Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

The kindness, love and support I've felt over the past week as a result of the bake sale has truly been amazing.  Spending hours upon hours baking this past weekend for a great cause made me one happy gal.  I'll be taking orders through June 28th in case you'd like to get some sweet treats or send a gift to someone! 

**Note:  I've pushed the order deadline back to June 28th as a result of my move to Colorado.  I apologize for the change in dates but I thought it was best for my sanity :) 

Seeing all of the orders come in has also been part of the fun.  The most popular item to-date is the Sweet & Salty Cookies (with caramel, pretzels and chocolate chips) but these peanut butter chunk cookies have also been a hit!  Surprisingly, of all of the cookie recipes I've shared, this recipe has seemed to slip through the cracks.  A thick peanut butter cookie loaded with chocolate chunks AND semi-sweet chips.  Doesn't get much better than that... 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake

I want to start by saying THANK YOU.  I have been overwhelmed by the support I've received since announcing the American Cancer Society & Hood to Coast Relay Bake Sale on Friday.  You all are just the best!!!  I'll be taking orders until July 31st so keep 'em coming!  

Now about this cake...

I've been meaning to share this for over a week now BUT every single ounce of free time I've had has been spent baking, wrapping & shipping (and I have LOVED every minute of it!).  Anyways, today is your lucky day.  

You are looking at three layers of chocolate cake, coated with a rich peanut butter frosting and finished off with a layer of mini peanut butter cups.

Super rich... super decadent... and worth every bite!  

Peanut Butter Brownie Truffles

 

Happy Friday!  So apparently its National Peanut Butter Lover's Day?  Its very fitting that I had planned to share this recipe with you today!  All of the goodness of a chewy, chocolate brownie, wrapped up in a layer of chocolate -- with a heavy dose of peanut butter, of course.  I also topped these little guys with chopped up peanut butter cups.  You can never have too much peanut butter.

 

Be sure to check out some of my other favorite peanut butter recipes... I have lots of them!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

I'm sure you've all had no-bake peanut butter bars.  You also probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen to make these right now!  Although I've tried these bars many times, this was actually my first time making them!  This was item #2 to sell out at the bake sale, which is no surprise since we can all agree on the fact that PB and chocolate is the best dessert combo!  

 

Peanut Butter Toffee Clusters

 

I still have a few recipes to share with you from my holiday baking spree.  My mom and I made these candy cups for our neighbors.  I love homemade confections!  Chocolate, peanut butter, honey roasted peanut and toffee all in one little bite?  Obviously, with that combination, they are amazing!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Scotchies & The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap

 

 

**Please disregard the less than impressive photography in this post.  :)

 

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies will always remind my of my childhood.  These were always one of my mom's favorite cookies to make and we loved them.  I love the original recipe so much but I also love to experiment and switch things up.  Butterscotch combined with creamy peanut butter and honey roasted peanuts = a winning combination!

 

I made these for the "Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap" this year.  I was so excited to share one of my favorite recipes with fellow bloggers -- New South Food Company, Adventures of the Yankee Kitchen Ninja and Home Cooking Memories were the recipients of my cookies.  Hope you enjoyed!! :)

Below is a little description of how the whole swap worked!

"The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap brings together food bloggers from around the world in celebration of all things scrumptious. The premise is this: sign up. Receive the addresses of three other food bloggers. Send each of them one dozen delicious homemade cookies. Receive three different boxes of scrumptious cookies from other bloggers. Post your cookie recipe on your blog. See everyone else’s cookie recipes.

This year we are even more excited to be partnering with Cookies for Kids' Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. By participating in this cookie swap you are not only contributing to the food blogger community, but also supporting a great cause."

I also received a dozen delicious cookies from three different bloggers -- Cherry Chocolate Chip Jubilee Jumbles from Teaspoon of Spice, Soft Ginger Chewies from Little House, Big Heart and Cowgirl Cookies from Pink Tiger in the Kitchen.

I am so happy I decided to participate in the cookie swap this year and am already looking forward to next year!

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Grahams

 

Feast your eyes on my latest and greatest creation -- chocolate-covered peanut butter grahams.  My mom was hosting a little gathering last week and I was trying to think of a festive, no-bake treat to throw together at the last minute.  I was going to make chocolate covered pretzels until I spotted the graham crackers in the cupboard. 

 

I have since made a few batches with a variety of sprinkles and they look so cute all boxed up!  I can't wait to make many more varieties of these. 

 

I will do my best to provide a tutorial but I kind of made them on the fly.  

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm going to go ahead and call today "make-over Monday".  Most of my time spent baking and cooking is in an effort to try and create new recipes.  However, there are days that I just want to make one of my old favorites.  There are also times when I'm making an old recipe and I decide to switch things up, like with these Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins!

