Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies: How to Make Friends Anywhere
“When you have more than you need, build a longer table not a higher fence” – Unknown
I have been carrying around this cookie recipe for a while now. It’s proved useful more than once, so I thought I should share it. I modified an existing chocolate chip recipe by adding peanut butter and reducing regular butter. The reason I am a fan of this recipe is that it’s easy, it’s forgiving, and it’s delicious. I once cooked them when we had some downtime on an oil rig. Everybody on that location stopped by to say “Hello” once the word got out. They were gone before the next shift showed up. Most recently, I made two batches for the family Erin and I were staying with in Ecuador. The hardest part was paying for the peanut butter. It can get a little pricy in some countries. The first batch disappeared within a day, so a few days later when we had a power outage, Erin and I lit every candle we could find, and I started baking. Luckily the stove and oven ran on propane. Some day, I intend to try cooking these on an open fire and eventually a car engine… just to prove it can be done… I’ll keep you all posted.
I Like To Light Some Candles To Set The Mood, But Its Not Necessary For The Recipe.
Ingredients: Imperial or Grams or Millilitres
Margarine (or butter) 1 Cup 227 g 237 ml
Brown Sugar 2 Cups 440 g 474 ml
Granulated (white) Sugar 1 Cup 220 g 237 ml
Large Eggs 4 4 4
Vanilla Extract 3 Tsp 15 g 15 ml
Peanut Butter 1 Cup 340 g 237 ml
Flour 4 Cups 500 g 948 ml
Baking Soda 2 Tsp 10 g 10 ml
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 1 Cup 190 g 237 ml
Bake at 350° Fahrenheit or 177° Celsius for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 1:Mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
Dry Goods Mixed Together
Step 2: On low heat, melt the margarine (or butter) and the peanut butter together.
This Part Smells Really Good
Step 3: Pour peanut butter and butter mixture into bowl with dry goods and mix.
Now Mix
Step 4: Add vanilla extract and eggs. Be cautious that the mixture isn’t too hot still from the stove as it will cook the eggs. If mixture is hot, simply wait for it to cool a bit before adding the eggs.
Step 5: If the dough appears too dry (crumbly or powdery), add an extra egg since some eggs are simply smaller than others. If the mixture appears too moist (if you are unable to roll it into small balls the size of an egg), add a small amount of flour and reassess.
Step 6: Add chocolate chips. They are added last to avoid melting into the dough.
Its Pretty Tasty at This Point
Step 7: Roll the dough into a ball about the size of an egg (you can go larger or small if you desire, but try to be consistent). Place the balls of dough spaced apart on a cookie sheet (give each ball about 2 times its width on each side as they will expand out as they cook). After your first tray of cookies, you will have a better idea of spacing and cook time, so don’t stress. Once on the sheet press them down with a fork.
Make Them Into Balls
Press With A Fork
Step 8: Bake cookies in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch for the edges starting to darken and the over all gloss of the cookies to change.
What They Look Like Coming Out. I Had To Bend The Cookies Sheet Ends To Make It Fit In The Oven.
Step 9: Remove cookies from the oven, allow to cool for a minute or two before removing from the pan, as it will allow them to firm up and come off easier. Place them on a cooling rack, wax paper, a large plate, really anything that they can sit on and cool for a while. Inspect to see if they are too doughy inside or burnt on the bottom and adjust the cook time on the next batch to go into the oven.
Repeat steps 7 through 9 until all cookie dough is gone. This makes about 4 dozen cookies depending on the size of the actual cookies. You may want to half this recipe. Then again, having too many cookies isn’t a problem that I’ve ever had.
Lastly, comment below and let me know how yours turn out!
Posted in How-To, Recipewith 2 comments.
Deer Steak Marinade
It’s been a while since I’ve posted, sorry about that. March tends to be a slow month for anyone who likes the outdoors, its just a long month of snow melting into mud that makes escaping a maintained road nearly impossible. So I decided for a change of pace I would post a bit of an instructive post much like my deer head cleaning post from a while ago (currently my most viewed post, thanks to Pinterest)
So this time, instead of a tomahawk or a deer head, I’ve got something almost everyone likes… food. I will share with you my super secret steak marinade recipe. It works with any red meat but I find it especially useful for deer meat, especially if you find its too gamey. So lets begin.
Wait, first I should mention something. This recipe is just a rough guide and open to adjustment and interpretation, all units of measure are somewhere along the lines of dashes, splashes, dollops, hints, and glugs.
