Disneyland Peanut Butter Cookies

Last week I shared the recipe for Debbie Fields (A.K.A. Mrs. Fields) Peanut Butter Cookies and promised to find the recipe for the amazing Peanut Butter Cookies sold at Disneyland when I could find it.

There are many imposters and “copycat” recipes out there that were close, but none that I could find that were exactly like the cookies I remembered. I finally came across a blog that focuses solely on the foods made and sold by the Disney Resorts. Here I found out that Disney chefs do not bake the cookies, full of chunks of smooth peanut butter, they are made by Selma’s Cookies and packaged for Disney, but they are so good, does it really matter?

A little more Internet research led to a cookie blog linked to the Disney food blog that had great pictures and instructions for recreating the Disneyland Peanut Butter Cookie (with the added bonus of chocolate chunks!).

The important thing to making these cookies is to understand that you cannot simply put peanut butter chips into the cookies and expect them to taste like the cookies from Goofy’s Kitchen! You have to take the added step (first) of making the peanut butter fudge that gets broken into chunks and pressed into the rolled cookie dough just before placing on the cookie sheets for baking. It makes the difference between a good cookie and a great one!

As Close As You Can Get To Disneyland Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies

Peanut Butter Chunks:

1/4 cup + 2 TBLS Peanut Butter Chips (Reese’s)
1/4 cup + 2 TBLS Creamy Peanut Butter
1+ 1/2 TBLS Butter

Cookie Dough:

2 sticks (8 oz) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 cup tightly packed brown sugar — (8 oz)
1 cup Granulated Ssugar — (8 oz)
1 + 1/4 cups Chunky or Smooth Peanut Butter — (11 7/8 oz jar)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Large Eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 + 2/3 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks

Instructions

Make the peanut butter chunks first. Mix the peanut butter chips, peanut butter and butter in a small bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. If chips aren’t melted, heat for another 30 seconds.
Make a small 2×5(ish) mold with foil (see photo). Pour the peanut butter mixture into the mold and chill it for about half an hour or until firm. Unmold the peanut butter log and cut into chunks.
Proceed with the cookie dough. Cream butter and both sugars with an electric mixer. Beat in peanut butter, then baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs one at a time, beating on a lower speed, then beat in vanilla. By hand or using lowest speed of mixer, Stir in the flour. When flour is mixed in, stir in chocolate chunks.
Chill the dough for about an hour.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Using slightly less than a quarter cup measure, scoop up balls of dough and arrange on cookie sheet a few inches apart. Stick peanut butter chunks into the already-scooped dough.
Bake for 12-14 minutes, until set and brown around the edges. Remove from oven and cool on pan for about 10 minutes to set. Remove from pan and set on a rack to finish cooling.
Makes 24 big cookies

I cannot wait to make these! Can you imagine taking two of these and putting a scoop of vanilla ice cream between them? Yum!

If you are on Facebook and are interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to, recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water, I have a page on Facebook you can visit too: https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood

Thanksgiving Night Helper

Bon Appétit is always such a lifesaver!

When we are at a loss for how to wow dinner guests, they have just the recipe for us.

glazed-and-lacquered-turkey-overhead-horizontal When we’ve agreed to host the feast and bitten off a more than we could ~~chew~~ , I meant do, they’re there for us with Live (yes! Live) help via Facebook, podcasts we can play again and again, and even via shared tips and tricks on Instagram.

Tonight they seek to come to our rescue yet again, this time with a recipe to help all of us digest the mass amounts of food that we all intend to stuff into our bodies on Thanksgiving day.

Mint, ginger, fennel, and cayenne are known for their digestive properties.

Their recommendation is to have this ready for the morning after, but why suffer all night with a bloated belly? I would make this the day before, when you are prepping the rest of your feast, and make a double batch so it’s ready to go before you hit the hay on Thanksgiving night.

Makes about 3 cups

3 sprigs mint
1 1½-inch piece turmeric, peeled, thinly sliced
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds or aniseed
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon aromatic bitters

Muddle mint sprigs, turmeric, ginger, fennel seeds, and cayenne in a 4-cup measuring glass until turmeric and ginger are broken up into bits.
Add vinegar, honey, bitters, and 3 cups cold water; stir to dissolve honey.
Chill until very cold, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
Strain.

Tip: Turn this into a spritzer by using club soda instead of water.

Chicken Teriyaki Bowls

I had nothing planned for Sunday family dinner after spending the afternoon enjoying the unexpected 88° day outside. I swore not to order pizza 2 Sundays in a row, so I quick thawed a few individually wrapped chicken breasts that I bought at Costco and checked the cupboards for what I could do with them.

