"There's No Wrong Way to Bake a Reese's"

There is something sacred in the simple tasks of measuring flour and cracking eggs, and I always find my best refuge in baking cookies. Granted, cakes always provide a challenge and new tiers of technique. But cookies, for me, are analogous to your local corner store: that familiar place where “everybody knows your name”. Whether of a classic or decorated variety, cookies are and always have been simple perfections. Yet when recently approached by a coworker to bake a batch, I was in more of the “challenge” mindset, and chocolate chip cookies just wouldn’t cut it. And then I remembered my pantry held a hidden treasure: an unopened bag of Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures…there was no stopping me now, and so I created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie Cups. Warning: these cookies are extremely addictive and may induce behavior akin to the capriciousness to Taz the Tasmanian Devil.

Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cups made their debut in 1928, when Harry Burnett Reese, a dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey, made "two great tastes that taste great together” a sweet reality (Wikipedia). Following his death, Reese’s® Peanut Butter Cups became a part of the Hershey®’s “Empire” and have since captured the hearts of candy lovers across the world. According to their website, Reese’s® creates enough peanut butter cups to provide every person living in the United States, Japan, Europe, Australia, China, Africa, and India with one cup per year! 

Note: I made the dough for these cookies ahead of time, knowing full-well they would be best freshly baked. I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and stored it in the refrigerator overnight, then allowed it to thaw for 5 minutes the next morning prior to baking. These cookies were also my first run with my new cookie scoop (see photo above), and I loved it! I also refrigerated the peanut butter cups the night before, unwrapped, in an airtight container. While preparing the cookies the next morning, I transferred the tray of Reese's to the freezer - this prevented the chocolate from melting while being pressed into the freshly baked cookies (but boy did they melt after...yummy!)    

Reese's Peanut Butter Cookie Cups

Adapted via The Giant Blog of Cooking 

Yields: 36 - 40 cookie cups

Ingredients:

  - 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

  - 1/2 teaspoon salt

  - 1 teaspoon baking soda

  - 1/2 cup butter, softened

  - 1/2 cup white sugar

  - 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used chunky)

  - 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

  - 1 large egg, beaten

  - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  - 2 tablespoons milk  

  - 40 Reese's® Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, unwrapped (and frozen for at least 10 min)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a mini muffin pan/two mini muffin pans with cooking spray. Stir together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture, mix well (if making ahead: shape the dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap; store in the refrigerator - will keep for 1 day).

Shape into 40 balls and place each into the mini muffin pan(s). Bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a (frozen) peanut butter cup into each cookie. Let cool for at least 10 minutes, and carefully remove from pan.

"...it Don't Matter if You're Black or White"

For those of you who are unfamiliar with that title, I highly recommend you visit this link - it's Michael Jackson's "Black or White". My love of MJ goes back as far as I can remember, and these cupcakes were a token of said appreciation.  I had considered making a white chocolate and dark chocolate entry for a while based solely on this song. 

I baked these for a friend's BBQ birthday party who just so happened to be turning 24, and I wanted to bake 12 of each: Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling and White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling.

                             

The dichotomy of white chocolate and dark chocolate is a beautiful presentation. Yet it should be noted that white chocolate is in fact NOT a true chocolate due to the lack of chocolate liquor. It consists of cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids, and vanilla. Nonetheless, it has an amazing flavor that is highly complimented by tarter flavors, such as raspberry.
Dark chocolate, on the other hand, is the "true chocolate", where sugar and fat are the only additives to cacao, with no milk. Coffee, like my last entry indicates, pairs beautifully with chocolate.

While I appreciated the concept of white and dark chocolate being opposing flavors, I wanted to add another profile to the two cupcake types. As such, I chose to use the "cone method" (see left) and fill the cupcakes. The basic process behind this is dragging a knife in a conical fashion to create a basin, which can then be filled with whatever filling is desired. The cone end is then cut off, leaving a cap with which to cover the filling. For these cupcakes, I chose to use raspberry for the white chocolate, and peanut butter for the dark chocolate. While I simply used plain raspberry preserves for the former, I made a mixture of cream cheese, peanut butter, and milk for the latter. The basic measurements were 2 ounces of cream cheese, 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, and a splash or two of milk. I mixed these items together until the mixture resembled a caramel whipped cream. The result for each filling was absolutely delicious! 

