Peanut Butter Kisses

This week has been a whirlwind of baking, but I knew I had to make a big batch of my dad's favorite cookies.
I didn't realize till about halfway through making the dough that I was using a recipe that's already tripled. So it made A LOT of cookies (I'll be giving you a scaled down version, you probably don't need 12 dozen cookies).

Make sure to unwrap all the Hershey Kisses ahead of time, they need to go on as soon as the cookies come out of the oven. Better yet, have someone who isn't baking do it for you (you will have to repay them in cookies.)


Peanut Butter Kisses
(yields 4 dozen cookies)
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup of flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 bag of Hershey Kisses

Another 1/2 cup of sugar (to dip the cookies in)

Cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract together in a mixer.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture.

Scoop out balls of dough slightly smaller than a tablespoon (these cookies should be very little) and roll the balls in sugar.

Place about one inch apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden.

When you remove them from the oven, quickly transfer to a cooling rack and press a Hershey Kiss down into the center of each cookie. The Hershey Kisses will melt, let the cookies cool undisturbed until the Kisses set back up.

Fresh from the Oven- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

The countdown to Christmas has begun, so this week I've got lots of baking to do.
It pales in comparison to the elaborate cookie baskets we made when I was little, sometimes we'd make a dozen varieties to give out. It was pretty chaotic.
This year my dad and I decided to just make three. (He's handling the sugar cookies.)

I had to track down a recipe online for Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, because I couldn't find our family recipe. Luckily these tasted exactly the same as I remember them growing up.
The cookies taste like little brownie bites. When I make them again I think I'll add walnuts.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

Combine cocoa powder, sugar, and vegetable oil.
Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla extract.
In another bowl mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Add to the wet mixture. (The dough should be pretty thick.)
Chill the dough for 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Scoop out tablespoon sized pieces of dough, roll into balls. Roll in powdered sugar.

Place on a greased baking about an inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy.

DIY: Hot Chocolate Spoons

Homemade edible gifts are the best.
They're cheap, just take a little time and effort and the recipient doesn't have to worry about finding a place for another piece of kitsch.
Also they're delicious.

I found this post in the summer and couldn't use it then, I've been saving it.
Today when I ran out of the powdered stuff, I knew it was time to try it out (and make enough for stocking stuffers).

While the resulting hot chocolate spoons don't look anything like the ones in the original post, they do make a rich delicious cup of hot chocolate.

An ice cube tray and some disposable spoons work perfectly, no need for any fancy candy making supplies.

I have to reiterate the original blogger's warning: Do not use candy wafers or chocolate chips, they won't melt properly. Use baking chocolate or real chocolate. Also don't add water, the whole thing will seize up.

Hot Chocolate Spoons
11 plastic spoons
ice cube tray
1 plastic baggy/piping bag
8oz of chocolate (semi-sweet, milk chocolate, whatever you want)
1/4 cup of cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup of powdered sugar, sifted

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (at 30 second intervals).
Stir in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. If it gets to thick to stir, give it another 30 seconds in the microwave. This happened to me and I panicked for a moment, but a little time in the microwave smoothed it out.
Pull into a piping bag or plastic baggy (I always just use plastic baggies).
Fill each square of the ice cube tray individually, nearly to the top (I had enough to fill 11 squares). Give the ice cube tray several sharp taps against the counter to shake out air bubbles.
Stick one spoon into each square and let set in the fridge for about an hour. (Don't leave them in much longer, chocolate tends to soak up odors in the fridge).

Once they have set, carefully remove the chocolate squares. (I found that bending the tray a little caused them to pop right out.) If they won't come out, put back in the fridge for another half an hour.

If you don't like how they look, dip them into some more chocolate and let them cool. Decorate with sprinkles or marshmallows. Wrap in little treat bags and give to friends or store for yourself. Dark chocolate lasts a year, white or milk chocolate last a few months.

Enjoying the Hot Chocolate Spoons
Heat one mug of milk to piping hot. (I used skim milk, but whatever you like works.)
Stir with hot chocolate spoon, until chocolate melts.
Drink.