Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Pudding Cookies

by giraffescanbake // March 11, 2014 // 14 Comments

Possibly the best cookies in the world!

I don’t even feel bad about making that statement, I mean look at them! They are soft, rich chocolate pudding cookies filled with tonnes of chocolate chips and chunks and stuffed with a sweet and salty peanut butter filling. I sent some with the bestie to work with her and one of her colleagues said they were the best thing she’s ever eaten, so you don’t have to just take my word for it!

I adore pudding cookies, they’re so much softer and fluffier than regular cookies, the pudding keeps them nice and light despite all the chocolate and peanut butter that’s packed into them! And in terms of chocolate these cookies have it all; cocoa powder, chocolate pudding mix, chocolate chips and chopped chocolate. I like to mix chocolate chips and chopped chocolate as it gives you a nice variety of textures and melting. Normal chocolate will melt and ooze, whereas chocolate chips have stabilisers in them to help them keep their shape. We don’t really get pudding mix in the UK but as I’m in the US right now I’ve stocked up on a few boxes and am bringing it back with me so I can have pudding cookies whenever I like!

The peanut butter stuffing is your standard peanut butter filling mix; peanut butter, icing sugar and vanilla. It’s a classic mix and doesn’t need any changing. I mixed up a batch and put in the fridge for 30 minutes to stiffen up. Then just scoop the cookies and roll them into balls, about 2 tbsp per cookie, and flatten them into disks. Roll up a small ball of peanut butter filling, about 1/2 tsp, and place in centre of the cookie disk, roll the cookie around the peanut butter and roll into a ball so none of the filling can be seen. Place on cookie sheet and flatten ever so slightly. Repeat with all cookies. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours – chilling is an important step as it stops the cookies from spreading too much and flattening out.

Bake for about 15 minutes until just set around the edges and tops. It’s easy to over bake dark cookies but you really don’t want to do that with these, so remember that cookies firm up as they cool and there’s nothing wrong with cookies that are slightly under baked!

These are definitely my favourite ever cookies and they’re so versatile. You can stuff them with whatever you like and add nuts, different types of chocolate, marshmallows, anything – the cookie world is your oyster! I’ve made a Nutella stuffed version of these too and I’ll post those up another day. Play around with them though and let me know the results and what you do with them, I’d love to hear about and see your pudding cookie creations!

[recipe title=”Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Pudding Cookies” servings=”Makes approx 24 cookies”]

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 box instant chocolate pudding (NOT sugar free or cook-and-serve)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
6oz chopped dark chocolate, chopped

For the Peanut Butter stuffing:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method:

Mix the peanut butter, icing sugar and vanilla together in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Mix the flour, bicarb and cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside
Combine butter, sugars, pudding mix and vanilla in a mix bowl. Beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully combined. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just combined, scraping down the sides to make sure all is incorporated.
Stir in chocolate chips and chopped chocolate by hand until evenly dispersed.
Scoop about 2 tbsp of cookie dough per cookie and roll into balls. Place onto lined cookie sheet and flatten into disks. Take peanut butter filling and roll into small balls, about 1/2 tsp per ball, and place in centre of cookie disks. Roll the cookie around the peanut butter filling, ensuring no peanut butter can be seen and roll back into balls. Place on cookie sheet with about 2 inches between each cookie, they shouldn’t spread too much but you want to leave plenty of room either way.
Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours, this will stop the cookies from spreading and flattening out too much.
Preheat the oven to 350F and bake for about 15 minutes, until cookies are just set around edges and tops.
Leave to cool on wire rack. They are great eaten when still warm though (just make sure you let them cool enough so you don’t burn your tongue!)

[/recipe]

More fancy cookies – Viennese Whirls

Pistachio Pudding Cookies – just as yummy!

Love peanut butter? Try these Chocolate and Peanut Butter rolls!

Happy Pancake Day Y’all!

by giraffescanbake // March 4, 2014 // 1 Comment

British Style!

Today is Shrove Tuesday which is a day observed by some Christians, it’s the day before Ash Wednesday when Lent starts. In some places it is celebrated with Mardi Gras, a carnival celebrating the last indulgence before Lent starts. In little old Britain we celebrate it with Pancake Day! Personally, I love pancakes so I think I prefer our tradition. I believe pancake day came about as a way to use up the eggs and milk you have before you start fasting, at least that’s what I was always told.

Our pancakes are a little different to US pancakes. Ours are more like crepes I guess, I’m not sure what the difference between crepes and pancakes are, I’ve never made crepes (maybe there is no difference, that’s a google for another time) . The traditional way to eat them is with caster sugar and lemon juice, it also happens to be my favourite way to eat them. American pancakes are a different matter, they are best with lots of syrup and bacon yum yum! I love both types equally. Today I had these pancakes, tomorrow we’ll be going out to the original pancake house for some fluffy American pancakes (maybe without the bacon since it’s Ash Wednesday and meat isn’t allowed).

You can put pretty much whatever you like on pancakes though, my other favourites include Nutella and ice cream! The pancake batter is just flour, eggs, milk, salt and a little butter, which means you can pair them with anything savoury or sweet making them super versatile.Let me know your favourite type of pancakes and how you like to eat them in the comments!

