Tag Archives: chocolate chip

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

9 Nov

Multicultural Inspiration from…

America

I’ve been spending maybe a bit too much time with my Max Brenner cookbook lately. It’s been said before, but the Americans really were onto something when they started combining chocolate and peanut butter, a combination that features prominently in this brilliant book.

So, after getting sick of salivating over recipes, I decided it was time to haul butt into the kitchen, and whip up something myself – the only real ingredients I had to work with were a block of chocolate and half a jar of peanut butter – that’s all I needed! In addition to this, you’ll be needing:

  • 150g butter, chopped and at room temperature
  • 1/2 large jar of crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp bicarb soda
  • 200g block of milk chocolate, chopped roughly

Preheat the oven to 180°C, and place the peanut butter and butter in a large bowl. Microwave for 30 – 45 seconds, until it all begins to soften.

Add in the sugar and eggs, and mix with an electric hand mixer until well combined and smooth.

Sift in the flour and bicarb soda, mix it well to combine, then throw in the chocolate chunks and mix them in.

Roll tablespoon sized chunks of mixture and lay them out on a cookie tray, into the oven, and bake for 12 minutes – the idea is to have them ever so slightly under-cooked, so they are super chewy and yummy!

And there ya have it! If you can resist for 10 minutes or so after they come out of the oven, the outer shell will crisp up a little. If you can’t resist, well, we have something in common.

As you can see inside the cookie, they still have that chewiness that you get when you don’t over cook the cookies, with the chocolate chunks still soft and melty when they’re fresh out of the oven.

These cookies are my idea of perfection, and with the creaminess of the peanut butter, the sweetness of the chocolate, and that little bit of saltiness in the actual peanut chunks, they’re pretty amazing!

Over to you guys – what’s your current favourite cookie combo?!

Secret Cookie Recipe!

7 Jun

Multicultural Inspiration from…

the world of baking!


What you see here, ladies and gentlemen (I hope, otherwise I’m just a crazy person with an imagined audience!), are slightly smaller, pecan versions of my secret chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Most of my good friends have tried these, and none of them haven’t loved them (at least, none have said it to my face…). They’re also quite a popular choice for house parties, having been dubbed the “drinking cookies” more than once.

What’s so secret about these cookies? No one but me knows the recipe. It’s a recipe that’s been adapted from about 5 different types of recipes, many years ago from an amalgamation of mum’s cook books. There’s no particularly “out-there” ingredients to make these cookies so magnificent, but exact measurements and a very specific length of time in the oven are required.

What makes them so special? They have a slightly hardened shell, with a soft, but not overly gooey/chewy centre. The standard “secret recipe” is milk chocolate chunks, coconut and macadamia, but I decided to try a pecan version. Verdict? Delicious.

So, am I just going to tease you, or will I hand over the recipe? The recipe will be handed over… eventually! When I finally write my cook book, this will be the first recipe to go into it! But for now, enjoy the eye candy :)


Hazelnut Choc Chip Cookies

14 May

Multicultural Inspiration from…

the world of baking!

It’s a cold, rainy, Melbourne day. I’ve already dragged myself out of bed for an early morning gym session, and now I’m back in my PJs and ugg boots, curled up on the couch. The heater on high, working it’s magic and I’m warm and cosy under a blanket, with my furry, faithful companion snuggled up by my side; it’s a text-book doona day, and the only thing that’s missing is something chocolatey to nibble on…

Sitting on the coffee table in front of me is Mrs. Fields’ Best Ever Cookie Book, which I subconsciously find myself flicking through. I’m feeling like chocolate, not just my standard favourite milk, but white chocolate as well… and something a bit crunchy and nutty… so with a little inspiration from Mrs. Fields and a mish-mash of my own ideas, I settle on making a sweet, chewy hazelnut choc chip cookie.

Here’s my recipe for these yummy doona day delights…

  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 150g butter, softened
  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped/crushed hazelnuts

Here’s how I put them together…

Preheat the oven to 150°C

Lay a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray – spread the hazelnuts out over the sheet and place in oven for 20 minutes.

Freshly toasted hazelnuts… just let them cool down for a few minutes before sneaking a few in!

In a small bowl, sift in the flour and baking powder, and stir to combine.

Place the butter and sugar in a medium bowl, and cream together with an electric mixer. This is my furry companion, we’ll call him the Kitchen Bug, comes in. The Kitchen Bug is named thus because he is like a moth to a flame when it comes to all things prepared in the eating arena. The Kitchen Bug is native to the kitchen, uses his cuddly charm to get close to food, and is quite partial to butter cream frosting and raw cake mixture.

Once combined, add in the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.

The Kitchen Bug waits for his share of the cookie dough

Next, beat in the flour until just combined – be very careful not to over mix.

Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts, then drop the cookie dough by rounded tablespoons an inch or so apart on the baking tray. They will flatten themselves and spread out, so don’t make them too big or put them too close together.

Bake for 15 – 18 minutes, or until just starting to brown on top.

About 5 – 8 minutes away from being completely done!

Once cooked, let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes or so before transferring them to a wire rack – they’re a very soft cookie, so they’ll fall apart if you try to move them around too quickly. I would however recommend eating 1 (or 4) while they’re still warm – AMAZING!!!

The actual cookie itself is super sweet, as are the warm, semi melted chocolate chips, closely followed by the crunchy, earthy taste of the hazelnuts, and very, very moorish! Note to self – must go to the gym tomorrow morning!

So, with my cookies baked and the Kitchen Bug whimpering by my side, desperate for a bite, it’s time to settle back down on the couch with a few cookies in hand and a few episodes of Iron Chef on Foxtel IQ to inspire my next culinary experiment!

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