August 2024

The original name of this recipe was “Magic in the Middles”.  But I called it as I see it; or rather taste it.  Chocolate and peanut butter have a truly symbiotic relationship; each brings out the best in each other. These take a little time to make, and the recipe makes 26 cookies.   I only got 20.  For you chocolate peanut butter fans – this is worth the time and effort.  Just make sure you have enough milk! Chocolate Dough:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder, natural or Dutch-process cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus extra for dredging)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large egg

 Peanut Butter Filling:

• 3/4 cup peanut butter, crunchy or smooth, your choice
• 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly grease two baking sheets.

To make the dough:  In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, beat together the sugars, butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and the egg, beating to combine, then stir in the dry ingredients, blending well.

To make the filling:  In a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar until smooth.  I had a problem with this mixture.  It was very crumbly, but it did stick together and I was able to make clumps instead of balls as the recipe called for.  Update!!!! I contacted King Arthur Flour and it was their suggestion to add butter or more peanut butter…. I think I would add the butter.

With a teaspoon scoop, roll the filling into 26 one-inch balls.

To shape the cookies:  Scoop 1 Tablespoon of the dough, make an indentation in the center and place one of the peanut butter balls into the indentation.  Bring the cookies dough up over the filling, pressing the edges together to cover the center.  Roll the cookie in the palms of your hand to smooth it out.  

Roll each rounded cookie in granulated sugar, and place on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.

Grease the bottom of a drinking glass, and use it to flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch thickness.  

Bake the cookie for 7-9 minutes, or until they are set.  Remove from the oven, let cool 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack – As if they’ll last that long…… ~Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Sharing with Sweet Indulgences Sunday – A Well Seasoned Life

Sweet as Sugar Cookies – Sweets for a Saturday

I never had any luck with making a homemade cake from scratch.  So if I do make a cake, its usually from a boxed mix.  Nothing wrong with them, to me, it’s still a homemade cake.  The Pistachio Pudding Cake is a throwback to the 70’s when everyone was baking with some kind of jell-o or pudding.  I have memories of my mom putting lime jell-o into a drained can of sliced pineapple and having it plop out like jellied cranberry sauce!  Ahh, the good old days……….. The story of Jell-o and Gelatin. Gelatin has been around for centuries, unlike Jell-o.  Jell-o is made from gelatin, which is made from animal collagen.  A hundred years ago gelatin was only used to preserve foods, by binding and sealing them inside a moist, sticky, and gelatinous layer.  Aspic-wrapped ham is one example of how gelatin can preserve meat. Jello was invented in 1845!  The inventor sold the patent to someone else, who in turn sold it to someone else after being unable to sell the product.  Finally, salesmen were sent out to give out thousands of jell-o cookbooks and demonstrate the product, and jell-o finally made it’s mark and started to become popular. By 1930, congealed salads were in vogue and lime flavored jell-o was a popular ingredient in these aspic and salad recipes.  Savory jell-o flavors became available in the 1950’s such as Italian, mixed vegetable, tomato and celery jell-o .  These savory flavors are now discontinued in the history of jell-o. The jell-o jingle was created in 1934,  J-E-L-L-O, you all know those five notes! Chocolate jell-o was added to the history inventory in 1936 and was an instant pudding, which was made with milk.  The jell-o no-bake dessert line was launched in 1966, which allowed a cheesecake to be made in just 15 minutes. “There’s always room for jell-o” was coined in 1964.  Jell-o Pudding Pops were created in 1971 (loved those) and in 1971 arrived Jell-o 1-2-3, which was a dessert that separated into three layers as it cooled – remember that one? The history of jell-o has had many false starts, and some flavors did not work out, but jell-o takes us back, and although it is not quite as popular today, we all have had jello at one time. So for a throwback to the 70’s, here’s my Pistachio Pudding Cake – updated, of course.

• 1 box Yellow Cake Mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 8 oz. club soda
• 1 box Instant Pistachio Pudding

Mix all ingredients at medium speed for 2 minutes.  Batter will get thick.  Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.  Distribute batter evenly among cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool.  When cool slice cakes horizontally to form 4 layers.

Pistachio Cream Filling:

• 2 pkgs. Instant Pistachio Pudding
• 3 cups cold milk
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 3 Tbsp. sugar

Prepare pudding mix using 3 cups of milk according the package directions.  Stir in pistachios and cream and refrigerate until ready to use.

Chocolate Ganache:

• 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Combine chocolate chips, heavy cream and butter and microwave at 70% power for one minute.  Stir.  Continue microwaving at 10-15 second intervals until smooth and all chocolate is melted. Set aside for 30 minutes. Assembly your cake layers, filling with pistachio cream filling and leaving the top layer unfrosted.  Chill for 30 minutes while ganache is cooling. Drizzle ganache over entire cake.  Top with chopped pistachio nuts.  Chill until ready to serve.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Pop Over to Weekend PotLuck!!!