Arsip Tag: peanut

salted peanut butter cookies – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada Desember 11, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

I have never been particularly interested in recipes — or, if we’re being completely tactlessly honest, people — defined by what they are not, which is probably why you don’t see a lot of recipes with flour/dairy/gluten/meat/sugar-free, no-bake, one-bowl, hand-whisked or the like in recipe titles here, although we have plenty of all of the above. My favorite foods in this category are accidentally what they are; it’s a perk, but not the purpose. I’d rather talk about what a recipe does have, like flavor, or texture or an appeal that makes it almost painful not to make it in the minutes after you read about it.


all you'll need
hand-whisked

But I am not immune to the charms of ingredient absences. Many years ago, I assembled some easy after-school snack recipes for a magazine — something I couldn’t have been less of an expert on then, pre-kids, or, frankly, now (an apple and a cookie, maybe?) — and it gave me a chance to audition a three-ingredient peanut butter cookie a friend had told me about that was curiously absent in flour, butter, baking powder or baking soda and even salt. The results were, I mean, okay. It was peanut butter and sugar, it couldn’t possibly not be delicious. But they weren’t exceptional; they merely fit the bill.

dough scooped cold

So, when the Ovenly Bakery’s cookbook came out last year and a reader emailed insisting I pick it up (I did) and I saw a peanut butter cookie that was similar, I dismissed it as probably not worth it. And then, as these things happen, while walking past a coffee shop on Sunday, I abruptly decided my husband and I needed a re-up, and while in there even more abruptly decided we had to split the last peanut butter cookie at the shop before someone else got to it. It was spectacular: tall, dome-shaped with a crisp exterior and decadently tender center, absolutely intense with peanut butter in a way that invokes peanut butter cups, and topped not with the usual wan flakes of sea salt but tiny coarse boulders. When I realized that it was in fact the Ovenly cookie, it was clear that they knew a few things about this three-ingredient cookie that I did not.

salted peanut butter cookies

First, they use slightly less sugar and peanut butter per egg, rather than the classic 1 cup, 1 cup, 1 egg ratio. They use light brown sugar instead of granulated white sugar, which I suspect leads to the softer cookie and more dynamic flavor. Finally, it’s scooped tall and chilled before baking so it keeps its height. The result is perfect, and absolutely nothing like the ones I made years ago, in all the best ways.

salted peanut butter cookies

Meanwhile, the list of absences in the recipe are notably long. There’s no butter, no flour or leaveners; the whole thing is whisked by hand in one bowl and has all of five ingredients, two of which are vanilla and salt. And yet if the recipe dictated that I had to render lard, then roast and blend my own peanuts while standing on my head and singing in tune to make them, I’d probably consider it. They’re that good.

salted peanut butter cookies

One year ago: Carrot Cake with Cider and Olive Oil
Two years ago: Lazy Pizza Dough + Favorite Margherita Pizza
Three years ago: Pancetta White Bean and Swiss Chard Pot Pies
Four years ago: Apple Pie Cookies
Five years ago: Apple and Cheddar Scones
Six years ago: Apple Cider Doughnuts
Seven years ago: Twice-Baked Shortbread and Acorn Squash Quesadillas with Tomatillo Salsa
Eight years ago: Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Nine years ago: Wild Mushroom and Stilton Galette

And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Artichoke Gratin Toasts
1.5 Years Ago: Baked Eggs with Spinach and Mushrooms
2.5 Years Ago: Bee Sting Cake
3.5 Years Ago: Pasta with Garlicky Broccoli Rabe
4.5 Years Ago: Heavenly Chocolate Cake Roll

Salted Peanut Butter Cookies
Barely adapted, just a bunch of extra notes, from the Ovenly cookbook

Yield 26 to 28 cookies with a 1 2/3 tablespoon or #40 scoop. (I halved the recipe and regret it so much.)

