Today felt like summer again, with temperatures that encouraged us to shed the socks and pants and re-embrace our leg-baring attire. When I felt how warm it was, I silently wished that the weather would make up its mind: is it winter or summer? But I didn’t really mean it. Summer can stick around all it wants, and I am happy to oblige.

It seems like everyone shares in my sentiments about this past summer: it felt too brief, cut short by the incessant rains of June and the short-lived hot spell. I was happy to barely run the air conditioner this summer, but would have loved a few more hot days where the best relief you can find is in a crystal clear pool. There just wasn’t enough of that.

Despite the summery temperatures today, it was an in-the-kitchen day for me today. I was able to purchase a big crate of tomatoes for a song this weekend, so they needed to be tended to (tune in tomorrow to learn all about that). But I also wanted to make something sweet. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies at Sweetnicks recently caught my eye, and having just picked up a bag of dark and milk chocolate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, that seemed perfect. Unfortunately, when I went to the kitchen, I discovered that we were missing a key ingredient: Peanut butter.

Maybe the warm air hit me in the right way or something, but as I contemplated what to do, I remembered a treat from my childhood summers. There were these shortbread cookies with a center of creamy chocolate that debuted when I was in elementary school. Totally smitten, I couldn’t get enough of them and ate them compulsively. I loved the way the milk chocolate was in smooth contrast to the crumbly cookie.

So, that’s how I ended up doing a shortbread cookie with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniature pushed into the center. The cookie itself is buttery with a punch of vanilla. It’s crumbly and on the dry side, but it holds its shape. Next to the smooth chocolate and peanut butter center, it’s just dreamy.

Not into the peanut butter cups? No worries, these work equally well with other small chocolate bites — Hershey’s Kisses, other miniatures, even Lindt Truffles. Heck, if you were in a pinch, you could just chop up a bar of chocolate and push a square into the center. Don’t you just love versatility?

Shortbread Candy Cookies
yields about 26 cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp kosher salt
about 26 candies unwrapped (such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures or Hershey Kisses)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Add the butter and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together confectioners sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt. Add the sugar mixture to the butter mixture slowly, by the spoonful, with the mixer running on low.

Use a small ice cream scoop to drop the cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving about two inches between each ball. Cook in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes.

As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, press a candy into the center of the cookie. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Then transfer to a plate and place in the refrigerator to harden up the candy.

To Store: Place in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

I had every intention of posting my usual Fertile Friday post on Friday. It’s something that I have loved doing all summer, since I am so happy with the progress I’ve made this year. And it’s something that I want to continue until the growing is done. But this past week, I just needed a break.

Ok, break is a word I use somewhat loosely. I have been swamped with work over the past few weeks and I am in desperate need of  some R&R. I really value my time that’s spent relaxing and doing other things on weekends and although I got that these past two weekends, it was punctuated with deadlines and last-minute writing.

So, here I am. Offering you these delectable cookies as a peace offering. There are soft and chewy peanut butter cookies bursting with chocolate. Each bite reminds me of a rethought peanut butter cup. They are just fantastic. But beware — they are totally addictive, so plan to share.

I have a lot of delicious things planned for this week and I promise to have a new Fertile Friday post up bright and early on Friday. Thanks for being so understanding.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
yields about 2 dozen
Adapted from AllRecipes

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, sugar and peanut butter and beat until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate. While the mixer is on low, slowly add the flour mixture until fully incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop the cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet using a small ice cream scoop (about 2 tsp capacity) about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Some people are bakers. They savor the exacting measurements that come along with creating perfect, moist, delectable breads and sweets. Other people are cooks, who find joy in the chopping, sauteing and forgiving nature of creating savory dishes. I know very few people who really love to both cook and bake. For me, I definitely fall into the cooking realm of things. I love the instinct of cooking, being able to add a bit of this and that and come out with excellent dishes.

Last weekend though, I really wanted some cookies. It was the night before a friend was coming to visit and go foraging with me. Out of chocolate (seriously, I have no idea how that happened!), I decided on peanut butter cookies. When Shawn saw me baking, he asked if I was trying to prove that I can bake too (she’s an excellent baker).

