Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Recipe and picture found at: 
http://bigflavors.blogspot.com/2010/12/supper-club-chocolate-peanut-butter.html

Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies
Sweet Pea's Kitchen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus more for rolling)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together sugars, butter and 1/4 cup of peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and egg, beating to combine. Stir in the flour mixture and stir to combine, blending well. Set aside.

4. In a medium bowl, mix together powdered sugar and remaining 3/4 cup of peanut butter until smooth. 

5. Pull off a heaping tablespoon of cookie dough and flatten with your hands. Take about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter mixture and place it in the center of the chocolate dough. Wrap the chocolate dough around the peanut butter center, pressing to seal. Roll the cookie into a ball and roll the cookie in the sugar. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass, flatten each cookie to about a 1/2 inch thickness.

6. Bake in preheated oven for 7 to 9 minutes. Let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.


Hot Mama says: These are wonderfully tasty cookies.  However, I only got about 1.5 dozen cookies out of this recipe.  I guess I should have made them smaller, but it was hard to get the peanut butter surrounded by the dough.  Anyway, these cookies are fantastic and I will definitely make them again.  They are a bit more work than your average drop-the-dough-on-the-cookie-sheet variety, but well worth the extra effort.  :)  Everyone that sampled them told me how delicious they were.

Watermelon Mojitos

Recipe and picture found at: http://www.cookincanuck.com/2010/06/watermelon-mojito-recipe/

Watermelon Mojitos

3 cups 1/2-inch cubes watermelon
12 medium to large fresh mint sprigs
6 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp granulated sugar
6 oz. light rum
4 lime slices
4 mint sprigs

Place watermelon cubes in a blender. Blend until smooth.

In a small pitcher, combine fresh mint leaves, sugar, and fresh lime juice. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, muddle the ingredients to release the oils from the mint. Take care not to muddle to the point where the leaves fall apart. Pour rum and the watermelon puree into the pitcher and stir gently.

Fill four tall glasses (such as Collins glasses) with ice and divide the mojito amongst the glasses. Garnish with lime slices and mint sprigs, and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

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Spiced Rum Mojito recipe originally found at: http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink582.html

Mojito Recipe

1.25 oz Captain Morgan® Original spiced rum
12 mint leaves
1 tbsp sugar
0.5 oz lime juice
2 oz soda

Place mint leaves in bottom of glass. Add crushed ice, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, sugar, and lime juice, and muddle. Add soda water and garnish with mint leaves.

mash the mint and sugar together and put in a glass, and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Read more: Mojito recipe http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink582.html#ixzz1u6XQyd4S

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HotMama says: I have a plethora of fresh mint in my garden, so I am always looking for ways to use mint.  My Hubby wanted Mojitos, so I figured I would try these for a twist.  I am not certain I entirely like the way they turned out.  Then again, maybe I should try them according to the exact recipe listed.  We didn't have any white rum, so I substituted half the amount of spiced rum.  

Shrimp

Original Recipe from: http://pinterest.com/pin/131308145355533192/

Melt a stick of butter in the pan. Slice one lemon and layer it on top of the butter. Add layer of fresh shrimp, then sprinkle one pack of dried italian seasoning over all of it. Bake at 350 for 15 min.

Hot Mama Notes: I made the recipe as described, and it was delicious!  Buttery shrimp goodness! :)  Hubby noted that he prefers traditional marinading because the italian seasoning dispersal was not even.  

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

Original Recipe from: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-chewy-granola-bars-without-corn-syrup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup peanut butter or sunbutter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)

1 cup oats

1 cup total of any combination of:  sesame seeds, coconut flakes, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey and coconut oil.

Remove from heat and add one cup of oats.  Choose your favorite combination of coconut flakes, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, dried fruit and mini chocolate chips, to equal a total of ONE CUP.  (I just got out my one cup measuring cup and poured in the ingredients until the cup was full.)  Pour in and stir well.

Stir well, then spread mixture into a 8×8 or 9×4 pan.

