I really love the combination of peanut butter and honey, especially in sandwich form. But sometimes you don't want to eat a whole sandwich and a simple cookie would suffice - I've been wanting to make these cookies for a while now, but I was afraid I would be the only one eating them since the rest of my family does not share my enthusiasm for peanut butter. After staring at the recipe repeatedly for weeks, I decided to set my anxieties aside and make them anyway... and what a surprise, my family loved these cookies; I think they ate more of them than I did! After just one bite my sister claimed it was the best peanut butter cookie she'd ever eaten and my dad went back for seconds soon after his first.

The honey adds a touch of sweetness to the overall peanut butter taste and is more noticeable than I thought it would be, and the chopped nuts on the outside make for a fantastically crunchy exterior in contrast to the smooth intense peanut butter interior. It's a bit of a long process rolling all the different parts out, but it's interesting to see how it all comes together in the end. I believe my oven temperature may have been set a little too high though because the cookies came out darker and firmer than I was happy with, even though I cut the baking time down to ten minutes. I would keep an eye on these as they're baking because if you over-bake them they harden like rocks after a day or two of sitting in an airtight container. These are definitely cookies to devour the same day they're baked.

Double Delight Peanut Butter-Honey Cookies
from The Crepes of Wrath

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey

Coating
2/3 cup finely chopped honey roasted peanuts (or any mixture of nuts - I used salted walnuts, almond, peanuts, cashews, and hazelnuts)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and honey, until creamy (about 1-2 minutes).
3. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Gradually beat in flour until well combined. Place dough in freezer for 15 minutes, stir, and freeze for an additional 15 minutes (I just put mine in the freezer for as long as it took me to make the filling and coating).
4. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Sift confectioners’ sugar into a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat confectioners’ sugar, peanut butter, and honey until well combined.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a large sheet pan with cooking spray or line it.
6. Make the coating by stirring together nuts, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl, until well combined.
7. Remove bowl from freezer. Take each piece of dough, roll into a ball and then flatten with your hand, place a peanut butter ball in the center, and wrap dough around ball. Roll ball in your hands to shape better. Roll balls in nut mixture, to coat completely; place on prepared sheet pan. Coat the bottom of a glass with cooking spray and flatten cookies. Don’t flatten too much, though!
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 13-15 minutes, or until edges of cookies are golden brown. Allow to cool completely on the baking sheets.

Labels: cookies, honey, peanut butter

Sometimes there is nothing better than biting into a warm just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie; the chocolate is all melted and the cookie's center is still gooey from the heat of the oven while the edges are soft but crispy...

Chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite things to make because they're always delicious. I finally stumbled across a recipe I loved so much I've been using it every time since! I don't know why I didn't think to look on Smitten Kitchen before; everything Deb makes looks delicious and I've been quite satisfied with recipes I've tried from there before. So of course, once I found this recipe I had to try it, and I have heard nothing but good news from everyone who has eaten one of these cookies! I added mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's to this particular batch; the peanut butter flavor was much more prominent after they had a chance to cool down a bit though.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) (115 grams) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch (1cm) pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) semisweet chocolate chips, or chunks (I like to mix it up!)

Although I haven't done this yet, you could also add:
1 cup (130 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped

Adjust the oven rack to the top third of the oven and preheat to 300F (150C). Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.

Beat the sugars and butters together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts.

Scoop the cookie dough onto each of the baking sheets and bake for 18 minutes (or less, if you like them a tad undercooked like I do), or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

These store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Labels: chocolate chips, cookies

What's better than a good burger? A good burger with home-made buns, and I've found a recipe that produces exactly that! The whole process is a little time-consuming, but definitely worth the effort! These are doughy but firm, and they hold their own even after the burger juice hits.

Home-made Hamburger Buns
(recipe from Coconut & Lime)

2 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 oz active dry yeast

for the egg wash:
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon water

to sprinkle:
sesame or poppy seeds


Stir together the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and yeast. Pour in the milk mixture and stir until the dough starts to come together, adding more water if the mixture looks dry or more flour if the mixture looks wet.

