Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

Who's ready for their peanut butter fix??
These cookies are reminiscent of peanut butter cups, but better. Much better.
When I made these, (for a superbowl party), I was looking for a recipe that I had most of the ingredients  already. I got lucky and found these on the Picky Palate. I had everything I needed but I didn't have enough solid chocolate bars to make the chunks so I used half chunks, half chips. I think that had I used all large chunks, I would have achieved the gooey chocolate inside like the blog I got the recipe from did. Nevertheless they were delicious! My batch of cookies made around 50 cookies.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Cookies

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups good quality chocolate chunks
1 cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place peanut butter into freezer until firm, about 30 minutes.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined.
Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Add to wet ingredients along with cocoa powder and chocolate chunks, slowly mixing until just combined.
Drop dollops of frozen peanut butter into dough and turn mixer a few times, to get swirls of peanut butter in the dough.
Scoop balls onto the cookie sheet 1 inch apart.
Bake 14-16 minutes.
Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Best of 2012

Can you believe another year has come and gone already?
Well that means it's time to look back and see what my favorite post of last year were!
It wasn't hard to pick my favorites, I must admit. 2012 was such a great year for me friendship wise and career wise, because I was promoted to full-time this year!
Learn As You Go also has a twitter now, (@LearnAsYouGo_) and I've also started using instagram to promote this site.
Okay, enough chit chat. Drumroll please......

Top 10 Posts of 2012

#10 7th Place Award Winning Ribs

I love this recipe for ribs, for a first timer making ribs, it was super easy to follow and the ribs were just bursting with flavor. I must admit, I liked them better when they were cooked on a slow cooker versus in the oven, you really just can't beat the slow cooker. 

#9 Cake Batter Bars

These bars were delicious. I took them to work and my co workers devoured them. They were soft, sweet, and perfect for any birthday.


#8 Strawberry White Chocolate Brownies

The perfect switch-up to you normal, every day brownies are these. White Chocolate with strawberries you can't go wrong. They were moist and pretty amazing.


#7 Loaded Baked Potato Grilled Cheese

I loveee paninis, grilled cheese, and mashed potatoes with all the fixings. This literally combines the best of all worlds. Eat them with soup or by themselves either way you will be very happy you made them.


#6 Bears Cookies

These cookies combined two of my posts from 2011, but they turned out so cute and so good; I mean come on how can you not make these every year for football season or for any sport or even. The spiced cookies are perfect to use when sick of the every day sugar cookies and the royal frosting takes your cookies from the norm to bakery quality.

#5 Pecan Pie Cookies

I don't even like pecans. But everyone loved them and I loved how easy they were to make. The cookies were a simple brown sugar thumbprint cookie and the filling had only a few ingredients. Pop them in the oven and you have an easy, original, fall or Thanksgiving treat.


#4 Red Velvet Blossoms 

These are a delicious twist to the typical peanut butter blossoms. How can you go wrong with red velvet? Don't think these are just for Valentines Day! You can make these during the winter holidays or Fourth of July too!


#3 Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Buttercream

The star of this post was the raspberry buttercream. Maybe I'm biased because I'm slightly raspberry obsessed but this is the best tasting frosting I've ever made, possibly ever tasted, even. Yes that good. Go, spread the word.


#2 Buffalo Chicken Bites

WHA? Something that isn't a sweet baked-good in the top 5?! Oh yes. These buffalo bites were so much fun to make, (maybe it was just me but making something completely new is the most interesting thing to me), and so worth the time it takes to let the dough rise, unless you use pre made dough. Perfect for tailgating, parties, or anytime you want to make an appetizer that will impress all.


#1 Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies

Ugh, I love these cookies! My favorite post of the year was not hard to pick. In fact, this was the easiest one to pick! The chocolate with the coffee flavor is devine. They require a bit of time, but these grown up cookies are so worth the effort. Just try not to eat them all yourself at once, or indulge and do. ;)


Alright! That's all of them! What did you think? Did you favorite post of last year make the cut? What do you want to try or what have you tried already? I can't wait for another year of delicious blogging and thank you all for reading! Don't forget to follow my page on the sidebar to the right and tell your friends on twitter, pintrest, instagram and facebook if you like my site!