My first thought was that I had snipped some fresh basil from the garden and knew that I had some pine nuts and olive oil, I could do a quick pesto and throw the chicken over some pappardelle pasta. That got vetoed because we had enjoyed a block of cream cheese covered with some jarred Trader Joe’s pesto Saturday afternoon with some pita crackers. Damn!

I opened the refrigerator and saw the fresh pineapple that I had ripening to slice and soak in Malibu Rum and inspiration hit. I’d make some homemade teriyaki and we’d have chicken bowls for dinner. Whew! Crisis averted.

Quick Teriyaki Sauce

4 TBLS Honey
1/2 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 + 1/2 Cups Water
8 TBLS Brown Sugar
1 tsp minced ginger
1+1/2 tsp minced garlic (preferably roasted)
4 TBLS Corn Starch dissolved in 1/2 Cup Cold Water
3 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
3 tsp Sesame Seeds

In 1 +1/2 Quart Saucepan whisk together honey, soy sauce, water, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and crushed red peppers over medium heat. Dissolve cornstarch in water and whisk into sauce cooking about 2 more minutes until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame seeds. Makes about 4 cups. Store any unused sauce in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator.

Bowl Prep:

Prepare 6-8 Servings of White or Brown Rice
Thinly slice a green bell pepper, 2 ribs of celery, 2 carrots (julienne or matchstick sized), and 1/4 of a medium onion (if desired)
Quickly stir-fry the vegetables in a splash of olive oil until onion is translucent and other vegetables have softened
Cut 3-4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1 x 1 inch strips (give or take), salt and pepper, and stir fry in a well oiled pan over medium-high heat until chicken is cooked through.
Thinly slice the green portions only of a green onion

Assemble Bowls:

Scoop some rice into the bottom of the bowl
Add a layer of the vegetable mixture
Top with a generous portion of the chicken
Generously spoon teriyaki sauce over the top of the chicken until well coated
Sprinkle with sliced green onion

This is a really easy make ahead meal. Prepare everything and store separately in covered containers in the refrigerator. It is easily and quickly reheated for a weeknight meal!

All-American Meal

During the entire Election 2016, this admitted Political Junkie made every night of both conventions and each of the 3 debates, plus a few other random “big political news” nights, events for a special meal to eat in front of the television.

So, when my husband asked me what gourmet meal I’d be preparing I was surprised to find myself unprepared with a ready-to-answer menu. Uh Oh! He suggested meatloaf which I immediately shook off as not fancy enough for a night I anticipated would involve a lot of anticipatory butterflies for the historic, ultimate glass ceiling shattering moment in history I hoped would be happening for women while we’d be eating our dinner on the west coast.

As the day wore on I started to change my mind about the simple, unassuming meatloaf.

What screams Americana more than the steady weeknight fare of everyone’s youth more than meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas? Nothing I could come up with. Throw in an apple pie and the perfect Tuesday Election Night 2016 meal vote was cast! 😉

Simple Weeknight Meatloaf

2 1/2 – 3 Pounds 85% Lean Ground Beef
1 Sleeve Saltine Crackers Crushed
1 Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
2 Large Eggs
1/3 Cup Ketchup or Jarred Spaghetti/Marinara Sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In bowl of stand mixer (or large mixing bowl if combining ingredients by hand) put (in this order) crackers, eggs, can of tomatoes (undrained), meat, and ketchup.
Using bread hook attachment, turn stand mixer to lowest setting and mix until ingredients start to combine and form a loaf shape.
Remove hook and using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula, finish combining until no dry crackers show through the meat.
Mound into a loaf pan but don’t pack too firmly.
Put loaf pan into preheated oven and set timer for 1 hour and 20 minutes. At about 30 minutes use a turkey baster and suction off any fat that has begun to accumulate along the edges of the loaf pan. Also, use your ketchup or spaghetti/marinara sauce to top the meatloaf.
At 60 minutes again suction the fat from the edges of the pan with a turkey baster. I do this to avoid spillage into my oven and also to avoid having my meatloaf sit in fat during the entire baking time.
At an hour and a twenty minutes, slide your meatloaf out of the oven and insert a meat thermometer into the middle, making sure not to let the tip of the thermometer touch the bottom of the pan. Your meatloaf should read 160°F for medium in the center.
If you want your center to be more medium well, put your meatloaf back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so and check the temperature again. For medium-well it should read 165°F and the rest of your meatloaf will be more well done at or above 170°F.