One small side note: the white chocolate cupcakes turned out beautifully shape-wise, whereas the chocolate cupcakes had appearances that resembled mushrooms. Nonetheless, they still tasted wonderful!

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling and White Chocolate Frosting 
adapted via CAKE ON THE BRAIN and Diana's Desserts
Serves 12


Ingredients:
Cupcakes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 oz white chocolate
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 tsp baking soda

• Raspberry preserves (optional)

Frosting

• 4 1/2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp (3/4 stick/3 oz./85g) unsalted butter, softened
• Pinch of salt

Directions

For cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350F. Melt chocolate with butter and water. Allow to cool slightly.In mixer, combine flour, sugar and salt. Add melted chocolate mixture to flour mixture and mix lightly. Add sour cream, vanilla, baking soda and egg and beat for 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners and bake for 30 - 35 minutes Place pan on a rack for 10 minutes to cool. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

For filling: if choosing to fill these cupcakes, use the "cone method" mentioned above, then fill each cupcake with about a spoonful of the preserves.

For frosting: Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temp. Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Add the butter and salt and beat until smooth. Stir in the cooled white chocolate. Refrigerate until firm enough to frost the cupcakes, about 30 minutes.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Filling and Dark Chocolate Frosting

adpated via Ghirardelli 

Serves 12

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa
• 1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 5/8 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup strong brewed coffee or espresso
• 1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter 

Filling

• 2 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2-3 tbsp milk

Frosting

• 4 1/2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp (3/4 stick/3 oz./85g) unsalted butter, softened
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

For cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 12 cupcake molds or muffin tins with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray. To make the cupcakes, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, brown sugar, and white sugar. Whisk in the milk, coffee, and melted butter. Whisk in the dry ingredients. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake molds, filling them about three-quarters full.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the middle of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Using a small spatula or knife, remove the cupcakes from the pan. Continue to cool on a wire rack to room temperature. 

For filling: combine peanut butter and cream cheese and mix for several minutes - it should look light and fluffy. Add the milk as needed.

For frosting: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temp. Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Stir in the milk and vanilla. Add the butter and salt and beat until smooth. Stir in the cooled white chocolate. Refrigerate until firm enough to frost the cupcakes, about 30 minutes.

What to Do With 6 POUNDS of Peanuts?? The Search for Peanut Recipes, Part 1

We all know that like chocolate, peanuts also give an irresistible outcome to any dessert. Whether in the form of peanut butter, peanut oil, or just plain peanuts, this nut holds an extremely versatile presence in the baking realm. My favorite incorporation of peanut butter in in cheesecakes, as it lends beautifully to the creaminess of the texture. Yet this blog has two desserts that were, in and of themselves, fantastic! They are a Peanut Butter Silk Pie and a Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake.

For my recital reception, my mother bought not one but TWO giant containers of Planter's Dry Roasted Peanuts. As aforementioned in a previous blog, the consumption of the recital bars I provided as well as the surplus of cheeses, dips, and other food left me with nearly 6 POUNDS of salted peanuts...now while I like peanuts, this is a rather overwhelming amount, and one that I can hardly begin to fathom finishing in this decade. As such, I have been searching for numerous ways to include them in my baking and cooking creations, as demonstrated in this blog :)

This pie was UNBELIEVABLY delicious! It's so simple, yet the combination of peanut butter, cream cheese, and whipping cream does wonders! The most important part of this pie is to make AT LEAST one day in advance. Trust me, allowing the pie to chill overnight gives it ample time to deepen in flavor and texture.

I have actually made this pie a few times, but the current photos you are seeing omitted the fudge layer (still delicious without it, but had I had more time I definitely would have included as it is WAY worth it!). Make sure to use regular creamy peanut butter, not the organic/natural type as it will be too oily. I used JIFF, a personal favorite. I would also not recommend chunky peanut butter as it might make it tougher to mix it with the cream cheese. I found this recipe on About.com, which has a surprising wealth of recipes from desserts to entrees to cocktails. It's a great sight if you wish to find a variety of options. The only change I made was to add my own recipe for a Graham Cracker crust.

