Peanut Butter "Cheese Ball"

I wasn't kidding when I said I've been obsessed with peanut butter lately. But I think I've finally satisfied my craving. I made this peanut butter cheese ball for a get together last weekend that ended up getting canceled at the last minute. My husband was out of town for an away game so that left me with this peanut butter cheese ball all alone. There was no one home to pull in the reigns or least make my conscience feel a little guilty as I devoured it.

The first time I tasted this was at game night at my friend Jenni's house. I was training for a marathon and just completed one of my long runs that day so I was feeling like I had earned the right to eat whatever I wanted. So I did. I ate about half of the cheese ball...no joke. 

If you are a peanut butter fan, you will love this. If you aren't...we can't be friends.

This is really kid friendly and what I did share of it with my kids, they loved eating with apple slices.



Freeze the peanut butter mixture in saran wrap to make a ball shape. After the ball has set up, roll it in the peanut butter and chocolate morsels.






Peanut Butter "Cheese Ball"

from my friend Jenni; adapted from Nestle

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (not all-natural)
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips
Graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, and/or apple slices for dipping

Directions:
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until blended.

Spoon onto a large piece of plastic wrap; bring up all four corners and twist tightly forming into a ball shape.

Freeze for 1 hour 30 minutes or until firm enough to keep its shape. Place peanut butter and chocolate chips in flat dish. Remove plastic wrap from ball and roll ball into morsels to completely cover, pressing morsels into the ball if necessary.

Place ball on serving dish; cover and freeze for 2 hours or until almost firm. (Can be made ahead. If frozen overnight, thaw at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.) Serve with graham cracker sticks, teddy grahams, or apple slices for dipping or spreading.

Lasagna Cupcakes

I know it's been a while since I've posted. As much as I like staring at Oreos engulfed in peanut butter cookies, I'm sick of staring at those things. But since it's been almost two weeks since I've posted, I feel like I need to break the silence.

It's a little awkward.

Like running into someone you went on a date with two weeks ago and haven't talked to since the date.

So hi, I'm here. I've been in a major food funk lately. All I want to eat is peanut butter.

It's not like I haven't been cooking. I've been making a lot of recipes but they have all flopped. Or at least in my pregnant hormonal mind they just aren't good enough to share.

So to make up for my silence and guarantee we have second date, I'm sharing one of my most popular recipes over at Tablespoon, Lasagna Cupcakes, until I make something worthy to make the blog.

These Lasagna Cupcakes have all of the classic lasagna elements with layers of meat, three types of cheeses, and pasta. Wonton wrappers are used as the pasta element in this lasagna, eliminating the nightmare and logistics of trying to make pasta noodles cupcake sized.  

Just cut some wonton wrappers into circles using a glass as an outline.

I don’t know about your family, but in my family when we eat lasagna, we all fight over the corners of the pan because of the crispy and chewy texture. With these cupcakes, every single one has all the yummy qualities of those corner pieces.

Assemble your mini lasagna cups in muffin tins.

Oreo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

My husband calls me the Food Nazi.

He says that I'm so laid back with everything else but when it comes to food I get a little bossy. Here's why: If I have people over for dinner I want them to enjoy what I made. But if they don't eat it as I intended, like don't layer things in the right order (specifically Cafe Rio) or use the wrong sauce, then I get a little bossy. I don't want them thinking I'm not a good cook and if they don't eat it how it's supposed to be eaten then they might not like it. It's a problem I'm working on.

I had a package of Oreos glaring at me for 2 days before I just had to do something with them. I wanted to make a treat for my friend's birthday and what I really was craving were Oreos dipped in straight peanut butter. But figured that wasn't presentable enough to give away so these Oreo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies were the next best option.

Jenny from Picky Palate came up with the Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookie a while ago. Genius. One of those simple, "why didn't I think of that?" ideas that flooded the Internet. But I didn't want a chocolate chip cookie. I had to have some peanut butter. And how could a peanut butter version of her idea not be as glorious if not better? A warm peanut butter cookie with a gooey Oreo inside!

Okay but if you make these, as the Food Nazi, you have to promise that you will eat them warm out of the oven. Or at least microwave them for a couple of seconds before you eat them. Because they really are best that way.  And I can't have you thinking anything less than amazing of these cookies.

There you go. I'm done with being bossy.

For now.

Oreo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies
Source: Runs With Spatulas; original idea  Picky Palate;

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 package of regular Oreo cookies

In the large bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each is fully mixed in.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Slowly stir in flour mixture, 1/3 at a time until completely incorporated. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour (I never wait that long, if at all).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place 1 tablespoon of cooking dough on top of an Oreo cookie. Place a second tablespoon underneath. You want just enough dough to cover the Oreo so that your chocolate to peanut butter cookie ratio is equal. Gently press the dough down around the Oreo, sealing the cookie dough edges together so that no Oreo shows through. Transfer the cookie to a prepared baking sheet and repeat, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between each cookie.

Bake for 8-11 minutes, or until cookies have just started to brown around the edges. Do not overbake! I like mine a little on the gooey side so 8 minutes is all I cook them. Cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 30-36 cookies.

