CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

 I have been making cookies for the last several years for the church's Cafe Treats that I started three years ago. When I asked friends to help me, I asked that they not use peanut butter or nuts so that the treats would be nut-free. That way no child or adult would be  excluded from eating a treat because they had a nut allergy. (Our grandson Tyler here in MO and several of our grandchildren in CO have nut allergies so I am very attentive to treats offered that are nut free. The kids will sometimes use the same set of tongs to retrieve several different treats so we have continued this practice due to possible cross contamination since I gave up my hosting duties last May.)

I still occasionally bring baked goods to church but not every weekend. Now if my husband sees I am making something on Saturday, the first thing he says is, "Are you making something for tomorrow?" meaning for the Cafe Treats. During the week, he will say, "Who are you making that for?" Poor Wayne.

I saw this recipe recently and thought I would give it a try. I love peanut butter cookies and even more so - chocolate so what could be better than chocolate peanut butter. I always use Special Dark cocoa powder so it made a dark chocolate cookie. The crisscrossed fork pattern on top traditionally seen on peanut butter cookies might give you a hint that they are peanut butter. 

I used truvia brown sugar complete since I didn't plan to share them with anyone but Wayne.

You know if you wanted to make them for someone who couldn't have peanut butter, you could always use Wowbutter or Sunbutter. They are really delicious and I will definitely be making them again.

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CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1-1/3     cups flour

1/3        cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used special dark)

1/2        teaspoon baking  soda

1/4        teaspoon salt

1/2        cup ( 1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1-1/4    cup packed light brown sugar (I used truvia brown sugar complete)

3/4      cup creamy natural peanut butter

1           large egg (at room temperature)

1           teaspoon vanilla 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium sized mixing bowl sift together the flour and cocoa powder.

( I sifted the cocoa powder for easy blending and mixed with a whisk.)

Add the baking soda and salt and whisk until well combined. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth with an electric mixer.

Mix in the brown sugar for 2 minutes on medium speed until well combined.

Scrape the beaters and the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla and beat until fully combined,

again scraping the sides of the bowl and the beaters as needed.

Add the dry ingredients all at once and

mix until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the batter flattening the top and place 12 scoops on the cookie sheet. With a fork gently flatten the dough with the tines of a fork to make a crisscross pattern.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for 5 to 10 minutes. (I removed them at 5 minutes so I could prepare the third pan for the oven as the recipe makes 3 dozen cookies.) 

Remove and finish cooling on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

SOUTHERN CHOCOLATE PIE

 

I have had this recipe for at least forty years. I didn't write a date on the recipe card as I commonly did back then so I don't know if I ever actually made it or not. I sorta made up for that though as I made it twice this weekend.

Our neighbors in the last few years have been very generous in taking care of us which we really appreciate. We have a snow blower that our son Patrick gave us maybe ten years ago but Wayne hasn't used it but a couple of times if that many. We don't need to since neighbors will be out there clearing our driveway and sidewalk for us. Did I mention we have the longest driveway on our street because it goes the length of the house and back around the back to get into our garage. We call the area behind our house the parking lot because if you tried you could probably park six cars back there. We pay a teen in the neighborhood to mow our yard but I'm sure if we didn't one of our neighbors would mow at least the front yard. They are just really awesome neighbors.

They will never take money so I bake for them. Peter on our left loves chocolate so I thought I would bake him a chocolate pie. His favorite is French Silk but I hesitate making one of those. I recently ran across this recipe for Southern Chocolate Pie when I was looking for something else with my recipe cards. I checked to make sure they liked coconut first since I know some people just don't like the texture of coconut.

I had bought some "deep dish" frozen pie crusts recently and since the recipe indicated you needed a pie shell with a high rim, I thought they would be perfect. (There were two in the package so I planned to make their pie first on Saturday and then make one for us on Sunday afternoon.) My plans changed though after I got started because the "deep dish" pie crust I bought turned out to be not deep enough and the foil pan was too flimsy. Trying to lift the pie crust after I had poured the mixture into it onto the cookie sheet, I first spilled some of the mixture over one side. After I got it settled on the sheet, I ended up removing at least half a cup of the mixture because I knew I didn't have enough room to add the coconut and pecans and I felt like it would bake over the side. To make matters worse when I was trying to place everything in the oven, I didn't hold the cookie sheet level and more of the filling ran over the other side. 

We ended up keeping that one for us and I tried again on Sunday but instead of using the not-so-deep Deep Dish pie crust, I used a pie plate I have that is deep dish. I also used a rolled up pie crust you can purchase. The only thing with using them in a deep dish pan, the circle isn't big enough to make an edge around the pie. That actually was fine with me because the edge always breaks away with me when I go to serve a pie.

The end result for Sunday's attempt was perfect and so pretty. I let the pie cool for one hour and then we took it over to them before it got dark. I told them the good news was the pie looked so pretty and the bad news was they would have to wait until Monday to eat it because it still needed 3 hours to cool before cutting. That didn't go over very well with them, but fortunately Colti was making some brownies because they were craving something sweet so I told them they could enjoy the brownies and save the pie until tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Wayne and I have been enjoying the first pie I made on Saturday. Colti said someday she would learn to make a pie. I told her this one was a super easy one to start out on as it goes together so easily. I hope you will give it a try. Trust me! You won't be sorry. The first picture is of the second pie, but the pictures with the recipe are from Saturday's attempt.

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SOUTHERN CHOCOLATE PIE

1       pkg. (4 oz) German's Sweet Chocolate Bar

1/4    cup butter

1       can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1       cup sugar

3       eggs

1       teaspoon vanilla

1       unbaked 9 - inch deep dish pie shell with high rim

1-1/3 cups angel flake coconut

1/2     cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare pie crust, if necessary. Set aside. (I placed my pie crust on a large cookie sheet. This is especially necessary if you are using a premade crust in just a foil pan.)