If you want mashed potatoes to be ready when your meatloaf comes out you can throw some small red potatoes (skin on or off) into a pot of boiling water and cook them for 15 minutes. Turn them off, drain the water and throw them into the bowl of your stand mixer with some milk, salt & pepper and butter. Using the paddle attachment mix until well combined but don’t over mix. Throw some foil over the top of the bowl and they’ll stay hot until you’re ready to eat.

Mrs. Fields Peanut Butter Cookies

pbcookie I love peanut butter cookies, something about them feels more special than a chocolate chip cookie. Just like a sugar cookie tells me it’s Christmas, peanut butter cookies feel like a cold winter night with a warm cup of cocoa. My mom wasn’t big on cooking dinner, but she did bake. Cookies were easy, and peanut butter cookies were my dad’s favorite, so they were one that she made once in a while.

I’m not in bakeries often, but when I do get enticed by their heavenly smell and break down and buy them, I’m usually disappointed. I’m impatient and can never wait to get home, I rarely even make it to the car, before I’m unfolding that waxed bakery bag and taking a big bite of salty peanut butter goodness. More often than not, they are either too dry, too doughy or too greasy and leave me sorry that I bought them.

There have been very few exceptions, but among my favorite peanut butter cookies are: Mrs. Fields, French’s Bakery (Costa Mesa, Irvine, Mission Viejo, and Orange, CA), and Disneyland.

Lucky for all of us, Debbie Fields shared her recipe for her peanut butter cookies on her blog in 2012. A bonus for the Gluten-Free crowd, there is no flour in it!

Mrs. Fields Peanut Butter Cookies

mfpbcookies 1 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
coarse salt or sugar, your choice

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and sugar. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg, then add vanilla directly to it and stir. Add egg mixture to peanut butter mixture and stir until well combined. Roll dough into walnut-sized balls and place on a prepared cookie sheet. Using the tines of a fork, create a crosshatch pattern, flattening the dough about half the thickness. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a pinch of coarse salt or sugar, depending on your tastes. Bake for 10 minutes, or until barely golden brown around the edges. Makes 30 cookies

HINT: A good-quality, natural peanut butter adds even richer flavor, but you may need to add more sugar. Taste dough to determine.

HINT: Kick these cookies up another notch by dipping cooled cookies in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Allow to cool completely before serving.

I never realized that there was no flour in these, which makes them gluten-free, but also explains why they never taste dry or doughy to me.

Next I’ll see if I can hunt down recipes for my other favorites so I can do an unscientific side by side taste test with my family to see which ones they prefer.

Get Rid Of Garlic Breath!

I LOVE garlic!

If a recipe calls for 1 clove you can guarantee that I’ll be adding at least two, but more than likely three. Unfortunately, I am one of those people who doesn’t just get garlic breath, I sweat garlic for at least a day after I’ve eaten it in any form.

One of my favorite aggressively garlic forward meals is Shrimp Scampi.

Extra Tasty Shrimp Scampi

1 + 1/2 Pounds Large Fresh (or Frozen) Shelled & Deveined Shrimp
1/2 Pound Asparagus Chopped into 1″ Chunks
4 TBLS Olive Oil
6 TBLS Butter
1 Cup Dry White Wine (like a Sauvignon Blanc)
4 TBLS Chopped Fresh Parsley
4 to 6 Cloves Fresh Garlic, Minced
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (or more to taste)
2 TBLS Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
Freshly Ground Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Steamed Jasmine Rice
A Freshly Baked French Baguette (for sopping up the extra sauce)

Leaving the tail on or removing it from the shrimp is an individual choice. I prefer to leave it on so the maximum shrimp taste is passed into the sauce, but my husband complains about having to remove them, so I usually do just to avoid listening to him bitch…

Prepare the jasmine rice and set aside (keep warm)
Heat a large sauté pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat
Add olive oil, butter, garlic, and red pepper flakes
Sauté about 30 seconds then add chopped asparagus
Sauté about 90 seconds then add shrimp
Add the wine and make sure that the shrimp is covered completely with the sauce
Spread the shrimp so they are in a single layer in the pan and cook for about 3 minutes
Turn the shrimp over and cook for another minute
Remove the pan from the heat
Squeeze the lemon over the shrimp, lightly salt & pepper and toss shrimp & asparagus with the chopped parsley

Serve the shrimp & asparagus over a bed of the steamed jasmine rice along side a hunk of the baguette, making sure to pour a generous amount of sauce over it all. Enjoy!

