Peanut Butter Cookies

This Betty Crocker recipe was the perfect way to use up a jar of peanut butter and a bag of peanut butter chips. This is going to be my go-to peanut butter cookie recipe for sure. It came together quickly and produced a chewy peanut butter cookie with just the right amount of sweetness. The recipe said to roll the dough in sugar before baking. I skipped that step and don't think I missed out.

Ingredients
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup peanut butter chips

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg until creamy. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in peanut butter chips.
Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls.Place balls, sugared sides up, about two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet (do not flatten).
Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Cool 5 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
Yields 2 dozen.

M&M Cookies

I love M&M cookies, and I'm still trying to perfect my own recipe. This one is very close! The cookie itself is a little too cakey for what I am looking for, but everything else is right on. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups M&Ms

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
Melt butter in a saucepan. While the butter cools, mix together sugar, vanilla, and egg. Add in the melted butter. Gradually mix in flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in M&Ms.
Spoon tablespoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely on the cookie sheet.
Yields 2 dozen

Greyson Bakery & Miss Lilly's Trading Company

I sometimes go a little crazy at Whole Foods. This time I kind of kept it under control. The brownies and blondies from Greyson Bakery looked amazing. They tasted rich and crumbly at the same time. The fudge walnut brownie was really chocolatey, and the chocolate chip blondie had a great chocolate and buttery flavor. In the store they were $2.99 each, and an 8 piece gift box is available on their website for $25.

I also couldn't say no to the double dark chocolate cookies from Miss Lilly's Trading Company. The bag of eight cookies was $5.99- well worth it. The cookies stayed fresh after several days and were moist and rich. I really had a hard time stopping after three of these brownie-like cookies. The sea salt sprinkled on top isn't necessary, but it isn't overpowering. I need to buy more of these...

Double Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

I haven't had a traditional peanut butter and chocolate cookie for a while and was in need of one recently. Even though this recipe has a few extra ingredients, it comes together quickly. Sometimes peanut butter cookies are a little gritty, and we don't have that problem here.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Butter 
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/4 cup granulated sugar 
1 egg 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 cup milk 
2 cups flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 
1/2 cup peanut butter chips 

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix the butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and milk together until creamy and sugar is no longer gritty. Stir in the flour until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown.
Let sit on cookie sheet to cool for 5 minutes. Then move to cooling rack to cool completely.
Yields 3 Dozen

Caramel Coconut Cookies

What a treat! The sweet chewy caramel surrounded by a cakey cookie topped with slightly crispy coconut is a great combination. 

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
24 caramel squares, unwrapped
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
Melt butter in a saucepan. While the butter cools, mix together sugar, vanilla, and egg. Add in the melted butter. Gradually mix in flour, baking soda, and salt. 
Wrap 2 tablespoons of cookie dough around one caramel square. Set on the cookie sheet and top with coconut. Repeat with the remaining caramels.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Yields 2 dozen

Baking Betty's

What a find while I was strolling through Fashion Island last weekend! The large individually wrapped cookies feel like an indulgent special treat. The cookies are chewy and are obviously high quality. I tried the Milky Way (chocolate cookie with chunks of Milky Way), S'mores (had marshmallows and chocolate but did not taste any graham cracker), cookies and cream (great combination with crispy chunks), and peanut butter (great classic- really satisfies a peanut butter craving).

The ladies running the kiosk were really friendly, too! Visit their website at www.bakingbettys.com. Cookies are $3.50 each. Be sure to take advantage of the buy three get one free promotion.