Peanut Butter & Dark Chocolate Drizzle Cookies

Peanut butter and chocolate go together like a pool and a hot summer day, Monday nights and the Bachelorette, or Butler students and Broad Ripple. It just makes sense! So, I have taken the classic "peanut butter blossom" and put my own twist on it.

ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter - unsalted, room temperature
• 3/4 cup peanut butter - chunky or creamy (I used chunky)
•  1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp milk (I used fat free milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup Nestle Dark Chocolate morsels 

directions:

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. It will take you approximately 10-15 minutes to prepare the peanut butter dough, so you want the oven to be ready whenever you are finished. 

Step 1: Mix all of the ingredients together - minus the chocolate chips, obviously. 

Step 2: Take approximately a tablespoon of dough in your hands and roll into a ball - about the size of a large gum ball. Don't forget to spray your cookie sheet with non-stick spray!

Step 3: Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until they are a light shade of brown. Remove and put on wax paper to cool.

Step 4: The chocolate! Put about 3/4 cup of morsels in a microwavable dish and heat the chips, stirring periodically, until all are melted. If you are like me and don't own an icing bag, you can make your own using a Ziplock baggie. Place the melted chocolate in the baggie and cut a very small snip off the corner. Use this as you would an icing bag, squeezing the baggie and coating the cookies with melted dark chocolate. Cover the cookies to your preference. (I made these for some of my co-workers, so I did varying chocolate amounts. Some have lots of chocolate and some only have a little. It's up to you!)

 

If you are not planning on serving this delicious treat right away, let the melted chocolate harden before placing them in any sort of container. This will help the cookies not stick together. If you don't have time to wait for the chocolate to cool down and harden, you can always put them in the refrigerator to quicken the process.

suggested serving: 

With a tall glass of milk!

This is a recipe that your family, friends, neighbors, book club members, boyfriend, co-workers and Santa will be extremely happy that you stumbled upon!

ENJOY!

-ck.

inspired by : http://www.kaceyskitchen.com/2009/11/peanut-butter-blossoms.html 

Foodie - The Pfunky Griddle

The Pfunky Griddle, located just outside the heart of Nashville, is a little, hole-in-the-wall taste bud dream come true! It offers it's customers a unique dining experience where they become the cooks. Each table has a griddle inset, giving diners easy access to whip up their creations.

I love trying new restaurants, especially ones that are unique to a city, so when a friend and I were looking for somewhere to go for brunch this weekend, The Pfunky Griddle seemed like the perfect place for us to go. (And I was right!) After browsing the menu, we accepted the all-you-can-eat pancake challenge. First, you choose from a white batter or a 5-grain organic batter (we went for the boring, classic white). Next, it's toppings time! There are about 20 options, ranging from the normal blueberries, strawberries and bananas to more alternative options like cottage cheese and apricot & almond spread. (Once again, my friend and I stuck in our comfort zone and chose various fruit as our toppings.) The waiter brings you all of your ingredients, gives a little directional spiel and then it's your time to shine!

I don't really know what makes this any different from making fruit-filled pancakes in your personal kitchen, but it is so much fun! If you are ever in the Nashville area, I highly recommend that you channel your inner "Top Chef" and go to The Pfunky Griddle for brunch.

Shout out to one of my very best friends, Tanya, for enduring the 9 hour Mega Bus ride from Chicago to spend the weekend with me! I had such an amazing time trying out new restaurants and exploring the city with you :)

-ck.

Berry-licious Blueberry Muffins

Baking has never been so easy! This homemade blueberry muffin recipe takes only half of an hour (10 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes to bake) and will leave your tummy completely satisfied. This is a recipe for basic blueberry muffins, but nothing about them tastes basic. I will also include some tips on how to make them as moist as possible!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of milk (I used skim)
• 1/2 cup of salted butter - melted
• 1 cup of fresh blueberries (I used about 1/2 cup more to make them extra blueberry filled)

optional:

• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon & sugar (gives the muffins a little extra flavoring)

First, preheat your oven to 375. By the time it gets preheated, you will be ready to put the muffins in!