Once dinner is over and you’re ready to start getting kisses from your grateful family, you might want to start thinking about the garlic breath you’ve unleashed on an unsuspecting audience…

Apparently the Italians, who serve a salad and/or a fruit course after a pasta course, have known what they were doing all along. The September 2016 issue of the Journal of Food Science reported the findings of a study that concluded that chewing on lettuce, raw apples, or fresh mint after consuming a meal high in garlic reduced the concentration of the garlic smell on the subjects’ breath by 50%.

Spicy Cognac-Mushroom Rice

mushrice

I’m throwing caution to the wind this holiday season and tossing my tried and true recipes out the window. Well, at least a few of them. So, out goes the usual wild rice side dish and in it’s place I’m going to add a whole lot more flavor:

Spicy Cognac-Mushroom Rice

4 Cups Cooked Brown Rice
4 Cups Cooked White Rice
1 – 26.5 oz Can Black Beans (drained)
12 oz Sliced White Mushrooms
12 oz Sliced Portobello Mushrooms
8 TBLS (1 Stick) Butter
1/2 Yellow Onion Chopped
1 – 4oz Can Diced Jalapeno Peppers (drained)
1/2 Cup Cognac
3 TBLS Honey
2 TBLS Low Sodium Soy Sauce
Freshly Ground Sea Salt (to taste)
Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

Prepare your rice using whatever method you prefer. I prefer my pressure cooker so I can combine the white and brown rice and do it all at once, but you can do it on the stovetop, use your rice cooker or even do it in your microwave if you prefer.

Using a large skillet, I use my cast iron skillet, melt your butter.
Add in the sliced mushrooms and let brown, stirring, for 10 minutes.
Next add the onion, jalapeño, salt and pepper and let cook for another two minutes.
Add the honey and stir until it’s well incorporated.
Add the cognac and let reduce for 2 minutes.
Add the soy sauce and stir, then add the drained black beans.
Cook for another 5 minutes over low heat until the liquid thickens a bit.
Pour over the rice in the large bowl.
Stir together and then season with more salt and pepper to taste if needed
Pour rice into a serving dish – I am using a disposable 9 x 13 covered cake pan with a lid for mess free transport.

I am using my unsuspecting friends at tomorrow’s USC homecoming tailgate as guinea pigs. We are deep frying Duck and this seemed like a good way to do a test run.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms & Wine

New-turkeys We all know that the turkey and sides are the stars of Thanksgiving, but there needs to be a little something to nibble on before the feast so people don’t knock each other over like ravenous fiends when the buffet is ready.

Inevitably I end up making too many snacks, but my excuse is that I never know if I’ll have a few people “helping out in the kitchen” for the hours leading up to dinner, or if the entire crowd will be at the house hanging out for drinks and watching football.

I like to assign Thanksgiving appetizers to someone else when I can and ask them to keep turkey-cheese-ball-8 them fairly simple: some type of tray with fruit, veggies, crackers and sliced cheese or a cheese ball. This year I am not hosting, we get to be the guests, but I’ll be taking a few dishes to add to the spread.

My main goal was to find something that wouldn’t appeal to the kids so they’d be less likely to eat so much that they ruin their dinner. I’d rather they eat fruit, if that’s there to snack on. An added bonus: just by saying the word mushroom the kids will come nowhere near them, so their grubby little hands won’t be picking them up and down!

Crab Stuffed Mushroom Caps

¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 – 8oz package softened cream cheese
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of salt
24 – 30 fresh whole white mushrooms
1/8 cup finely chopped celery
1 can lump crab meat
fresh arugula (if desired)
fresh rosemary (if desired)

Preheat oven to 375°F

Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper
Using a fine mesh colander or a regular colander lined with cheesecloth, break up the crab to make sure no shell remains and leave it to drain
Clean and dry mushrooms
Remove stems, trim rough edges, then chop stems and set aside
Place caps (empty cavity up) on the baking sheet
Heat oil in a small pan. Stir in chopped stems, celery, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook until moisture disappears. Remove from heat
Stir in crab, cayenne pepper, onion powder, black pepper, parmesan cheese, and cream cheese.
Use a spoon to fill each of the mushroom caps and return them to baking sheet
Bake in pre-heated oven 20 minutes

crabstuffedmushrooms Serve immediately on a platter lined with fresh arugula and sprigs of rosemary if desired.

Another great thing about this crab stuffed mushroom recipe is that it is easily matched with the wines you are already likely to be serving with your Thanksgiving feast:

Pinot Grigio
Champagne
Sauvignon Blanc
Soave
Pinot Noir

Healthier Potato Chips

It’s debate night and a few girlfriends and I are throwing together a spread so we can drink wine and yell at the combatants on the television screen. All was fine until I realized my son ate all of the chips and Amazon Prime Now had already made their second trip to my house of the day. UG!