Stir the chocolate bar and butter over low heat until melted and smooth.

Remove from heat.

Add the sugar and evaporated milk and stir until blended.

(Might need to use a whisk.)

Beat eggs and vanilla in another small bowl and

then add to chocolate mixture.

Stir or whisk until well blended.

Pour into pie crust. (You can see in this picture how high it was in the crust. This is before I removed a half cup of the filling.)

Here is a picture of the second attempt using my deep dish pie plate.

Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the top and

then sprinkle the chopped pecans.

Carefully place in the oven and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is puffed evenly. (Filling will set while cooling.) (The filling did not run over the sides as it baked, but I did feel better baking it on a cookie sheet.)

Cool for at least 4 hours. Store in the refrigerator.

QUICK & EASY CHERRY CRISP

 

Saturday was the last Firehouse Market in Platte City for 2025. They move some of the pumper trucks out so the people can set up their products they have for sale. When it is cold, the water might free and they don't want that to happen if they get a call with a fire. Anyway we have missed the last couple of months and since it will be Christmas soon, the room was full with merchandise. I decided I was going to be generous this time to support the local merchants.

It was really fun and I did buy a number of things. Afterwards we stopped by Roxanne's for lunch which is always nice. We always enjoy seeing the desserts in the case as you come in the door. Our waitress asked us if we wanted any dessert after we finished our meal, but we told her no. As we got in the car I told Wayne I would make him something when we got home and asked him what did he want. He didn't think too long before he said Cherry Crisp. I said "fine".

This recipe is super easy and some might wonder why I would share it since it isn't anything special. Well, I decided to share it for two reasons: 1) the next time I want to make it, I can find the recipe here and 2) Easy as it is, I had to search for a recipe for the crisp part online myself.

It is really an easy crisp recipe that is one of those versitle ones that allows you to use any fruit pie filling you like. I made ours sugar free but of course you don't have to. My pie filling was no-sugar-added and I used truvia brown sugar.

I ate mine plain while still warm and Wayne added strawberry ice cream. It was the only flavor we had. He said it was good.

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QUICK & EASY CHERRY CRISP

1     (21 - ounce) can cherry pie filling (or your favorite)

2/3 cup brown sugar (1/2 cup would work)

1/2  cup flour

1/2  cup rolled oats

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/3  cup melted butter

1/4  cup chopped pecans (I used about 1/2 cup)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 2 - quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Pour the pie filling into the dish and spread evenly. You could use any fruit pie filling. I used a No Sugar Added Cherry pie filling.

Stir together the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg in medium sized bowl. Melt the butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir if necessary to finish melting.

Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until all dry ingredients are moist.

Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the pie filling.

Chop the pecans and sprinkle over the top.

Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool slightly before eating.

Enjoy with or

without ice cream.

AUTUMN DUMP CAKE

 

Yesterday was my turn at hosting our canasta group which meant I needed to find a delicious dessert to serve. I didn't really have any idea what I would make so I had to flip through a few cookbooks looking for something that looked/and/or sounded fantastic. 

The first recipe I decided to make used a cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, apple butter, 4 eggs, and apple juice plus a few more ingredients. (It was an expensive dessert to make.) Anyway the batter looked good even with all those wet ingredients and it looked fine baking; it rose to the top of the Bundt pan. The problem was the toothpick didn't come out clean. I baked it 5 more minutes and tested again - nope - not clean. So I added another 5 minutes. This time the toothpick was mostly clean. I took the cake out and let it cool for 20 minutes as the recipe said before removing the cake from the pan. Imagine my surprise when I walked back in the kitchen to do so and the cake had fallen to about half of the pan. I decided I needed to fine something else to serve but I would bake it the next morning.

The next morning I cut a slice and saw the reason it had fallen so much was that half of the slice/cake was not baked. Crazy. I don't know what the problem was. I decided to try my second choice feeling I couldn't be that unlucky that I would bake a second recipe from the cookbook that flopped.

I was correct. This Autumn Dump Cake was fabulous and helped Friend Ellen and me forget Friends Janice and Fran were beating us so badly. The pears, apples, and dried cranberries along with the caramel topping was the perfect combination. I'm glad it made so much because that means Wayne and I will be able to enjoy it for several days. I haven't made a fruity dessert in quite a while and I am so glad I finally did.

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AUTUMN DUMP CAKE

1      can (29 ounces) pear slices in light syrup OR 2 cans (15 ounces)

1      can (21 ounces) apple pie filling (Can use a No-Sugar-Added apple pie filling)

1/2   cup dried cranberries

1      package (about 15 ounces) yellow cake mix (I used a zero sugar yellow cake mix)

1/2   cup (1 stick) butter, cut into thin slices

1/4   cup caramel topping, warmed (I used a sugar-free caramel topping)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 x 9 - inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Drain the pear slices, reserving the syrup. 

Spread the pear slices in the bottom of the pan. Spoon the apple pie filling evenly over the pear slices.

Cut the slices into pieces with a knife.

Sprinkle the dried cranberries over all. (I actually didn't measure the dried cranberries. I just almost placed them around the pan for even coverage.) 

Pour 1/2 cup of the reserved syrup over the top.

Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the top. Then lightly press down the cake mix to make the top fairly flat.

Thinly slice the cold butter and place the slices over the entire top. (You want to cover the entire cake mix so if it takes a little more than 1 stick of butter, use what is needed.)

Drizzle the warmed caramel topping over the top.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden.

Cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Delicious served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.