Step 1) Mix your dry and wet ingredients separately. This will help make your muffins as moist as possible. After you have mixed both the wet and dry ingredients with a whisk separately, it is time to combine the two. Mix until all the dry ingredients have mixed completely with the wet ingredients. 

Step 2) Time to add the star of the show - the blueberries! Mix the berries in with the muffin dough and then pour into 12-count muffin pan. (Make sure you spray your with non-stick spray. I use PAM Original Non-Stick Spray.)

Step 3) Put muffins in the oven (preheated to 375) for 20 minutes. After time has expired, check the center of the muffins with a toothpick to make sure that they are completely done. (When checking with the toothpick, stick it in the center of the muffin and if it comes out without any dough on it, they are done!)

Step 4) Let the muffins cool before you take them out of the pan. I recommend putting a little dollop of butter on top of a warm muffin - ENJOY!!!

I'm sure you can tell from pictures, but these turned out amazing!! They were extremely moist and lasted for multiple days. To keep them fresh I put them on a paper plate and put them in a large Ziplock bag.

-ck.

Homemade blueberry muffins inspired by Team Breakfast.

Sunday Funday

Sunday - the day of rest... But seriously, there is only so much resting that one can do in 24 hours. So, today I decided that I was going to take my Sunday and make it a day of not rest. (Don't get me wrong, I did squeeze in a nap after my adventure in downtown Nashville!) After looking in my very sad and pathetic refrigerator, I came to the conclusion that my outing of the day would be to the grocery store, but when a friend suggested heading down to the Nashville Farmers' Market, this farm girl couldn't say no!

Not familiar with a Farmers' Market? Don't worry, I will tell you all the "ins" and "outs" of getting all the best deals!

First of all, a Farmers' Market is place where farmers and locals with a green thumb come and sell their goods directly to the public. This cuts out the middle man, known as your local grocery store, and most of the time cuts out the ridiculous prices as well! Shopping at farmers' markets is a great way to support local businesses and get the freshest, ripest produce. What more could you ask for?

I have come up with a few tips to help you get the most out of your trip to the farmers market. So, here we go:

Tip #1) Make a list! You should always make a list of what you need BEFORE you go to the market. If not, you might get overwhelmed and think that you need one of everything! (Especially if you are a farmers' market virgin) This will help you be more efficient with your time.

Tip #2) Walk the entire farmers' market before you buy anything! This is probably the most important tip. Seeing as the produce isn't sorted by type, but by vender instead, it is very important to see what all the sellers are offering before you commit to buying anything. You are at a farmers' market for a reason - you might as well get the biggest bang for your buck!

Tip #3) Be educated. Do some research. See what's in season for your area. If you don't already know, look up how to tell when fruits and veggies are ripe and ready to eat. You don't want to take home 4 peaches that are already completely ripe because by the time you get to the last two they might not be good anymore. (And wouldn't that just be awful!)

Tip #4) As always, HAVE FUN! The farmers' market is an experience, not just a grocery store. Ask the venders questions. I'm sure they would love to tell you all about how their Great Grandma used to grow peaches and make peach pie for every summer family reunion. If something catches your eye, don't hesitate to ask the seller if you can try it. They want you to love their product so that you buy more and more and MORE of it! If there is one great thing about the farmers market, it's that there are free samples... of everything!

Tip #5) Don't forget to clean all your yummy purchases! This tip is also very important. Most of the produce at the farmers' market is straight from the garden. You want to make sure that you get all the dirt off before you go biting into that amazing Georgia Peach you just bought!

Now that you have been on a picture tour of my time at the Nashville Farmers' Market, I will conclude with one last piece of evidence that farmers' markets are the way to shop when it comes to fresh fruits and veggies. 

A basket of strawberries, 4 peaches, a pint of blackberries, one cucumber, one green pepper and 3 tomatoes for a grand total of $12. And everything is fresh! (like really fresh.. like "straight form the garden" fresh) Next Sunday when you are thinking about just calling it a day at 11 AM to lay in bed and be lazy, Google "nearest farmers' market" and get out of the house and enjoy the great outdoors!

-ck.