Tag: Baking

Recipe: Peanut Butter Oat & White Chocolate Chip Cookies

My partner is a bit of a cookie connoisseur – so I was shocked and appalled to learn he’d never had a peanut butter cookie (or biscuit as we say this side of the pond). I’ve adapted this one from the recipe at Sally’s Baking Addiction, doing white chocolate (his fave) and half light/ half brown sugar a blend of sweet/rich caramel flavour. The recipe says to let cool completely, but that is so not the right way. Eat some of them warm at least, perhaps 5-10 minutes out of the oven. The other great thing about this recipe is that it keeps in the fridge for several days, so you can bake them in small batches and pace yourself.

  • 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks; 235g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup each (50g) packed light & dark brown sugar (or 1/2 cup of either)
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (260g) creamy peanut butter (see notes)
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups (180g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
  • 1cup (200g) white chocolate chips
  1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, peanut butter, and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
  3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, add the oats. Once combined, beat in the chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky. Cover and chill the dough for at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than 1 hour, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
  4. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
  5. Scoop balls of dough, 2 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and arrange 3 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
  6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Notes

  1. Make Ahead Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature then continue with step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. 
  2. Peanut Butter: Use a non-natural peanut butter like Jif creamy or Skippy creamy. I do not suggest using natural style or oily peanut butter as both produce crumbly, fragile, and sandy tasting cookies. (Try this flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookie if you want to use natural!) Crunchy peanut butter is OK, but I find the cookies taste a little dry with it.

Recipe: Pumpkin Cookies

These are SO MUCH BETTER than pumpkin pie! It’s an American thing, so you’ll see it is in both N. American and UK baking language. One of the small shop pumpkins (not the tinies pictured!) made exactly 1.5 cups, perfect. Also, in case you don’t know – don’t ever try to eat a carving pumpkin, they are bland and stringy. Get the baking/culinary/sugar variety. And can easily be made vegan (I often just make them with nuts and no chocolate), or gluten free, but I’m no expert on that.

Robyne’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip/Pecan cookies

1 1/2 cups (330g) mashed pumpkin*
1 cup (200g) sugar (I use golden granulated)
3/4 cup (145 ml) vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
–
3 cups (400g) all-purpose flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 baking soda (bicarb)
OR
3 cups (400g) self-raising flour + 1 tsp baking powder 
–
3 teaspoons cinnamon (or combo of cinnamon and mixed spice/pumpkin pie spice) – I am heavy-handed with this cause I love it, adjust as needed.
1 teaspoon salt (omit or cut down if using self-raising flour with salt added)
1 cup (100g) quality milk or dark chocolate chips and/or crushed pecans or walnuts. 

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 F /175 C
  2. Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla and egg. 
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon/spice, and salt.
  4. Add flour mixture to pumpkin about a third at a time and mix well. (This is an easy dough so I do it with a wooden spoon, not bothering with electric mixer).
  5. Add your mix-ins (chocolate and/or nuts)
  6. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F/175 degrees C for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm (will vary according to your oven and the size of cookie).
  7. EAT UP!

*While canned pumpkin will work, it is harder to find in the UK and, admittedly, not quite as tasty as fresh, so I stopped using it years ago. Most groceries sell small culinary pumpkins in the Autumn, and they are fairly easy to cook. Simply cut in half, scoop out the seeds (rinse them, toss them in yummy herbed salt or curry powder, and toast them!), then cut up into chunks, brush with a little oil, roast at 180C for about 40 minutes, then let cool, scoop out flesh and mash up with a fork! If mix is very wet, strain it over cheesecloth or ghetto-style like me with a paper towel and a sieve. You’ll end likely up with 2-3 cups of fresh pumpkin, which freezes well. Can also be made with butternut squash, but will make a slightly flatter cookie!