amyBITES

05/3/2009

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Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies

I found this recipe on The Adventures of SuperWife (which is a great blog and you should all read it) and she got it from somewhere else from somewhere else and so on. These cookies were really yummy. SuperWife used a vegan recipe, and while I’m all for veganism, I did not have the vegan ingredients on hand, so I substituted regular ingredients (margarine and eggs instead of Earth Balance and egg substitute). Shame on me, I know. But I had such a hankerin’ for these cookies the moment I saw them, I had to make them right away and a trip to the store was NOT in the cards!

As you may have deduced, I love chocolate and I love peanut butter, and I really love chocolate and peanut butter together. Thus, these cookies are a godsend!

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies

Cookie Dough:

1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine or Earth Balance, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Eggs or egg replacer equal to two eggs

Cookie Filling:

3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 confectioners sugar

In a small bowl combine flour, cocoa, and baking soda; blend well.

In large bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar, margarine, and 1/4 cup peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and eggs; beat well.

Stir in flour mixture until blended and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine filling ingredients and blend well. Roll into one-inch balls.

NOTE: As you can see below, my peanut butter filling turned out rather crumbly. I don’t know whether it was because I was using reduced-fat peanut butter or if it was the fault of my mixer—you’d probably be better off just using a wooden spoon and your hands to mix. Even though mine came out crumbly, it came together really nicely in ball form. Didn’t spread at ALL in the oven though, which is a shame but doesn’t harm anything except the appearance of the cookies.

For each cookie, with floured hands, shape about 1 tablespoon cookie dough around one peanut butter ball, covering completely. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Try to flatten each cookie slightly with the flat bottom of a glass, but not too much! Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes or until set and slightly cracked. Cool on wire racks.

For aesthetic purposes, my hand is not floured in this photo. Immediately after I felt how sticky the dough was, though, I dunked my hand in a bag o’ flour. Without it, I would have made SUCH a mess. As you’ll see below, some of your cookies may get a floury appearance. That is just fine, and it won’t show after you bake them!

I had enough peanut butter filling for 16 cookies, and enough chocolate batter for about 18. I was pretty generous with the chocolate batter around each peanut butter ball, and pretty stingy with the peanut butter balls themselves, too. Next time I make these I might make about 1/4 cup more peanut butter filling. I made 16 fairly big cookies.

Warning: You WILL need a glass of milk with these.

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26/2/2009

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Crispy Mini Quesadillas

So Pranas showed me how he makes quesadillas a while ago, and they were so delicious that we made them again the other night. He usually makes them with only cheese, but I put my own spin on mine, and you can put your own spin on yours—add your favorite fillings and go crazy. The crispy tortilla shell and the soft, cheesy filling make an awesome combination, and they’re super easy and quick too!

Crispy Mini-Quesadillas
Servings: Up to you—make however many you want! I was filled up after about 2 and a half quesadillas. The amounts below make six quesadillas.

Essentials:

6 mini flour tortillas
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
1/2 cup refried beans (as much or as little as you want—that’s just a ballpark)
1/2 cup shredded cheese, we used 2% Mexican blend (as much or as little as you want)

Other Toppings:

Whatever your little heart desires. You could use beef instead of chicken, or make them meatless. I added sliced green onions to mine, and Pranas likes hot sauce on his. Use your favorite toppings or whatever you have lying around the kitchen!

1) Season your raw chicken with salt and pepper, then saute’ your chicken slices with some nonstick cooking spray or a little bit of vegetable or canola oil until they’re nice and brown and cooked through.

2) While your chicken cooks, prepare your quesadillas. Spread a thin (or thick, depending on your tastes) layer of refried beans on all or half of each mini tortilla.

3) When your chicken is done, distribute it evenly among your quesadillas. Then add the other toppings of your choice and fold in half. Don’t make them too stuffed or you’ll have a mess in your frying pan later! It’s easiest to only put your toppings on half of the tortilla to make for easy folding.

4) Heat your vegetable oil in a large skillet for about 30 seconds, then add a few of your quesadillas to the pan. Use tongs to peek on the underside until you determine they’re brown enough, then flip them over with the tongs and let the other side brown until done. Make ‘em as crispy as you want! Tip: Hold the tongs on the open end of the quesadilla, otherwise your tortillas may spill their guts.

5) Repeat with your remaining quesadillas. If there’s excess oil on them when you take them out of the pan, pat them down with a paper towel, then serve with all your standards—sour cream, salsa, guacamole, whatever you like or have lying around!

These are super tasty and super easy, and the best part is how customizable they are. You can make them exactly to your taste and experiment every time you make them. Enjoy!