I remembered I had a 5 pound bag of potatoes in the cabinet so bravely I took on baking homemade potato chips. How hard could it be? Truth be told, the whole first batch ended up in the trash…I baked them WAY too long and they were black. Oops!

This is the recipe that finally worked:

3 Large Russet Potatoes
1/4 Cup Light Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 -2 TBLS Sea Salt, Black Pepper, Cajun Spice Blend, Ranch Dressing Mix, Mrs. Dash, or any other seasoning blend you’d prefer

Pre-heat oven to 400°
Wash the potatoes thoroughly
Using a mandolin type slicer, slice the potatoes into thin slices, rinse in cold water and pat dry
Pour the olive oil into a medium sized mixing bowl, add the potato slices and the spice(s) you prefer
Using tongs to separate, toss the potato slices making sure that they are thoroughly coated on both sides
Place slices on baking sheets and put into preheated oven.
Cook 12-15 minutes or until chips are brown (but not too dark)
Remove from pans to paper towel lined drying racks so excess oil can be soaked up.
Store in sealed container lined with paper towel between layers.

Serve with sour cream, any dip you choose or ketchup!

After drinking enough wine for a much larger party than just the 4 of us, emptying the bowl of chips, downing a pizza, tweeting until our nails were breaking, and screaming obscenities at the screen for 90 minutes, we were treated to this scene at the end of the debate when a television camera caught an angry Donald Trump angrily ripping a page out of his notebook while grinding his teeth. 😉

Apple Cider Sangria

Yesterday I made a batch of spicy apple cider that filled the house with a delicious early fall smell. Tonight I think I’ll spice things up a bit more by sharing a recipe I have for a large batch cocktail featuring my sweet spicy apple cider.

Fall Apple Cider Sangria

1 Granny Smith Apple
1 Fuji Apple
1 Golden Delicious Apple
1 Lemon
1 Navel Orange
2 Cups Spicy Pressure Cooker Apple Cider
4 Cans Stoli Ginger Beer
1 Bottle Sauvignon Blanc Wine – I prefer one that has peachy/apple/honeysuckle undertones when I am making this Sangria. One that leans toward the citrus/grapefruit might throw the taste off.
1/4 Cup Cinnamon and 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar

Prepare Serving Glasses: Combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup cinnamon and pour onto a shallow rimmed plate (like a salad plate); Dip the rim of your serving glass into water and then touch edge of glass into the cinnamon/sugar mixture on the plate; Lightly tap the excess off of each glass and set them aside.

Prepare the Sangria:

Using a Mandolin or other thin slicer (I prefer the OXO 6 Piece Grater Slicer) thinly slice the apples, orange and lemon.
Fill a Large (At least 1 gallon) Pitcher, or Mason Jar with a dispenser with the fruit.
Add apple cider, ginger beer, and Sauvignon Blanc wine.
Stir mixture, pour into the prepared serving glasses and garnish with thin slices of apple on a small skewer if you desire.

TIP: If you are not a White Wine person, a lot of people aren’t, here are some recommendations for the type of wine you are looking for in this recipe:

Angeline Sauvignon Blanc – About $13 “With graceful aromas of white peach and nectarine, green apple and lemon…”

Low Hanging Fruit Sauvignon Blanc – About $8 “Flavors of honeydew melon, lemon-lime and ripe apple, followed by a refreshing crisp finish.”

Cloud Break Sauvignon Blanc – About $8 “lively flavors of honeydew melon, juicy peach and pear.”

This would be a great light drink to serve while the family is gathering before Thanksgiving dinner is served, an easy picnic or tailgate treat, and would be a really fun poolside treat.

With a 7:30 PM Thursday night USC game two weeks away, I can’t think of a better time to break this recipe out alongside my cider as a bit of a treat on, what may very well be, our first chilly night of the season!

Category: Tips & Tricks

Disneyland Peanut Butter Cookies

As Close As You Can Get To Disneyland Peanut Butter Chunk Cookies

Thanksgiving Night Helper

Mint, ginger, fennel, and cayenne are known for their digestive properties.

Overeater’s Tonic

Per 4 servings: Calories (kcal) 60 Fat (g) 0 Saturated Fat (g) 0 Cholesterol (mg) 0 Carbohydrates (g) 13 Dietary Fiber (g) 0 Total Sugars (g) 8 Protein (g) 0 Sodium (mg) 10