If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook to mix for about 8 minutes. If not, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a towel and wait until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch down the dough and divide into 6 even portions. Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough towards the bottom and gently stretching until a ball with a smooth top forms. Place seam-side down on a baking stone or metal baking sheet. Allow the rolls to sit for a minute. Flatten each dough ball with your hand or the back of a large spatula until it is about 3 to 4 inches wide. Cover the rolls with the towel again and set aside until they have just about doubled in size, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 F. Whisk together the water and yolk to make the egg wash. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle with seeds. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown on both the top and the bottom and when tapped, they sound hollow. Allow to cool, then slice.

Labels: buns, yeast breads

Yes, I am welcoming myself back! I cannot believe that the last real post I made was four months ago... I feel a little ashamed, to be honest. I've been so busy since I left Pittsburgh in April - I was traveling all over Europe for five weeks, then hiking various jungles and volcanoes in Hawaii for two weeks, I also started a new job as a pastry apprentice at the Pluckemin Inn, a fine dining restaurant near my hometown; it's a fantastic opportunity that pretty much just fell into my lap and I'm enjoying the time I've been spending there so far, and learning many things. It has been difficult to get back onto a regular work schedule, but I'm slowly getting there.

I am still baking at home though, about as often as I was before; so assuming I can get you readers all caught up on the past few months, I should start posting with more regularity again soon! So, without further ado, here are some pictures that have been accumulating since April: (and just like in any other post, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them)

This picture was taken at my aunt and uncle's restaurant in France; I came in to observe what goes on behind the scenes for a day; they gave me a jacket and put me to work! I am in the middle and the two girls I am standing between are both apprentices there.

This is a coconut flan I made with my aunt while I was staying with her in France. I have recipes for everything I made there, but they're all in French so if you really want a recipe let me know and I can try to translate it for you.

A tiramisu I made with the same aunt. Tiramisu looks so complicated but it's actually pretty simple to make! The picture isn't so great but I was proud of the final result, and so was my cousin, whom I gave it to.

These are chocolate madeleines I made with another aunt I stayed with. She hosted a block party while I was there so I made a big batch of these for everyone; they seemed to be a big hit!

My very first tart: a chocolate almond pear tart; they were making one at my aunt and uncle's restaurant and I was able to snatch the recipe. This was delicious and I may translate the recipe for you at a later date because this is a tart that needs to be shared with everyone!

My very first cheesecake! (June was a month of many firsts for me.) I am not actually a big fan of cheesecake (I feel like I may be the only person in the world who dislikes the Cheesecake Factory...) but I bought some springform pans months ago and wanted to test them out. I used low fat cream cheese at my family's request, and it came out fantastically; I don't like cheesecakes that are too elaborate. The crumbs you see are graham cracker crumbs.

Chocolate and vanilla swirl cookies! I found Cookies Galore on sale at Costco one day so I jumped at the chance to buy it; this is one of the many cookie recipes the book contains. These cookies were a little bland and disappointing, actually. If I make them again I'll add more chocolate flavor.

Hamburger buns! My family makes delicious hamburgers and I thought I'd bring it up a notch with some home-made buns. They turned out a little smaller than I hoped but they still tasted amazing; a little time-consuming, but definitely worth the effort. I topped half with sesame seeds and half with poppy seeds. I will post a recipe for these soon too!

This is from a batch of cookies and cream cupcakes I made while I was still living in Pittsburgh, actually. I believe I used the chocolate cake recipe from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World book, and possibly a frosting recipe from there too. All I really remember about these is that I baked half of an oreo into the base of each cupcake to add an extra something.


Those are all the photos I have; whew! It feels good to finally update again. I promise not to go another four months before updating again; I don't think I could handle another long post like this! So, my next order of business is to spiff up the look of the blog a little bit... that might take another four months, on the other hand!