Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

I've tried a few cake mix cookies, but these are the best I've found.  I think the peanut butter adds so much flavor!  I used chunky peanut butter and mini-chocolate chips, so these cookies had a lot of texture.  They were definitely chewy cookies, not thin and crispy cookies.  I almost wanted to underbake them just a bit so they would be even chewier.  (The dough on its own is pretty darn good, too.)

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

2 eggs
1/3 cup water

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 cup peanut butter

1 (18.25 oz) pkg yellow cake mix

2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream together the eggs, water, margarine, and peanut butter.  Stir in the cake mix, and blend well.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven.  Cool cookies on a wire rack.  Yields 2 1/2 dozen large cookies.

Christmas Bark

Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful 2011, and I hope 2012 will bring even more blessings. 

I probably should have posted this Christmas Bark recipe last week, but I was having too much fun with my family to worry about that.  Besides, Christmas isn't the only time of year you can make this.  If you're sticking to your new year's resolutions to be healthier, just bookmark this recipe until you've changed your mind a bit.  It's worth it.

Christmas Bark

1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 (12oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Place crackers in one layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet with sides. Melt butter and brown sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. After it comes to a bubble, cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour butter-sugar mixture over the crackers. Spread evenly. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate morsels. When they start to melt, spread evenly over entire layer of crackers.  Sprinkle chopped pecans on top; refrigerate 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and crack into pieces.

Gloria Joy's Chocolate Pie

This is my aunt Gloria Joy's recipe for chocolate pie.   She's quite the chef, and my dad suggested that I make her recipe for this pie (she has several great ones).  He knew it was too good not to try, and he was right!  When Aunt Gloria Joy sent me the recipe, the last line of her recipe said, "This makes an ugly pie, so I serve it with whipped cream and toasted nuts."  I did serve it that way, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it that way, so you're seeing the ugliness but not tasting the goodness.  It's runny, and I worried the pie wasn't done all the way, but it got high compliments.  It was easy to put together, and it's great!  Try it!

Gloria Joy's Chocolate Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
5/8 cup fat free canned milk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 frozen deep dish pie crust, defrosted

Preheat oven to 350.  Beat eggs slightly.  Add sugar and cocoa, and mix well.  Add milk, butter, and vanilla, and mix well.  Pour into the pie crust, and bake 45-50 minutes.  After 20 minutes, cover loosely with a foil canopy.  This makes an ugly pie, so serve it with whipped cream and toasted nuts. 

Oreo Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a shortcut recipe.  It takes two minutes to throw it together, and it will make you three dozen glorious peanut butter and oreo cookies.  If you have a favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, use it.  If you're short on time, like I was, you can buy the premade peanut butter cookie dough, and just mix in some oreos.  Honestly, it's that easy.  You will not be disappointed by these.  Again, thanks to Plain Chicken for sharing her recipes!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Oreo Peanut Butter Cookies

1 pouch peanut butter cookie mix
1 Tbsp water
3 Tsbp vegetable oil
1 egg
12 oreos, crushed

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix together pouch of cookie mix, water, oil, egg, and crushed oreos.  Place rounded spoonfuls on lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake 9-11 minutes. 

Fudge Brownies

These are my family's favorite brownies, and the recipe is from my mom's Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook from before she got married.  They won't disappoint!  The original recipe calls for two (1-oz) melted squares of unsweetened chocolate, but you can substitute 2 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, which is what I did.  I added pecans in these, but you can add walnuts or any other nut that you like.  Not only are they delicious, they also look beautiful on my new heart-shaped plates.  Thanks, Jenny!

Fudge Brownies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter and add cocoa powder.  Remove from heat; stir in sugar.  Blend in eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Stir in flour and nuts; mix well.  Spread in greased 8"x8" pan.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Cool and cut into squares. 

Bizzuck's Birthday Dinner

Happy Birthday, Bizzuck!

Since today is Biz's birthday, I don't have any new recipes to contribute, but I will highlight some good ones I've already posted--the ones Bizzuck requested for his birthday dinner.  He chose the Pesto Chicken Panini Sandwich, the Creamy Mac and Cheese, and of course, Texas Sheet Cake.  That can attest to how delicious they are! 

I'll be back with a new recipe soon.  We're off to celebrate tonight!

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

If you like Reese's peanut butter cups, you're about to thank me.

This little recipe from AllRecipes couldn't be any easier or tastier.  All you need is a box of brownie mix (with the eggs/oil/water it requires), a bag of miniature Reese's peanut butter cups, and a mini-muffin tin.  What you get is a chocolately and peanut-buttery bite of goodness. 

