The lovely purveyors of TCHO were kind enough to send me three samples of their chocolate flavors: Chocolatey (which I’d reviewed in a previous beta version), Fruity, and Nutty. After having a few squares and submitting our feedback online CK and I still had quite a bit of chocolate kicking around in our fridge. So I decided to make good on my previous idea that this rich dark chocolate would be an excellent addition to cookies.

I’ve become obsessed with sandwiching sweet things to other sweet things with even more sugary things lately. So it only seemed natural to make mini TCHO laced Chocolate Chip Cookies (a mixture of chopped up fruity and nutty) and secure the two halves together with a rich filling made with melted TCHO Chocolately squares.

The resulting cookies, if I do say so myself, were a chocolate overload of tastiness. But you don’t have to take my word for it. CK’s boss, Dave, had an extremely exuberant reaction to them.

TCHO Beta Stuffed Cookies
(Cookie based on the Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip cookie recipe published in the Got Milk? Cookie Book by Peggy Cullen)

2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons white sugar
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chunks or chips (Note: I used a mixture of finely chopped TCHO Fruity & Nutty)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugars, salt, and vanilla until well combined. Beat in the egg. Scrape down the bowl using a rubber spatula and beat for a few more seconds.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix on low speed just until absorbed. Add the chocolate chunks and stir into the dough.

For perfectly uniform cookies, scoop the dough using a small diameter ice-cream scoop (around 1 3/8”), leveling the dough off across the top before dropping onto the silpat lined (or greased) baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until edges are golden. Let sit for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

TCHO Chocolate Filling:
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons Crisco
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 ounce melted dark chocolate (Note: I used TCHO Chocolatey)
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1-2 tablespoons of water (Optional)

Mix the first five ingredients together in a small bowl. If the mixture doesn’t appear smooth enough add in 1-2 tablespoons of water until you reach a spreadable consistency. If the mixture is too wet, simply stir in a little extra confectioner’s sugar.

To assemble, gently spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies and top with the remaining cookies.

One of my grocery store foes happens to be the mini peanut butter cups at Trader Joe’s. Every time I go to pick up perfectly acceptable items like zucchini and milk I walk by the aisle that they live in and stare at them with barely concealed mouthwatering longing. For three years I’ve managed to reign myself in and not add them to my cart, but last week the temptation proved too great and I came home with a box. As I suspected, I had absolutely no will power what-so-ever when it came to these miniature peanut butter minions as I promptly sat down the next afternoon and allowed them to keep me “company” while watching a tivoed Project Runway episode. If CK hadn’t come out of his office before Tim Gunn started telling everyone to “make it work” I’m quite sure I would have eaten them all.

So In an effort to curtail this bad snacking behavior I decided my best course of action would be to bake the evil treats into something and send them into the world for other people to enjoy and establish peanut butter addictions to. But if we’re going to be bad, I figured, be bad all the way.  So with a few simple additions to the previously showcased Chocolate Chip Filled Melting Moments recipe I created a silky peanut butter version of the cookies, gloriously sandwiched with a buttery peanut butter icing and studded with mini peanut butter cups. Get that gallon of milk ready and make sure it’s skim because you’re going to need it!

As for me, I’m hopefully back on the candy free wagon.

Triple Peanut Butter Melting Moments
Inspired by the Chocolate Chip Filled Melting Moments recipe found in Elinor Klivans’s The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook published by Chronicle Books

Cookies
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling (Note: I tend to double the below icing recipe so that my melting moments are a bit overstuffed).
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/8 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup miniature peanut butter cups (Note: I purchased mine at Trader Joe’s)

Position a rack in the middle of he oven. Preheat the oven to 300º F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Make the cookies. Sift both flours, the cornstarch, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until smooth and lightened slightly in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the owl as needed during mixing. Add the vanilla and mix until blended. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated and a smooth dough forms.

For each cookie, roll a level tablespoon of dough between the palms of your hands into a smooth ball. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Use a fork to gently flatten the cookies to 1 1/4 inch disks, leaving an impression of the fork tines. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and the cookie bottoms are lightly browned, about 30 minutes; the tops of the cookies should not color. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling. In a medium bowl, use a wooden spoon to stir the butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter cups.

Turn half of the cooled cookies bottom side up, and use a thin metal spatula to spread a rounded teaspoon of filling evenly over each one. Place the remaining cookies right side up on the filing, and press gently.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Last weekend I finally got to go to the beach for the first time this summer. It was fabulous. I even briefly braved the 66 degree ocean temp for a quick dunk. Once upon a time someone told me that salt water increased your highlights. Obviously this meant more to me when I was a blonde and not a brunette. Oh well! On the way home we made the necessary stop at Russell Orchards and CK surprised me with a dish of “Purple Cow” frozen yogurt. I was off in the other room buying kitten magnets for some reason.  Don’t ask…

The Purple Cow yogurt was homemade black raspberry yogurt studded with chucks of white and dark chocolate. I honestly think I almost fell into a dessert swoon on the way home as we shared the frozen treat in the car. Of course, I had to try to make my own.

