Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

There's a ton of recipes online for chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips and peanut butter cookies with peanut butter chips but what about a vanilla cookie with peanut butter chips??  Have you ever visited Chocolate World?  They have a bakery there that sells lots of delicious desserts and one of the items is the vanilla cookie with peanut butter chips and it is by far my favorite!  So, my mission today was to recreate my favorite Chocolate World cookie.  It is not exactly the same but I got pretty darn close!! They're delicious!  My daughter loves them so I say it was a success.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine, room temp
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 package peanut butter chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips.  Refrigerate 1 hour.  

3. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

4. Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop onto cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.

5. Bake until the cookies are light golden grown and the outer edges start to harden yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (I took mine out at 16 minutes) rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets. Remove the cooled cookies from the baking sheets with a metal spatula.

Makes about 30 cookies.   

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Philly Cheese Steak Ring

This recipe is great for football season. This was in one of the very first Pampered Chef cookbooks...an oldie but goodie that I made a few changes to make it even better.  It is super easy to make and a crowd pleaser.  who doesn't love a good cheese steak?! This recipe serves 8 but can easily be divided for a smaller serving for 4.

photo from Pampered Chef since I forgot to snap a pic

INGREDIENTS
1 cup bell pepper, chopped (I prefer red, yellow or orange but you can use green if you like the flavor)
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 tsp Italian seasoning, divided
16 ounces thinly sliced deli roast beef
8 ounces thinly sliced American cheese
4 ounces mozarella cheese, shredded
2 packages (10 oz each) refrigerated pizza dough
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup pizza sauce

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400'.  Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat until hot.  Saute the peppers, garlic and onions until soft, mix in 1/2 tsp of the Italian seasoning.  Remove pan from heat.  Unroll both pizza crusts onto lightly floured surface.  Roll out to form two 12" x 9" rectangles; cover with the beef , cheese and vegetable mixture to within 1/2 inch of edges of dough.  Starting at the longest side of the first rectangle, roll up dough, jelly roll fashion; press seam together to seal. Repeat with remaining crust.  Place rolls seam side down on a 15" round baking stone (or large cookie sheet).  Join ends of rolls together to form 1 large ring; press ends together to seal.  In a small bowl, combine egg white and water; brush onto dough using a pastry brush.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of Italian seasoning.  Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping.

Recipe adapted from Pampered Chef Stoneware Sensations "Philly Beef-Stuffed Sandwich"