Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookies

I wanted to make cookies, and couldn't decide between Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip. I decided a marriage between the two would be divine, and along the way, thought that an addition of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa would be wonderful, too.

This is what I came up with:

What You'll Need:


1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups white/whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
12 oz. chocolate chips
4 Tbsp. Hershey's special dark cocoa
Parchment paper
Cookie sheets

Note: This recipe makes approximately 6 dozen cookies, and can be cut in half to make a smaller batch of cookies.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix. Add peanut butter and blend.

Add flour, baking powder and cocoa. Mix together, and then stir in chocolate chips.

I tried just baking these as drop cookies, but wasn't thrilled with how they turned out. Took longer to cook, and the bottoms were a little overdone, so I tried baking them like I would when making peanut butter cookies, and was thrilled with the results.

Roll into a small ball, place on parchment lined cookie sheet, and then flatten with a fork.

Flattened with a fork.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes (I found that 12 minutes worked for me). Remove and let set a few minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

All done!

These cookies are so yummy. They have the texture of a peanut butter cookie, with the delectable blend of chocolate and peanut butter. If you decide to give them a try, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

~ Happy Baking! ~

Jaime


Please come join in the fun at all of these fabulous parties!!

Hoo Are You?

It's that time again. A little fun get-to-know me post. Head on over to Night Owl Crafting to join in the fun!

This weeks questions:

1. What are some of your pet peeves?

• Crazy drivers - if you almost hit me, don't flip me off as if it's my fault. Grow up....and don't tailgate me. That will cause me to slow down, not get out of your way.
• Spelling errors, especially misuse of the words your, you're, their, they're, there, not using capitalization. I can't even send a text with abbreviations.
• Overly exuberant advice givers. If my son (he's autistic) is having a meltdown in the middle of Target, don't come up to me and tell me that if I would just give him a good beating, that would straighten him up. You don't know me or my situation. Shove that advice down someone else's throat...like maybe someone that asked for it. (Grrrrrrr)
• Being late. Yes, it happens sometimes. Things come up. I still don't like to be late. I prefer to be a few minutes early.

2. Do you have a favorite or lucky number?


I have 3 lucky numbers, and they change every year. They used to be 3, 8 and 44. Now they're 4, 9 and 45. Yep, the ages of my loves. :-)

3. What is one of your family traditions?


My brother and his family, my sister and her family, and my family all gathering at our parents house on Christmas Eve each year to read the Christmas story, exchange gifts, and eat great food. The number of people have been growing steadily over the last few years. My parents now have 10 grandchildren, (doing quick math in my head...makes a grand total of 18 people) and it makes for a wonderfully chaotic gathering of loved ones.

4. Is there anything you are OC about?


YES. There are several things....

• I have to have even numbers over odd....for example, it drives me crazy if the volume in the truck is set on 7. I'll put it on 6 or 8. Same thing for the temperature setting. 
• When I eat Peanut M&Ms, or any other solid colored candy, I eat 2 at a time and the two I'm eating have to be the same color. What a wonderful feeling on the rare occasion that there aren't any candies left over at the end of the bag because they all matched up. 
• How I fold my towels. Don't think anything of it if I turn down your offer to help. Nothing against you. It's me. :-)  
• I don't use my dishwasher. I don't like any residue left over on my dishes, and besides, it didn't make any sense to use it since I would wash the dishes clean before I would put them in there. I can't stand the thought of having food stuck to the plates/utensils. 

5. What is your favorite kind of food?


Hard to pick just one. Mexican food is a fave, and so is Italian.


Hope you join in and post all about YOU!

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime

It Is Easy Being Green: Reusable Makeup Remover Pads

I used to use throw away makeup remover pads. Sometimes it would be the dry cotton circles that I would put the remover on, and other times I would use the pre-moistened kind. About a week ago, I was playing around with some cotton yarn and a crochet hook, trying to make circles, and came up with these. I thought they would be perfect to use in place of the removers I had used before.

What You'll Need:


Cotton Yarn
Size I Crochet hook
Scissors
Needle for weaving in ends

These are very easy and quick to make!

1. Chain 4
2. Join with slip stitch to make circle
3. Chain 2 (counts as 1st double crochet)
4. DC 14 into circle
5. Join with slip stitch at the top of Chain 2
6. Chain 2
7. DC in same stitch as Join/Ch2
8. 2 DC in each stitch around (you'll have 30 DC)
9. Join with slip stitch at top of chain 2
10. Weave in ends

You're done! This is a great way to use up scrap yarn you have left over from making dishcloths, potholders, or anything else you use cotton yarn for. :-)

These also work great in the shower with body scrub. So many possibilities!

Display them in a nice glass container.....

....or in a basket (this one is a little big, but it was what I had on hand!)

