So we'll start with yesterday afternoon.
I'm driving down Hwy 190 with Little J and KJ, and about an exit before our exit I feel a *THUMP* on the back of my seat. Naturally I'm curious and concerned, so I break my usual rules and turned around. And out of no where a little blond head pops around my seat and says, "HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
I about died. My 19 month old has figured out how to undo her carseat buckles. Completely. That thump, was Kady jumping down from her seat.
I pulled over, buckled her back in, next to screaming about how much she scared me. And there's Little J, giggling at the whole thing! Seriously! Cahoots I'm telling you!
We're back on the road and just before we get to the gate I get the urge to check Kady. There she is with the top buckle undone, and we're two cars from the gate guards! OY! This child is bent on putting me in jail.
So here we are today. I decided to bake some cookies, with KJ's assistance. And by "assistance", I mean she comes over and harasses me for peanut butter chips while I do all the work. Two weeks ago she learned what "hot" means, so now when I tell her to please get away from the stove, she usually says, "Oh hot", and listens. Today, she decided that she wanted to stand RIGHT NEXT TO ME as I tried to pull the cookie sheets out of the oven. This resulted in repeated, "KJ get away from the oven. KJ get back. KJ. Seriously. Get back. Okay, that's it! You get burned you don't get any cookies!". Double punishment, right?
Cookies cooled while I made dinner, and since I am such a sap sometimes, KJ ended up getting a cookie BEFORE dinner. I figured she wouldn't want to eat her dinner after this, but she's been pretty good today. She LOVED the cookie. So much, that when Coco tried to clean the chocolate off her face, she took it back from him and ate it. And since she knew Mama had a cookie too, when she came over to give me kisses, she tried...to lick...my face. I think it is safe to say my daughter is a chocolate addict. Wonder where she got that from... ;) Oh, and by the way...she ate all her dinner too :)
Now dinner is over, KJ is playing with Little J. And since I mentioned cookies, I figured I'd be nice and share the recipe :)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter (if using salted, omit the additional salt in the recipe)
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (for this recipe, I stuck with good ol' Hershey's)
1 cup Reese's peanut butter chips
Preheat oven to 350* (176* C/Gas Mark 4) Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Using an electric mixer (standing mixer is easiest, hand mixer is easy but you'll have to switch to hand mixing at some point) beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and add vanilla extract. Gradually add flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (At this point, I usually switch to hand mixing after the 1st cup of flour). Beat/stir until well blended. Stir in peanut butter chips.
Form dough into 1-inch balls, placed 2-inches apart. Flatten slightly (a little more than half way). For softer cookies, bake for 8 minutes. For harder cookies, bake for 11 minutes. I like these in the middle, so I went for 10 minutes.
(The "ugly" ones.)
Allow to sit on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before removing.
Makes about 4 dozen.
Enjoy :) Later this week I'll be posting other versions of this cookie, including a mint chocolate cookie, and a chocolate raspberry cookie!
If you had a rough Tuesday, these will definitely make up for it!
♥