On Friday I stopped by Whole Foods to purchase the ingredients. There weren’t any fresh black raspberries to be found, but a huge display of blackberries were on sale, so blackberry frozen yogurt would have to do. They’re both purple, right?

I got home, prepped everything as outlined below in the recipe, rocked out to some Better Than Ezra Greatest Hits and pulled out my KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker attachment. Then I totally forgot how to use it, found the “quick start” card it came with, dumped in the ice cream mix, attached the paddle, turned on the pink goddess and all I heard was, “Click click.  Click click.” In hindsight, I probably should have actually read that card… meanwhile I yelled for CK.

What was supposed to happen, was that I attach the paddle, turn on the machine, pour in the ice cream mixture and shortly afterward a vat of tasty goodness forms. Unfortunately, my yogurt was now sitting in a semi-frozen state in the bowl. CK tried to help. I yelled at CK. CK yelled at me. Than we made-up and mutually chiseled out the ice cream from its icy prison with a collection of wooden spoons and rubber spatulas and graciously participated in a frozen yogurt “do over.”  Eventually it all worked out.

Was it worth it? Let’s see:

$9.58 for two containers of Fage Yogurt
$2.50 for 4 ounces of Ghirardelli White Chocolate
$2.50 for 4 ounces of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate
$5.00 for 2 half pints of blackberries
1 moronic girl
1 fight with CK
Equals: Fabulous Purple Cow Frozen Yogurt.

Purple Cow Frozen Yogurt (Frozen Yogurt base previously published in David Lebovitz’s book Perfect Scoop as discovered on Heidi Swanson’s website 101 Cookbooks).

3 cups Greek-style yogurt (Note: I used Fage)
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups blackberries (or black raspberries, if you can find them)
4 ounces of white Ghirardelli chocolate, chopped
4 ounces of dark Ghirardelli chocolate, chopped

Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Puree the blackberries in a food processor and than strain through a fine mesh sieve to separate the liquid from the seeds. Stir 1 tablespoon of sugar into the berry puree and also refrigerate for 1 hour.

Thoroughly combine the frozen yogurt base with the berry puree and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Don’t be like me and actually read them. Stir in the chocolate chunks by hand at the end of the freezing process. Finally package in a tightly sealed container and leave in your freezer until completely frozen. Serve and make-up with anyone you may have offended during the cooking process.

Have I succeeded in convincing you about the absolute must-have status of this cookbook yet? Are you ready to test your luck at potentially winning a copy of Krystina Castella’s Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone? If so, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (one comment per person please). A winner will be selected via the nifty random number generator next Monday, July 7th at noon (sorry guys I’ve got a date this week with a beach and some SPF 45) and than I’ll promptly ship the cookbook to your home. Good luck!

Don’t forget! You have until Noon (EST) on Friday, June 13 to enter the contest to win your very own copy of The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook. Simply follow this link and leave a comment. It couldn’t be easier.

I don’t know what you’re feelings are on this, but in our home baked goods are often eaten for breakfast. Not by me though. Yes, CK has a serious morning sweet tooth. Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, or pie are all fair game in his eyes. His rational for consuming sugar laden treats before 9:00 AM is as follows: if I can eat a muffin, why can’t I eat a cookie? I don’t know guys…it makes sense to him. So while I’m choking down Grape Nuts or a Sweet & Salty Granola bar, he digs into a plate of cookies and a tall glass of milk. At least he chases it all with a multi-vitamin.

Instead of discouraging his habit though, I’m an enabler and make recipes like this one for Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. At the very least this cookie has some actual breakfast appropriate aspects to it (hello?! bananas! oatmeal!). I might even go so far as to call it a “breakfast cookie” if that label takes away any guilt we might feel after secretly scarfing down this amazing concoction in the wee hours of the morning.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Elinor Klivans’s The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook published by Chronicle Books

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup oatmeal (not quick-cooking)
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 bananas, cut into 1/4 to1/3 inch pieces

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper (Note: I just used a silpat).

In a small bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together, set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until smoothly blended, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until blended, about 1 minute. The mixture may look slightly curdled. On low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until it is incorporated. Mix in the oatmeal. Mix in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Use a large spoon to mix in the banana pieces, mixing just until they are evenly distributed and some of the pieces are mashed but most are still visible, about 20 seconds.

Use a tablespoon to drop heaping spoonfuls of dough (about 3 level tablespoons each) onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies 3 inches apart. Note: I used a large scoop.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the edges are lightly browned and the tops look dry, about 18 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, than use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container, layered between sheets of wax paper, at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Update: The contest is now closed and we have a winner!

Who could possibly pass up the chance to immerse themselves in a veritable sea of chocolate chip recipes? If you thought the Melting Moments looked heavenly just wait until thursday. In the meatime, I’m giving you the chance to win a copy of Elinor Klivans’s The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook published by Chronicle Books. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post (one comment per person please). A winner will be selected via the nifty random number generator this Friday (June 13th) at noon and than I’ll promptly ship the cookbook to your home. Friday the 13th totally doesn’t have to be a scary day now…Chips ahoy! Or…Good Luck!