Guacamole

I love avocados. My mom used to spoon feed them to me as a baby. Even now, I'll sprinkle some salt on and avocado and eat it with a spoon. An avocado is technically a fruit and of course my favorite "fruit" is the one with the most calories and fat. Good fat they say. Whatever makes me feel better.

I was craving guacamole and whipped up some to go with these Honey Lime Enchiladas. I know everyone likes their guacamole different but this is how we like ours. Sometimes I add some finely diced jalapeno for some heat but most of the time I leave it out.

I like mine on the chunky side.

1) Halve each avocado and remove the pit. 2) Scoop out the flesh with a spoon. 3) Then coarsely chop it.

Slightly mash the avocado then add onion, tomato, cilantro, garlic and some lime. Then salt and pepper it to taste...which for me these days is never enough. I love to put a ton of salt in everything since I'm pregnant.

Guacamole

4 ripe avocados

1/2 cup red onion, diced finely

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced finely

1/4 - 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped finely

1 lime, juiced

1 teaspoon minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

(optional) 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced finely

Cut avocados in half and remove pit. Scoop out flesh of avocado and coarsely chop it. Place in a large bowl and slightly mash with a fork. I like mine on the chunky side. Add the diced onion, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic and toss together with the avocados. If you like your guacamole on the spicy side add some diced jalapeno here.

Add the lime juice, salt, and pepper to taste.

Chill until serving. If not serving right away place saran wrap directly against the guacamole so that it does not oxidize and turn brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

Roy's Chocolate Souffle (Molten Lava Cake)

I think I have a problem. A chocolate soufflé problem. I like to call them lava cakes because of the melting, oozing chocolate that pours out when you cut into the decadent chocolate cake.

I started to realize I had a problem when I met some friends for dinner and I exclaimed that I was starving (a common theme lately) and hadn't eaten anything all day. Well, except for three lava cakes...but that didn't really count.

I could tell by the looks on my friend's faces that eating three lava cakes and barely acknowledging the consumption isn't normal. A normal person might feel really guilty from eating just one lava cake and run straight for their treadmill. Not me. I guess I didn't earn the name The Girl Who Ate Everything from eating saltine crackers and tofu.

Can you see why I ate three in one sitting?

Roy's is one of our absolute favorite restaurants. It's Hawaiian infused cuisine and we ate there in Hawaii earlier this year. At the end of our meal we ordered their Chocolate Soufflé. It was so good that as a shot in the dark I emailed Roy's and asked them if I could have the recipe. I was amazed that 1) they actually emailed me back and 2) that they willingly gave me the recipe with permission to share it with you guys.

The batter keeps in the fridge up to 10 days so you can make one anytime you feel a little chocolate craving which apparently for me is everyday...a couple times a day. You're supposed to refrigerate it overnight before baking but impatient me baked one after the batter had only been in the fridge for an hour. It was still good but I think it's worth it to chill it overnight. It's really easy and took me 5 minutes to prepare. The hardest part of the whole recipe is lining the ramekins with parchment paper since I didn't have a soufflé mold (later I did see soufflé molds at Michael's). Heck, you could even bake them in a greased muffin tin (with reduced baking time) like a reader suggested.

If you don't have souffle ring molds you can use parchment lined ramekins. 

A sprinkle of powdered sugar to finish it off.

Roy’s Chocolate Soufflé

Source: Roy Yamaguchi of Roy's

4 squares of parchment paper (3x3 inches)
4 strips of parchment paper (2x12 inches)
4 metal soufflé ring molds (3 inches in diameter x 2 inches tall) or parchment lined ramekins (see Note)

Soufflé Batter:
8 oz. good quality semi-sweet dark chocolate (i.e. Guittard, Vahlrona, Callebeaut - I used a Ghirardelli
baking bar)
12 Tablespoons butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
4 whole eggs plus 4 egg yolks

To make the soufflé batter, combine sugar and cornstarch in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and yolks. Bring butter to a simmer in a saucepan. Add chocolate and mix until smooth. Continue to mix until chocolate begins to simmer along the edges. Transfer the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix until combined. Add eggs and mix at low speed until mixture is smooth and sugar dissolved. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line each soufflé ring with a strip of parchment paper and spray with pan release such as Pam. Place parchment paper squares on a baking sheet and set molds on top.

Note: If you don't have a souffle ring you can use ramekins. Line the bottom of each ramekin with a circle of parchment paper and line the sides with parchment paper as shown above. Spray with cooking spray. You can also just eat them straight out of the ramekins or use cupcake liners with reduced cooking time because they will be smaller. Another option is to bake them in a greased muffin tin with reduced cooking time.

Fill each ring mold or ramekin with soufflé batter ¾ of the way full. Bake on top oven rack for 26-28 minutes. My ramekins were a little smaller so I baked them for 21-23 minutes. You just want to make sure the tops are set but the middle is still gooey. Remove baking sheet from oven. Slide a metal spatula under each mold, and carefully transfer to individual serving plates using a pair of tongs. Gently lift off the mold and remove the parchment paper. If using ramekins, use a knife to and run it around the edge then carefully invert and place on a serving dish. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Serve immediately. Left over batter can be refrigerated for up to 10 days.