Okay, I know I don’t bake often, hun, but that is so not me.

Honestly, I just wanted the cookies, which turned out to be wonderfully crisp and full of peanut buttery goodness. I would choose cooking over baking any day. Although I do love to bake a lot at Christmas … otherwise, baking involves way too much measuring and cleanup for me.

So, which are you? The cook or the baker?

Peanut Butter Cookies
yields about 3 dozen
adapted ever so slightly from Better Food For Kids

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and granulated sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream together until well-combined and almost fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to incorporate.

In a smaller bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Turn the mixer on low and add the flour mixture slowly (as in one spoon at a time) to the peanut butter mixture, until all the mixtures are fully incorporated.

Using a small ice cream scoop or two tablespoons, drop balls of dough onto a nonstick baking sheet. Use a fork to press down the dough, and create the traditional crosshatch marks. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden. Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for one minute before transferring to a cooling rack.

Devour.

I first learned about snickerdoodles when I was about seven and read the recipe in my elementary school’s fundraiser cookbook. As much as I wanted to try to make them then and there, they were a little intimidating (partially because they were unlike any cookie I had ever had and partially because the only cookies I’d made to that point were from a roll in the refrigerator section).

Fast forward 22 years and I can now say that I have finally had my first snickerdoodle … and I made it myself. Although I was drawn to the recipe originally because of the unusual name, it was the cinnamon and sugar crust that ultimately pushed me to give these cookies a try. Seriously, you can’t go wrong with cinnamon and sugar. And can I just say YUM!

I know it seems like a lot of steps, but these come together at lightning speed. I made them for my kids and their same-aged cousins … and they all devoured them.

Sounds like a keeper.

Snickerdoodles
yields about 40 cookies
Adapted from Fine Cooking’s Cookies Magazine 2008

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour (I used Eagle Ultragrain All Purpose Flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with nonstick aluminum foil or parchment paper (alternatively, grease the pan).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar using the paddle attachment until well combined, light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until combined.

In a seperate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. With the standmixer set to the lowest speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined.

In a seperate bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out cookie dough and drop into the mixture. Roll it around to coat all sides and then place on the baking sheet. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

Bake in the center of the oven for 15-18 minutes, until golden on the edges. Let cool for one minute before transferring to a wire cooking rack.

When I started baking from scratch, I was a preteen. I scoured the Joy of Cooking for an easy cookie recipe that included ingredients we kept in the house. I found that in a sugar drop cookie recipe. Before long, I was adapting the recipe to make thumbprint cookies, decorated cookies and more.

One year, my very good friend Allison and I decided to have a baking blitz to produce dozens of Christmas cookies in one single day. It was just days before Christmas, and I’d like to think it was snowing hard outside while we mixed, rolled and baked. To be honest, though, I am not sure if that’s the case or not. Nonetheless, we baked nearly all day – sugar cookies, chocolate chip, and more. The kitchen, with it’s makeshift kitchen island table, and glorious dark cherry cabinets, was covered in flour, sugar and more. Everything was crying for a cleanup, but we pressed on for one last recipe – meringue cookies.

Neither of us had ever made meringue before and we really didn’t know what were looking for when the recipe called for stiff, glossy peaks from the egg whites. We beat and beat and beat, but the result was nothing that resembled what I know now to be stiff and glossy. Still, we pushed on. When we tried to pipe the cookies onto the baking sheet, they created one very flat layer. But did we take pause? Nah. Into the oven they went. I don’t remember exactly what went wrong after that, but the result was a tan-colored, overcooked, foul smelling mess.

I haven’t attempted meringue since that day. I was traumatized by the whole experience. Instead of light, crisp cookies, Allison and I had produced a colossal disaster. Fortunately, we’d made many, many batches of delicious cookies to fall back on.

