I grew up eating cornbread...the traditional Southern kind that my grandma used to make.  It was one of those things that I kind of liked but was never really excited about.  I found it too dry and crumby.  As an adult, it's still not a favorite.  I did find one recipe that was really good and when I make cornbread, that's the recipe I use.  That recipe, however was a bit fussy.  When I found this recipe for Northern-Style cornbread in The Food Nanny Saves Dinner, decided to make it to serve with my BBQ chili.  


This cornbread turned out soooo good!  I'm having a hard time staying away from it!  It is so moist, it's almost cake-like.  It's much sweeter than the the Southern-style cornbread I grew up with and although there will always be a special place in my heart where I remember my grandma eating crumbled cornbread with buttermilk poured over it, I'll stick to this kind for myself.


Northern-Style Cornbread
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
3 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
Butter and honey for serving


Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 x 8-inch baking pan.


Combine th flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.


In a small bowl, combine milk, eggs, oil, and butter.  Mix well.  Add to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Do not overmix.


Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes.  The cornbread is done when the edges are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.


Note:  Cut leftovers into large squares, split and toast.  Top with butter and strawberry jelly.  So delish!

They say everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day.  I guess I'm no different.  While I'm not big fan of corned beef and cabbage, I couldn't pass up making Irish Soda Bread.  


I didn't like the recipe I used last year, so I decided I would use  recipe for scones (which I love) and just make the dough into a loaf rather than individual scones.  I am sure that there are some Irish among you who are gasping at the thought of me making scones and trying to pass it off as soda bread.   However, I figured the ingredients couldn't be that different. so I decided to compare the two recipes.


As it turns out, I was right...and wrong.  My scone recipe called for more sugar than the the recipe for the soda bread and the soda bread used shortening instead of butter.  The scone recipe called for heaving cream while the soda bread called for buttermilk.  The rest, you know, is pretty much the same.  Because there was some difference, I just combined the two recipes and came up with a different one all together.  One that I call "Irish Scone Bread".  


Whatever you call it, it's delicious.   As soon as I took it out of the oven, I knew I was in big trouble.  Now I have to spend the rest of the day trying not to eat the whole thing.  The loaf spread quite a bit more than I expected but it turned out golden with a crunchy outside and a tender, rather moist inside.  It's not too dry and the currants give it a nice sweetness.  This was much easier to make than scones and much tastier than Irish Soda Bread (at least what I've had).  It is perfect for a snack with tea or coffee or even milk.  Or for lunch.  But who would do that?


So whether your Irish or not, whether it's St. Patrick's Day or not, all eyes are smiling over this irish Scone Bread.  Give it a try!

Irish Scone Bread
1 stick butter
3 cups pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
Scant 3/4 cup currants  (I like currants better than raisins, but feel free to use either one)
1-2 tablespoons butter, melted
                                                                                          Raw sugar (or regular)


Preheat oven 350 degrees.  Cut the butter into quarters lengthwise and then into chunks.  Place in freezer.


Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking sugar, and salt.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture is crumbly.  Toss in currants.  Pour in buttermilk and mix into flour mixture.  You should have a kneadable dough.  You won't have to knead the dough, but that's the consistency you are looking for.  You can knead the dough once or twice if you need to in order to incorporate all the flour.


Spray a large cookie sheet.  Put the dough in the middle of the sheet and pat into a circle about 8 inches across.  The dough will spread out so make sure you have plenty of room around it.  Using a serrated knife, cut an X into the dough.  Brush melted butter over the top and sprinkle generously with raw sugar.


Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Let cool slightly on cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.  Don't skip this step or the outside won't stay crunchy.  Enjoy!

I think anyone who reads this blog regularly probably knows that besides God and family, I love two things beyond all others: chocolate and bread.  I love them in any way, shape, or form.  Milk or dark.  Yeast or quick.  It's all the same to me.  Pure delight.

