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In the Oven: Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies

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Get out your sheet pans, bakers – we’re back to cookies! Posting date is June 18.

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies
 
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Yield: About 24 cookies
Ingredients
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons
  • (145 g) all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 5 ounces (1¼ sticks/140 g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 5 ounces (140 g) smooth peanut butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (110 g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 4 ounces (115 g) butterscotch chips
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and lump-free. Add the peanut butter and beat until combined.
  4. Add both sugars and continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg and vanilla, and beat again until completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, add the flour mixture all at once, and beat until just incorporated, about 30 seconds. Use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to stir in the butterscotch chips.
  5. Scoop and roll the dough into balls about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. Place them on the prepared
  6. baking sheets about 1½ inches (4 cm) apart. Bake the cookies for 5 minutes, then sprinkle the tops with the sea salt, if you like. Continue baking until the cookies just start to brown on the edges, another 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the sheets on cooling racks for 5 minutes. Transfer the cookies from the sheets to wire racks and allow to cool completely.
Notes
How to store: The cookies can be served immediately or stored in an airtight container at room temperature for
up to 3 days.

 

In the Oven: Peanut Butter and Jelly Crumb Morning Muffins

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We’re going all-American to celebrate Eleanor Roosevelt’s birthday. Posting date is October 11!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Crumb Morning Muffins
 
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Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients
For the Crumb
  • ½ cup (75 g) lightly salted peanuts, toasted (see page 19)
  • 1 cup (130 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1⁄3 cup (75 g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 ounces (¾ stick/85 g) unsalted butter, melted and warm
For the Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
  • 1¾ cups (225 g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (110 g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk
  • ½ cup (115 g) sour cream (not low-fat)
  • ½ cup (130 g) creamy peanut butter (natural is fine here)
  • 1⁄3 cup (75 ml) canola oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1⁄3 to ½ cup (105 to 160 g) grape jelly
Instructions
Make the Crumb
  1. Place the peanuts in the bowl of a small food processor and pulse until finely chopped (a few coarser crumbs won’t hurt), or finely chop them by hand.
  2. Transfer the chopped peanuts to a large bowl. Whisk in the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Drizzle the butter over the mixture and use a rubber spatula (or your very clean fingers) to fold and cut the ingredients together until the mixture is crumb-like. Set aside.
Make the Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C). Lightly spray each cup of a standard 12-cup muffin pan with a little bit of nonstick cooking spray and use a paper towel to spread the oil evenly along the bottom and up the sides of each cup.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, both sugars, the baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar if necessary.
  3. In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, peanut butter, oil, egg, and vanilla.
  4. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well, and fold until just combined.
  5. Drop about 2 tablespoons of batter into each cup of the prepared muffin pan. Use the back of a clean, lightly oiled spoon to flatten the batter out. Place 1 rounded teaspoon of grape jelly onto the muffin batter in each cup, trying to keep it in the center of the cup, if possible. Top the jelly with another 2 tablespoons of muffin batter to cover the jelly completely, using the back of a spoon to gently spread the batter into an even layer. The muffin cups should be not quite full. (You might end up with excess batter. Do not try to force it into the cups; simply make extra muffins.) Cover the surface of each muffin cup with a small handful of crumbs, pressing the mixture ever so gently so that it adheres to the top.
  6. Bake, rotating halfway through the baking time, until the crumb topping turns a golden brown, 14 to 18 minutes. Check them; if a toothpick inserted into a muffin near the edge (avoiding the jelly center) should come out clean (disregarding any topping or jelly that might stick), bake them for a minute more—these muffins might sink in the middle if not baked all the way.
  7. Let the muffins cool almost completely in the pan on a cooling rack. Since the crumb topping is messy, I found the easiest way to remove the muffins is to angle the muffin pan over the sink and tilt the pan until the muffins almost fall out. Grab each muffin and set it on the cooling rack until completely cool.
Notes
How to store: Serve the muffins within 24 hours. These muffins freeze well: Just wrap them in a few layers of plastic wrap to fend off frost.

In the Oven: Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

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Posting date is March 1, let’s bake!

Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
 
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Yield: 1 half sheet cake • about 24 servings
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Sheet Cake
  • 2 cups (255 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 1⁄4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (220 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 3⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) well-shaken buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 6 ounces (11⁄2 sticks/170 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces
  • 1 cup (240 ml) coffee
  • 1⁄3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (35 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1⁄4 cup (50 g) vegetable shortening
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the Peanut Butter Frosting
  • 14 ounces (395 g) confectioners’ sugar (about 4 cups)
  • 2⁄3 cup (165 ml) evaporated milk
  • 4 ounces (1 stick/115 g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1⁄2 cup (130 g) creamy natural peanut butter
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1⁄2 cups (225 g) salted roasted peanuts, finely chopped
Instructions
Make the Chocolate Sheet Cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly spray a half sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper, then lightly spray the parchment and the sides of the pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the parchment paper and the sides of the pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, both sugars, and the salt. Make a well in the center of the bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, buttermilk, and vanilla. Set aside.
  4. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, stir together the butter, coffee, cocoa powder, shortening, and baking soda. Once the butter just begins to melt, increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil for 20 to 45 seconds, but no more. Pour the hot mixture into the well of the dry ingredients and fold it all together. The mixture should be nearly room temperature (if it is not, wait a few minutes). Add the buttermilk mixture to the chocolate mixture and whisk
  5. gently to combine.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the oven. Bake the sheet cake until a toothpick
  7. inserted in the center comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the
  8. baking time. Do not overbake; err on the side of slightly underbaked if you must.
  9. Start making the icing while the cake is baking (the icing must be applied to a hot cake to fuse
  10. properly).
Make the Peanut Butter Frosting
  1. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl. (If you want to make sure your frosting is extra smooth, sift the sugar twice.)
  2. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, stir together the evaporated milk, butter, peanut butter, and salt. Once the butter begins to melt, increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture just to a boil.
  3. Pour the hot mixture over the sifted confectioners’ sugar and whisk to combine. Add the vanilla and whisk again for 10 seconds.
  4. Pour the frosting over the hot cake and spread it into a consistent layer with an offset spatula. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the frosting and allow the entire cake and frosting to come to room temperature. Place the cake in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes to fully set the frosting.
  5. Slice and serve the cake cold (our preference), or bring it to room temperature first.
Notes
How to store: the cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.