Peanut Butter and Honey Cookies!

Oh yes yes I did it. I made the world's sweetest and softest cookie. I break th rules its what i do when it comes to cooking. Be prepared to be blown away! My inspiration for this cookie was literally my sweet tooth. In the morning I always crave sugar and peanut butter. Therefore this cookie had to be made. However, the honey was not in the recipe until I realized I had ran out of sugar. I thought, it wont hurt to at least try. I also mixed it with a little splenda. Another ingredient that was unique was a new thing from Jiff. Whenever we go to Disneyland, I pack a ton of snacks. The last time we went I found these little peanut butter containers called Jiff to go. They had one called chocolate silk and peanut butter. I had noticed a couple left over containers in the pantry so I said what the heck! And I dumped them out into the mixing bowl. So the recipe is as follows:

1/2 cup peanut butter
2 containers jiff to go chocolate silk (optional)
1/4 cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup splenda (optional)
2 sticks room temperature butter (I use a low calorie butter like challenge)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs (I use egg substitute egg beaters. They really make a better cookie)
2/1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 package peanut butter chips

In a large bowl mix together salt, baking soda, and flour and set aside. In a mixer combine butter, peanut butter, chocolate silk, brown sugar, splenda, vanilla, and honey. Mix on low speed for a minute and then raise to medium high speed until the mixture is whipped and creamy. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs. Bring speed back up to medium high to bring the mixture back up to a creamy consistency. And again, reduce speed to low and slowly incorporate the flour mixture. Once it is all mixed well (and it should be thick yet still soft). Add in peanut butter chips and mix on low for a couple seconds until they are well incorporated. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place a heaping spoonful of cookie dough on cookie sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until they no longer look like raw dough. Do not let them brown at all. Take them out and let them sit for 5 minutes and then place on either a plate to let them firm up more or in a cookie jar to keep them extra soft. If you put them all in the cookie jar because they are so soft, they have a tendency to bunch up together. I personally enjoy that because its fun to just kind of reach in and peal away a moist cookie but if you prefer them to be more crunchy and firm, add a couple of minutes to the baking time and allow them to sit on a plate for a while before placing them in a cookie jar. The most important and final step is to ENJOY!!

A Sweet Party/Gift Tip

If you are in charge of making a sweet for a party or event or simply want to give a gift to someone, I have a great way to dress it up. If you are anything like me, sometimes your treats will come out looking a little sloppy. For cupcakes, cookies, truffles, candies, or anything of the sort, it is all about the presentation. If you have messed up your treat a bit and it doesnt look perfect, first I just want to say, THAT IS OKAY. Nothing is absolutely perfect unless you are trying to enter in a contest. So, go to your local craft store and find a pretty basket or container. For the picture I posted, I found this super cute wooden box in the basket aisle of Michaels. I then bought a styrofoam block in a few aisles down (just because I was doing truffle pops on a stick) and then I found cute paper pink confetti and filled the box with that. To make it even better, a few more aisles down you will find cute clear platic wrappers of all sizes. If you made rice crispy treats or cookies, these are perfect for those. Even for candies. And then I go down to the ribbon aisle. They have such an amazing assortment of ribbons. These will be used to tie the wrappers. Once your treats are nicely wrapped, place them on the pink confetti in the box and you are ready to go. For truffles, there is another aisle where they have mini cupcake wrappers/holders. They come in so many cute decorations and colors. Place the truffle in the holder and then place them on the pink confetti in the box. At this point, the presentation is so beautiful that nobody will notice the imperfections. This is such a cute, fun, and easy idea that will really wow the crowd.