Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies*

These cookies DID turn out to be chewier than 

those made from my other favorite 

Peanut Butter Cookie recipe...

Personally, for next time, I think I will cut 

back on the "sweetness" ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

• l egg
• 1 cup peanut butter (I used a "natural" chunky variety.)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup honey roasted or dry roasted peanuts, chopped (not needed IF you use chunky peanut butter as I did).

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350-degrees.
2. BEAT egg in large mixing bowl with mixer until foamy.
3. ADD the peanut butter, sugar and honey.  Mix well.
4. ADD the flour and stir just until combined/smooth.
5. Using my 1.5 tablespoon-sized cookie scoop, I put 15 "little balls of dough" on my 15x10" parchment-lined cookie sheet.  
6. Flatten each dough ball, in crisscross pattern, with fork (slightly wet the fork tines if they get sticky).
7. BAKE 11 to 12 minutes (in my oven, it was 11.5 minutes).  Cool on baking sheet for at least 1 minute.  Remove to wire racks, cool completely.  

Below:

This 5-quart enameled cast iron "kettle" is my

most favorite "cookie jar" around here... 

its lid is heavy enough to keep cookies in 

good condition for quite a while.

Based on recipe from Kraft's Food & Family / Fall 2014 / Page 38

Fresh Plum Cobbler (Sort of!)

Watch it BUBBLE!!!!

And,... THEN,... HAVE A PIECE (with some ice cream)!!!!

This all started because my daughter Cheryl gave me a sack of fresh plums from their faithfully producing plum tree.   These aren't as large as the dark plums sold in grocery stores around here.  I would guess it takes two of these to equal one of the other.

Of the two varieties of plums she has, these were not the cling-free kind.  In other words, quite a bit of plum flesh WANTED to stick to its pit.  The recipe said to "pit the plums, and quarter them".   In this case, that wasn't a "neat" job.  As shown below, I first made the following cuts and then removed the flesh from the pit as good as I could.   (To make the cobbler, and because these plums were of the smaller kind, I doubled the number of plums called for.)

INGREDIENTS:

• Oven Temp:  375-degrees
• Baking Time:  40-45 Minutes, or until topping is brown and "bubbly".
• 9x9" baking pan or dish, sprayed with "non-stick".

xxxxxxxx

• 7 Large Plums (or 14 of the smaller type), pitted and quartered.
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

xxxxxx

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (or mace, if you have it)

xxxxxx

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

xxxxxx

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine the prepared plums, first 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour and cinnamon.  Spoon this into a sprayed or greased 2-quart (or 9x9") baking dish.
2. In a small bowl, combine the next two sugar(s), baking powder, salt, nutmeg (or mace) and the last two cups of flour.
3. Add lightly beaten egg; stir with fork until mixed together and crumbly.  Sprinkle this mixture over the plum mixture. 
4. Drizzle top with melted butter.
5. Bake at 375-degrees for 40-45 minutes or until plums are tender and top is golden brown.   
6. Cool for at least 10-20 minutes before serving.   Serve warm or at room temperature.  (Ice cream  or whipped cream is a good addition.)
7. Yield:  About 8 servings.

Below:  Warm plum cobbler with 

"squirts" of whipped topping...

Zucchini Brownies

It is not a mistake that this recipe does not call for eggs.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 and 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded zucchini
• ....
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13" baking pan/dish.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, and the 2 cups shredded zucchini until well blended.
4. Combine the 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Stir into the sugar mixture.
5. Fold in the walnuts (optional).  Instead of folding the walnuts into the stiff batter, I just sprinkled them on top before baking and then gently pressed them in a little bit with the back of a spatula.
6. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the pre-heated oven until brownies spring back when gently touched, OR until a toothpick comes out clean.  Do not over bake.

FROSTING?????  IF you want to put a frosting on these, melt together 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder and 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter. Set aside and let this cool.  In a medium bowl, blend together 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.  Add this to the melted and cooled cocoa/butter mixture.  Mix/beat well until very smooth.  Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.