That's why I was so excited to find this recipe for breadsticks.  I have never actually made breadsticks before because I always thought they were fussy.  Well, and it happens so infrequently, I was wrong.  This recipe found in the cookbook The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner by Liz Edmunds was super easy and can be put together in minutes.  You can throw the dough together before you start your main course and bake them while it cooks.  It's a basic recipe for pizza dough just shaped as breadsticks and slathered with melted garlic-butter.  I made little ones, about 1.25 ounces of dough per stick.  I got nineteen breadsticks from the recipe, six of which remained when dinner was over.  Not too shabby.  

My one problem with this recipe is that all the flavor came from the garlic-butter.  While that is delicious, the bread itself is a bit bland.  Luckily, this can be remedied by adding a bit more salt.  I think when you use this as pizza crust, you don't need it to be super flavorful but you do definitely need more flavor when it stands alone.  I would recommend adding at least a teaspoon to the dough, which is reflected in the recipe below.  The original recipe calls for only 1/4 teaspoon.  I also adjusted the amounts of some other ingredients to help with the flavor issue.

These breadsticks would be great served in place of regular rolls or with spaghetti or lasagna.  We had them with soup.  With brings me to my bonus recipe.  I found a recipe for Beef and Black-Eyed Pea Soup.  I adapted it a bit and the result was delicious.  Howie has already said its a new favorite!  It's definitely a keeper!  If you give a try, I'd love to hear what you think!  

Breadsticks

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons olive
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
3-4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup butter
1/4-1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

Grease a baking sheet.

Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover, and let sit until foamy, about 5-10 minutes.

Mix oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in three cups of flour.  This should give you a kneadable dough.  Flour your counter with some of the remaining cup of flour.  Knead, adding more flour if needed, until you have a smooth, somewhat stiff dough, about 6 minutes.
 
Melt butter and stir in garlic.

Divide dough into desired sized balls.  Roll out into into breadsticks. Place on greased pan.  Brush with butter, reserving some for later.  Let dough rise for about 15-30 minutes., until doubled in size.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees.

After the breadsticks have risen, bake for 10-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Brush with more butter halfway through baking time and again right out of the oven.

I used the breadsticks to make sandwiches for Ella's lunch -- too cute!  And yummy too!

Beef and Black-Eyed Pea Soup

Olive Oil
2 pounds stew meat
1 can Campbell's beef stock
1 can regular beef stock (Swanson's)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 quarts water
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 16-ounce package frozen black-eyed peas
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 tablespoon dried parsley (yes, you can use fresh, I just didn't have any)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Cut stew meat into small, bit-sized pieces.  Heat olive oil in a large pot.  Brown the meat in the oil.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Once brown, add the Campbell's beef stock plus one can of water.  Let meat simmer for 20-30 minutes, until cooked through and tender.  

Mix together cornstarch and regular beef stock.  Add to the meat mixture.  Bring to a boil and cook for a minute or two.  Add the water, onions, celery, carrots, peppers, and black-eyed peas.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes, until peas and vegetables are tender.  

Add rice and seasonings.  Simmer for another 15 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Note:  the original recipe called for ground beef.  I suppose if you really want to use that, you can.

Last week, my family and I went to Frankenmuth, a small Bavarian-themed town in Michigan that boasts of famous chicken and the world's largest Christmas store.  It was at this store, Bronner's, that I discovered the recipe for Frito Bars.

Being totally unable to pass up looking at a cookbook, when I saw one that was a compilation of staff favorites, I had to peruse it -- despite the fact that this left my husband scrambling to chase after three children in a store full of breakable things.  I'm sure this was his worst nightmare.
Near the back of this book was the recipe for Frito Bars.  It consists simply of a bag of Fritos, sugar, corn syrup, and peanut butter.  I was intrigued.  I didn't buy the cookbook (probably would have if the hubby hadn't been around) but I memorized the recipe and decided to give it a try. 

You can throw these bars together is about 5 minutes flat.  They are probably the easiest things I've ever made.  They don't require baking so they would be a great treat for summer.  And I mean that...the great part.  These are surprisingly good ans strangely addictive.  Despite my curiosity, I didn't have high hopes for these but I found that they are crunchy and creamy and peanutty and salty and sweet -- a whole slew of interesting flavors all at once.  I found another recipe that was a variation of this one that included chocolate.  I did't use chocolate this time.  I might next time just to see what it would add but, truth be told (and I can't believe I'm saying this), I'm not sure it needs chocolate.  