That was 15 years ago. Back then, out of the box cooking for me was trying to make French fries with Adobo seasoning in a bit of oil on the stove. Inevitably, they made me ill. Guess what? Adobo and I are not friends. So, I’ve grown and learned since then. Today, I am a far better cook than anyone ever expected me to be (lest you think I am bragging, I’m not. The expectations weren’t too high). Still, the trepidation from that first attempt at meringue has hung with me for all these years.

Recently, I decided to conquer my fear. Why should I be afraid of this airy little cookie? Am I not a capable, confident woman with all the right tools?

This batch wasn’t without flaw – the recipe wasn’t that good and some of the cookies literally exploded when touched. And I discovered that I didn’t have the right sized pastry bag or pastry tip — right as I was about to start piping. That’s why there won’t be any recipe for this.

But my fear? Gone. It turns out that when you understand what the recipe is asking you to do, the cookies are ridiculously easy.

Do you have a food or recipe that you fear making? A bad kitchen experience that turned you off of making something? Share in the comments below!

Will pulled up a chair to the counter the other day, as he often does when I am cooking. He was waiting patiently for me to give him the go-ahead to add chocolate chips to the firm cookie dough whirling in my KitchenAid Artisan Mixer. Usually, he helps sift and add the flour mixture to the dough, but on that day he was just too busy playing, which is A-ok. When the time came, he carefully poured the chips into the dough and then went to put the cup in the sink.

It’s amazing to me how far he’s come in his status as kitchen helper. It wasn’t that long ago that I worried constantly about whether he’d get hurt, or add something unsavory to the food. But he’s patient when he waits, watching with interest and listen to my play by play. I tell him why I use unsalted butter in the cookies we make and why we don’t use the extra virgin olive oil for everything.

I hope his kitchen interest doesn’t wane as he grows. Having him in the kitchen is a joy.

It’s Christmas cookie time and oh, how I love these cookies. They are ripe with peppermint flavor, but it’s not overpowering. They are chocolate, and studded with more chocolate. Mmm, the chocolate. And when I eat them, I am tempted to channel my inner-Yo Gabba Gabba (”There’s a party in my tummy! So yummy! So yummy!).

Deconstructed Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies
yields about three dozen

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
5 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and peppermint. Beat on medium until mixture has a light and fluffy appearance.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Pour into mixer bowl, a little at a time, mixing on low until just incorporated. Add white and semi-sweet chocolate chips and crushed candy canes and mix on medium until combined.

Drop by the spoonful onto the prepared baking sheet.

Cook in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until set.

Let cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

It’s been quite a while since I last baked. Baking takes precision, measuring, several bowls … all excesses that I just haven’t had time for recently. I’ve been working hard on writing, taking care of my children all the while. Life, it just keeps moving no matter how much you wish it would slow down for at least a little while. I have fantasies of sitting down and reading a book at night. Or watching a show without my fingers tap-tapping on the keyboard at the same thing.

But today, I decided to push all that other stuff aside and just bake. Given that it’s nearly Halloween, I thought it would be fitting to make some tasty pumpkin cookies. These cake-like cookies are just lightly sweet, something that is enhanced by the sweet vanilla icing drizzled onto them.

When the kids woke from their naps today, I had these waiting in the kitchen. They both dove right in, devouring bite after bite. Love that. And love that these aren’t too bad for you to boot.

Try them with a cup of tea . . .

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
yields 2-3 dozen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 tbsp applesauce
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use a wire whisk to combine flour, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar using a hand mixer on medium speed (or do this in the bowl of your stand mixer). Add pumpkin, applesauce, egg and vanilla extract and beat with the mixer until well combined.

Use a low speed on your mixer to add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Do not over mix.

Drop by the spoonful onto a baking sheet.

Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes until slightly browned. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

Vanilla Glaze

1 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Stir all the ingredients together until smooth. Drizzle over cookies (I used a makeshift pastry bag made from a Ziploc bag).

It all started last night, when one of my oldest friends called to say that she and her family were in the area. They wanted to get together. Sure, great! I thought. Living in two different states and different worlds – her in the city and I in the burbs, it certainly hasn’t been easy for us to get together often.