1 3/4 cups (335 grams) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (450 grams) smooth peanut butter (see note at end)
Coarse-grained sea salt, to finish

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar and eggs until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract, then the peanut butter until smooth and completely incorporated; you shouldn’t be able to see any ribbons of peanut butter. Ovenly says you know the dough is ready when it has the consistency of Play-Doh, but I can tell you as the mom of a Play-Doh fanatic that mine was thinner, softer.

If you’d like to get those pretty striations across the top of the cookies, chill the dough by freezing it in its bowl for 15 minutes, stirring it once (so the edges don’t freeze first), before scooping it. If you’re not obsessed with these markings, you can scoop it right away. Scoop or spoon the dough into balls — Ovenly uses about a 1/4-cup scoop (probably #16); I use a 1 2/3 tablespoons or #40 scoop. Place on prepared pan. For the tallest final shape, place the tray in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking.

Sprinkle the dough balls lightly with coarse-grained sea salt just before baking. Bake smaller cookies for 14 to 15 minutes and larger for 18 to 20. When finished, cookies should be golden at edges. They’ll need to set on the sheet for a minute or two before they can be lifted intact to a cooling sheet. Trust me, you should let these cool completely before eating so the different textures (crisp outside, soft inside) can set up.

Do ahead: You can definitely make the dough in advance and either refrigerate it for a couple days or freeze it longer. However, if I were going to freeze it, I’d probably go ahead and scoop it first. You can bake them right from the freezer.

About chilling the dough: The Ovenly recipe says you can scoop and bake the cookies right away, but they keep their shape better if you chill them in the freezer for 15 minutes first. I tried it with and without and did find a better dome and final shape with the 15 minutes after. However, I was incredibly charmed by the striated marks from the cookie scoop on top of the cookie I bought last weekend, as well as in the photo in their book, and I realized that I couldn’t get it at home with just-mixed dough; you’ll get more of a blob shape from your scoop. So, I also chilled the dough for 15 minutes before scooping it and was then satisfied with the shape. It’s not necessary unless you’re as taken with top pattern as I am.

Two questions I suspect someone will ask very soon: Can you make this with all-natural peanut butter and can you make this with almond or a nut butter? The answer to both is yes, however, the authors themselves warn that you’ll get the best final shape and texture from a smooth, thick processed peanut butter like Skippy (their recommendation; updated to note, thanks to a commenter suggestion, that the 16.3-ounce jar of Skippy is estimated to contain 1 3/4 cups, saving you some measuring). I suspect an almond or cashew butter will have a similar effect as natural peanut butter.

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chocolate peanut and pretzel brittle – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada Desember 10, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

Does anyone remember Garbage Pail Kids? Can I go predictably off-course here and admit, as I just did to my husband, who is now cracking up, that I was kind of scared of them when they came out? It was 1985! I was young! I was super into Cabbage Patch Kids and definitely did not have a grasp of parody and was this… something that could happen to a Cabbage Patch Kid? I mean, was it going to happen to mine? Why did everyone find them so funny? Ahem, right, so of course I now find them dark and brilliant, which should be no surprise given that they were co-invented by Art Spiegelman, something I learned exactly five minutes ago from Wikipedia but will now pretend I knew all along.


what you'll need
cooking the sugar

I bet you’re thinking, as per usual, “What on earth does this have to do with cooking, Deb? Focus, please!” But what I’d wanted to tell you is that for nearly eight years now, I’ve an item on my Halloween To-Cook List called “Garbage Pail Brittle,” which I’d hoped would invoke the chaos of the cards but in a less haunting to elementary school kids format. My theory was that, sure, peanut, almond and fancy seed brittles are lovely and elegant, but you know what would be even more awesome? Rice crispies. Potato chips. Pretzels. Because everyone knows that salt, crispy snacky stuff is aces against caramel, butter and chocolate.

pretzel-only brittle
scatter the chips
spreading the chocolate

Well, the good news is that I finally got this item off my to-cook list so you don’t have to. The bad news is that potato chips and crispy rice? Just okay in brittle. I mean, nobody hated it, but it wasn’t as special as the eight-year build-up warranted. Pretzels, however… you need to do this. Pretzels are deeply delicious when brittled. They even more spectacular when mixed with salted peanuts. They’re even more insanely good when lidded with melted dark chocolate, smashed into chunks with a hammer and tucked in a container that is, thankfully, about 15 feet outside my reach right now or I’d be one of those wicked, wicked people who lies to children, such as my own, who I lectured this morning about why we can’t have candy for breakfast. I mean, phew.