These are an interesting little treat -- definitely worth trying at least once.  And...since these are so good that it gives me hope for another unusual treat that I found in a different Frankenmuth cookbook...Pork and Bean Bars.  
Stay tuned.


Frito Bars
1 9 1/2 ounce bag of Fritos
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter (I used half crunchy and half creamy)


Spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.  Pour in the bag of Fritos.  Spread evenly, crushing lightly.  In a saucepan, combine the corn syrup and sugar.  Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is melted.  Turn off heat.  Add peanut butter and stir until melted.  Pour over Fritos.  Let cool and cut into small bars.  These are pretty rich, so you don't need to make big pieces.

As the East coast dug themselves out of the snow, we here in the Midwest geared up for our own snowfall.  While we certainly didn't endure the "storm of the century" we did get a snow day.  As a former teacher, I think I am predisposed to like snow days.  I think I am one of few parents who actually do.  

The fact is, I love snow.  It is so clean and pure and lovely.  I see it as a gift from God.  It's his way of telling us to slow down, you're going too fast.  Some of us take this to heart and hunker down but most of us, dig out our shovels or snow blowers and clear pathways on our sidewalks and driveways.  We complain about the too slow snowplows and bad drivers.  

However, the sensible among us do what God intended.  We play.  We make snowballs for our dog to chase.  We build snow people and snow angels.  We make forts and slide down snow-covered slides into a pile of snow.  We do this until our hands and faces and feet hurt and then we come inside to warm up.

And that is exactly what we did yesterday -- my three girls and me.  We bundled up in our warmest winter wear and we played.  Not for long.  Norah's boots wouldn't stay on and she kept taking off her mittens.  Melanie fell, face first, in the snow.  Still...we played and then we drank.  Homemade hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows. 

Both of these recipes come from a new (new for me anyway) cookbook from Williams Sonoma called Family Meal.  This is a gorgeous book with beautiful photographs and scrumptious recipes.  Many of the recipes are for things you'd normal buy like ricotta cheese, yogurt, egg dye, and bacon.  And all of it is family-friendly with lots of ways to get kids involved.  There is a ton of information in here too -- a great read!  It is broken down into categories such as dairy, eggs, fruit, chicken, and sugar, spice, and chocolate -- which is where you'll find the recipes for marshmallows and hot chocolate.

We made the marshmallows first.  Although the recipe calls for them to sit over night before cutting, we skipped that part and had not trouble with them at all.  The recipe was pretty much the same as others I've tried.  The only difference is that this one actually worked for me.  The marshmallows came out soft and pillowy and delicious.  When they were in the hot chocolate they were downright ethereal.  They were creamy and airy and just melted in your mouth almost like whipped cream but with a little more substance.  They are a bit more sophisticated than their store-bought equivalents so they'll please the adult palate but sweet and yummy enough for the kid in all of us.  Coupled with the fabulous hot chocolate -- it's a treat not to be missed.  Snow day or not!

Homemade Marshmallows
From William-Sonoma Family Meals

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup water 
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

in a small bowl, sift together the cornstarch and confectioners' sugar.  Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil and then lightly oil the foil.  Sift 1/4 cup of the cornstarch-sugar mixture into the pan.  Leave any excess in the bottom.


Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle the gelatin over the water, whisk together and let stand for 5 minutes to soften.  Whisk in the salt and cream of tartar.  Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on high until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.


Put 1/2 cup water into a saucepan.  Stir in the granulated sugar and the corn syrup.  Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, and cook without stirring until it turns pale tan, about 250 degrees (firm ball stage). 


Turn the mixer on medium speed and drizzle the hot sugar syrup into the gelatin mixture, aiming between the beater and the side of the bowl.  Be very careful!


Increase the speed to high and whip the mixture until it is white and thick, about 5 minutes.  Add the vanilla and beat until the mixture cools, about 20 minutes.


