Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

 

Peanut butter cookies are good, but add the infamous NUTELLA and you have an irresistible dessert. Peanut butter and nutella go SO unbelievably well together I bet you can't just eat one. Unless you have weird taste-buds like my husband who doesn't like peanut butter in his cookies. Then I can't help you. 

Beat together 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Then beat in one egg and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine 1 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 3/4 tsp baking soda and slowly mix in dry mixture to wet mixture without over mixing. Then microwave 1/2 cup nutella for 20 sec. and fold into batter. At this point the batter is ready to be sampled. 

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and roll into little balls on a greased cookie sheet.

Use a fork to make these indentations on the cookies.

Bake for 8-10 minutes @ 350 degrees. 

Treat yourself to a rich combination of flavors. Oh my goodness I'm glad I have left-overs!

Recipe

adapted from Delightful Bitefuls

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (Jiff preference)

1/2 white sugar

1/2 brown sugar packed

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup Nutella

Beat butter, peanut butter, and sugar with an electronic mixer. Add in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together baking soda, salt,  and flour. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until just mixed. Microwave Nutella for 20 seconds and fold into dough creating swirls. Roll into small balls on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 min. @ 350 degrees.

White Chocolate-Strawberry-Lemon Muffins

I love finding the perfect combination of flavors. Combine fresh produce, sweet chocolate, and a kick of lemon zest and you have yourself one tasty muffin. Fresh strawberries. Big, red, sweet, and Delicious. I used strawberries but raspberries are another good options for this recipe.

Cut the strawberries up into small pieces and sprinkle them with some sugar. Set aside.

Cut the white chocolate into chunks. Some big, some small.

Zest the peel of one lemon.

Whisk together the eggs and whole milk. 

Mix dry ingredients in a separate/ larger bowl. What can go wrong when you combine all of these delicious ingredients? 

Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients and stir until moist, not over-stirring.

I made mini-muffins. And it turned out more muffins than I expected. That's always a pleasant surprise.

Bake at 400 for around 12-14 minutes for mini muffins and 18-20 for larger muffins.

A secret tip my sister-in-law, Emma, discovered: drip a few drops of fresh lemon juice of the muffin before eating. Scrumptious!

Nothing like a freshly baked muffin...

Recipe

adapted from Homemade Muffins by Carol Tennant

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

4 TBSP butter 

1 cup sugar

6 oz. white chocolate

Grated peel of 1 lemon

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder and sugar. Crumble with the softened butter until it looks like crumb topping. Stir in strawberries, white chocolate, and lemon zest.

Whisk egg and milk together and pour into dry mixture. Mix until just blended. 

Spoon batter into greased muffin pans and bake until golden, 12-14 for mini muffins and 18-20 for larger muffins. 

Butter and sprinkle with lemon juice and enjoy!

Cheddar Chive Bread

I absolutely love chives and they pair very well with cheeses. I used cheddar for this bread but Gruyere or baby swiss could be used.

Chop one bunch of fresh chives. I chopped mine a little longer than I usually do. 

Dice 2 to 3 ounces of extra sharp cheddar.

Shred a generous cup of the cheddar.

Set aside the chives and cheese.

In a medium mixing bowl combine 1 3/4 c. flour, 1 tbsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt.

Beat 3 large eggs until they become bubbly on the top.

Then add 1/3 c. whole milk and 1/3 c. olive oil

Combine with flour mixture.

Mix in cubed and shredded cheese and the chives

Just until everything is moistened. Do not overmix.

Place in a greased bread loaf pan. I added some extra shredded cheese on top right before I baked it. I would recommend it!

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350.

Serve warm with butter:)

Cheddar Chive Bread

recipe adapted from http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2010/10/21/savory-cheese-and-chive-bread/

1 3/4 c. All Purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1/3 c. whole milk

1/3 c. olive oil

1 cup shredded cheese

2 ounces cubed cheese

1 bunch of fresh chives

Chop chive, shred cheese, and cube cheese. Set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl beat eggs until foamy, then add milk and oil. Add egg mixture to flour. Mix in cheeses and chives until just moistened. Place in a greased bread loaf pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.