First you need meat, you can buy it if you like, ideally go out and round it up yourself if you can
I tend to start with the meat frozen, and put it into a large container with a lid that seals.
It doesn’t look particularly appetizing just yet.
Next I like to add a bit of steak spice, any brand will work and we all have our favorites so just use that. If you don’t have a favorite or a “go to” that’s kinda strange but not a problem, just use the first one you find at the grocery store and see how you like it. Personally I like Montreal Steak spice, though I’m not sure they want to be associated with me so dont judge them based on my usage of their product. If you put too much, that’s OK because most of it will stay in the marinade when you pull the meat out to cook it, and if you think you put too little, you can add some while its grilling. Everyone has their own preference for strength of taste, I tend to put a lot of spice.
Don’t worry about putting a bit too much or too little.
Next I add a bit of BBQ sauce. I usually go with a generic BBQ flavor, but I have, in the past, had good luck with honey garlic and hickory flavor. Just about any BBQ sauce should work.
I tend to use about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup for two steaks use what ever you think is reasonable
Next is the key ingredient, I find this is what really gets rid of a lot of that gameyness that people often don’t like in wild meat. Worcestershire sauce is the key, so add a bit to the mix. Much like with the steak spice, Lea & Perrins doesn’t know about me or my blog (probably)… So again don’t hold it against them if you happen to not like me.
I find I only need about 2 or 3 tablespoons for two steaks, and even that may be a lot
Last ingredient is any kind of cola, I believe its the carbonation that helps tenderize it, so in theory you could also use beer. If you decide to try beer, let me know how it works out (for science!). I have also, in times of desperation, had good luck with root beer, but it tends to add a bit of a vanilla flavor that some people don’t care for.
You can either use enough to submerge the steaks, or be less wasteful and flip the steaks half way through the marinade process
Lastly, put a lit on it and put it in the refrigerator for at least a day. Once you decide its time to eat it, cook it on the barbecue however you see fit. If you are unsure of how to cook steaks properly, that makes two of us. What I tend to do is turn the barbecue on and set it to high heat, once its good and hot I brush and scrape the grill portion. I then throw the steaks on, close the lid and then drop the temperature to low. That way it sears the outside, preventing sticking to the grill and sealing in the moisture, at least that’s my theory on it. All that said, every BBQ is wildly different and there are millions of people, all with their own ideas of the best way to cook a steak. Do what works for you.
I like mine cooked anywhere around medium or medium rare
So, just a quick recap:
- Put the meat into a container
- Add steak spice
- Add barbecue sauce
- Add worcestershire sauce
- Add cola
- Refrigerate for at least a day
- Cook on a grill
- Eat it
- Come back and comment with your thoughts on the recipe
One last really useful thing I will share with you, since you’ve read this far. Barbecued perogies.
Perogies are an easy and tasty side dish for almost any meal
If you’ve never had perogies… you need to go buy some now and eat them! You can finish reading this later, perogies take priority. If you’ve never had barbecued perogies, like most people I’ve talked to, this might be life changing for you. Perogies are one of my favourite foods, and always have been. I remember when I was younger, and when I come to visit as an adult, my mom would make perogies her way. She would boil them, fry some bacon, caramelize some onions and boil up some peas. All served with sour cream. This results in an amazing meal but lot of work, 2 dirty pots, and two dirty pans. When I got older someone showed me that you could fry perogies when you had them as leftovers, and that was pretty good but they tended to be greasy that way. Fried is my least favorite method of cooking perogies, but I still wont say no to a plate of them.
Last summer, while I was working on an oil rig, a Directional Driller I was working with was cooking a steak on the barbecue. I saw him pull a bag of pergoies out of the freezer and walk outside. Naturally I had to ask, and he was kind enough to enlighten me. Cooking perogies on the barbecue takes about 5 to 10 minutes, you just lay them on the grill frozen, when they start to get nice grill marks on one side flip them over. Its best to take them off when they just start to split, or if you’re really good just before they split. By the time he was done explaining himself they were ready. He offered me one and I took it… my life hasn’t been the same since. The next day I drove into town and bought a bag of perogies and I dont think I’ve gone a week without barbecued perogies since then. They are a quick side dish with minimal clean up afterward, you can eat them like finger food, and its easy to cook a lot of them if you have guests. They are good dipped in sour cream, barbecue sauce, salad dressing or my personal favorite, sweet chili sauce.
I would also recommend a starter salad or a vegetable side dish
If you have any questions don’t be shy! I would love to hear your deer steak recipe, if you care to share, put it in the comments.
Posted in How-To, Recipewith 3 comments.