Pour into the prepared pan.  Dip a palette knife in cold water and smooth the surface.  Let a skin form on the surface, about an hour.  Dust with 1/4 cup of the cornstarch-sugar mixture.  Let rest overnight at cool room temperature.  (We just let it sit for an hour or so and it was fine.)


Line a pan with parchment paper and with the cornstarch-sugar mixture.  Dip cookie cutters into the mixture and cut out marshmallows (or just use a knife).  Layer the marshmallows in the pan, dusting with more cornstarch-sugar.  Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.


Note:  Although I'm sure you all are smart enough for me to skip this part, I feel the need to add that working with boiling sugar syrup can be dangerous.  Please do not allow kids to pour the sugar into the mixer.  This is an adult only step.  The rest is pretty kid friendly.  My girls particularly liked how the gelatin changed after soaking in the water and cutting out the marshmallows.  We used a small, pretty heart. 


Hot Chocolate
From William-Sonoma Family Meals


4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 ounces bittersweet or milk chocolate (or a mixture -- we used mostly milk because that 's what I had)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2-4 tablespoons sugar 
Marshmallows


Pour the milk and cream into a heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Place over medium-high heat and heat to just below boiling.


Whisk in the chocolate, vanilla and cinnamon.  Continue to whisk until milk is frothy and the chocolate is melted.  Whisk in sugar to taste.


Divide among warmed mugs and top each with marshmallows.  Serve right away.  

Muffins are probably one of my favorite things.  I am sure that if I had been Maria Von Trapp, I would have been singing of muffins and not raindrops on roses.  I mean, how good does that taste?

But, I am not Maria (I was a puppet once in my high school production of The Sound of Music, but never Maria) so this blog will just have to be my way of singing the praises of muffins.  

I was feeling kind of muffin-y last week so I got out one of my cookbooks and searched through some recipes.  The orange cranberry muffins caught my eye.  I really like this sweet-tart combination so I thought I'd give it a try.  I found the muffins to be a bit on the dry side and had neither enough orange nor cranberry.  I figured I'd try to put my own spin on them and see if I could make some improvements.

The first thing I did was add more orange juice, orange zest, and cranberries.  I changed up the method a bit as well by rubbing the zest into the sugar until the sugar was orange and fragrant.  I also used dried cranberries and soaked them in the orange juice.  The original recipe called for a mixture of all-purpose flour and cake flour.  I increased the amount cake flour and decreased the all-purpose by a quarter cup each and added a bit more sugar and ground ginger.

The result was a fabulously moist muffin.  It is almost cake-like in texture.  It isn't overly sweet but you get a nice hint from the orange.  The texture of the cranberries make a nice contrast with the softness of the muffin and offers a bit of tartness.  The outside had just a touch of crunch, which I found really nice.  Ella told me they were pretty and delicious.  I do wish the muffins had a bit more orange flavor though.  I doubled the amount of zest and orange juice.  I think that adding more juice would be too much, so next time maybe I'll add even more zest.


If you like this orange cranberry combination, give this muffin a try.  I think you'll really like them.  What's not to like, after all?


Orange Cranberry Muffins


2 cups dried cranberries
1/2 cup orange juice (fresh is best)

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cake flour (
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
10 tablespoons butter (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Coarse sugar (raw sugar/turbinado or sanding sugar)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 


In a glass mixing bowl, heat orange juice in the microwave for about a minute, until just hot to the touch.  Stir in the cranberries and let sit.  Stir occasionally.


In another bowl, whisk together both flours, ginger, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.


Put the sugar in the bowl of a mixer.  Add the orange zest and rub into the sugar until the sugar turns orange and smells really, really good.  Add the butter and cream together for a couple of minutes.  Once completely creamed together, add the vanilla until completely mixed in.  Add the eggs, one at a time, until completely mixed in.


Turn off mixer and add half of the flour mixture.  Turn the mixer on slow and add in the buttermilk.  Immediately add the rest of the flour and then the cranberry and juice.  


Lightly grease 15 muffin cups.  Divide the batter among those tins.  Bake for 15-17 minutes at 425 degrees or until a toothpick placed in the middle of the muffins come out clean.


Let cool for no more than 5 minutes.  Remove from pans to cool on a rack.