This morning, after setting a time with her, I realized that I absolutely had to bring something with me. After all, we were meeting at her mother-in-law’s and they were serving up lunch. (Coincidentally, the house is located less than a quarter mile from the home I grew up in. Small world.)

What to make though? I’m out of semisweet chocolate chips, but had some white chocolate ones . . . and some leftover semisweet bar chocolate. And lots of cocoa. So, chocolate cookie, white chocolate chips . . . you see the process.

I set to work, kind of winging it but taking note of each step — just in case it all worked out. Fortunately it did. And my chocolate-loving friends loved these.

The bigger challenge? Shawn. But, when he immediately reached for a second cookie after finishing the first, I knew I had scored.

Salted Triple Chocolate Brownie Cookies
yields 3 dozen

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup white chocolate chunks
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
extra sugar and sea salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or heavy duty aluminium foil (to make for an easy cleanup).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine  butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla and beat on medium until mixture has a light and fluffy appearance.

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Pour into mixer bowl and beat on medium. Add chocolate chips, chunks and olive oil and beat until just combined.

Drop by the spoonful onto the prepared baking sheet.

Cook in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until set.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with sugar and a bit of sea salt.

Let cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Snow and ice prevented us from decorating for Christmas beyond the living room, but that didn’t change the merriment of the season. Will enjoyed all of his presents, pausing to play with each one before opening another. Paige slept through most of the festivities. Fortunately, Santa had the brilliant idea to bring a set of pacifiers in her stocking — the only ones that Will would use when he was a baby. Did I mention that Santa is brilliant?

With Christmas over, one would think that means all the holiday stuff is done with — but it’s not. There are still presents to wrap and ship (ugh), some more cookies to bake, and more well wishes to pass along. Fortunately, the lead up to these things is a little more relaxed than the lead up to the big day was . . . thank goodness.

The past few weeks have been busy, to say the least. There were parties to attend, presents to wrap, tricycles to build . . . and I was awake until 2 a.m. at least one night this week, finishing up the holiday gift baskets for my husband’s coworkers and several friends and family members. I baked several varieties of biscotti, dark chocolate cranberry cookies, vanilla bean cookies and these divine creations — Deconstructed Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies.

I was digging through recipes, looking for a recipe for a great cookie to include in the baskets when I found my recipe for triple chocolate chunk cookies. Somehow that translated into coming up with the idea to mix peppermint bark ingredients into the dough instead of just plain ol’ chocolate.

These could be the best baked good ever to be born in my kitchen. They are chocolately, pepperminty and just absolutely delicious. Everyone who has tasted them has oohed and aahed. In fact, my husband’s coworker said I was “a genius” for creating this cookie. To bad I am going on a massive diet in a few days . . .

Deconstructed Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies
yields about three dozen

1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
5 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and peppermint. Beat on medium until mixture has a light and fluffy appearance.

Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Pour into mixer bowl, a little at a time, mixing on low until just incorporated. Add white and semi-sweet chocolate chips and crushed candy canes and mix on medium until combined.

Drop by the spoonful onto the prepared baking sheet.

Cook in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until set.

Let cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Back to the biscotti – this is the second year that I have made this biscotti. It is super flavorful. Love it!

White Chocolate Ginger Biscotti
yields 24 biscotto
adapted from Cooking Light, March 1995

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp minced crystallized ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, ginger, baking soda, salt and white chocolate chips. In a smaller second bowl, whisk together the vanilla, eggs and egg white.

Pour liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir well. The dough will be crumbly.

Flour a wooden cutting board or another surface and turn dough out. Knead dough for 1-2 minutes until it forms one ball.

Shape the dough into a 16 inch long cylinder and place on the prepared pan. Flatten the dough to one inch thick.

Place the pan in the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Remove the log from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Cool for 10 minutes.

Slice the log on the diagonal into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place on the cookie sheet and cook for 10 minutes on each side at 325 degrees.

Place biscotti slices on the rack again and let cool. The cookies will harden upon cooling.