chocolate peanut and pretzel brittle
chocolate peanut and pretzel brittle

Something new and wonderful is coming next week! For the last 9 years, we’ve had a pretty barebones newsletter system on Smitten Kitchen; new recipes/posts arrive in your inbox the morning after they’re published. They’re pretty fugly; little has changed in the last decade. For some time, as newsletter technology has vastly improved, I’ve been dreaming of creating a better email, one that is a true weekly digest of all the delicious new and worth revisiting cookery on Smitten Kitchen and at last, that day is here! The new newsletter will include not just new recipes, but seasonal picks and weekly archive highlights, carefully tailored to what we all want to be cooking right now. Sounds good? Enter your email address below and your first weekly email will arrive next week:.

One year ago: Squash Toasts with Ricotta and Cider Vinegar
Two years ago: Potato and Broccolini Frittata
Three years ago: Apple Cider Caramels
Four years ago: Pear Cranberry and Gingersnap Crumble
Five years ago: Buckeyes
Six years ago: Baked Chicken Meatballs
Seven years ago: Pink Lady Cake and Cabbage and Mushroom Galette
Eight years ago: Cranberry Caramel and Almond Tart
Nine years ago: Easiest Baked Mac-and-Cheese

And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Crispy Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic
1.5 Years Ago: Lamb Meatballs with Feta and Lemon
2.5 Years Ago: Spring Vegetable Potstickers
3.5 Years Ago: Cinnamon Toast French Toast
4.5 Years Ago: Sour Cream Cornbread with Aleppo

Chocolate Peanut and Pretzel Brittle

A few notes: You can replace the peanuts with pretzels if nut allergies are a concern. I have only made this with corn syrup and/or golden syrup but theoretically, honey and/or maple syrup (early comment responses on maple syrup: not positive) as a replacement should work as well because the quantity is so small. I didn’t do it here, but thought it might be fun to play around with replacing the water with beer (you could use up to 1/2 cup) for a more grown-up flavor.

1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup or golden syrup
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup broken-up chunks of thin salted pretzels
3/4 cup roasted salted peanuts
3/4 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Either grease a large cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Get all of your other ingredients ready; you’re going to need to add them quickly in a few minutes, and you won’t have time to hunt and measure.

Combine sugar, corn or golden syrup and water in a medium saucepan, stirring just until sugar is wet. Attach a candy thermometer and heat over medium-high heat, without stirring, until mixture reaches between 300 and 305 degrees F. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you’re looking for a small amount of the mixture dropped into cold water to separate into hard, brittle threads. This takes exactly 9 minutes on my stove.

Remove from heat and quickly stir in butter (until it melts), baking soda, peanuts and pretzels until all are coated. Pour quickly out onto prepared pan. Use a spatula or, even better, two forks to pull and stretch the mixture as flat as you can get it, working quickly. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and let rest for 5 minutes so that they soften. Once they are all soft, use a spatula to spread them over the brittle.

None of us has time or patience for waiting for these to cool, right? I put them directly in the freezer for 20 minutes, after which point the chocolate is firm, the base is cold and I get to bash the brittle into bite-sized chunks. (I like to lift pieces up onto the rim of the baking sheet and use something heavy to break them from there. I do not advise breaking it up with your hands, the warmth of which will make a mushy mess of the chocolate.)

Store in a container at room temperature, far out of your own reach.