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19/2/2009

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Chicken, Broccoli, and Garlic Pasta

So it’s been a long week this week, and it was a really long day today. I wanted to whip something up that would be delicious and filling, but wouldn’t require a whole lot of effort or a trip to the store. I found a really simple recipe for pasta and modified it to fit my needs, and it turned out awesome.

I guarantee you that even if your cooking repertoire includes nothing more advanced than boxed mac n’ cheese, you can’t screw up this recipe. It’s so quick and easy, but also surprisingly flavorful and very filling.

Note: This recipe makes 2 large servings. You can really easily double, halve, triple, whatever—do what you gotta do!

Chicken, Broccoli, and Garlic Pasta
Makes 2 large servings

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets (add as much or as little as you want, or substitute your favorite vegetable)
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick—I used Blue Bonnet light and it worked perfectly)
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 lb. pasta of your choice (I used spaghetti)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup of parmesan cheese (or as much/little as you want)

1) Saute the chicken cubes in olive oil until cooked through and nicely browned.

These are about half done. My chicken took about 10 minutes altogether to cook through, and I let it brown a bit more after it was done. When done, take out of the pan and set aside.

2) While saute’ing your chicken, cook your pasta. When done, set aside.

3) Steam your broccoli. I used frozen broccoli florets and they took about 3 minutes in the microwave. Drain and set aside.

4) Melt butter with garlic in pan, then add your chicken and broccoli, stirring to coat.

Mmm, buttery garlic goodness.

5) Now add in your pasta and toss everything together. You can either add all of your cheese at this point, or serve the pasta with the cheese sprinkled on top. Your choice. I did a little bit of both.

Seriously guys, this pasta was so good. It was really garlicky, which is awesome in my book. So simple and quick to throw together—it’s a perfect weeknight dinner after a long day!

It’s also really pretty, which is always a plus. :)

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15/2/2009

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Thursdays

Hi everyone! I’ve decided that I’m going to have an actual posting schedule so you guys won’t have to guess when my next update will be. From now on, I will be posting every Thursday evening unless otherwise stated. There may be other posts throughout each week, but you can count on a post every Thursday evening.

Pencil me in! :)

~Amy

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11/2/2009

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Buttermilk Bread

This bread is awesome for sandwiches. It’s soft and buttery and delicious. It’s not overly soft and mushy like grocery store bread…it’s just soft enough and not at all mushy. That’s because the key ingredient is, you guessed it, buttermilk.

I always hear that people are intimidated by bread and therefore don’t make it. It couldn’t be easier—unless you’re doing the Julia Child-style French bread that takes nine hours of constant dedication. The bread recipes I use on this blog are all from this book, which makes breadmaking incredibly easy and fast. You don’t even have to knead! So don’t be afraid to try it. Homemade bread is the most worthwhile baking adventure you will ever undertake.

Buttermilk Bread
Makes 3 1 1/2 pound loaves (this recipe is easily doubled or halved)

2 cups lukewarm water
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1.5 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1) Mix the yeast, salt, and sugar with the water and buttermilk in a 5-quart bowl.

See the bubbles? That means the yeast is doing its job.

2) Mix in the flour without kneading. I use a wooden spoon. At the end, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

3) Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours. After this time period, you can use the dough immediately. If not, put it in the fridge—again, not airtight.

It will rise a lot.

4) When you’re ready to bake, lightly grease a 9x4x3 loaf pan. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and rip off a cantaloupe-sized piece (1 1/2 pound) of dough. Dust that piece with more flour and form it into a ball, then into an oval, and plop it in your loaf pan. It should fill the pan slightly more than half full.

5) Let the dough rise for 40 minutes if it has not been refrigerated. If it has been refrigerated, let it rise for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Then, dust the top with flour and slash it down the center with a serrated knife. Brush the top with melted butter.

6) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees about 15 to 20 minutes before baking time. When it’s preheated, put your loaf in the center of the middle rack and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to cool completely before slicing.

Yum! I can make a mean PB&J on this bread, I’ll tell you what. Sooo good. This bread is perfect for sandwiches in general, so you should definitely try it out with your favorite sandwich.

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10/2/2009

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Welcome!

I seem to have gotten a record number of new visitors in the past couple of days, so welcome to all of you! Feel free to look around, leave a comment, send an e-mail, or follow me on Twitter.

Coming Soon: Buttermilk bread! AKA the perfect sandwich bread. I’ll be posting this recipe tonight or tomorrow, so stay tuned. You will definitely want to know how to make this bread!

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08/2/2009

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Chocolate Chip Muffins

I did not find my camera cord. However, Pranas found a camera cord from his camera that happened to fit in mine. Turns out, I actually had the exact same cord from my OLD camera, but I just assumed it wouldn’t fit in my new one. Oh well, at least I can now upload photos, and that is all that matters. Now, onto the muffins!

