Daring Bakers! Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

The December Daring Bakers' Challenge had us all cheering - the lovely and talented Bourbonnatrix of Bourbonnatrix Bakes was our hostess and challenged us to make fun, delicious and creative whoopie pies! Delicious little cake-like cookies sandwiching luscious filling in any flavors we chose... What else is there to say but "Whoopie!"

 I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, surrounded by loved ones. We had a simple Christmas here, but that's okay. Sometimes simple is best. This house is small, which kind of forces all of us to be together. I have the tendency to want to run off and be by myself, so I'm still trying to find "hiding places", if you will. A kitchen can be a hiding space, but this kitchen is...quite small, like, difficult for more than one person to be in small. Spacewise, it reminds me of a dorm kitchen, but much, much nicer looking. Here, decide for yourself. 

Okay. Realtalk. After this point, when I was writing this post at 10:45 am, something crashed and I lost the rest of what I was writing. It was cutesy, and talked about the origin of whoopie pies, and how Maine holds the record for the world's largest whoopie pie at over 1000 pounds. I have no idea how you would even bake that. Maybe it had lead filling. 

Yeah, yeah, so the challenge was whoopie pies, which was good considering my limited space situation, but I was kind of hoping for something a little more difficult over my winter break, when I generally have access to more resources. C'est la vie. Of course these were tasty, you can't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter (unless you have a nut allergy, then things could go terribly wrong), but they turned out a little thick for my liking. I prefer this variation. I filled them with a peanut butter frosting I've used in past blog posts, but I'll write it down again here, cause I know how annoying it is to have to flip tabs back and forth. You're welcome. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Whoopie Pies 

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened  
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well combined.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and mix on low speed. When dry ingredients are almost incorporated, stop the mixer and add the buttermilk. Continue to mix on low speed until all ingredients are almost incorporated. Stop the mixer and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix on low until just combined. Spoon heaping tablespoons of batter onto sheets and flatten a little.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the top of the cake springs back when touched. Cool completely before filling. To assemble pies spread filling on one cake and sandwich with another cake. 

Peanut Butter Frosting 

1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup heavy cream

Beat butter and sugar until combined, then add the rest of the ingredients. Beat until frosting has a smooth, fluffy consistency.

Peanut Butter Pie

Of course the weather gets nice when finals time comes around and I have to buckle down and study. I can't complain too much though. The workload compared to my classes at home is significantly lighter. Adjusting back may be a little bit rough. But still, I want to be outside! I...have less than two weeks before I go back to the US. Wow. That just hit me. But you can understand that I want to spend that precious little time as wisely as I can. 

As far as I know, these cookies have no bourbon in them.

Spending that time wisely doesn't necessarily mean going on elaborate adventures all the time (though those are nice too). It can mean simply cherishing the moments you have with friends who you likely will not see again for a long time. Sad truths. Aw. Now I've lost my train of thought. Point I was trying to make is to enjoy what you have while you still can. 

Making whipped cream in a jar is not as hard as I expected.

Tying into that nicely is Peanut Butter Pie. I don't think I will ever be able to separate them from this. Almost two years ago Jennifer Perillo lost her husband suddenly and unexpectedly. In a gesture both beautiful and heartbreaking, she asked bloggers to make his favorite dessert, peanut butter pie. So to me, it will always be this food filled with love. And making it was a labor of love; I did everything by hand, from whipping the cream to crushing the cookies for the crust. As usual, sharing it, just taking a moment to sit back and enjoy with my friends, was the best part. 

Peanut Butter Pie

8 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 - 3/4 cups milk 
16 ounces heavy cream

(My crust was really thick, but I like it that way. Adjust accordingly)
24 chocolate sandwich cookies
1/4 melted butter

Crush cookies finely. Place in pie tin (or, like me, a 7x10 rectangle. Work with what you have.) Pour butter over the crumbs and stir until crumbs are evenly moistened. I took some crumbs and saved them for sprinkling on the top. Your call. Pat down into a dense layer with the back of a spoon, your hands, a cup, whatever. Set aside. 