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chocolate peanut butter tart – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada Desember 7, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

Definitely one of the best things about having a 6.5 year old is that he now has classmates that can bestow upon us The Annual Gift of the Thin Mint Cookies. If there were any other Girl Scout Cookies worth celebrating, I knew nothing about them until pickup earlier this week when I saw other parents scurrying off with boxes of curiosities like Samoas and Tagalongs and launched a full investigation. Seriously, why did nobody tell me about those crispy chewy rings of caramel, coconut and stripes of chocolate? Was there always a cookie with both peanut butter and chocolate in it or is this some millennium baby voodoo? Making up for time lost to Thin Mint blinders begins here and now.


what you'll need
buttery shortbread crumbs

The other awesome thing about elementary school kids is genuine excitement over math-y holidays such as this coming Monday’s Pi(e) Day, something that I previously only celebrated sarcastically, because I was a terrible person with a life bereft of wide-eyed wonder. Thus, when I spied a Tagalongs-style peanut butter pie on Tasting Table this week and realized that it was easy enough that I could pull it off in my current sleep-deprived fugue while also filing the vast peanut butter pie-shaped hole in the archives, it was a done deal.

so easy to make
compact layer of salty peanut butter
thick layer of ganache
peanut butter chocolate tart, tagalongs-style

I’ve always been charmed by the idea of peanut butter pies but found them (forgive me, I know how unworthy this makes me) a little goopy and over-the-top in their standard form, to say nothing of the Cool Whip most muddle perfection with. This one, however, is delightfully to the point with equal billing given to a buttery shortbread crumb base, a compact layer of creamy peanut butter (with the essential tangy oomph so many peanut butter desserts miss when they don’t include cream cheese and salt) and a thick shiny layer of dark chocolate ganache with a dusting of sea salt, and it requires all of 10 minutes baking time. Sure, Pi(e) Day could be celebrated with flaky crusts, seasonal fruit and zero PIPIEGI (Processed Ingredients Processed Into Even Greater Ingredients) but really, where’s the fun in that?

peanut butter chocolate tart, tagalongs-style

One year ago: Black-Bottom Oatmeal Pie
Two years ago: Broccoli Cheddar and Wild Rice Casserole
Three years ago: My Favorite Buttermilk Biscuits
Four years ago: Mulitgrain Apple Crisps
Five years ago: The Best Baked Spinach
Six years ago: Warm Mushroom Salad with Hazelnut and Coconut Milk Fudge
Seven years ago: Steak Sandwiches and Pita Bread
Eight years ago: Almond Biscotti and Roasted Acorn Squash and Gorgonzola Pizza
Nine years ago: Strawberry Rhubarb Pecan Loaf

And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Caponata
1.5 Years Ago: Herbed Tomato and Roasted Garlic Tart
2.5 Years Ago: Baked Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
3.5 Years Ago: Fig Olive Oil and Sea Salt Challah
4.5 Years Ago: Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Mint

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart, Tagalongs-Style
Adapted from Tasting Table

Notes:

  • I swapped the suggested graham crust for a shortbread one closer to the original cookie (but let’s be honest, so much better because: butter). One of the pesky things about crumb crusts is that I find that depending on the crumbs used and how finely ground they are, you might need more or less butter. Here, using shortbread loaded with butter, I only needed 3T melted butter to get the crumbs clumpy enough to form a crust. With the same amount of graham crumbs, I usually need 4T.
  • I like to parbake crumb crusts because I think they set much better this way. The sugar helps “glue” the crust together too, but I still use as little as possible.
  • I found that the recipe better filled out a 9-inch/1-inch tall tart pan than a standard pie dish. Should you not have a tart pan, you could still make this in a standard (not deep-dish) pie dish, but it might help to only press the 2/3 the way up the sides. Or, if you’d really like to fill out a standard pie pan, you could double the filling and chocolate This should also work in a 8-inch square baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends; this sling will hopefully make the bars easier to remove.

