Crazy Cocker Spaniel’s least favorite holiday is here! The one where not only does she get stuck in a costume but where people come and ring the doorbell over and over again. And boy does she hate that. In case you are too young, CCS is not just a shark, but a Land Shark, ala vintage Saturday Night Live. If I could just teach her to say “candy gram” the outfit would be complete.

So I haven’t been around. I know. That whole taffy thing is still around. And so is cheese. Cheese, cheese, cheese. I am so anti cheese right now. I was shooting cheese for a magazine article. I am cheesed out. If that is possible.

Jessie over at Cakespy Tweeted about getting The Grand Central Bakery book. They are a Portland and Seattle Bakery. I immediately grew jealous of not owning it and two days later thanks to the evil that is Amazon.com, I owned it.

These are suppose to be like Nutter Butters, and to some extent they are. I photographed quite possibly the worst looking ones. Totally my fault though. I put them into baggies to keep fresh. Not thinking. See, once something goes in a baggy, that means my husband gets to eat it. And eat them he did. The other half of these went to the refs and hockey teammates. So I was left with the ugly ones. Oh well.

I hope every one has a great Halloween. We are getting lots of rain so I doubt it will be much fun for our local kids. But hey, free candy is free candy!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Cookies:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
12 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer (or with a hand-held beater) with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Add peanut butter and beat for another minute.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add the egg and vanilla, and mix until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until they disappear int the dough. Chill the dough for 30 minutes so it will be easier to work with.

Dived the dough into 2 equal piece and roll each into an oblong log 8-10 inches long; aim for a cross shape of a biscotti and a peanut (I just made a square because I am lazy). Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 3 days (or freeze up to 3 months).

Preheat oven to 325F. Line 2 baking sheet with parchment paper.

Slice the cookies ¼ to ½ inch thick and place them about 1 inch apart, in 3 by 4 rows, on the prepared pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time. The cookies should be dry, firm to the touch, and deep golden brown. Let the cookie cool completely while you make the filling.

Filling:
5 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup peanut butter
pinch of salt
2/3 cup powdered sugar
splash of milk or cream to make a spreadable consistency
Using a stand mixer (or with a hand-held beater) with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, peanut butter, and sugar on low speed until evenly combined. Add the cream if you need to thin out the filling. You want a spreadable consistency.

To Assemble:
Turn half the cookies upside down, then use a small tsp to put a dollop of filling about the ehsize of a nickel on the inverted cookies (I used way more filling ). Cover with the remaining cookie and press together gently so the filing spreads to the edges of the sandwich.

Adapted from: The Grand Central Baking Book by Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson

…in the United States and Newfoundland”.

Though the official start to the NHL 09/10 season started on Thursday (Flames beat the Canucks 5-3, just saying) in the hearts of a lot of people, myself included, the start of the season is the first Hockey Night In Canada. And folks, would be tonight.

In order to honour our beloved HNIC,  tortured Leafs fan Ivonne (Cream Puffs in Venice), Mary (The Sour Dough), and myself (Peabody…in case you forgot) decided that we would hold a potluck. We are all foodies. And we all love hockey. I mean LOVE hockey. It’s nice to have two people how not only share my adoration of food, but hockey. So a potluck just seemed right.

Now granted we live no where near each other but since we are such big fans of hockey we thought we would give it a virtual go. Mary is in charge of appetizers. Ivonne is in charge of the main course. And I, I am in charge of dessert.

Now there are two games, in case you didn’t know. One at 7 pm(4pm my time) and 10pm (7pm my time). And if you are wondering, yes, kids get to stay up to watch the late game. It’s just what you do. But since you are watching 6 hours of hockey (may seem a lot to you, but not really) you don’t want to have to miss out on the game by making some complicated dessert. I figured the best thing to do was to make something that could be made ahead of time for the most part. I chose to make Chocolate-Peanut Butter Peanut Brownies and shape them like little pucks. I know, I’m a nerd. So be it.
They are topped with some store bought ice cream (or homemade…knock yourself out) and some Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche sauce. The sauce can be made ahead of time and reheated, but since it doesn’t take any real time to make it, you can make it between games no problem. Or intermission if you just can’t wait for dessert.

As usual, I am hopeful for my two teams, the Flames and the Flyers to go far this year, and for the Flames to win the Stanley Cup. They both have wins under their belts already so that is a good sign. Or so I tell myself.

Feel free to head on over to both Ivonne and Mary’s to see what I will be virtually eating tonight as I watch the games. Though I must admit I will be watching the Flyers game instead of the Leaf/Caps game. But I will check in with it. But I will sure as heck be watching the battle of Alberta at 10pm! Go Flames! 