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon onto crust. Top with reserved crumbs if you wish. Freeze until firm.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Oy. Somehow I have three papers due by the end of the week. So much stress! I need to not freak out. But I'm so good at it. I used to be better. Which is not a good thing, being a pro at anxiety. It's been a long time since I cried because I was so overwhelmed by work. And I am not about to let that happen again.

Do not trust them when they say it is American Style. It is not,

When I was younger, as young as like, nine years old, I always had something to worry about. if I wasn't worrying, that was also a cause for worry, because it might have meant that I was forgetting something that I was supposed to be worrying about. But as a consequence I always did really, really well in school. Because not being the best at everything was another reason to worry. I avoided competition and team activities because of how much I worried about losing. Relying on other people was too much of a risk, for them and for me. Yeah, I am aware that isn't a very healthy mentality to have.

Is it worth it to sacrifice my sanity? No way. I learn in college to let go of some of my control issues. Not all of them (it's a work in progress). So I have to figure out how to strike a balance between uh, happiness and having friends and being a normal, functioning human being without feeling like I'm neglecting my work. Sometimes I don't know how to do that. Sometimes stress baking helps, and it helps a lot when it's something you can make in five minutes. Sometimes boiling sugar makes you feel more alive. Hooray for peanut butter fudge! 

If all else fails, you can just listen to this guy over and over again. 

Peanut Butter Fudge

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup peanut butter

 

Put sugar and milk in pan and bring to a boil. Boil two and a half minutes. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir just until mixed well.Pour into greased pan (the smaller the pan, the thicker the fudge will be. And 8x8 is pretty good). Cool and cut.
 

No Bake Cookies + A Lovely Day

Arrrrgh, I am so upset I left my camera at home! Guys, today was so unexpectedly exciting! A few weeks back I bought a ticket to attend a lecture on Chinese cooking by Julie O'Neill of Shananigan's Blog. Julie's son and daughter and law live in China, so she has visited many times and has wonderful insight on the importance of food in Chinese family life. After desperately searching for a printer on campus to print off my ticket before hopping on a bus into town (This was a surprisingly difficult task. Also, way to save things til the last minute, Rebecca), I arrived at Cooks Academy. Wistfulness swept over me as I looked over the well stocked demonstration kitchen. I hadn't been able to afford the cooking class on my college student budget, but I was thankful that I at least could go to the lecture. 

In other news...here's me being silly on a hill.

 Imagine my surprise and pure elation when I found out that somehow, the cooking class and lecture has been combined, and I was going to get to make some Sichuan food! I couldn't stop smiling, and I kid you not, I was almost shaking with excitement. Call me crazy if you want, haha. I spent the next few hours in a spicy, ginger scented heaven, learning proper knife skills and attempting to make nicely pleated dumplings (and mostly failing. Hey, it's an art I haven't get mastered).  One of the dishes we prepared is called Fish Fragrant Pork Shreds, and man, was it delicious. Fish fragrant does not mean smells like fish, by the way. I believe it's referring to a way to season fish. Anyway, here's Julie's take on the recipe, for those of you who would like to make it at home ^_^ I feel like I gained so much today, both in new skills and in insight about myself. I still have so much to learn and should never think too highly of myself, because there's always room for improvement.

So, the post I had planned pales in comparison to my exciting day. But I made some cookies yesterday that have many names, but one of them is possibly the most disgusting/amusing name I have ever heard for a food since Kitty Litter Cake (UGH.) - Gorilla Poops. Try and say that with a straight face. Imagine the possibilities for awkward misunderstandings with a name like Gorilla Poops! "Hey, I'm starving, I could go for some Gorilla Poops right about now", or "My mom makes the best Gorilla Poops!". Anyway, these are incredibly easy to make and not at all pooplike, I swear. 

So maybe there's a slight resemblance?

