Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Marye Audet — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:23:07 +0000

Our kids are involved in JBQ (Junior Bible Quiz) at church and an extremely good friend of mine is the coach. She is an overachiever just like me so it was not a surprise to me personally when this small team, from a small church, beat enough other teams to go to Nationals. This is a big deal for the whole church, but especially the kids and Mary. In order to send them to Rockford, Ill. we are having a bake sale this morning.

I really kind of sweated about what to make. Bake sales are funny things. Believe it or not, all you guys in foodie land, there are people that just aren’t interested in trying raspberry chipotle brownies, or bacon and chocolate chip cookies. I know, right? Bake sale items are the best if they are comfort food, normal stuff that you used to eat when you were a kid, or things that are very similar. So I thought that peanut butter chocolate chip would be different enough to feed my sense of uniqueness and familiar enough to do well. I will have to tell you the verdict on that later. But I can say that, since a cookie broke when I was removing it from the sheet and I was forced to eat it, these are the perfect balance of chocolate and peanut butter flavor.

*It’s later and the bake sale was called off for some reason. But the cookies are…awesome!

The cookies are large, moist and slightly chewy with a crisp outside and a tender inside. Warm, the chocolate chips just melt and flow into the surrounding crumb. Right now the entire house smells fantastic..better than ANY Yankee Candle Co. candle. Give these a try and let me know what you think.

It is really important not to over bake these. They will be soft when you take them out of the over. Allow them to stand for at least 5 minutes to firm up before removing them from the baking sheet to cool completely. By using a tablespoon measure you should get cookies that are about 3-4″ in diameter.

Did you know that the traditional design in peanut butter cookies (the fork ### crosshatching) helps them to develop a crisp outside and a tender middle without being cakey? Now you do. I forgot where I read that…

What are you waiting for? Gosh!

Bake Sale Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup soft unsalted butter
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (more if you are using homemade peanut butter)
6 oz chocolate chips (I used Safeway/Tom Thumbs brand organic)

Cream the butter, Crisco, and peanut butter together until smooth.
Add the brown sugar and white sugar and beat until fluffy and well blended.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition.
Add the vanilla and blend.
Sift together the baking soda, flour and salt and stir in to make a soft dough.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with silpat or parchement. Flatten with a fork dipped in flour, first horizontally and then vertically to make squares.
Bake at 375F for 8 minutes.
Cool.

Makes about 4 dozen

Post from: Baking Delights

The Great American Bake Sale..Fight Childhood Hunger

Marye Audet — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:44:06 +0000

I was checking out some blogs that I hadn’t looked at in awhile before posting the recipe I had chosen for today when I came across something on Paul’s site, Cookies Etc. that I really felt should take priority over anything I could write about.
You know, we have all read or heard it…sometimes we have seen or experienced it. On any given street in American there are instances of children going to bed hungry. Ridiculous really. If you have ever been dumpster diving you know what terrible stewards we are of our resources. Stores throw away literally billions of dollars of good food because of storage issues, shelf dates etc. I am not going to get on a soapbox about that here, much as I am tempted.
However this is what is going on, shamelessly lifted from Paul…
Do you want to do something about childhood hunger in America? Join with the over 1 million people who have been baking, selling, or buying baked goods as part of Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale. So far this campaign has raised over $3 million since 2003.“The Great American Bake Sale campaign provides a simple, exciting way for people of all ages to join the fight to end childhood hunger in America,” said Billy Shore, Share Our Strength’s founder and executive director. “The campaign builds on the long American tradition of holding bake sales as community fundraisers. By engaging everyone to hold a bake sale, the Great American Bake Sale will help ensure that the 12.4 million American children at risk of hunger have the healthy, nutritious foods they need to develop their full potential.”Hunger has long lasting effects on children. It contributes to poorer health overall and can affect the child’s psychological and academic development.What can you do to help? Visit Great American Bake Sale and learn more about the campaign. Then choose to hold a bake sale or a virtual bake sale to raise money to end childhood hunger. Registration for Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale is free and available at Great American Bake Sale.Monies raised go to local organizations that run after school and summer meal programs. Funds also go to organizations that educate families at risk in proper nutrition and cooking skills.

Share Our Strength and Food Network have joined together for this year’s campaign with Food Network TV personalities Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee, and Tyler Florence taking part in PSA’s encouraging people to participate.

This year’s top fundraiser will win a trip for two to the Food Network, get tickets to a taping of Emeril Live!, and receive a tour of the Food Network Kitchens, the ’soul’ of the Food Network.

Share Our Strength® is leading the fight against hunger and poverty by working with individuals and companies to use their strengths to the fullest. Their priority is to end childhood hunger in America and the Great American Bake Sale is just one way they are working to achieve this goal. For more information, please visit Share Our Strength

With the internet we have so many more ways we can give of our resources to help others. In fact…If you are going to participate in this leave a comment with a link to your webpage/blog and publish the list of what you are making so that we have sort of a blog neighborhood bake sale and it will be easy to go from one to another. How cool is that!

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Baking Delights » Bake-Sale

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Great American Bake Sale..Fight Childhood Hunger