 Hockey Puck Chocolate-Peanut Butter Peanut Brownies with Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche Sauce

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Peanut Brownies

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped finely
¾ cup unsalted butter
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
½ cup peanut butter (I used Jif)
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spray a 9-x-13-inch pan with baking spray, or butter and flour it.

Using a double boiler, melt together the unsweetened chocolate and butter. When both are melted, remove from boiler and whisk together to blend chocolate and butter fully. Whisk in brown sugar and peanut butter until fully incorporated. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer (or a large bowl and an electric hand mixer) with the whisk attachment on medium speed, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until eggs become pale in color, about 2 minutes.

Add the vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds.

With mixer turned off, pour chocolate/peanut butter mixture into the mixing bowl. Mix together on medium speed until chocolate/peanut butter mixture and egg mixture are fully incorporated.

Remove bowl from mixer. Add flour and stir using a wooden spoon. You could keep it in the mixer, but I find if you do this step by hand you tend not to over mix. You want to make sure the flour is fully incorporated but not over mixed. Fold in chopped peanuts if using.

Pour into prepared 9-x-13-inch pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer or sharp knife comes out with a few fudgy crumbles stuck to it.

Cool on a wire rack. Once cool, flip brownies over onto a cutting board, carefully. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out pucks. Or if you are going to be boring and not make pucks, just cut them into squares.

Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche Sauce:

½ cup Dulce de Leche (I bought mine, you can make yours)
1/3 cup peanut butter
¼ -1/3 cup heavy cream (depending on how thick you want your sauce)

In a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, heat together peanut butter, Dulce de Leche, and ¼ cup heavy cream, whisking the whole time until all the ingredients are fully combined and sauce is smooth. If sauce is too thick, add more cream. Heat until warm, but not hot (don’t want all the ice cream to melt).

To make Hockey Puck Sundaes:

Place one hockey puck shaped brownie on plate. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Add another brownie puck on top of that. Squish down a little to make a sandwich. Top again with a scoop of ice cream and top with Peanut Butter Dulce de Leche sauce.

Whatever you do, don’t throw away the extra bits of brownie. Just throw that in a bowl and cover with sauce and ice cream and eat.

So the In-Laws have left and I have been doing my best to get back into the swing of things. Not easy to do. I love having people visit but hate having my routine get all thrown out of whack. And it is extra out of whack since there is no hockey right now so I am not score keeping at night. Though that means more baking time.

Thought I would be nice to the husband and make him something with peanut butter and chocolate since I haven’t really done much with his favorite flavor combo in awhile. This is about as rich as it looks in the photo. Now, in the real recipe, you don’t want to use as much mousse as I did in the photo…it was just for photographic purpose. If you used that much it would be a little too much in my opinion.

I did have a slightly amusing moment while out getting the Peanut Butter Cups. I stopped off on way home to the Starbucks to get my afternoon Refresh Tea. While standing in line I notice that the barista and what appears to be her boyfriend arguing. Which then turned into a shouting match, in which he called her a whore.

I really wanted to point out the the guy, that though she may be a slut, she is most likely not a whore, as I doubt she was getting paid for putting out.

But since the guy looked a little unstable, I felt it best to keep my mouth shut this time around.

Sadly, the took the rest of the argument outside. However, I don’t feel that she will be having her job there anymore. Perhaps I should offer them both a piece of the torte to make two very unhappy people get in a better mood.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Torte

6 brownie rounds (recipe follows)

peanut butter cream cheese mousse (recipe follows)

lots and lots of peanut butter cup pieces (I chopped up about 15 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups)

chocolate ganache (recipe follows)

Brownie Rounds

7 TBSP unsalted butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup cocoa powder ( I used Green and Blacks)

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

½ semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F.

Butter and flour Six 4 ½ -inch Diameter Spring Form Pans. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar, about 2 minutes.

Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat another minute.

Pour in cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix on low speed until fully incorporated.

Fold in chocolate chips until completely distributed throughout the brownie batter.

Using measuring cups, pour a heaping 1/3 of a cup into each of the 6 prepared pans. If there is any batter left over, try to as evenly as possible, add to the prepared pans.

Bake for 20-23 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Mousse

½ cup whipping cream, chilled

5 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/3 cup plus 2 TBSP powdered sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter (I used Jif…duh)

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk the whipped cream on high until stiff peaks form.

Place into a bowl and set aside.

Add the cream cheese and peanut butter and whisk on medium speed, until fully incorporated. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined.

Add whipped cream back into bowl and whisk on medium high until peanut butter mixture and whipped cream are fully incorporated and the texture is light and fluffy.