The recipe below won't be exact in its amounts of oil, eggs, and water simply because you follow whatever the directions are on the back of the box of brownie mix that you have.  I used Pillsbury brownie mix because it was on sale last week.  I'm sure Duncan Hines or Ghiradelli or especially a homemade recipe would be wonderful.  Just make it easy on yourself--and really, this couldn't be easier.

You're welcome.


Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

1 box brownie mix
eggs
vegetable oil
water
1 bag mini Reese's peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare brownie batter according to package directions.  Thoroughly spray mini-muffin tins with cookie spray or use foil liners.  Fill muffin tin cups half full with batter, and then place an unwrapped peanut butter cup in the center of each cup.  Bake for 20 minutes, and allow to cool before removing them from tins.

Texas Sheet Cake (aka The Best Chocolate Cake You'll Ever Have)

Would you like some cake?  Yes?  Well, wait just one minute.  Come, gather round; it's story time. 

I'm weird in the fact that I don't like chocolate.  Never have.  It doesn't bother me at all; in fact, I'm sure that not eating chocolate has saved me several thousand calories through the years, so it's really fine with me.  On the other hand, my distaste of chocolate makes some people very uncomfortable.  It really freaks them out, so they call me "untrustworthy" or "un-American" or any number of adjectives they reserve for Communists, suspected terrorists, and other non-chocolate eaters.

So why, you ask, do I make a chocolate cake if I don't even like chocolate?  It's because I like to cook, and when I bake with chocolate, I don't have the temptation to eat any of it.  I never have to worry about the calories.  It's a win-win.

It was for these reasons that I had to wait for Bizzuck to get home (at 9pm!) to know how this cake tasted, so when he arrived, I scooped the first piece of cake onto a plate.  (The first piece is always the hardest to get out, and this one was no exception, so it was a little messy-looking.  I assure you, though, that the messiness only added to its appeal.)  Bizzuck took a bite but didn't say anything; he only looked up at me, giggled a little and smiled.  Then he took another bite with the same reaction.  When he was able to speak again later, he told me that it was, in fact, the best chocolate cake he has ever had. 

After I got his confirmation on this, he put the plate on the counter and walked into the living room, still giggling nervously.  I went into the laundry room to get my clothes out of the dryer, only to turn around and find Teak standing on his hind legs, propping himself up to the counter, and licking as much of the chocolatey goodness off the plate as possible.  He was pleased with himself, knowing that he scored something good from the counter.  I, on the other hand, commenced freaking out, because, as we all know, chocolate is toxic to dogs. 

Should we call the vet?  Should we make him throw up?  I was holding back tears most of the night, fearing for sweet Teak's life.  I hovered over him, forcing the poor pup to drink water.  And while I anxiously stood over Teak, watching for the slightest sign that he was ill, what was Bizzuck doing?

He was eating a piece of cake.  It's that good.

Thankfully, Teak didn't eat enough of it to harm him, and the worst that happened to him were a couple of chocolately burps.  I'm happy to report that he's fine.  (And just for the record, Bizzuck did look up the amounts of chocolate that can be fatal to dogs; of course, he was concerned for Teak, too.  He loves that dog.)

And now for notes about the actual cake: Yes, it's called "sheet cake," but I didn't have a sheet pan, so I made it in a 9"x13" glass dish.  No, I don't know why it's called "Texas Sheet Cake," but I'm happy to give a shout-out to my former state whenever I can.  Love you, Texas!  It was very quick--start to finish in under an hour. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as Teak and Bizzuck did!


Texas Sheet Cake

For the Cake:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder
2 sticks butter
1 cup boiling water
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

For the Frosting:
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1 3/4 sticks butter
4 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder
6 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.  In a saucepan over medium-high to high heat, melt butter and add cocoa.  Stir together.  Add boiling water, allow the mixture to bubble for 30 seconds, and then turn off the heat.  Pour the cocoa mixture over the flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk,  and add the beaten eggs, vanilla, and baking soda.  Stir buttermilk mixture into flour/chocolate mixture.  Pour into ungreased sheet cake pan or 9"x13" glass dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes (for the sheet cake) or 35-40 minutes (for the 9"x13" dish).

While the cake is baking, make the icing.  Finely chop the pecans.  Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high to high heat.  Add the cocoa, stir to combine, and then turn off the heat.  Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar; stir together.  Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over the warm cake.