Crust
2 5.3-ounce (150 gram) shortbread cookie packages (to yield 1 3/4 to 2 cups shortbread cookie crumbs)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (see note about butter amount)

Filling
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons (1 ounce or 30 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup (40 grams) powdered or confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup (130 grams) creamy peanut butter (I use Skippy but think a more natural one would work just fine here)
1/4 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
1 cup (about 6 ounces or 170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
Flaky sea salt, to finish (optional)

Make the crust: Heat oven to 350°F (176#176;C). Place a 9-inch round tart pan (ideally with a removable bottom) on a rimmed baking sheet. Finely grind cookies with sugar and salt in a food processor. Add melted butter and process until clumpy. (See note up top about needing more with other types of cookies.) Press crumb mixture firmly into bottom and up sides of pan. Bake until crust is lightly browned, about 10 minutes. If any parts of the crumb walls have fallen or slumped, you can press them gently back into place with a spoon. Let cool completely. I have no patience for long cooling processes and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, sugar, peanut butter, salt and vanilla together until fluffy with an electric mixer or with good elbow grease, a big whisk. Scrape the mixture into the tart shell and smooth the surface with a spatula. Chill this while you prepare the topping — again, I just slide it into the freezer for 10 minutes. A cold surface helps the chocolate set faster.

Make the topping: Heat chocolate, pinch of salt and cream together in a microwave or saucepan until the chips are mostly melted. Stir until smooth. Let sit for 5 minutes to cool slightly then pour over peanut butter filling and gently spread smooth. Sprinkle with flaky salt, if desired. Chill the tart until firm. As you can guess, I do this in the freezer for 15 minutes or so because I like to have my treats as soon as possible. An hour in the fridge would also do the trick.

Serve in wedges. Don’t forget to share.

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chocolate peanut butter icebox cake – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada Desember 4, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

Chocolate wafer recipe adapted from King Arthur.

The recipe, as shown, make a small family-sized cake, 7 inches in diameter. For a larger cake that could easily serve 16, double everything and roll the discs to 10 inches in diameter.

For the darkest, most authentically Oreo/packaged chocolate wafer-ish color, you’ll want to swap half the cocoa with black cocoa powder, also sold as onyx cocoa powder. It’s available here, or in any baking supply shop.

    Wafers
  • 1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup (20 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup (20 grams) black cocoa powder (see Note; just use more Dutched cocoa powder if you don’t have it)
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine if using a food processor
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
    • Peanut Butter Whipped Cream
  • 3 tablespoons (50 grams) smooth peanut butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • A couple pinches salt
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (20 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy (355 ml) or whipping cream, cold
    • To finish
  • Chocolate sprinkles, shavings, crunchy pearls or chopped chocolate-peanut butter candies
Make wafers in a food processor: Combine flour, cocoa powders, sugar, salt and baking powder in the work bowl of a food processor, pulsing until mixed. Add butter and run machine until it is powdery. Add egg and vanilla and run machine until the dough begins to clump/ball together.

Make wafers with an electric mixer: Beat butter and sugar together until combined. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add baking powder, salt and cocoa and beat until combined. Add flour and mix just until it disapepars.

Both methods: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Roll first between 2 pieces of parchment paper until very, very thin and just over 7 inches across. Slide onto board (parchment paper and all) and place in freezer for 10 minutes, until firm. Once firm, peel back top piece of parchment paper (it should now come off cleanly, with a gently pulling back) and use a stencil or bowl with a 7-inch rim to trim it into a neater circle. Slide cookie round and lower piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool completely on paper, which you can slice onto a cooling rack so that you can use the tray again. Repeat with remaining 5 pieces of dough.

It sounds like a lot of work but the best thing is to get into a pattern where one piece is being rolled while another is freezing while the third one bakes and fourth one is cooling so you’re never working with more than one piece at a time. By the time one piece bakes, the next is ready to leave the freezer.

While cookies cool, make peanut butter whipped cream: In a large bowl, beat peanut butter, vanilla, salt and sugar until smooth. Beating the whole time, slowly add heavy cream, a small splash at a time, until peanut butter-cream mixture is loose enough that you can add the rest of the cream without breaking it into clumps. Whip cream, watching it carefully as it’s very easy to overbeat with an electric mixer, until soft peaks form.

Place first cookie on a cake stand. If it’s sliding around, as cookies do, put a dab of whipped cream down first. Once it softens the cookie, it will make it stick. Thickly frost first cookie all the way to the edges with about 1/2 cup peanut butter cream. Repeat with remaining cookies, decoratively swirling the top cookie. Garnish with sprinkles or candy.