When I was younger, pancake day was about stuffing yourself with as many pancakes you could possible cram in, until you couldn’t move for hours. Today, I limited myself to just three like an adult! I only made a little batter since it was only me in the apartment! It’s a really simple batter to make, you just mix flour, eggs, milk, salt and a little butter together until smooth and thin and then you’re ready to go. The secret to making a good pancake is getting your pan really hot and then turning it down to a medium heat just before you pour the batter in. This is much easier to achieve when you have a gas stove (which I don’t here) but you can manage it with electric. My other tip would be to do a test pancake first to see how much batter you need (I find about 3 tbsp is good for a 10″ pan), then use a ladle or something similar to pour the batter in the pan as you want it all in the pan at once so it cooks evenly.

Have a great day everybody. If you observe lent, let me know what you’re giving up in the comments below!

[recipe title=”Pancakes” servings=”6-8 10inch pancakes”]
Ingredients

110g plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml milk
50g unsalted butter

Method

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl from a height so the flour gets a good airing. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Whisk the eggs into the flour.
Gradually add the milk and continually whisk. Don’t worry about any lumps, they’re disappear as you go. When all the liquid is added, scrape down the sides to make sure its all incorporated.
Melt the butter in your pan and add two tablespoons of it to the batter and whisk in. Pour the rest of the melted butter into a bowl and use it to oil your pan, using paper towel to smear it around the pan before each pancake.
Now, get the pan really hot and then turn the heat down to medium. Pour the batter into the pan, as soon as the batter hits the pan tip it from side to side to get the base of the pan all covered. It should only take a minute or so to cook, you can lift the edges up with a fish slice to see if its browning. Flip the pancake over (with your fish slice, or with your mad flipping skills if you have them!) the second side will only take a few seconds. Then just slide it out of the pan onto a plate.
Stack the pancakes with sheets of parchment paper in between, with the plate on top of a pan of simmering water to keep them warm while you make the rest
Serve immediately with the toppings of your choice.

[/recipe]

Another breakfast bake: Peanut Butter & Chocolate Rolls

Another British Fave: Viennese Whirls

Yummy breakfast: Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Rolls

by giraffescanbake // February 7, 2014 // 3 Comments

A perfect excuse to have peanut butter and chocolate for breakfast!

After I made the super easy cinnamon rolls I was itching to make them again, they were so good and so quick to bash out they had to be done again. This time I decided to mix things up and fill them with peanut butter and chocolate instead of cinnamon. Sweet and salty perfection!

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate with peanut butter which is blasphemy to some of you I’m sure. I overdosed on peanut butter m&ms once when I was teenager and I just haven’t enjoyed it the same since. So who knows what made me decide to make these but I’m glad I did. They were super yummy without the peanut butter filling being too overwhelming.

I used the same dough recipe I did on the cinnamon rolls, it’s wonderfully fluffy and rises beautifully with only one proving time needed. What more do you want from a sweet roll dough? I’ll include the recipe for the dough in this post so you don’t have to flip between recipes, I don’t want to delay your sweet roll gratification even a millisecond! Just pop the filled and cut rolls in a warm place (I heat an oven to 150C, turn it off and put the rolls in) for 60 minutes and you’re good to go!

Look at that rise after just 60 minutes!

They’re filled with a yummy mixture of creamy peanut butter and brown sugar, which is a much more satisfying filling that peanut butter fillings made with icing sugar. Then sprinkled with semi-sweet chocolate chips, you can use milk chocolate if you wish but personally I think peanut butter goes best with a more bittersweet chocolate. Roll it up and cut it into even slices and place in your dish! Once you’ve let them rise (see above), they just need baking for 25 minutes.

It’s not quite time to gobble them all up yet, you have to glaze them first. I used a simple chocolate glaze which is lovely and satiny, just chocolate, corn syrup (boo, hiss I know but what you gonna do) and butter made in a double boiler. I’ve seen some people use cream cheese frosting for it, which sounds a bit odd to me but whatever floats your boat. Drizzle it on while the rolls are still hot!

How awesome is this copper double boiler I got for christmas?! Love it!

Now you can dig in and eat as many as you can handle! Feel free to share if you’re feeling nice and if you can’t eat them all at once, just cover them with cling film and stick in the microwave for 30 seconds before eating one!

[recipe title=”Peanut Butter & Chocolate Rolls” time=”2hr 30mins”]
For the rolls:

345g all-purpose flour
3 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 package instant yeast (1 packet = 7g)
120ml water
60ml milk
40g unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:

150g brown sugar
250g creamy peanut butter
175g semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the glaze:

80g semi-sweet chocolate ships
1/2 tbsp corn syrup
25g unsalted butter

Make the dough

Set aside 75g of the flour. Then toss the remaining flour, sugar, salt and yeast together in a big bowl. Set aside
Put the water, milk and butter in a bowl and microwave until the butter is melted and mixture is hot, about 45 degrees C. Stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Stir in the egg and enough of the reserved flour to make a soft, smooth dough. The dough is ready when it comes away from the side of the bowl and is elastic in consistency.
Lightly flour your worktop and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl and leave it to rest for about 10 minutes.
Roll the dough into a 14 x 8 inch rectangle

Make the filling and bake

Stir together the brown sugar and peanut butter and spread evenly over the dough, going right up to the edges
Sprinkle on the chocolate chips
Roll up length ways and cut into even slices
Place in light greased 9×9 dish, cover loosely with foil and place in a warm, draught free place for 60-90 minutes
Remove risen rolls from the oven (if proving in there) and preheat the oven to 190C/375F and bake for 25 minutes or until they have gone a light golden colour

Make the glaze and eat!

Put the chocolate, corn syrup and butter in double and stir until melted.
Drizzle over the still hot rolls
Serve warm and enjoy!

[/recipe]