Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love these cookies! I got the origional recipe from 101 Cookbooks, my favorite food blog.  Most of my favorite recipes have come from this site. I find that when I'm looking for a recipe the first place I look is 101 Cookbooks.  Heidi's pictures are amazing and the recipes are so easy to follow.  She also gives a lot of helpful hints on ways to modify the recipes to fit what you are looking for.  Anyway I'm sure a lot of the recipes I share here will be adaptations of recipes I have found on her site.

This summer I made these cookies for the first time and my mom and I love chocolate so I added some mini chocolate chips.  But there was not enough chocolate in that batch so this time I added more chocolate.  I'm convinced that the more chocolate in something the better! The girls I live with can't get enough of these cookies.  If I leave them out they are gone in about 30 seconds.

I have gotten two different consistacies with the dough for these cookies.  The first time I got a very loose and almost runny dough.  The cookies tasted delicious but the dough was a bit difficult to work with.  The next two times I've made them the dough has been tradittional cookie dough consistency.  A much easier dough to work with and the cookies taste just as good if not better than the first time.



Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 c. flour (I have used whole wheat pastry or unbleached all-purpose)
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 c. natural peanut butter (the kind that seperates and you have to mix together)
1 c. maple syrup
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. - 1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.  In a separate bowl mix the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla.  Then add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Add the chocolate chips and stir a couple more times.

Place somewhat flattened rounded tablespoons about 1 inch apart from each other on a baking sheet.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies look set and matte instead of glossy.

note: if baking on a glass pan the cookies will take about 2x as long to cook.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes!

This summer I was a camp counselor and I thought how fun would it be to have my girls try something totally different.  I made them chocolate zucchini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  How did they go over with my girls?  Well, it was about 50/50.  I had some girls ask for a second cupcake and others eat one bite of theirs.  The catch was I didn't tell them there was zucchini in them until each girl had tried a bite.  What 4th grader is going to willingly try something sweet made with zucchini.
I should also add that this recipe for the cake alone is a fairly healthy cake recipe.  Adding the frosting definitely diminishes the health value but hey it's a cupcake not a salad.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 c. baby food prunes
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 c. grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
2 1/2 c. flour (all-purpose, whole wheat pastry, or a combination)
4 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground clove
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, soda, clove, and cinnamon.  In a mixing bowl blend the prunes with the sugar until combined.  Add the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and beat well.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Then stir in the zucchini.
Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.
Bake between 20-30 mins or until tops of cakes spring back when lightly pressed.

makes about 24-26 cupcakes

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. package reduced fat cream cheese softened
8 tbsp. or 1 stick of unsalted butter (at room temp.)
4 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

With an electric mixer cream together the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla followed by the powdered sugar a little bit at a time to keep the sugar from going everywhere.  If the frosting is too thick you can thin it with a little milk (work 1 tbsp. at a time).

Note: You can decorate the tops with mini chocolate chips to give it a finished look.
Or turn these cupcakes into yummy muffins by leaving off the frosting.