Place cake in the fridge overnight or ideally closer to 24 hours so that the cookies soften into cake layers. A knife dipped in warm water will make clean cuts.

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peanut butter swirled brownies – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada November 30, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

I always bake with a smooth commercial brand of peanut butter but I don’t see why this recipe wouldn’t work with more natural ones; you might find you want a bit more salt.

I realize that the sugar level seems high here but promise it won’t taste excessively so. Unsweetened chocolate requires a lot more sugar than sweetened would, and the peanut butter volume here is substantial enough that it needs to be sweetened as well. Don’t forget the salt, however; it brings out the flavor of the peanuts and adds a great accent to the whole pan.

    Peanut Butter Batter
  • 3/4 cup (190 grams) smooth peanut butter
  • 2/3 (135 grams) cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extra
  • A few pinches of flaky or coarse sea salt
    • Brownie Batter
  • 3 ounces (85 grams) unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
  • 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon flaky or heaped 1/4 teaspoon of coarse sea salt
  • 2/3 cup (85 grams) all-purpose flour
    • To finish
  • 1/4 cup (40 grams) semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips

Heat oven: To 350°F (175°C).

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment and coat the bottom and sides with nonstick cooking spray or butter.

Make peanut butter batter: Whisk all ingredients in a bowl until smooth.

Make brownie batter: In a medium heatproof bowl over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter together until only a couple unmelted bits remain. Off the heat, stir until smooth and fully melted. You can also do this in the microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring between each. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time, then vanilla and salt. Stir in flour with a spoon or flexible spatula.

Assemble brownies: Spread a thin layer of brownie batter (about 1/3 of total batter, but no need to be exact) in bottom of prepared baking pan. Dollop peanut butter batter all over in big spoonfuls. Dollop remaining brownie batter in pan, aiming, if you can, between the peanut butter dollops. Use a butter knife to swirl the batters together in loose figure-8s. Sprinkle chips all over.

Bake: For 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out batter-free.

To keep: Brownies keep well at room temperature, in the fridge or freezer.

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chocolate peanut butter cup cookies – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada November 26, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

My changes to the standard recipe were as follows: First, I found it a little easier to assemble the cookies if I made the filling first, dolloped it out on a tray, and froze it while assembling the outer cookie layer. It doesn’t take any more time, and those more firm centers are easier to wrap the outer cookie around. I also added some sea salt to the filling. I found that the suggested amount of filling (3/4 cup each of peanut butter and sugar) consistently made way too much; I’ve reduced it slightly here (2/3 cup each) but you will likely still have a few blobs of extra filling; seems safer than too little. I found that a little more than the usual teaspoon suggested is ideal for the filling; I use a teaspoon measure and mound it a bit on top, so it’s more like 1 1/2 teaspoons. This gives you an almost equal striation of cookie-filling-cookie.

My bigger changes were to the chocolate cookie itself; I increased the amount of cocoa and decreased the amount of flour for a dark, more intensely chocolate cookie. I then used Dutch/Dutched cocoa instead (a nuttier, darker cocoa standard in Europe but sold here too under brands like Droste and Valrhona; I then used baking powder (which needs to be used in larger quantities) instead of baking soda because Dutched-style powder doesn’t react as well with baking soda as well. If you don’t have Dutched cocoa and want to use natural (i.e. any American brand such as Hershey’s or one labeled as natural), you can do so here and use the more standard 1/2 teaspoon baking soda instead of 2 teaspoons of baking powder; it simply makes a lighter-colored cookie.

    Filling
  • 2/3 cup (170 grams) creamy peanut butter
  • 2/3 cup (80 grams) powdered sugar
  • Two pinches of flaky seas salt
    • Cookie
  • 1/2 cup (115 grams or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature for a mixer, cold is fine for food processor
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar, plus more to coat cookies
  • 1/2 cup (95 grams) dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (65 grams) creamy peanut butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
  • 1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup (55 grams) dutched cocoa powder (see note)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
Heat oven: To 375 degrees F.

