Triple-Decker Cookies

Hullo!
Ahahahahaaaaa!!! Yes! Brilliance! These Triple-Decker Cookies are magnificent! Or at least, so I've been told. I suggest you try them yourself.

(Spoiler!) These are called Triple-Decker Cookies because the cookie is a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough, a layer of cocoa-peanut butter-y goodness, and another layer of chocolate chip cookie dough.

Ingredients for cookie dough (makes about 34 cookies):
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp. imitation vanilla
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. chocolate chips

Ingredients for cocoa/peanut butter filling:
1 1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3 tbsp. cocoa powder


First, put the butter, eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, and imitation vanilla in a bowl and mix on medium. Put the flour, salt, and baking soda in another bowl and stir. Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix thoroughly on medium. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Now put all of the ingredients for the middle layer in a bowl and mix that on medium/medium high until creamy.

Place the cookie dough on a sheet of wax paper. Using a rolling pin and your hands or whatever you want to use, flatten it into an approximately 10x20 inch rectangle. 

Cut it in half and separate the two pieces (you can cut the wax paper and slide one of them to the side). 

Spread the middle layer of cocoa/peanut butter evenly over one of the squares of dough, to the very edges. 

Now take the other layer of cookie dough, picking up the wax paper beneath it, and flip it over on top of the other two layers.

Now use a biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out the cookies, and use the palm of your hand to flatten them. I used a biscuit cutter a little less than 2 inches in diameter.




Bake the cookies at 365 for 15 - 17 minutes.

And then enjoy!

Red Wine Vinegar and Cheeeeese Pasta Sauce

Hullo, kitcheneers!
I start this post off with two made-up words.... If that doesn't forebode of creativity, I don't know what does! And this recipe is pretty creative. On a scale of roasted almonds to kiwi, blueberry, vanilla icecream milkshakes, this flies past the fruity beverage and lands nicely on your dinner plate. It is the Red Wine Vinegar and Cheeeeese pasta sauce.

Ingredients (for five servings -- four cups of dry noodles; follow directions on package for cooking):
2 cups milk
1 loose cup of Mozarella cheese, grated
1 loose cup of cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 bell pepper (your choice of color! because you're special like that), diced
2 large green onion stalks, minced
1/2 cup black olives (optional), sliced
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp fresh Greek Oregano (leaves from 3 medium sprigs), minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup milk

Heat the 2 cups of milk on the stove, mix the 3 tbsp cornstarch with 1/4 cup cold milk until smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture to the milk on the stove, bring to a boil for one minute, making sure to stir constantly. The milk should be thick now -- if it is not, boil it for a minute longer. Lower the heat and add the bell pepper, green onion, olives, garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper. Next add the cheese, stirring it in as it melts. Mix in the red wine vinegar and cook the sauce for approximately 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After draining your choice of noodles, dump them into the sauce, mix to coat all of the noodles, and serve. I like to drizzle a little red wine vinegar on my pasta after it's been plated to add a little more kick from the raw acid. Enjoy!

Choco-nut Candies

Hullo, reader! Today I give you the recipe to Choco-nut Candies, a treat I am still perfecting (a "Choco-nut Candies - Revisited" is sure to follow!); but I did want to put something up on this blog and let the world know I am not finger-less! (what other conclusion would they come to if I didn't type anything?)

To begin, here is your list of ingredients:

3/4 c. Peanut Butter

1 c. Crushed Peanuts

3 tbsp. Milk

2 tbsp. Butter (or Margarine)

3 tbsp. Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 c. Powdered Sugar

1 c. Chocolate Chips

2 tsp. Canola Oil

   First you will put 3/4 cup peanut butter, 2 (not your third yet!) tablespoons of milk, and 2 tablespoons of butter in a bowl to be mixed. I used Adams crunchy peanut butter, which has a lot more oil than some brands. Depending on the consistency of your peanut butter, you may have to compensate for its particular amount of liquid. Also as a note, I used 1% milk and margarine to be healthier. Once in the bowl, use your mixer on low for approximately 10 seconds, or until the ingredients are well mixed. Then turn the mixer on hi for approximately 20 seconds.

 

  Next, add 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, and your last tablespoon of milk and mix on low until the ingredients are homogeneous (spread evenly throughout), and then mix them on medium until the ingredients look something like...

this ->

   Make sure your hands are clean, and then mold (very tightly -- it's important!) the peanut butter mixture into spheres about an inch in diameter. Put them on a platter and place in the fridge. They will chill while you crush your peanuts.

I use dry roasted, unsalted. Place 1 cup peanuts in a zip-lock bag, put that on the counter, and use a rolling pin to smash them. Rolling with it doesn't work particularly well, but simply pressing down with it does, and the bag keeps pieces of peanut from flying across the room. The only nut I want flying around the kitchen is me.

Put your chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl, cover the bowl if you choose to prevent any un-likely spattering, and microwave it for twenty seconds. Then take it out, stir it, and add your oil. Microwave for ten seconds, take out, stir, and repeat until chocolate moves slowly when you tip the bowl. 

Next take a ball that you formed, roll it in the melted chocolate, then roll it in the crushed peanuts. Set on platter, and do the same with the 

Put them in the fridge to harden for approximately 20 minutes, then enjoy them!

Note: Since some of the ingredients require refrigeration, I recommend keeping them in the fridge. This also keeps them harder.