Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Swirled Cookie Bars

Ever since social media has arrived on the scene, with sites such as Pinterest and Instagram, my cookbook buying has dwindled to almost nothing.  I've also eliminated a lot of my collection as I hardly used them. This blog now serves as my personal cookbook, I rarely turn to recipe cards, cookbooks, or newspaper clippings; I just come here to find our family favorites. My Pinterest boards are filled with recipes, many of which I know I will never get around to making!  Anytime I get a whim for something I just do a search and, voila!, recipes abound everywhere.

I was perusing Instagram while parked outside my granddaughter's school, awaiting the end-of-school bell.  I came upon a posting by Half Baked Harvest for these bars.  Chocolate chips?  Peanut Butter? Yum! I instantly knew what my granddaughter and I would be doing that afternoon!

Baking with kids is always an experience.  She is really into being a teacher these days so she wanted her "class" to observe our baking session.  She set her dolls up in a line and I had to act like a baking instructor and explain each step of the procedure.  It took longer to make the bars than it should have but she was entertained and happy.  That's what Nanas are for!

These bars are so easy to make.  They are basically the standard Toll House cookie recipe in a bar form with the addition of a layer of peanut butter.  We couldn't wait for them to cool off and were eating them while still warm.  The peanut butter was oozing everywhere but they were so good! A big glass of cold milk is a must with these!

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Swirled Cookie Bars

2 sticks ( 1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (12 oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined and creamy. Beat in the vanilla.  Add the flour and baking soda and beat until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread 1/2 the dough into the prepared dish.  Dollop, and then gently swirl, the peanut butter into the dough. Top with the remaining 1/2 dough. (Don't worry if the dough doesn't fully cover the peanut butter, it will spread during baking). Transfer to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just set in the center.  Let cool and cut into bars.

Recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest.

Raspberry Lemon Streusel Muffins

I bought some lovely raspberries at the Farmers Market Saturday.  Time got away from me and I didn't do anything with them over the weekend. Raspberries don't last long and I didn't want to waste them. My Hubbers is on a biking trip in Washington so I knew I wasn't going to make a dessert with them. I am the only one home to eat it! I briefly thought about making jam but it was already late and I was feeling lazy. I decided to make some muffins.  I shared some with a few neighbors and took the rest to the office. Easy solution!

I love anything with raspberries in it and these muffins didn't disappoint.  The star of the recipe, in my opinion, is the lemon streusel topping.  With each bite you get a burst of lemon, so yummy!  The recipe makes more streusel than needed.  I store the excess in a freezer Ziploc bag.  I love being able to grab a little streusel from the freezer to top a pound cake or lemon loaf.!



Raspberry Lemon Streusel Muffins

1 3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Streusel Topping
1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
8 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners or spray with baking spray.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender, or two knives, cut the butter until the size of small peas.  The mixture should be crumbly.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a larger bowl, mix eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture and mix just until incorporated.  Do not overmix.

Fill muffin liners 1/2 full with batter. Top with raspberries (3-5, depending on the size of the berries).  Top with streusel, enough to cover top of muffin.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack.

These are best served warm. Store in an airtight container if there are leftovers.  They can be reheated in the microwave.

Classic French Madeleines

Madeleines are very small sponge cakes with a distinctive shell-like shape acquired from being baked in pans with shell-shaped depressions. They are super easy and quick to make.  My granddaughter and I made them for our recent tea party. The only drawback to these little cakes is that they don't stay fresh long.  If you have more than you can use at one sitting, bag them up and pass them around to the neighbors.  They won't complain!

 

The madeleines were a great addition to our tea time treats!
 

Most madeleine recipes call for vanilla extract in the batter. As I went to grab the vanilla from the cabinet my eye drifted to a bottle of Fiori di Sicilia (Flowers of Sicily) that I have.  It's an extract that combines vanilla, citrus and flower essences. It smells so good and the combination of citrus and floral in baked goods is wonderful.  I used this flavoring in lieu of the vanilla and omitted the lemon zest called for in the recipe. They were delightful!

The lemon zest can be replaced with any citrus zest or omitted if you're not a fan of citrus flavors.

Classic French Madeleines

2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract **
1 tablespoon lemon zest **
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray two madeleine pans with nonstick spray.

Place butter in a microwave safe dish and microwave in 20-second intervals until completely melted. Set aside to cool.

Combine the sugar and eggs in a bowl and mix on medium-low speed. Mix until slightly foamy. Add the flour and baking soda and mix until combined. Add in the melted butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest.  Stir until combined.

Add approximately one tablespoon of batter to each of the shell-shaped cavities in the madeleine pans.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the tops of the madeleines no longer jiggle.

Cool the madeleines in the pans for a few minutes, then gently remove them from the pans (using a knife if necessary).  Finish cooling them on a wire rack.  Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Makes 20-24.

** I used 1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia and omitted the lemon zest.

Tea For Two!

My youngest granddaughter loves having tea.  We frequently have quiet tea parties for two at home. A few weeks back I took her to a local tea room that has opened in our area.  I want to like the place more than I do, but we found the food just ok and I thought it was rather pricey. As we were enjoying our tea my granddaughter said that we could do a better tea at home.  Ha, ha, that's my girl! We decided we needed to have a small tea party, set a date, and invited her best friend.

The day before our tea I made lemon curd, egg salad, and set the table.  I used the china set that had recently been gifted to me by a client. The day of the tea I picked up my granddaughter early in the morning and we got to work in the kitchen.  She loves to help me bake.  We made mini lemon cupcakes, brownies, and madelines for the dessert offering.  We made egg salad sandwiches, PBJ's, and salami/cheese stacks for the savory course.  No tea at Nana's would be complete without scones, so we made a batch that we served with the lemon curd, strawberry jam, and clotted cream.  We were busy, busy!

Baking with a young child is fun, but challenging.  At one point, she spilled powdered sugar on the floor and down the cabinet. Ugh, that was a mess! I'm rather OCD with my house but had to push past the messes and focus on the lessons she was learning.  In the end everything was clean again and we still love each other!

The girls enjoyed their tea.  I was their waitress, so poured their tea and waited on them. My granddaughter requested "tea music" so I found some Disney lullabies on my Alexa that the girls enjoyed. They grinned and chatted the whole time. But, 7 year old girls can only be lady-like for so long.  Soon they were off to swim in the pool and I got left with the clean-up! We will have to further define all that having a tea party consists of! That night I was exhausted so asked my Hubbers to take me to dinner! She has asked to have another tea party, inviting a few more girls.  I'm happy to open my home for such fun events! We are making memories! Too soon, she will have better things to do than hang around with Nana.  I suspect, when I'm old (older?) and feeble, she will be taking Nana out to tea!