Make filling: Line a small tray or plate with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt with a fork; it’s a little messy but it will come together. Once evenly mixed, use a teaspoon measure to scoop heaped teaspoons of filling into little balls. Spread them out on prepared tray or plate. Once you’ve used all the filling, put the tray in the freezer while you make the cookie portion.

Make cookie with a hand or stand mixer: Beat softened butter with peanut butter and sugars until creamed together. Add vanilla, egg, and salt, and beat until combined. Sift in baking powder and cocoa, beat to combine, then add flour and mix until flour disappears.

Make cookie in a food processor: Pulse flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and sugars in food processor until mixed. Cut cold butter (if using, softened works fine here too) into chunks and add to bowl. Run machine until fully blended. Add peanut butter, egg, and vanilla and run machine until it is blended, scraping sides down as needed, and then keep running until dough balls together.

Assemble cookies: Place 1 to 2 tablespoons extra granulated sugar in a small bowl. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Take a scoop of cookie dough that’s just shy of 2 tablespoons (a #40 scoop holds 1.75 tablespoons and is perfect for this) and place it in the palm of your hand. Flatten it with your fingers. Take a peanut butter filling from the freezer and place it in the center, and wrap the chocolate dough around, rolling it in your palms until smooth. Roll it in the granulated sugar to coat, place it on your prepared baking sheet and gently flatten the cookie, just slightly, with your fingers. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies: For 8 to 10 minutes. This is going to seem like really little time, and the cookies are definitely going to look underbaked, but remember that we are just baking a thin outer shell of a cookie (the center doesn’t need to be baked), and this does not take long. Let cookies rest and set up on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack to cool.

Store: At room temperature in an airtight container.

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salted peanut tart – smitten kitchen

Dipublikasi pada November 21, 2023 oleh pbnbigesdi

You could also make this tart as bars! Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with two pieces of parchment paper, each extending up two sides. Press the crust dough evenly across the bottom and 1/4-inch up the sides of this pan. Parbake at 350 (no weights or freezing required) for 15 minutes, until very pale golden. Continue with topping as written; topping baking time is the same as tart. Once cool, cut into 16 square bars.

Heat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the crust: Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and vanilla to the bowl, then run the machine until the mixture forms large clumps — just keep running it; it might take another 30 seconds for it to come together, but it will. Set a marble or two of dough aside, and transfer the rest of it to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom set on a large baking sheet (for drips and stability of use) and press the dough evenly across the bottom and up the sides. Transfer to freezer for 15 minutes, until solid.

Parbake crust: Once firm, prick all over with a fork. Coat a piece of foil with nonstick spray, and press it oiled-side-down tightly against the frozen crust, so it is fully molded to the shape. Bake tart with foil (no pie weights needed) for 15 minutes, then carefully, gently, a little at a time, peel back foil and discard. If cracks have formed, use the marbles of dough you set aside to patch it. Return to oven for 5 minutes, until just barely golden at edges and dry to the touch. Set aside.

Meanwhile, make filling: In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and continue cooking it, stirring frequently, until it smells nutty and brown bits form at the bottom of the pot. Whisk in brown sugar and golden syrup or honey and cook at a simmer, whisking constantly, for one minute. Pour into a large bowl, scraping out all of the browned bits from the pot that you can, and place in the fridge or, as I did, on your very cold patio, for (updated to suggest less time as per comment responses) a few minutes, until it has cooled somewhat. Whisk in apple cider vinegar (with cuts the sweetness and adds complexity, not a vinegary flavor, promise), vanilla, and eggs, one at a time, then stir in peanuts.

Bake tart: Pour filling into prepared tart shell, top with a little flaky salt, if you wish, and bake for 23 to 28 minutes, until just faintly jiggly in the center and golden brown all over. Cool on a rack to room temperature, or, like me, you can rush this along in the fridge, but don’t let it fully chill.

Serve: Decorate (if you wish) with powdered sugar. Serve in wedges at room temperature (not cold, which can be too firm) with a dollop of sour cream.

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