My changes were small, switching out the butter for canola oil, increasing the amount of peanut butter and using dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate, but these little tweaks were just what the muffins needed.  The original post has been updated to reflect my changes.  Enjoy :)

Light Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Crumb Topping

If there is any combination I love just as much as peanut butter and chocolate, it is peanut butter and banana.  Mostly I keep it simple -- banana, jar of PB and a spoon.  However, during marathon training, this was my fuel... on top of a bagel, and I couldn't get enough.   There was also the time I discovered I could turn the combination into a cookie or a panini!  

And now this bread... all of the flavors baked into a warm delicious loaf.  While I was in Columbus visiting Molly over the weekend, I baked it up for her while she was at work on Saturday (the exact reason she needed this bread in her life).  I thought she could have it for breakfast, as a snack or for a little dessert during her crazy-busy work season.  

I set out to make a classic, healthy banana bread but this just sounded so much butter -- AND its still on the light side.  The crumb topping just brings it over the top.  Enjoy!

Peanut Butter: Our Favorites

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

So yesterday was National Peanut Butter Day.  I can't believe I didn't properly recognize such an important day!  Since we clearly love peanut butter over here, I thought I'd provide you with a little round-up of our favorites (just a day late)...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Cookies

Molly and I both love to bake -- no surprise there.  However, its rare that we actually get the opportunity to bake together.  On Christmas Day, we took some down time to do exactly that.

We both noticed (on separate occasions) that my mom had dark chocolate peanut butter cups tucked away in her pantry so of course we decided on peanut butter cup cookies.  Most recipes we found had peanut butter in the dough but somehow there was NO peanut butter in the pantry (crazy, right?!?).  Anyways, we decided we'd just stuff the peanut butter cups in a basic chocolate cookie dough.  Genius.  I have to give all of the credit for the idea to Picky Palate -- she has quite the collection of stuffed cookie recipes.

Crisp on the outside, chewy cookie AND chocolate peanut butter center.  Enough said.

Check out Picky Palate for a great tutorial on stuffed cookies.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Ritz crackers, peanut butter and chocolate.  Make these.  You'll thank me later.

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

If you have been following our blog for the past year or so, you have probably noticed we love all things "chocolate peanut butter".  As I mentioned on Sunday, we definitely inherited this from our Dad.  For Father's Day this year, I decided to send him a homemade version of his favorite candy - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  He loved these and said they were even better than Reese's.

A few of our other favorite Peanut Butter Chocolate treats include:

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Double Chocolate Salted Peanut Bark
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Krispie Bars
Buckeyes

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

Cookie bars are perfection in my mind -- all the deliciousness of a cookie without the fuss of scooping and transferring cookies sheets in and out of the oven.  Sometimes I like that fuss -- but tonight, I just wanted to bake something quick and easy.  I also needed to step away from the cookie dough as soon as possible (I'm ready for Lent to be over -- the more I can't have sweets, the more I want them!).

One Year Ago:  Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

White Chocolate and Pretzel Peanut Butter Cookies with Sea Salt

Apparently I like to torture myself...

I chose to make these cookies (with the most amazing combination of ingredients I could ever think of) during Lent.  Did I mention I gave up sweets for Lent?  I couldn't taste.  A.  Single.  Bite.  At least I can say I practiced the most remarkable self-control ever.   I can vouch for the fact that they smelled amazing and the lucky recipients of these cookies said they were delicious.

One Year Ago:  Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Peanut Butter & Pretzel Truffles

The combination of peanut butter and pretzels in one of my favorites.  Take that combination and cover it in chocolate?  Yes please.  This recipe is so simple and the results are delicious -- a sweet and salty treat everyone will love!

One Year Ago:  Roasted Red Pepper, Chickpea and Quinoa Salad

Sports Bars with Dried Fruit and Peanut Butter

These are a great pre or post workout snack; and delicious too!  They are also great because they do not require a lot of time to make; I actually whipped them up just before class and let them cool while I was gone.

The original recipe called for walnuts and dried cherries but I used almonds and cranberries instead because that's what I had in my pantry (my adapted version of the recipe is below).

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

These cookies are one of my favorites but somehow they always seem to slip through the cracks.  If you like peanut butter cups then you will definitely be a fan of these.  I am a fan of pretty much anything that combines peanut butter and chocolate though.

These would be a great addition to any holiday cookie tray, along with:

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Sugar Crusted Ginger Chewies

Brown Sugar Shortbread

Chocolate-Espresso Snowcap Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter "Revel Bars"

From the time I first saw this recipe, I knew I had to make these bars.  In my mind, you can't go wrong with the combination of peanut butter and chocolate.  We clearly love the combo...
Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Krispie Bars
Buckeyes

Peanut Butter, Banana and Honey Cookies

If you have been following our blog, you have probably noticed our love for peanut butter.  In my opinion, there is nothing better than a banana with peanut butter.  I can't believe I didn't think of making this cookie sooner!  They are delicious -- and the peanut butter honey glaze takes them to a whole new level.

A few other peanut butter recipes you might enjoy:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream --  Molly loves homemade ice cream.  Hopefully she makes this for me during my next trip to Charleston :)

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies -- The BEST cookie combo in my opinion.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes -- Decadent.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars -- This is how peanut butter and jelly should be done.