This recipe is originally from McCormick, but I was alerted to it via Bake or Break. It’s super easy and fast and I bet you have the ingredients laying around, begging to be used, so give it a go. You can also easily make this recipe without an electric mixer.

Chocolate Chip Muffins
Prep Time: Approx. 10 minutes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup margarine or unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line 12 muffin cups (I used paper liners because I didn’t feel like dealing with a lot of cleanup, and plus, I had cute flowery cupcake liners to use).

2) In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

I don’t like cinnamon…at all. BUT I decided not to leave it out because it was such a small amount. Let me tell you, you will regret it if you leave the cinnamon out. Even if you hate it, add it in. It’s very subtle and gives the muffins the extra kick and depth of flavor that they need. Trust me on this.

3) In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in melted butter, milk, and vanilla.

4) Add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.

5) Spoon into muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

I brought cupcakes into one of my classes last week, and someone asked me how I got them to look so perfect and even. I use a cookie scoop to measure out the batter for each cup. 99% of the time, two cookie-scoops-full of batter per cup is the perfect amount.

6) Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. These are amazing right out of the oven, or heated up in the microwave later. They are also delicious cool. You can’t go wrong.

Mmm, golden brown goodness. Perfect!

Ordinary muffin?

I think not. Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best.

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12:16

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Here's the thing...

I have a new post waiting to be made. I know it’s been ages, and I had been dying to cook or bake something for the longest time. Then I got swamped with work, and then I got a cold. Then I got a stomach bug and couldn’t eat anything. And then I finally made something and took photos.

And then I couldn’t find my camera’s USB cord.

I am getting really irked by this—I still can’t find it. I am hoping to come across it at some point today, so maybe there will be a post later in the day. Hopefully. If not, there should be one very, very soon. What do you have to look forward to?

Easy, delicious chocolate chip muffins.

They’re amazing, I promise. And I promise I will be posting them very, very soon…so don’t abandon ship yet! If you happen to have some sort of psychic power and know where my camera cord is, let me know. Until then, happy Sunday. I hope your weekend was fantastic.

-Amy

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30/1/2009

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Sweet Italian Chicken

The other night I just improvised this recipe because I couldn’t really find one I wanted to make. Aaaand then I dragged my feet for days on posting it, but here it is, finally. It’s simple and tasty, and you probably have the ingredients on hand.

Sweet Italian Chicken

2 chicken breasts
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup cooking wine
2 teaspoons honey
Salt and pepper

1) Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add your olive oil and swirl to coat.

2) Season your chicken on both sides with salt and pepper.

3) Add your chopped garlic, rosemary, and oregano to the pan and sautee for about a minute.

4) Add the chicken to the pan. Brown on both sides. It does not need to be completely cooked at this point.

5) Take your chicken out and set it aside after it’s well-browned.

6) Add your chicken stock and cooking wine to the pan. Bring to a boil, then take it down to a simmer. Let the mixture reduce to half.

7) Add the honey and stir it in well. Boil again and let it reduce to half again.

8) Put your chicken back in the pan and cook on medium heat until done. Turn it over every so often.

It should look something like that. Pour the excess sauce left in the pan over the chicken when you serve it.

This chicken was really delicious. It was a little smoky and a little savory with a hint of sweetness from the honey in the sauce. It was also super tender and juicy. A perfect dinner after a long day—easy to make, simple ingredients, and really tasty and filling. :)

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24/1/2009

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M&M Cookies

School has been ridiculous this week, and work wasn’t much better. I apologize for the momentary leave of absence. However, I was determined to bake today, so after finishing an exam early, I rushed home to do just that! I made some quick and easy M&M cookies.

I’m not sure where I got this recipe—I found it on one of the many food blogs I visit and saved the recipe but not where I found it. :\ If the original poster happens to see this, let me know and I will link to you!

M&M Cookies
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups M&Ms

1) Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

2) Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the egg. Beat in the egg yolk, then the vanilla.

3) Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Mix in the M&Ms by hand.

4) Roll into balls, place on a greased baking sheet, and press down slightly to flatten a bit…but not too much.

5) Bake for 10-15 minutes or until they’re golden-brown around the edges. They don’t have to be completely set when you take them out of the oven—they have to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and they’ll continue to set up.

Since M&M cookies are so bright and fun, I thought it was a perfect time to make them—today was the first break we’ve gotten from the cold snap here in Savannah. It was a beautiful day and after a sunny walk home from class, what better way to celebrate than making these cookies. They were a snap, too—only about five minutes prep to make about 3 dozen medium-sized cookies.

I think next time I make these, I might try rolling them in sugar before baking or use a peanut butter cookie base, just for kicks. This is a great cookie base that you can use for some baking experimentation if you’re looking for something to do this weekend. :)

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