You Are Most Welcome, Mom
There are many positive things that have come from creating Desserts Required. One of them is that my mother has started baking more.
A bit of history is probably in order. You see my mother is a fabulous cook and baker. Unfortunately, for my siblings and me, we did not really experience her culinary skills very often as Mom cooked primarily for company and children were not always welcome at those dinners.
To be fair I do not think anyone makes a better rib roast than my mom; and my dad (as previously mentioned) prefers Mom’s Lemon Meringue Pie to mine. Yet Mom was not known for expanding her repertoire back in her cooking/baking days.
Ever since Desserts Required came into her life, Mom is whisking and layering and going out of her normal comfort zone, all in the interest of supporting me. I must say, it is really wonderful to know that she is doing so much baking and sharing her new found passion with others. Okay, truth be told, Mom actually gives the food away because she does not know the meaning of portion control, when it comes to her own eating habits.
Yet, one of Mom’s new challenges has been drizzling chocolate onto the top of various desserts. As you know, I love drizzling. I like the look that drizzling leaves on cakes, cookies and brownies…and therefore drizzle fairly often.
When Mom recently made my Bailey’s Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake, she was very upset that her drizzle did not come close to resembling mine. I reassured her that the end result did not have to look like mine in order to be just as beautiful and delicious, but I still received several emails filled with ‘drizzle envy.’
All of that communication made me think of my Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Stripe Cookies. The peanut butter cookies have just the right amount of chocolate in them to please those of us who love that combination. Yet, it is the drizzle of chocolate on top that makes me really happy.
So, in addition to putting a smile on my face as I bite into the end result, I also have the satisfaction of knowing that I am giving my mom an opportunity to practice her drizzling 50 times in one shot. This may be the true definition of a ‘thoughtful daughter.’
| Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Stripe Cookies | Print |
- Cookies:
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup miniature chocolate chips
- Topping:
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
- 1½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1½ tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- For the cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 325°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, sugar and light brown sugar until well mixed. Add the peanut butter and beat until smooth, scraping the bowl down as needed. Mix in the eggs. Add the vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix briefly on low speed. This should not be totally blended. Lastly, add the mini-chocolate chips and mix only until the chips are mixed in.
- Measure the cookies with a ½ tablespoon measuring scoop. Flatten the ball slightly with your fingers and push any straggling dough into the cookie. These cookies do not spread. Bake for 13 minutes, rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let cool on the baking sheets.
- For the topping:
- Combine the chocolate, butter and whipping cream in a bowl. Microwave to melt and stir until smooth. Let the chocolate mixture stand for 5 minutes.
- Place the chocolate topping in a quart size freezer baggie. Cut a small piece off a bottom corner. Drizzle the topping over the cookies.
- Betsy's tidbits:
- A ½ tablespoon measuring spoon may be used instead of a measuring scoop. Round the dough into balls and then flatten slightly and continue with recipe.
- If you are short of time, eliminate the topping. They are still addictive.
