When I promised pictures of Cheesecake Pops and commentaries on blueberry crisp, I should have remembered my husband was going out of town. Yikes.
Things were further complicated by the fact that for some reason fixing our external hard drive wiped out an entire week’s worth of Microsoft Word (saved on the internal hard drive) and I lost my blueberry crisp recipe/entry.*That* was really frustrating.Especially because I no longer remembered what little changes I made.We even restored the main hard drive to last week and found the saved word document—which refused to open.It was totally wiped from existence.
So I have for you today a rather schizophrenic entry (plus pictures down below of the Cheesecake Pops): pictures of my Blueberry & Strawberry Crisp plus the recipe that I worked from (alas not the actual recipe, but I didn’t change too much), and these peanut butter cookies that I made yesterday and which are currently the subject of a thread over on the CLBB.
I was of 2 minds about whether to share the cookies, because while I plan to try making them again only exactly according to recipe (just to see if my whole grain subs caused me problems), I am not really in love with them. Here’s the thing: if you have a peanut butter cookie recipe you love and you don’t bake often, I personally would not bother with these. On the other hand, if you are an aficionado of all things cookie or peanut butter and are always up for a new recipe, then I would try these. The flavor was quite good and they are getting good reviews. My criticism? 2 things: 1: the texture is too crumbly (which could be my fault but see point 2) and 2: they don’t touch my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe (the King Arthur Triple Play Peanut Butter Cookies), which is flexible enough that subbing whole grain flour and/or natural peanut butter has never lessened its quality. It is sturdier and chewier with great peanut butter flavor.
This cookie’s flavor was more delicate (and yet still very peanutty), and I did like rolling the cookies in sugar before baking them. The recipe comes to me from the CLBB, from Smitten Kitchen, but it is originally a Magnolia Bakery recipe. So who knows how much it has changed.
Peanut Butter Cookies
Taken from Smitten Kitchen, Adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (for sprinkling) sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 T milk
1 t vanilla extract
1 cup swirled milk chocolate and peanut butter chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, the baking soda, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and the peanut butter together until fluffy. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg and mix well. Add the milk and the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat thoroughly. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Place sprinkling sugar on a plate. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls into the sugar, then onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crissscross pattern, but do not overly flatten cookies. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies may appear to be underdone, but they are not.
Cool the cookies on the sheets for 1 minute, then remove to a rack to cool completely.
Blueberry Crisp
Cooking Light
You can use almost any combination of fresh berries in this dessert. I used strawberries and blueberries.
Ingredients*
6 cups blueberries
2 T brown sugar
1 T AP flour
1 T fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup AP flour (I have successfully subbed whole wheat pastry flour here)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup regular oats
3/4 t ground cinnamon
4 1/2 T chilled butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat oven to 375°.
Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl; spoon into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. Combine 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon, and cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over the blueberry mixture. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Top each serving with 1/4 cup frozen yogurt.
Note: Topping may also be made in the food processor. Place 2/3 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a food processor, and pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter; pulse 4 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal.
*I always double the topping or halve the filling—I like a lot of topping.
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