Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I love peanut butter, in case this blog hasn't made that clear.  I've waxed lyrical enough about it, suffice to say...it would certainly be one of my desert island foods.  I love peanut butter sooooo much that I finally managed to figure out how to get a photo onto this blog!  

These cookies are a lot of work, but they are ridiculously tasty.  The original recipe is from the Bouchon Bakery's "Nutter Butter" recipe, but I've changed things around a bit to suit my tastes.  Also worth noting, this recipe makes a TON of cookies.  This is a good thing and a bad thing.  I have no idea how many calories are in these cookies, but I can only assume it is an enormous amount.  For heaven's sake, there is 750 grams of butter!  My best advice is not to think about it and make these with a concrete plan to share with others. 

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough 

2 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 teaspoons baking soda

500 grams butter, softened

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/2 cups quick oats (not rolled oats)

Filling 

250 grams butter, softened

1 cup smooth peanut butter

3 cups powdered sugar

Method:

Start by making the cookies.  

Using a mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter.  Once the butter is nice and creamy, add the peanut butter and cream together until smooth.  Add the brown sugar and the caster sugar, and beat on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes.  Scrape the bowl down regularly to make sure everything is thoroughly incorporated.  

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix together on low speed until incorporated.  Add the flour mixture in about three goes, and make sure the mixer is set to low.  Again, scrape things down regularly to make sure it is all incorporated.  Add the oats and mix well.  

Pop the mix into the fridge for at least an hour, for it to firm up.  It's quite a light mixture, despite all of the oats.

Preheat the oven to about 170C while you are prepping your baking sheets.  I highly advise baking these cookies on baking paper.  I use a 1 inch cookie dough scoop, but if you don't have one try to get evenly sized balls spread at least 2 inches apart on the pan.  Don't press them down or anything, they will flatten fairly evenly on their own.  

Bake for between 10 and 12 minutes, depending on your oven.  You want them to be golden brown, but not burnt.  When you take the cookies out of the oven, they need to cool on the tray for about five minutes before you try to transfer them to a wire rack.  Cook the cookies completely before you put the filling on them.

To make the filling,  pop the butter in a medium sized bowl and cream with a hand mixer.  Add the peanut butter, and mix together completely.  Add the powdered sugar, and ensure it's mixed until very smooth.  

To assemble, pair the cookies of similar size and shape together.  Spread a thick layer of filling on one cookie and then sandwich with another.  

Serving suggestion - a glass of milk and a quiet moment.  

Homemade Pizza

My beautiful husband loves few things more than pizza.  With yesterday being his birthday, I thought I might do something special for dinner.  I’ve been experimenting with yeast breads recently...and must remember to post my dinner rolls recipe which is a delight.  Buoyed by my recent ability to make flour and yeast bend to my will, I decided to make Ant a pizza. 

The toppings are fun to play with, but getting the base right is the key.  Birthday Pizza had crispy crumbled bacon, baby spinach, grated parmesan and fresh mozzarella.  I used a simple tomato passata (but not too much) as the base.  You could really play with this element a lot – could use BBQ sauce, could use an alfredo sauce...maybe even a hoisin sauce.  Just figure out a harmonious meat/sauce/veggie/cheese combination and go for it. 

Pizza base:

Ingredients -

·         1 ½ cups plain flour

·         1 teaspoon dried yeast

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon sugar

·         155 mls lukewarm water

·         1/2 tablespoon olive oil (I used a garlic infused olive oil and it was amazing)

Method -

Place the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon. Make a well in the centre and add all the water and olive oil to the dry ingredients. The water needs to be warm enough to activate the yeast and encourage it to grow but not so hot that it kills the yeast.  Stir mix until combined and then use your hands to bring the dough together in the bowl. It should be soft and slightly sticky.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes, or until the dough is almost smooth. You will probably need to re-flour your work space a few times until it all comes together.  For a pizza, the dough doesn’t need to be as well worked as for bread. Brush a large bowl with olive oil to grease.  Place the dough in the bowl and turn it over to lightly coat the surface with the olive oil. Cover the bowl with a clean, damp tea towel and place in a warm, draught-free place to allow the dough to rise.  Leave the dough until it doubles in size - about 1 hour.

Once the dough doubles, punch it down in the centre and knead lightly in the bowl for 20-30 seconds until the dough is smooth and has returned to its original size. Do not overwork - the dough should be soft and easy to roll out. This dough makes 1 pizza crust with a medium thickness crust.

Preheat oven to 200°C.  Brush a round pizza tray (I used a pizza tray that had holes in the bottom, allowing the crust to really get crispy) with a bit of olive oil to lightly grease. Sprinkle with a little flour. The flour will help give the pizza a crisp, dry base.  Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until almost large enough to line the prepared pizza tray.  Lift the dough onto the tray and use your hands to gently ease the dough out to the edge, allowing it to come a little up the side to form a thicker edge when baked.  Bake the crust for about five minutes before topping the pizza and continuing the baking.

Use the back of a spoon to spread the pizza sauce over the pizza base, avoiding the edge. Place the mozzarella under all the other topping ingredients so it remains soft and stringy. If placed on the top, it can over brown and toughen.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 - 15 minutes. The pizza is ready when it shrinks from the sides of the trays and slides off easily.