Irresistible cookie goodness

When Markus and I first moved in together, his European heritage clashed heartily with my American appreciation of peanut butter. Europeans eat Nutella; they do not eat (or understand) peanut butter. It took documentation in an article read in The Economist of all places for me to convince him of the benefits of peanut butter. Gradually, I noticed him spreading it on bread for snacking...but even this was a rare concession. What really won him over (with five star enthusiasm!) are peanut butter cookies. In his book, those alone justify the need for peanut butter's existence. Peanut butter cookies happen to be my personal favorite, and they must be paired with chocolate (and a glass of milk, but that's a whole different story).

My recipe is adapted from one found on the Jif website (an American peanut butter brand that was always my favorite). Now, we use all-natural peanut butter and real butter instead of shortening (yuck). I increase the flour slightly to compensate for the extra oil in the peanut butter (FYI: if you are new to the all-natural stuff, you will notice a considerable taste difference in these cookies, namely they are far less sweet, making you wonder about what all is in the commercial stuff). Of course, I have to toss in some chocolate chips too. It creates that salty-sweet mix that really seals the deal. Ask Markus. I just made these two days ago, and he finished them off while I was at knitting this morning. When I demanded to know why he couldn't just leave me one or two, he said this would motivate me to make more. Today. So here we go...


Irresistible peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips
Makes around 3 dozen, depending on the size of your cookies

3/4 cup all-natural peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
as many good-quality chocolate chips as you deem appropriate (I don't measure, but you'll need at least 1/2 cup; mine probably contain 1 cup or more)

Preheat oven to 375F/180C.
Combine peanut butter, butter, light brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well-blended.
Add egg. Beat until just blended.
Combine flour, salt, and baking soda.
Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix until just blended.
Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake at 375F/180C for 7-8 minutes or until set and just beginning to brown. Don't let them set or brown too much or they'll become rock-hard when they cool. Of course, this can be remedied by using them to make ice cream sandwiches...but we won't go there.

Caramel ice cream with chocolate chips

3 words: homemade caramel sauce.
What a revelation! Sooooo delicious, so simple, and so worth the effort!
I found a great recipe on a trusted foodie site, and I haven't looked back!
It's funny what you bring to new cultures. When I mentioned to a girlfriend here that I'd made caramel sauce again, she asked, "And what do you do with that?" WHAT?! Well, you know she had to have some! The next time I had cream in the house, I made fresh caramel sauce and took it to her house while it was still warm. I bet money there's still a full jar in her fridge. Secretly, I think she's afraid to try it. I have no idea why, since they eat a lot of plain ice cream over there (and fruit, too). They are missing out! So then I mentioned this to another girlfriend, as in, "Can you believe she'd never heard of caramel sauce?" And this friend said, "What is caramel sauce?" Oh my. People of Australia, wake up and smell the yumminess! This second friend had to have her own jar, of course, which means I made a big batch this weekend. In case you are wondering what we like to do with ours, it disappears with great speed into HOMEMADE CARAMEL ICE CREAM!

We bought an ice cream maker in The Netherlands, where we were mortified to find no good ice cream available beyond the summer months. I love homemade ice cream, and I may never go back to store-bought. But the egg issue bothered me. Most ice creams are custard-based, meaning they contain quite a few uncooked egg whites. I'm careful with my egg source, but there was still an ick factor for me. Plus, I found the result overly rich for my taste. I did a lot of research and trial and error with substitutions until I found what we find to be the perfect basic ice cream recipe: one can of sweetened condensed milk with two can-fuls of 2% milk (it makes about 4 cups liquid, which is the volume my machine can handle). To this, simply add vanilla for vanilla ice cream, chopped Oreos for cookies and cream ice cream...you get the idea. No, my recipe doesn't actually contain cream. I know this will appall many readers, but we kinda like the thinner, icy quality of the milk. I was feeling extremely proud and full of my fantastic cooking abilities after working out this formula, only to be knocked down to size by a long-time homemade ice cream aficionado who informed me that ice cream can be EITHER custard-based (egg) or condensed milk based. Well, phooey. So, I reinvented the wheel. But it's a darned good wheel! I present it to you. Take it and run free!

Caramel ice cream is just my basic formula, plus a couple of handfuls of high-quality chocolate chips and a good bit of caramel sauce drizzled into the machine just before it's finished. It's got that amazing salty-sweet combo that we love. I hope you will too!