These are so soft and easy on your skin.

I hope you'll give this easy pattern a try.

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime

Come join in the fun at these fabulous parties!!

Cookie Bar Surprise

This is one of those recipes where I took a basic chocolate chip recipe that I had, threw a bunch of "stuff" in and crossed my fingers, hoping it would work. :-)

After I mixed it all up, I decided that it was too hot to have the oven going any longer than necessary, so I decided to make them into bars.

What You'll Need:

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 (3.4 oz) pkg instant pistachio pudding
1 cup oats
1 tsp. baking soda
2-1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup mini choc. chips
20 mini heath bars, crushed/chopped
1/2 cup caramel sauce (I used the ice cream topping kind)

1 egg is missing... I started out with 2 and needed to add a 3rd. : -)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs.Next, add the flour, baking soda and pudding. Blend, and then add in the caramel, oats and chocolate chips. 

Next, chop up the mini heath bars.

Before.....

....and After! : -)

Add the heath bars to the bowl and stir until well incorporated. At this point, you should have a big gooey mess in a bowl. :-)

Grease a 15x11 inch baking pan, and spoon the batter in a spread it in an even layer.

Bake for 18-20 minutes. I would normally say at this point, "Use a toothpick to check for doneness", but that didn't work in this instance. Between the caramel, chocolate chips and heath bars, it was hard to tell by that method. :-)   I do know that they were DELICIOUS. They didn't last long.

All done!

If you give these a try, please let me know what you think!

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime

Come join in the fun at these fabulous parties!

Knit Dishcloths: Seed Stitch

I find knitting to be very relaxing, especially when it is a simple, repetitive pattern. Several times a year, I add to my supply of dishcloths (and my Mom's as well!). Knit dishcloths are the only ones that I use, so I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite patterns with y'all.


The pattern used for these dishcloths is the Seed Stitch Pattern.

What You'll Need:
US Size 9 Knitting Needles
Cotton Yarn
Needle for weaving in the ends
Scissors

Pattern:
Cast On 33.
Row 1: K1, P1, K1 - continue in this pattern to end of row
Row 2-50: Repeat Row 1
Bind-off
Weave in ends

So easy! I do 50 rows and it comes out square. Adjust the number of stitches CO if you want, just make sure, for the Seed Stitch, that you have an odd number of stitches.

If you need some help with the knitting stitches, go to Knitting Help. They have great videos that show you all you need to know; cast on, knit stitch, purl stitch, etc.

Here are a few photos of the ones I've made so far:

I LOVE lots of color in my dishcloths. May as well make washing the dishes as exciting as possible! : -)

The seed stitch is great, because you have little "scrubbie" bumps all over the dishcloth.

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime







Come join in the fun at these fabulous parties!

Crochet: Granny Squares

Granny Squares. Something I've wanted to try for a long time, but didn't think that I could, so I talked myself out of it before every trying. I am a self-taught crocheter and haven't been very brave in trying new things. A few weeks ago, I found this tutorial on Ravelry. If you like/love to knit and/or crochet, and don't know about Ravelry, please leave this page immediately and go sign up (it's free!). It is a yarn-lover's paradise. Thousands of patterns. Some have a price tag attached, but so many are freely shared as well. This Granny Square tutorial is a free Ravelry download.

After reading through the tutorial several times, I jumped in and gave it a try. This is what my first attempt at a Granny Square looked like:

I was thrilled with how it turned out!

I used cotton, and once I got the hang of it, added a few more rows/rounds, and will use it as a hot pad.

I had a few friends on Facebook that were starting a private group called The Granny Square Exchange, and I wanted to participate. It was great motivation for me! We each make 8 squares a month, using the same pattern, and at the end of the year, we'll each have 48 squares to turn into an afghan.

This was the first square I made for July's exchange.

Finished! Over the weekend, I made all 8 squares. I love how they look together. : -)

What have you tried lately that you didn't think you could do?

~ Thanks for stopping by! ~

Jaime

Trying To Find Balance

Hello Friends! I haven't posted anything. In forever. Okay, it's been 17 days, which is forever in blog land. I've been working on a few projects, but haven't finished them, and I have been struggling to try and prioritize my days, fitting everything in.

I work a full-time job, have 2 wonderful children that need and deserve most of my attention when I'm not at work, housework doesn't get done if I don't put in the effort, and I've discovered lately, that without adequate sleep time, I can't seem to function the next day. I've been trying to add exercise into my routine in the mornings, but I've been so exhausted that I've been over-sleeping. As much as I love it, blogging has fallen to the bottom of a very long list.

Okay, enough of my whining. :-)  I hope y'all had a safe and fun Fourth of July weekend, and I am looking forward to finding some sense of order in my life and get back to having fun in blog land!

~ Thanks for stopping by ~

Jaime