Honey Peanut Butter Cookies

Oh man, these are some amazing cookies! The texture is so great, very chewy and thick. I wish I knew a little more about food science, so I could know what exactly what it is that makes these cookies so chewy. The addition of honey to the recipe makes it perfectly sweet! I will definitely make this my go to PB cookie recipe. I contemplated putting chocolate chips in these, but I'm glad that I didn't. They are a classic!

Honey Peanut Butter Cookies
Source: Annie's Eats, originally from Taste of Home

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup vegetable shortening
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup honey
2 large eggs
Sugar, for rolling the cookies


In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the shortening, butter, peanut butter and honey. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture and beat just until incorporated.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Roll the dough into 1½-inch balls, and roll each dough ball in sugar. Place the dough balls on an ungreased baking sheet, a couple inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly puffed and golden. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Today was a miserable, cold, icy day....and of course my day off this week! I was stuck inside with a clean apartment, so what better to do than bake? :) I hadn't had these cookies in SO long and when I saw them on a blog that I frequent, I knew that I had to make them!

I had made these cookies for Christmas, but we were in such a hurry that day, that I totally spaced taking a picture. So today when I made them again, I remembered to take one. I love this recipe, these cookies are so incredibly easy and quick!

Peanut Butter Blossoms
Source: The Novice Chef, adapted from Hershey Kitchens

48 hershey kisses
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar for rolling

Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates

Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges.

Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Enchiladas

I saw this recipe on The Novice Chef and thought it looked awesome...and they were! My main complaint with homemade enchiladas is that they get too dry. This is not the case here since you coat the tortillas in sauce and then add more sauce to the tops. I did make some changes though, and since my husband is a picky eater, I make two separate batches of filling for the two of us. I will list the recipe as I make it and with everything in it. I make these at least once a month, maybe twice if Jeremy has a say!




Enchiladas

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium red onion chopped
1 bell pepper finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, pressed
1 15oz can of Old El Paso Enchilada sauce
8-10 8 inch tortillas
1 1/2 - 2 cups shredded cheese

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet heat the vegetable oil and then cook the onion and bell pepper for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Next, add the meat to the pan and brown. If the meat is too greasy then drain and return to the pan.

Pour 1/2 of the can of sauce onto a plate. Dip each tortilla into the sauce and coat on both sides. Spoon 1/4 cup of the meat mixture onto each tortilla and add cheese and then roll the tortilla around the filling. Place in an ungreased baking dish. Repeat until you've used all of the filling.

Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and then top with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until the cheese and sauce is bubbly.

Breakfast Casserole

I was looking for something easy to make for dinner tonight. I knew that I had eggs, cheese, and sausage at home, but the regular scrambled eggs and sausage didn't sound that great to me. I then thought that I could make a breakfast casserole. I didn't use a certain recipe, just what I knew about the ingredients to make this. It turned out pretty good although next time I will use more salt and pepper and cheese.



Ingredients

1 1/2 -2 cups of shredded potatoes (hashbrowns)
6 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 lb sausage
1 cup shredded cheese, divided
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350°. Spray your 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with a non stick spray. Add the potatoes in the bottom. Cook your sausage and drain then add to the top of your potatoes. In a small bowl beat your eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and half of the cheese. Pour the egg mixture into the casserole dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Enjoy!

Easy Asian Porkchops

I got a new slow cooker for Christmas! It has a retractable cord, lock in lid, digital display and non stick interior! Here it is:



I was pretty excited to try it out, so I've been looking for slow cooker recipes here lately. My parents had given Jeremy and I some pork loins and chops, so I figured I would look for a recipe to use up some of those. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and thought that I'd give it a try. I made a few changes to the original recipe and I will list the modified recipe that I used. I LOVED this pork. It was so tender, it almost melted in your mouth! The sauce is a little sweet, but definitely savory too. This will definitely be put into our regular rotation and since its a slow cooker recipe it is soooo easy!




Easy Asian Porkchops

Ingredients
4 boneless pork chops (I put mine in frozen)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup honey
pepper to taste


Add your chops to the slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients to a bowl and wisk together. Pour the ketchup mixture over the chops and cook on low for 5-6 hours, until the pork is falling apart. Tear the chops apart with two forks into large chunks. Serve pork and sauce over rice.