Apple Cider Caramel Cookies

As if these pictures weren't self explanatory let me say that out of the three new cookies I tired this year, I defiantly saved the best for last. They taste just like a caramel apple. I've made 3 carmel apple cookies before, one was with the Jiffy apple muffin mix, there was the Carmel Apple Surprise Cookies, and these. I think that these may be my favorite. I'd never herd of Alpine instant cider before, maybe because up north, at least in Chicago, fall is all about fresh cider. However, after tasting these cookies, it might be something to try.
On my first attempt at putting the carmel in the dough, I put the dough on the cookie sheet and put the carmel on top and tried to fold the dough over but that was way too messy. The best way is to scoop the dough with a tablespoon, but the dough in one hand, and with the other put the carmel in the middle and in your hands seal the caramel with the dough so that its completely covered and then put it on the cookie sheet. It makes more sense when you're making them.
I don't know if this will be a Christmas cookie regular for me but it defiantly will be a new go-to fall cookie.
Recipe from The Six Sisters





Apple Cider Caramel Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, nearly melted
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 7.4 ounce box Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink Mix, (not sugar free)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
3 cups flour
1 14 ounce bag Kraft Caramels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar, salt, and all 10 packets of apple cider mix until smooth and fluffy.
Beat in eggs and vanilla, then mix in the baking soda and baking powder.
Add flour and mix until just combined.
With a standard cookie scoop, scoop the dough scrapping off the excess as you go up the bowl.
Flatten the dough slightly in your hand and place caramel in the center.
Work the dough amount the caramel sealing well.
Placing the cookies two inches apart on the sheets.
Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown around edges.
After baking, carefully slide the parchment with the cookies onto the counter.
Let cool until the are no longer soft but slightly warm.
Twist gently to remove, and cool the rest of the way upside down on the parchment or on a cooking rack.

Hot Cocoa Cookies

I was really excited to make these cookies. The picture on Lovin' From The Oven where I got this recipe looked so amazing. That combined with the fact that they're made with marshmallow fluff and mini marshmallows, I couldn't wait. But I was really dissapointed. Now don't get me wrong, these cookies are really moist and deliciously chocolately, but they're not at all what I expected. They are totally a different color and texture than the original picture and you cant even taste the marshmallow in them. That combined with the fact that I put them in a Tupperware without wax paper and now they're all stuck together. I've learned my lesson but I'm determined to give these cookies another try to see if it was this batch that went wrong and if I can get them right. I think I'll use dark chocolate cocoa when I do since her cookies were so much darker than mine.
Fortunately I made Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies too and they turned out just as good as every year. They're so sticky and when you roll them in the cinnamon/sugar/pepper mixture but so worth it in the end. I love making these because everyone loves them and I think they're a good mix to the usual Christmas cookies.

Hot Cocoa Cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies

1 cup butter, (softened)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup marshmallow fluff
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows

Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined.
Stir in marshmallow fluff.
Fold in chocolate chips and marshmallows.
Cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
Remove and roll into 1 1/2 inch balls.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake 10-12 minutes.
Allow cookies to cool completely before removing.

Snickerdoodles

I'm only making 6 cookies this year for Christmas.
3 of them you've already seen on my blog, my favorite mint chocolate chip cookies, everyones favorite white chocolate raspberry cookies, and the delicious Mexican hot chocolate cookies.
3 are new recipes I've never tried before, and the first are these snickerdoodles I found by the Busty Baker, whom I also got the recipe for the Mexican hot chocolate cookies I've made three Christmases in a row.

I think it's kind of crazy that I've never made snickerdoodles before. 

It was defiantly about time, right?

As expected they were really easy and when I ate one right out of the oven, it was sweet, fluffy and had  the perfect amount of cinnamon. 

Snickerdoodles 

makes 3 dozen

2 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, (softened)

1 2/3 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for topping

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.

Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.

Add dry ingredients and beat, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary. 

In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon and 1/4 cup of sugar.

Using a level tablespoon dough per cookie, roll the dough in your palm and roll in the cinnamon sugar mix. 

Place on the pre prepared baking sheets 1 1/2 inches apart.

Flatten with the bottom of a glass.

Sprinkle tops with any remaining cinnamon sugar.

Bake, rotating halfway, until tops are puffed and crackly, and bottoms are golden brown, 10-12 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. 

Pecan Pie Cookies

Happy early Thanksgiving everyone!
I've always had a hard time with Thanksgiving desserts, being a picky eater. I don't like pumpkin, pies, cranberries, or pecans. I know, right? It's okay. I'm more of a carb person anyway and between the rolls and the mashed potatoes, I'm never left unsatisfied with a Thanksgiving meal. Go ahead splurge on the sweets and leave the real good stuff to me. However when planning what I was going to bring to this Thanksgiving feast, (I'm going to a friend's house), I decided that even though I don't enjoy the dessert portion of this day, I do love baking and everyone else loves pecans. I must say I tried a little bit of the filling, sans the pecans, and it was pretty delish, but you really can't go wrong with brown sugar and vanilla.
I did whoever take a few cookies to some of my co-workers for a trial run before the big day and everyone loved them. They said that they're really moist and taste almost like a pecan pie.
These cookies are really good and really easy to make so there's still time to make them for Thanksgiving if you need something different to please your guests or hostesses.
I got this recipe from The Beantown Baker. Very slightly adapted.