Peanut Butter Silk Pie

Southernfood.about.com

Serves 8

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

• 9 whole graham crackers, coarsely broken
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 3-4 tablespoons sugar

Fudge Layer

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 1/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• 1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter

Filling

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups whipped topping

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish with nonstick spray.

Crust: Blend graham crackers, melted butter, and sugar in processor until moist clumps form. Press crumb mixture over bottom and up sides of prepared pie dish. Bake crust until lightly browned, about 15 minutes.

Fudge Layer: In a medium saucepan, cook sugar, chocolate, milk, corn syrup together, stirring occasionally, to the soft ball stage (see below), or about 234° to 240° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter. Beat lightly for a few minutes; pour into bottom of pie crust. Chill thoroughly before filling.

Filling: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk. Fold in whipped topping until well blended. Spoon into fudge-layered pie crust and garnish with chocolate curls and/or chopped peanuts. Chill thoroughly before serving.

This next cake was purely selected based on the GORGEOUS photos by Celeste on her blog Sugar and Spice. A from-scratch brownie recipe as well as homemade caramel? Count me in! And to top it off, PEANUTS! 1 full cup of them, a perfect way to make a dent in that now 5 lbs of peanuts I still have left over, haha! This particualr post will be the first of my blog where I document more of the actual process rather than just the end result, so all of you can have the chance to enjoy it as well! My favorite baking blogs do this, so it only seems appropriate that I do so as well :)

A brownie recipe from scratch isn't nearly as difficult as it may seem. It doesn't require any appliances, merely a good whisk and a heat proof bowl. The best part of this recipe? Melted Ghirardelli 60% Chocolate.

This recipe doesn't specifically call for Ghirardelli, you can use any variety of bittersweet chocolate. A lesson I've learned when baking with chocolate - always use GOOD chocolate when using in a melted form. Cheaper varieties burn more easily and you end up spending the same amount with having to replace the ingredients in the event they do burn, haha! I'd rather take the foolproof approach and go with a well-made brand. Make sure to constantly stir the chocolate during this process, or else you will end up with burned chocolate afterall. It calls for a heatproof pan, and I always recommend glass above metal, as it is sturdier and will not heat as fast as the metal will.

Making your own caramel can seem to be a scary process, but trust me - like the concept of a homemade brownie recipe, it's not as difficult as it seems. Do be careful, though, as boiling sugar makes it VERY hot and you can easily burn yourself if you don't take caution. Otherwise, it's just a matter of keeping an eye on it and watching for it to turn that beautiful deep amber. And the end result is oh-my-god amazing!

This recipe, while from Celeste's blog, is actually by Dorie Greenspan in her book Baking: From My Home to Yours. I don't own this book (yet) so Celeste's blog was my resource. The only change I made was to use a 9-inch springform pan rather than the 8-inch called for in the recipe. It still took just as much time, but keep an eye on it anyways as cooking times vary from oven to oven. I hope you enjoy it!

Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake

Sugar and Spice by Celeste, via Dorie Greenspan

Serves 8 - 10

Ingredients

Brownie Cake:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• ¼ cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Caramel-Peanut Topping:

• 2 cups sugar
• ½ cup water
• 1 ½ tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup salted peanuts

Directions

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan, dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper. Place the springform pan on a baking sheet.

Brownie Cake: combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl; whisk together and set aside. Add the butter and chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are just melted – do not let them get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the heat and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugars until well blended. Whisk in the corn syrup, followed by the vanilla. Add in the melted butter and chocolate mixture, and whisk until combined. Gently whisk in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are just incorporated. The batter should be thick, smooth and shiny. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and jiggle the pan a bit to even out the batter.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 15 minutes, then run a thin knife between the cake and the pan and carefully remove the sides of the springform. The cake may have puffed up during baking, but don’t be concerned if it develops a crater in the center while cooling. Allow to cool to room temperature. When the cake is totally cool, invert it, remove the base of the pan and peel off the parchment paper. Turn the cake right side up onto a serving platter.