I love M&M cookies.  I love how the colors peak through the cookie.  They are just so darn cheerful.  I dare you to try to eat a cookie with M&M's and not smile.  They are a total throwback to childhood.

I didn't always feel this way.  To tell you they truth I didn't  pay M&M cookies any mind until a few years ago when Ella had a birthday party with a cooking theme.  I asked all the guests to send me a recipe for a party favor cookbook.  One of the recipes we got was for M&M cookies.  At the time, they sounded so good that I finally had to give them a second glance.  I knew I had to move them from standard kid fare and make them more adult-friendly.

After some experimenting, I realized they didn't need to "grow up".  The appeal in them is that they are childish.  They are fun and happy and just plain good.  

This recipe is adapted from an oatmeal-chocolate chip-cherry cookie recipe from Cooks' Illustrated.  I made the original recipe last week.  Although they weren't Howie's favorite, I found that they grew on me.  I liked the crunchy cookie paired with the chewy dried cherries and the sweet chocolate.  I figured the base would be good for a lot of different mix-ins.  At first, I considered coconut and chocolate but ultimately settled on M&M's.  

It's mid-winter.  We all need a little sunshine!

I changed the ingredients very little.  In fact the only change I made (other than adding M&M's) was to add a little less oatmeal so the cookie would be softer and less crunchy.  I also made the cookies differently than the cookies called for.  I mixed all the dry ingredients and added them together rather than add the flour and leavening separately from the oatmeal.  

The result is a nice, soft, but chewy cookie with a sweet burst of candy-coated chocolate.  They have exactly the kind of texture I like in chocolate chip cookies with just a hint of crunch from the M&M's.  I used the M&M's made for baking (mini's) but you could use full-sized one for an even better crunch.  

I really like these cookies.  They are perfect to stick in your child's lunch box or for an after school snack.  

Or...

They are perfect to eat with a cold glass of milk while reading a good book (or a bad one) or watching American Idol.  You can eat them between loads of laundry or to help relieve the sting of paying the bills. 

Or...

All right, suffice it to say that these cookies aren't just for kids.  They may look the part but don't let that keep you away.  Go ahead...make these and take a little bite of delicious fun-ness.  Your inner child will thank you.


M&M Oatmeal Cookies
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cook oatmeal
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini M&M's

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

In a bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips.  
Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.  Scrape bowl.  Add egg and vanilla until completely blended.  Scrap bowl again.
Turn off mixer.  Add flour-oatmeal mixture and turn mixer on low.  Once it is incorporated enough not to fly everywhere add the M&M's and mix on medium until the rest of the flour and M&M's are mixed in completely.  This should only take a few seconds. 

Using about two tablespoons per cookie, place dough on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Do not overbake.  They should look baked but not overly browned.  They should still be a bit delicate so leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute or two until they solidify a bit.  Cool on a wire rack.  Enjoy!

Every year after Christmas one or more of our Christmas paraphernalia does not make it back in the boxes to which they belong.  Even after a careful sweep this year was no exception.  The object in question?  A pretty, round cake pan with a recipe for "Christmas coffee cake" printed on the bottom. 
 
Fast forward a week or two.  I'm sitting in church and the pastor is encouraging everyone to use those things that we put away for special occasions.  He's telling us to use the good towels.  The good candles.  The good china.

Which made me think...

Maybe it was no accident that this cake pan did not get put away.  I can't say that I'm sorry it didn't. I even found a home for it in my cupboard (which is no easy feat, my friends, no easy feat).  No...now I'm thinking it was my subconscious telling me that this coffee cake was too good to save for just Christmas.  It should be made any day.  Every day.  

And if one of my New Year's goals wasn't to lose a few pounds I would make it every day.  Believe me -- no one else in my household would mind!

I bought these pans from a catalog that I like.  I bought four of them, three for presents and one for me.  For my girls' teachers I actually made the cake in the pan and gave it to them for Christmas.  Ella's teacher emailed me shortly afterwards raving about how good it was and how much her family liked it.  I couldn't wait to try it on Christmas morning!