Pecan Pie Cookies
makes about 3 dozen cookies

For the cookies:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, (softened)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the filling:
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all the cookie ingredients except flour and baking powder in your mixing bowl.
Beat at medium speed until creamy.
Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking powder.
Beat until well mixed.
Chill the dough in the fridge for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine all filling ingredients in a small bowl and mix until combined.
Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Make indentation in each cookie with your thumb and rotate to hollow out slightly.
Fill each cookie with one teaspoon of filling.
Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool 1 minute before removing to cooling racks.

Bears Cookies

It's football season once again!! It's also the perfect time make roll out cookies and use your football helmet cookie cutters.
I made these for the bears first game of the season using royal frosting and the Spiced Brown Sugar cookies I've made previously. I get so sick of sugar cookies being the cut out cookie of choice so  i really like the spiced brown sugar cookies, which offer just the right amount of spices on a very soft cookie. They're perfect for fall, football season, Halloween, and Thanksgiving so keep them in mind next time you're having a get together this time of year.
Royal frosting is very time consuming. My Mother decided to make helmet cookies for my cousins birthday after i made these and used royal frosting as well and i warned her! Your cookies will turn out beautiful but I wouldn't make these without a whole day to spare with when you're making dough, rolling out, baking, waiting or them to cool, doing outlines, flooding, and putting piping on the top. they're well worth all the time and effort though and everyone loves the end results.

Like last time I used royal frosting, last Halloween with my Chocolate Halloween Cutout Cookies, I used the recipe and tutorial by Annie's Eats

Also, I got my helmet cookie cutter at Sur-La-Table (my favorite store period.)
What cut out cookies are you making this fall?

Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies

Hello my loves!
I'm so, so sorry about my absence! I've been working full time as a supervisor (I know, its exciting) and it's been taking all my energy but I think I'm finally getting a hang of things. The other good news is that I have been baking! Thanks to all the amazing people who pitched in to buy me a kitchen aid mixer for my 21st birthday! :)))
I know, best gift ever. Goodbye hand mixer!
The other hold up I've had to blogging is that I've had issues uploading my pictures:( but I figured a way to upload them so here we are.

Now to the wonderful goodness at the top of the page.
I've made these cookie sandwiches before, and they're a bit time consuming; but very much worth it. The chocolate espresso cookies are dry and crumbly so don't plan on making them without the filling, however, the two paired together is one of my favorite cookies by far! I'd say these are defiantly grown up cookies and are so worth the treat and breaking any diet.
Seriously, these are amazing. Try them and then thank me.
Recipe is from Broma Bakery.

Chocolate Espresso Sandwich Cookies 

For the cookies:
1 1/2 cups and 3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cups and 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder (or instant coffee)
15 tablespoons butter

For the filling:
8 oz white chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the cream to a boil.
Remove from head and add the white chocolate and coffee powder.
Let stand for 1 minute, then whisk until white chocolate is completely melted.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow filling to congeal.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
In your mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
Set aside.
Cut the butter into cubes and add them in batches until the dough comes together.
On a floured surface, roll the dough until its about 1/8 inches thick.
Use a cookie cutter to cut dough into two inch rounds.
Place onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

On a work surface, place half the cookies upside down.
Whisk the chilled filling or stir it with a teaspoon.
Dollop a teaspoon of filling onto the center of each upside down cookie.
Place second cookie on top of filling and press together until filling comes to the edges.

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

The only thing that could possibly make chocolate chip cookies better is to put Oreos in them.
I made these cookies once before but i crushed the Oreos too small and you couldn't even taste them so this time I made sure to barley crush them into chunks and they turned out ten times better, at least.
I brought them to work and they were eaten pretty fast, along with the leftover Oreos so I think that my coworkers liked them too. I used reduced fat Oreos, but you don't have to!
I got the recipe from my favorite cooking blog, Lovin' From The Oven

Chocolate Chip Oreo Cookies

1 stick of butter, (softened)
6 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
11 broken Oreos
1 cup chocolate chip cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars until well combined.
Add egg and vanilla until mixed.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, when mixed together, stir in the chocolate chips.
With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dough onto a baking sheet.
Bake for ten minutes or until cooked but still soft.
Let cool for a few minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Red Velvet Blossoms

Valentines Day is my favorite holiday, so I wasn't about to let being single ruin it for me!
My friend and I decided that we would be each others Valentines. I knew right away that I wanted to bake her something delicious for Valentines Day, at first I was going to make red velvet cookie sandwiches, but then I saw these Red Velvet Blossoms on The Galley Gourmet and absolutely had to try them.
The only thing I changed on these were that she used hugs and I used dark chocolate kisses.