No Bake Cookies, or if you prefer, Gorilla Poops
from Six Sisters' Stuff

Mix and bring to a boil:
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 T butter or shortening
- 2 T cocoa
- 1/2 cup milk
Cook for one minute

Take off burner and add:
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

Mix well until peanut butter is dissolved.

Quickly add 2 cups of quick uncooked oatmeal and mix. Drop from spoon onto wax or foil paper. Let cool before eating.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Bars

I am grateful for this internet age, where friends and family in any part of the world can hear about my travels and I'm able to keep up with what's going on at home. It eliminates a lot of culture shock transitions and homesickness. But right now, if my shift my eyes up from my computer to the bulletin board behind it, I'm greeted with letters and pictures from my loved ones. And there's almost nothing I cherish more than that. 

I mean, someone cares enough about me to sit down, shut the computer and actually handwrite something to me (sometimes even draw a picture, haha). How neat is that? That's pretty neat. 

Seriously, I really appreciate it. A physical, tangible reminder of a human connection. Can't get lost on the interwebs. These are what I'll remember years from now when I look back on this trip. 

If I could mail you some peanut butter chocolate oat bars across the sea I would, but for now, make them for yourself and think about me! They're incredibly easy to whip up and are perfect to satisfy a raging chocolate craving that comes out of nowhere around 8 pm. Not that I'd know anything about that....

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Bars

1 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup peanut butter 

(side note - I didn't use these exact measurements. Cups aren't a measurement here, everything is done by weight. Which is so much more accurate! So I messed around with my scale and tried to figure out how much each of these would weigh. Anyway, carry on)

Grease a 9x9 inch square pan.
Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Mix in the oats. Cook over low heat 2 to 3 minutes, or until ingredients are well blended. Press half of mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Reserve the other half for topping.
Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a small heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture over the crust in the pan, and spread evenly with a knife or the back of a spoon.
Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer, pressing in gently. Cover, and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before cutting into bars.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Happiness is...eating nothing but ice cream and roasted corn for dinner. Campfire hair. Learning the ghost stories of your college campus. Getting tea in the mail. Having a huge crowd show up to your Taiko drumming performance. Happiness is having friends who love you and you love back.

Happiness is NOT getting burnt by the radiator. Sigh. Happiness is surprising your classmates with homemade peanut butter chocolate bars and luckily not having anyone in the class with a deadly peanut allergy! Yay! People seem shocked when you bring them food and it's not your birthday and you're not just pushing your scraps and leftovers on them. I just like to bake, that's all. 

These are basically the same recipe and my favorite family Christmas confection ever, peanut butter balls, but in bar form. So you get more at one time!! They're very reminiscent of a peanut butter cup. But if you want my opinion (which I assume you're at least mildly interested in if you're reading this)....they're better. Better than Reeses! You'll have to see for yourself. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons peanut butter

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners' sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
In a metal bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Secret Recipe Club - Vegan Chocolate Mini Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting!

Guys, the Secret Recipe Club is back! Yay! This month my assignment was Biking and Baking by the very cool Sarah Bligh. She's a road biking, vegan resident physician. Is that intense or what? Since Sarah's a vegan but her husband is not (as far as I can tell from the blog) she has tons of recipes that are easily adaptable to fit any dietary needs. 

I think she has a bulldog as well. This is not a bulldog, but still. I consider us kindred spirits :) 

This recipe is coming at you right in time for Valentine's Day. Decorate these tiny cupcakes with hearts and stuff and give them to your dashing gentleman caller. Or put them in your friends' mailboxes (not anonymously. I wouldn't eat a mystery cupcake).

I used my homemade vanilla!

This recipe is definitely a keeper. There's nothing weird or inaccessible in the cakes, and they're SO moist. The frosting is not vegan, but it's amazing, just for eating off a spoon, haha. I adapted the original recipe a bit in that I made them mini, cut the recipe in half (and I still got 30 minis) and didn't fill the cupcakes with peanut butter like Sarah did. If (more like when) I make them again, I think I'll try them out with the filling. It's like a peanut butter cup, in cake form! 

