Double Frosted Peanut Butter Cookies

These cookies are SO delicious! However, they are extremely rich and will require several glasses of milk with them ;). They are very good without the frosting too so if you require 2 cookies, I'd probably leave the frosting off.

Ingredients:
Cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups peanut butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips)

Peanut Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons milk

Chocolate Frosting:
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) margarine
5 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
powdered sugar

Directions:
For Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl combine butter and peanut butter and beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Add sugars and mix until well combined. Add eggs and mix until the mixture is well combined and light in color. Add milk and vanilla, mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until flour is incorporated, but there are still large spots of flour in the dough. Add chocolate/peanut butter chips and mix until well combined. Let cookie dough sit for 20 minutes so it can firm up a bit.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes after baking to allow them to cool and firm up slightly before placing on a cooling rack.

For Peanut Butter Frosting:
Mix all ingredients until smooth. Frost cooled cookies.

For Chocolate Frosting:
Bring margarine, cocoa, and milk to a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar until frosting is desired consistency. After cookies are cooled and frosted with peanut butter frosting, frost with chocolate frosting for the final layer.

Helpful Hints:
You can use any combination of chips you want. You can use all chocolate, all peanut butter, half and half, etc. I just like to use half and half.

These cookies are SO much better cooled. Usually I love warm cookies right from the oven, but these ones are much better when they've cooled a bit.

The frosting recipes only frosted about half or a little more than half of my cookies. However, that was completely fine because the frosted cookies are incredibly rich and don't freeze nearly as well.

To frost my cookies I just put the frosting in a zip lock bag and cut the very tip of one of the corners. That way I can just squeeze it out all nice and neat and I don't have to go buy special frosting items.

Soft & Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies

This is my new favorite chocolate cookie! These will definately take care of any chocolate craving you may have.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet Baker's baking chocolate, chopped
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork; set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (50% power for 2 minutes, then stir and microwave in 20 second intervals until chocolate is melted – be careful not to overheat).

Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until combined; the mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips. Do not overbeat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

Adjust the oven racks to the upper and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheets with parchment paper (cookies will stick if only using a greased baking sheet). Roll the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls and place them on the cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake about 9 - 10 minutes, rotating baking sheets halfway through baking time (until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft) Cool the cookies on the sheets about 5 minutes or until set and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Helpful Hints:
* You may be tempted to cook the cookies for a little longer, DON'T DO IT!! They will set up more as they cool.

* Do not substitute chocolate chips for the Baker's baking chocolate because chocolate chips melt differently so the cookies won't be the same.

* Milk chocolate chips are a great substitute for the semi sweet chocolate chips. That's what I had and they tasted great!

* I don't like shaping the balls of dough with my hands and constantly having to wash them so I use a cookie scoop which worked perfectly! I just used a heaping scoop for each cookie and they were the perfect size.

French Bread Rolls

I made these rolls to use with our meatball subs. They were so yummy! So much better than store bought subs. I did attempt to make them into subs, however, next time I will just make rolls because a roll is a much better serving size and if needed you can have two!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour, give or take a few tablespoons

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, let the yeast proof in the warm water and sugar for about 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly. Combine the oil, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Begin mixing and continue to add the rest of the flour gradually until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Judge the dough not by the amount of flour called for in the recipe but in how the dough feels. The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.

Knead the dough in the stand mixer until it is very smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (this usually takes about an hour).

Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased countertop. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and form the dough into round balls. Place the rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet about an inch apart. Cover the rolls with lightly greased plastic wrap (don't pin the plastic wrap under the baking sheet or the rolls will flatten while rising). Let the rolls rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through.