Red Velvet Blossoms
makes 3 dozen


1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil 
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon liquid red food color
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
36 Hershey's dark chocolate kisses

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the oil, brown sugar, and sugar until no brown sugar lumps remain.
Add the egg and mix until creamy.
Mix in the food color, vanilla and vinegar.
Add the flour mixture and mix until completely combined.
Using a 1/2 ounce ice cream scoop, scoop the dough into balls, rolling gently between the palms of your hands making a smooth uniform surface.
Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, bake until puffed and edges are set, about 12 minutes.
Remove the cookies and press a chocolate candy into the center of each cookie.
Let the cookies rest for 1 minute, then transfer to rack to cool completely.

Spiced Halloween Cut Out Cookies

I love Halloween.
There's a good chance it's because my mom refused to decorate or let me dress up as anything scary as a kid. So now I have a love for all things creepy and scary.
My other favorite holiday is valentines day, but you can only truly celebrate it if you're with a relationship and lets face it, there's a good chance that isn't going to happen this year for me so I need to appreciate Halloween while I can.
Don't you love my skull cookie jar? So  cute.
In honor of my favorite holiday, I'm making two posts with two different kinds of cookies, (yay!).
I found these super cute Halloween stencils and I had not ever used them before. I definitely recommend them they are so cute. However. I didn't use frosting and if you do the same don't use the colored spray, use powdered sugar or dark cocoa powder. Or frost it and use the color spray because it is pretty cool!
The cookies were delish also besides just cute. They were soft and had just the right amount of spices, which I was worried about because no one wants an overly spiced cookie. They're a perfect fall cookie, I definatley recommend trying them out. I found the recipe on Annie's Eats. I made almost 30 cookies with this recipe, but it will very on how thick you roll the dough out and what cookie cutters you use.

Spiced Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon all spice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, (packed)
2 sticks of butter, (softened)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and spices in a medium bowl.
In the brown of an electric mixer, combine sugars and butter.
Beat in medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Blend in the egg and vanilla.
With the mixer on low speed, mix in the dry ingredients until just incorporated.
Form the dough into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
Chill until firm, at least an hour.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Cut out the dough with your cookie cutters and transfer to the baking sheets.
Bake 10-12 minutes.
Let cool in the baking sheets before allowing to completely cool on the cooking racks.
Decorate and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Everyone has a go-to chocolate chip recipe.
I think I have found mine.
My mom swears by the recipe on the toll house chocolate chip bag.
Yep, that's what I grew up eating.
I like chocolate chip cookies that aren't too fluffy, soft, and gooey.
I searched and searched for a good one, I found four recipes that looked good and after comparing them all together, I chose a recipe that was in the New York Times, which I found on My Baking Addiction.
I'm sending these home to my cousin, Trey. He's been doing amazing on his golf team and deserves a treat.
I used dark chocolate chips (one full bag) for these instead of the bittersweet disks, and I think they couldn't have turned out better, they were everything I look for in a chocolate chip cookie. Also, I used all-pourpose flour instead of the cake and bread flour. Also, I left out the sea salt and my cookies didn't take as long to bake, about 13 minuets.
I usually add how much the repipe makes in a recipe, but the original recipe says 1 1/2 dozen and I made over three dozen so since it's such a big difference, I'll let you find out how many it makes for yourself.
*Also note that the dough needs to be chilled for over 24 hours so make sure you leave time for that.

So, I hate to admit this, but this blog is about me learning lessons while baking so I will give everyone a good laugh. My grandmothers' baking sheet only has a rim on one side. So I lined it with parchment paper and during my second dozen, the paper slid off while i was pulling them off and I lost all 12 of them to the door of the oven and they feel in the crack between the door and the open. So upsetting. Learn from me and don't let it happen to you.

New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 2/3 cups bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet disks, at least 60 percent cacao content
Sea salt

In your medium sized bowl, sift flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a bowl, set aside.
In your mixer, use the paddle attachment and cream the butter and sugars until very light, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
Stir in vanilla.
Reduce speed to add the dry ingredients until just combined.
Drop in chocolate pieced in and incorporate them without breaking them.
Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
Dough may be used in batched, and be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat.
Scoop 6 3 1/2 ounce mounds of dough onto baking sheet.
Make sure to turn all chocolate pieces horizontally if they are sticking up for a more attractive cookie.
Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, about 18-20 minuets.
Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more.
Repeat with remaining dough, or put it in the refrigerator for later baking.