Place into a medium sized bowl and set in fridge while brownies fully cool. At least 30 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache

4 ½ ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped finely

½ cup heavy whipping cream

Place chocolate in a medium bowl.

In a small saucepan bring cream to a boil. Once the boil starts, pour over chocolate.

Let sit 5 minutes.

Whisk until mixture is smooth and glossy.

To Assemble the Torte:

Remove brownie from spring form pans. If still too warm, place in freezer for about 10 minutes.

Place one brownie circle on a plate. Add about a 1/8 cup of peanut butter mousse (I added much more to mine and actually doubled the recipe…but for photo reasons only. That much filling would be too much).

Scatter a handful of peanut butter cups.

Place another brownie round on top of the that. Then add another 1/8 cup peanut butter mousse. Then peanut butter cups.

Place third and final brownie round on top of second layer. Add a ¼ cup for the top layer of peanut butter mousse. And more peanut butter cups.

Pour ½ the ganache over the top of the torte. It might take some peanut butter cup pieces with it down the side. Just add more on top, you know you wanted to anyway.

Repeat and make a second torte. You should have two total. You can share…but why would you?

So there’s a guy at my gym who comes almost every day in full hunting camouflage and I can’t help but wonder, who is he hiding from? I totally get the wearing camouflage while hunting thing, you don’t want the deer or whatever to see you. But who don’t you want see you at the gym? Is it me? Because it is not working. Though I do love when he wears the whole outfit plus the NRA hat. Hot.
Speaking of hiding. I feel like I have been living in a cave as of late. My Google reader is busting out. My email is piling up…big time. I would love to say that some crazy wonderful things were happening, but they are not. It’s just somehow my life got set on fast forward right now and I can’t ever seem to get the things I need to get done.
I originally was just making peanut butter cookies for the hubby. But I discovered that I didn’t have enough peanut butter (so odd, we are never out). So I ended up making more of a sugar cookie with a hint of peanut butter. My husband liked them all the same.
Today I went to Costco to buy more Jif. And you know what? Those (insert really bad swear word here) aren’t carrying Jif Peanut Butter anymore. Oh the horror. They are now carrying Skippy. THEN when I complain about it the woman says, they are all the same, just eat the Skippy. Oh. No. She. Didn’t. I went into great detail about what Jif was better. Sadly it fell on deaf ears. So I had to buy it full price at the store. Boo.
To add more peanut butter flavor to these I made a Nutter Flutter filling of basically just peanut butter and marshmallow. Made them extra yummy though. And to make things even more yummy I made a Peanut Butter Drinking Chocolate to go along with it.
I’m hoping to come out of hiding by the weekend…if not, I guess I will have to go buy some camouflage to wear.

Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Nutter Fluffer Sandwich Cookies

Brown Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
¾  cup granulated sugar
1 ½  cups lightly packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds removed, pod discarded
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F.
Cream butter and sugars in a mixer on high speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl often.
Beat for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs and vanilla beans, then add the peanut butter and mix well.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until all the ingredients are incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and mix just until the dough is smooth.
Using a small ice cream scoop(or a tablespoon) form the dough into ½ inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Flatten cookies with a fork. Bake just until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cookies cool about 5 minutes and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Adapted from Caprial’s Desserts by Caprial Pence

Nutter Fluffer Filling

¾ cup marshmallow crème
¾ cup peanut butter
2 TBSP milk

Heat marshmallow crème over low heat in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add peanut butter and milk. Whisk until fully incorporated. Let cool.
Pipe into center of cookie and place another cookie on top to form a sandwich.

Peanut Butter Drinking Chocolate

Hot Chocolate Base:
1 cup cream
¼ cup milk
2 TBSP corn syrup
1 pound dark chocolate (Valrhona is what was used)
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds rendered, pod discarded (or ½ tsp vanilla extract)

Peanut Butter Milk
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter (I of course used Jif!)
1 quart whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar

In a small saucepan, bring cream, milk, and corn syrup to a boil.
Once the mixture has boiled, chill it over an ice bath. Strain cream into a large bowl and then return the strained cream mixture to a saucepan and bring it to a boil again.
Pour the hot cream over chocolate in thirds, mixing well before adding more. Add the vanilla beans to the mixture and allow to cool.

For peanut butter milk:
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a boil with the sugar.  Remove off heat and whisk in peanut butter. Allow to cool.

To assemble and serve:
For one cup, steam 2 heaping TBSP of the chocolate base with 1 ½ cups peanut butter milk with an espresso machine, or heat them together in a small saucepan. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Pastry Chef Karen DeMasco of Craft, Craftbar and ¢â¬ËœWichcraft ¢â¬â€œ New York, NY