worked really well against the chocolate biscuit. It also gave the filling the perfect sandwich making consistency. 


I generally make cakes more than cookies/biscuits but this book might just make me try out a few more.


The Recipe


1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tspn baking powder
1 tspn salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces at room temperature
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla extract


Cream Filling:


1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tspn vanilla extract
1/4 tspn salt (I didn't add this as I felt the cookies need sweetness against them but in hindsight should have added it)
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 - 2 tablespoons milk


1.  In a mixer of a food processor, mix together the sugars, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt on a low speed.  With the motor running, add the butter a few pieces at a time and pulse to incorporate. Add the egg and vanilla and continue pulsing until the dough starts to form.  
2.  Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and form it into a disk. Chill at least 1 hour, until firm.
3.  At this point preheat the oven to 175C.
4.  When you're ready to bake, cut the dough in half and roll out each piece to about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out small 1 to 2 inch rounds and place them baking sheets lined with parchment about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 12 - 15  mins. 
5.  Set the sheets on wire racks for about 5 mins before transferring cookies directly onto racks to cool. 
6.  While the cookies cool, make the filling.  In a mixer, beat together the butter, vanilla and salt until they look light and fluffy.  Add the icing sugar slowly and beat until fully incorporated.  Add the milk one tablespoon at a time unit the filling is a spreadable consistency.  
7.  Spoon, spread or pipe a small dollop of filling into the centre of half the cookies.  Top with another cookie, pressing until the filling spreads to the edges.  Makes 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

Ginger, Oat & Sultana Cookies

This cookie recipe comes from the wonderful Popina Book of Baking. I have made them before and found they worked particularly well as a form of bribery when babysitting a 3 year old for a day.  It's amazing how you can get them to behave with the lure of a homemade biscuit.  I'm not sure that it would be one of Super Nanny's chosen methods but there you go!


They are a chewy cookie and the ginger sultana combo is delicious. I like to think the oats make them marginally more healthy too....


The recipe can be found in The Popina Book of Baking.

Oatmeal & Raisin Cookies

I worship at the altar of Bill Granger and this is one of his recipes. His recipes always work!


The recipe can be found in his wonderful Bill Granger Everyday cookbook.