Vegan Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
adapted from Biking and Baking

1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon vinegar (use something like and plain like white wine or good old white distilled)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut milk

Preheat oven to 350. Line or grease mini cupcake tins.
Mix flour, cocoa, soda, and sugar.  In another bowl mix oil, vinegar, vanilla, and coconut milk. Beat the wet and dry ingredients together (you totally don't need a mixer). Fill cupcake tins.  Bake 9-12, or when a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and frost with peanut butter frosting (below) 

Peanut Butter Frosting


1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup heavy cream

Beat butter and sugar until combined, then add the rest of the ingredients. Beat until frosting has a smooth, fluffy consistency.

Yatsuhashi

Yesterday felt...lucky. I sipped Mexican hot chocolate in a coffee shop with a friend, went on an amazing, overwhelming asian grocery store adventure with my sister (You don't even know how many things I'm going to be crossing off my ingredients list) and caught up with another friend I hadn't seen in a while over pizza bagels. Mm. It's the buildup of small things that bring me joy. 

 

Pictured above is one of the exciting things I bought: roasted soybean powder, also known as kinako. It has a nutty flavor and aroma which some say is similar to peanut butter, but I think it has a special, unique flavor. I'm not exactly sure if there's a specific, traditional thing kinako is used for, but I hear it's good for sprinkling on buttered toast, whipping into frosting, and even made into a beverage. Possibilities! 

Nama Yatsuhashi

The recipe I decided on was Yatsuhashi, a Japanese souvenir sweet famous in Kyoto. It's mochi based, made with cinnamon and sugar and think rolled in a kinako cinnamon mixture. It can either be eaten "raw" with filling (nama yatsuhashi) or baked into a puffy cookie (yaki yatsuhashi). I think I preferred the baked kind, they were really crispy and delicious, whereas the raw variety was a biiiit gummy. Try and roll out the dough as thin as you can, even though it's a pain. Try these out, expand your horizons! 

Yaki Yatsuhashi

Yatsuhashi

by Just Hungry

100 grams mochiko rice flour

60 grams brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

85 grams water

3 Tbs. kinako powder

2 Tbs. Ground cinnamon

peanut butter, nutella, anko, whatever, for filling

Procedure:

1. In a microwavable bowl, mix stir mochiko flour, sugar, cinnamon, and water

2. Microwave on High for 1 minute. Mix well. Microwave for an additional 1 minute 30 seconds. Mix well again

3. Wrap the dough in plastic (will be very sticky! I dusted the plastic with kinako before so it would be easier to remove)

4. Knead dough until smooth and comes together

5. In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and kinako

6. Dust a cutting board with the kinako-cinnamon mixture and roll out the dough until thin

7. Cut into squares (mine were about 2 inches x 2 inches

8. Wet two adjacent sides with water, and place 1/2 teaspoon of tsubuan or filling inside.

9. Fold the square into a triangle. Enjoy!

*Variation:

For yaki yatsuhashi instead of cutting in to squares, use a cookie cutter (or knife) to cut the dough into cute shapes (or non-cute shapes). Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave in the oven for 15 more minutes.

Secret Recipe Club: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I do love taking on a challenge. They say high achievers usually choose to do things of medium difficulty because they don't like failing or feeling like something was too easy so they didn't accomplish anything. I'd say that was kinda true about this recipe.

You see, I decided to start participating in this thing called The Secret Recipe Club. Basically a bunch of food bloggers get together, and a moderator assigns each person in the group another blog (but it's a secret!), and you have to make one of their recipes. Cool, yeah?

Fun fact: the fork marks in peanut butter cookies aren't just decorative. It's cause the dough won't flatten by itself so the insides wouldn't get cooked unless you pushed the dough down.