I can't even begin to tell you how delicious this cake is.  The cake part is so moist and the topping is crunchy without being too overpowering.  It is just the right amount of sweet and spice and yumminess.  Between the five of us we devoured it and we all wanted more.  

That's when we renamed it "Christmas and New Year Coffee Cake".  Then we decided it should just be called "Everyday Coffee Cake."

And so it is...a coffee cake delicious enough (and easy enough)  for special occasions or to make every day special.
Make this coffee cake now.  Make the day special.  You will thank me.


Everyday Coffee Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Struesel Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
Walnuts ore pecans, optional (I left these out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first three ingredients together and set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat egg until frothy.  Beat in sugar and butter.  Add milk, sour cream, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and mix on low.  Do not over mix.

Combine struesel ingredients and set aside

Put half of batter into dish (a 9" round cake pan will do) and spread evenly.  Cover with half the struesel.  Add remaining batter and top with remaining streusel topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.  

Curtis Stone is hot.

And he cooks.

And he's hot.

What more could you ask for in a man?

(I would take a moment to apologize for that to my husband, but he doesn't read this anyway so...)

For those of you who don't know, Curtis Stone was on Take Home Chef.  He's an Australian chef who would just show up at American grocery stores and talk unsuspecting shoppers (usually cute women) into taking him home to cook for them.

I have to wonder how many people turned him down.  I wouldn't have...But I digress...

On one of the episodes Curtis made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.  They looked so good and got such rave reviews from his diners that it prompted me to do a search for the recipe.  

I never found an "official" recipe but I did find an astute fan who paid more attention to the show than I did (I guess I was distracted) and actually wrote down the recipe from the show.  I eagerly made the cookies and they immediately became a favorite.

To me, they have the perfect texture.  They are soft but not mushy or under baked.  They rise up to the perfect height.  In terms of these two factors, they are exactly what I want in most other cookies.  They are just the right amount of sweet and chocolatey and peanut buttery and I really, really  like them.  

With or without Curtis Stone.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter 
1/4 cup honey 
1 1/2 cups flour
1-2 cups of chocolate (any kind will do, but a cut-up Hershey's Bar, in my opinion, is best)

Cream together butter, baking soda, and brown sugar.  Add in the egg and continue to beat until well incorporated.  Mix in the peanut butter and honey.  Gently mix in the flour.  Fold in the chocolate.


Note: Curtis Stone used chunky peanut butter but you can use smooth.  That's what I use because I don't feel like peanuts in the chunky peanut butter adds anything to the cookie.  The choice is yours. 

You have probably heard the old saying about potato chips.  "So good you can't eat just one."  Well, these muffins are so good I can't eat just one.  Heck, I'd love to eat the whole batch.

I've been making these for about eight years now.  I'm not sure where it came from but I know I found the recipe shortly after my oldest daughter was born.  I love these muffins.  They rank right up there with blueberry muffins.  They may even surpass blueberry.  They are soft and moist and chocolatey  with just a hint of cinnamon and pumpkin.  I love their rich orangeish color.  They speak to me of autumn and coming into a warm comforting kitchen after a walk in the cool, brisk air.  They are so good you can eat them with dinner and for dessert.  What more could you ask for in a muffin?  Seriously?

These muffins are so good that I'm not even going to say anything else about them.  You are just going to have to trust me and try them for yourself.  

What are you waiting for?  Go on...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
15-ounce can pumpkin
1 1/2 vegetable oil
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease 24 muffins tins or line with muffin cups.  (I actually get a few more than 24 muffins -- about 28).

Beat eggs in a large bowl.  Mix in the sugar, pumpkin, and oil.

In a medium bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Blend the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until must mixed.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  

Divide the batter among the muffin tins.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.  Remove muffins from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Note:  Occasionally I feel the need to make these muffins more healthy and will use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose.  This works pretty okay but the muffins won't be as moist.  I have found the best ratio is to used 1 cup whole wheat and 2 cups all-purpose.  You can also play around with less oil and sugar -- but the results just won't be the same.  Sometimes it's best just to leave well enough alone.  I think this is one of those times.  Remember...everything in moderation!

Awwww...Who am I kidding?