Caramel-Peanut Topping: combine the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, stirring just to combine the ingredients. Place the pan over medium-high heat. Heat, without stirring, until the caramel turns deep amber, 5 to 10 minutes depending on the size of your saucepan and the intensity of the heat. As the sugar is caramelizing, wipe down any splatters on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. To test the color of the caramel, drop a bit onto a white plate. Don’t be timid about the color – if it’s too pale, it won’t have much flavor.

Lower the heat a bit and, standing back from the saucepan, add the cream and butter. When the spatters are less vehement, stir to calm down the caramel and dissolve any lumps. Stir in the peanuts and pour the caramel and peanuts into a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup or a heatproof bowl.

You will have more caramel than you need, but you want to get all of the peanuts onto the cake, so spoon all of the peanuts out of the hot caramel and onto the top of the cake. Pour or spoon enough caramel to cover all the nuts, drizzling a bit over the edges of the cake for presentation. Allow the topping to set at room temperature, about 20 minutes, before serving. Keep the leftover caramel at room temperature and save for another use.

Peanut Butter + Chocolate = OH MY GOD

So I baked this cake for my friend Beth's 23rd birthday. We had joked for quite some time that I would make here a 20 layer cake (each one a different flavor) and maybe even throw a few cupcakes and cookies on top just for fun. As a result, I obviously had NO idea what direction to take in terms of recipes. Finally, I landed on this one.

I was fully prepared in terms of prep time. I had prepared the ganache the day before and woke up early enough the day of to begin the baking process. I buttered and floured my three pans and was ready to go. Yet when I opened the oven door, which I had assumed had been preheating, I encountered a crisis: my oven wasn't working.

The irony of my oven not working at this very moment was almost comical, yet naturally with three cake pans full of raw batter I was far from laughing. Luckily for me, I know my across-the-hall neighbor quite well and she was generous enough to lend me her oven for 30 minutes. What could have been disaster was thus only a slight inconvenience.

It was a bit time-consuming, but (as always) WELL worth it!!! So basically this cake is the following: peanut butter, chocolate, and cream cheese. What more could you ask for?? The chocolate filling is essentially a chocolate ganache + peanut butter (hence the long chilling time) and the cake is 3 layers of soft, peanut buttery goodness. The frosting...well, cream cheese frosting is NEVER a letdown so naturally it was quite a hit.

This recipe was adapted from Bon Appetit. Rather than use Butterfingers and peanuts, I merely drizzled Hershey's chocolate syrup on the top. The cake was SO rich regardless of the topping, and also used regular creamy peanut butter rather than chunky. The recipe calls for 3 9-inch cake pans. I unfortunately only own two, so the third an I used was an 8-inch square pan. I then place the square layer on top of the two round ones and cut off the edges. Worked perfectly!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cake with Cream Cheese and Butterfinger Frosting

Bon Appetit

Serves 12

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter (I used the regular creamy variety)

Cake

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned (natural) chunky peanut butter (I used the regular creamy variety)
• 1 pound golden brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Frosting

• 1 1/2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
• Butterfinger candy bars, coarsely chopped (omitted)
• Glazed peanuts (omitted)

Directions

For filling:
Bring cream and sugar to simmer in saucepan, whisking to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; let stand 1 minute. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in peanut butter. Chill uncovered overnight.

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottoms with parchment paper. Sift first 4 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl until blended. Beat in sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions.

Divide batter among pans and spread evenly. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool cakes 5 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Cool cakes completely.

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Whisk whipping cream and 3/4 cup powdered sugar in bowl until mixture holds medium-firm peaks. Fold into cream cheese mixture in 3 additions; chill until firm but spreadable, about 1 hour.

Place 1 cake layer, bottom side up, on 9-inch tart pan bottom. Spread with half of filling. Place another layer, bottom side up, on work surface. Spread with remaining filling; place atop first layer. Top with remaining cake layer, bottom side up.

Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome; chill. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours before continuing.) Press candy and peanuts onto top of cake.