Chill for two hours, then cut into bars.

Hot Mama Notes: Being the Chocoholic that I am, I used chocolate chips for the entire 1 cup.  >:D  Needless to say, the bars turned out YUMMY! I will try to be healthier next time, but I didn't have anything else really in the house.  I did use coconut oil.  And peanut butter.  :)

Blueberry Cobbler

Original Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-batter-fruit-cobbler/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups of sliced fresh peaches or nectarines, or whole blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination of fruits (or a 12-ounce package of frozen berries)
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, and heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put butter in an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan; set in oven to melt. When butter has melted, remove pan from oven.
3. Whisk flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Add milk; whisk to form a smooth batter. Pour batter into pan, then scatter fruit over batter. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tb. of sugar.
4. Bake until batter browns and fruit bubbles, 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Hot Mama's Note:

This recipe was good, but not fantastic.  It was very sugary.  However, it was super easy to make, which was nice.  I think I prefer more of a pie crust to this recipe's breadliness.

Original Recipe from: http://iowagirleats.com/2012/01/04/my-top-secret-diet-weapon/


Below recipe and photo are from the above link.

Green Monster Spinach Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 frozen sliced banana
1 Tablespoon peanut butter
1/2 cup 0% Vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (or other kind of milk)
4 cups baby spinach (or more, or less)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  First add 1 sliced frozen banana, and 1 Tablespoon peanut butter in a blender. Tip: PEEL and SLICE your bananas before you freeze them, or you’ll be sorry! Next add bulking agents for staying power, like protein-packed vanilla Greek yogurt, and creamy unsweetened vanilla almond milk. You could use any kind of milk you want – cow’s, rice, soy, etc.  Fill the blender the rest of the way up with baby spinach.  Start the blender on “high blend” until everything’s mixed up, then switch it over to “liquify” to get the Green Monster velvety smooth.

Nutritional stats:

350 calories, 10g fiber, 21g protein



Hot Mama's Notes:

I had been wanting to try a green smoothie, and well, it was green.  I like spinach.  This smoothie doesn't really taste like spinach.  When blended all together, you really only taste the banana and peanut butter.  When making this smoothie, a different brand of greek yogurt was used, with no adverse effects, I would say.  Also, I used the Smoothie button on my BlendTech TotalBlender.  My spinach was fresh from my garden that day - yum!  :)

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Original Recipe from:  http://luluthebaker.blogspot.com/2011/09/cheesy-vegetable-chowder.html


The below recipe & picture are from the above link.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped carrot

1 stalk celery, finely chopped (feel free to add more celery if you like celery; I don't, so I don't add much)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

4 cups chicken broth (I usually use a mixture of low-sodium chicken broth and broth made with chicken soup base because it gives it such nice flavor)

2 large baking potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon flour

1/2 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 cups chopped broccoli

2 heaping cups shredded cheddar cheese

Melt the butter in a large soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute over medium heat until tender.  Add garlic and cook 1 or 2 additional minutes.  Add chicken broth and potatoes, bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are tender.  Mix flour with water, add, and simmer until soup is slightly thickened.  Add milk and broccoli and cook until broccoli is just tender and soup is heated through.  Stir in cheese, allow to melt, and serve.

Hot Mama's Notes:

I made this recipe in my (Costco brand) dutch oven, and it turned out marvelously!  :)  I used fresh carrots and broccoli harvested from my garden the same day - double yum.  And as an added bonus... even the Husband liked this soup!  This may not sound amazing, but it is.  Generally, H does not like soups with broccoli in them.  

The only changes:

- I used two stalks celery, as I do like it.

- I didn't have any "large baking potatoes", so I used 5 regular potatoes.

- I used two 14-ounce cans of reduced sodium chicken broth, and the soup still turned out wonderful.

- I probably used more garlic (2 large cloves), as well as more broccoli and carrots.
- A better name for this soup would be Broccoli Cheese Soup with Vegetables.

Grade: A+!  Will definitely make this soup again! :)