The blog assigned to me was one called The Mommy Bowl, which sounds about as far away from my current life as possible. Deanna makes primarily vegan and gluten free recipes, so I was pretty nervous about making anything from her site (keep in mind I was looking for something to make like, the day before I went back to school so I didn't exactly have time to go buy rice flour or xanthan gum or anything). After panicking, I finally found something feasible: Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies (anyone sing this horrible song in elementary school besides me?). They were really tasty! I used some natural peanut butter with flax and wheat germ in it, which made me feel fancy and less guilty for unhealthifying these cookies, haha. Check out the links at the end of the post for the other blogs that participated in my group this month!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted slightly from The Mommy Bowl

1/2 cup (104 g) coconut oil

1/2 cup (128 g) natural peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream the oil and peanut butter together. Add the sugar and beat well. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Beat in the flour, baking soda and salt. When dough is thoroughly combined, stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoons or small cookie scoop onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Using a fork dipped in water, flatten the cookies gently in a criss-cross pattern. Bake for 9-12 minutes until golden brown. These will be fragile until cool.

A Most Delightful Combination.

Pretty much immediately when I got home from school the other day, I began rummaging in the cabinets, looking for ingredients. I was aiming for something quick and delicious. 

I remembered my friend Molly over at Secret Shelf Life (check her out, she writes lovely book reviews) made some awesome brownies from my favorite food blogger in the world, Joy the Baker. 

Mm, this is such a good combination. I wish I could have been the first person to think of it. The salty-ness goes really nicely with the dark chocolate and peanut butter (especially if you use natural). 

Yeah, I'm weird.

If you leave these in the fridge for a while, they'll pretty much turn into a dense, chocolate peanut butter torte. Mm. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies

from Joy the Baker

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon instant coffee (optional)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon  salt

coarse sea salt for topping

For the Peanut Butter Filling:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter, I prefer natural peanut butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

large handful of pretzel sticks

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.  Grease an 8×8-inch baking pan.  Line with parchment paper so that it overhangs on two sides and grease the parchment paper as well.

Boil two inches of water in a medium saucepan.  Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and coffee powder in a heat proof bowl and place over the simmering water.  Stir until chocolate and butter are melted.  Use a pot holder to remove the bowl from the double boiler and let mixture cool slightly.  Stir in the vanilla extract.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk granulated sugar into the chocolate and butter mixture.  Make sure the chocolate mixture isn’t too hot and whisk the eggs in the mixture one at a time.

Fold in the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and spoon into prepared pan.

To make the Peanut Butter Filling, whisk together peanut butter, melted butter, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract until smooth.

Pour the peanut butter mixture on top of the brownie batter and use a butter knife to swirl the two together.  Arrange pretzel sticks on top of the brownie batter in whatever pattern makes you happy.  Top with a few sprinkles of coarse sea salt.  Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes our mostly clean… maybe with just a few crumbs.

Let cool for about 30 minutes before slicing and enjoying.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Eep, I'm sorry it's been a while guys. Interim is crazy, tons of reading and speeches and papers crammed into a month. I'll be so relieved to go home for a bit next week. 

 

Bananas are weird.

What I've made for all of you is worth the wait. Think of all your favorite flavors in one tiny package. No, not vanilla teriyaki hawaiian pizza, what's wrong with you? Try peanut butter chocolate chip banana muffins. Better? Better. 

 

These were very well received and I wish I had one right now. Mm. Unfortunately, they have disappeared. I didn't sift the dry ingredients like I was supposed to, because I didn't really have a sifting vessel, and I think that would make them even better. They also cooked sort of unevenly, but I blame that on my stupid dorm oven that kept turning itself off.

Since I only have a six muffin pan, I had to sit around forever waiting for all of them to finish.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

from Noble Pig

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed, golden brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 large, ripe bananas, mashed-enough for 1-1/4 cups banana
1 cup milk
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
3 Tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

In a large bowl, sift together (make sure to sift), flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and the cinnamon; combine.

In another mixing vessel combine mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, egg, oil, and vanilla; mix well.  Add this to the dry mixture previously prepared; mix just enough to combine.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray, if you are using liners, spray those too, and fill tins 3/4 full.  This will make 18 nicely sized muffins.  You can double the recipe if you need more.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.