Tuesday, July 17, 2012

crunchy peanut cookies



hello!!! long time no hear!!! how be you? i am feeling much better, thank you.  was i unwell? hell yeah!! i was miserable for the past few days. miserable with a capital 'M'. why? because, my beloved oven, decided to have a cardiac arrest right in the middle of my baking a batch of melting moments. tripped the whole house, and to top it all off...i was just about to scoop these onto the baking sheet. there i was thinking that i could bake some of these, when it all happened. the thing is, in the recipe, it says that the dough for this particular cookie, needs to be refrigerated. while i was preparing, i was saying to myself, 'yeah right. like i'm going to go through the trouble of refrigerating these. i am so NOT going to do that and just get right on with baking them.' guess, someone else had other plans for me. i ended up refrigerating these babies. cheh!

anyways, the oven's all better now and this morning i took out the dough and started to bake these. what do i think about it? well, for one, i didn't like the texture of the dough while i was scooping them. they were crumbly. me no likey. next time i'll try to do it MY way, no fridge. *yeay!!*

as for the taste, well, i immediately know as soon as i popped one of these into my mouth that they will be MrG's favorite. he loves anything with peanuts and i know what will happen to these as soon as he gets home. haha!


okay, if you noticed, the name of these cookies is CRUNCHY peanut cookies. but mine wasn't. it is more semi-crunchy, if there's such a thing. i think i might have something to do with it. i might need too leave in the oven for a few more minutes. tulah...nak sangat bake, tak sesabor...plus i had a date with someone today and i wanted to bring her these, and you know, time was also a factor...okay, lame excuse. time WAS NOT the factor, i was just impatient. haha!! so, next time, add more minutes.

taste wise, these are delish. they are not too sweet and i like the nutty taste. d-uh...nama pun PEANUT cookies, hoccaayyyy...

alright homies, what are we waiting for? ready for recipe? let's go!!

you will need:
125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing*
150g chunky peanut butter
225g granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
150g plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
75g unsalted natural peanuts, chopped**

the how to:
1)  place the butter and peanut butter in a large bowl and beat together. gradually add the sugar and beat well.

2)  in goes the egg, a little at a time, until it is combined.

3)  sift in the flour, baking powder and salt.

4)  add in the peanuts and bring all of the ingredients together to form a soft dough.

5)  wrap dough in clingfilm and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.***

6)  preheat the oven to 190°C. ****

7)  lightly grease two large baking sheets. (see '*') :-p

8)  form the dough into balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced well apart. flatten them slightly with your hand. (i used a 3cm ice cream scoop, sonang kojo mak temah, senaaaahhh)

9)  bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

10) leave to cool for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

*phew* banyak giler instructions. haha!



*i use silicone sheets to like my baking tray, so i didn't need the extra for greasing.

**because i'm all about making things easy for me when i bake, i used store bought pre-murdered (chopped) peanuts. they work just fine for me.

***AAAAAARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! :-p

****i had to play around with the baking temperature and time combo, because at 190°C, my cookies were burnt at the 8th minute. so...

hoccay! this is one heck of a loooong entry. i hope you guys would give this a try. the hard work is totally worth. no, wait. hard work? part mananya?? alahhh...you get what i mean. yes?

okay, luck luck!!!

recipe source: Home Baking, published by LOVE FOOD of Parragon Books Ltd.

Friday, July 06, 2012

peanut butter cupcakes


there is something about peanut butter that you cannot resist. i don't know, maybe i am the only one who has this 'thing' about peanut butter, be it smooth or crunchy. even my  ex robot likes her 'dose' of peanut butter. hehehe...

i made these today. simply because it's friday, and since every friday is 'experimental (more on the mental side) friday' i thought why not give this recipe a go.

again, i took this recipe from my favorite 'kitab' the 500 series. a really, REALLY easy recipe (my kinda recipe) where you just dump everything in the mixer bowl and whisk away. you'd be crazy to not give this a try. believe you me.

the cupcake itself has a very mild peanut butter taste, and it is complimented by the frosting. i think without the frosting it will be a tad on the bland side. i added crushed (more like beaten to death, HAHA) toasted peanuts on top. just for fun!

ready for the recipe? let's go!

you will need:
for the cupcake,
225g (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
225g (8 oz) caster sugar
225g (8 oz) self-raising flour
4 eggs
115g (4 oz) crunchy peanut butter

for the frosting,
60g (2½ oz) crunchy peanut butter
50g (2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla essence
115g (4 oz) icing sugar, sieved
2 tbsp milk

the how to:
for the cupcakes,
1)  preheat oven to 175°C (350°F/Gas mark 4).

2)  line your muffin tins with cupcake liners.

3)  combine the butter, sugar, flour and eggs your mixing bowl and whisk until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.

4)  stir in the peanut butter until well combined.

5)  spoon the batter into the cupcake liners. *i used a 4cm ice-cream scoop

6)  bake for 20 minutes. **this really depends on your oven, i baked mine for 15 minutes.

7)  remove muffin tin from oven and cool for 5 minutes, then cool on cooling rack.

for the frosting,
1)  combine the peanut butter, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl, beat till light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.

2)  add the icing sugar along with the milk, and beat till well combined.

3)  swirl the icing onto the cooled cupcakes.

You can store these, sans icing, in airtight container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

***if you use a 4cm ice-cream scoop, you'll get about 28 cupcakes.

try them homies!!! :-)))