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.

PRINT RECIPE.

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.

PRINT RECIPE.

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.