Sluttarella Brownies

I guess if you’re going to take a shot at something you may as well go as all out crazy as you can think of. I was tipped off to Slutty Brownies by a coworker who asked if I could make them, so I did and they went over pretty well. If you don’t know about slutty brownies they’re a pretty crazy three layer brownie with cookie dough on bottom, Oreo cookies in the middle and a layer of fudgy brownies on top. Super sweet and all kinds of yum, but I don’t like Oreo’s very much, so after the first go I thought that a way to make these even better would be to use Nutter Butter cookies because those are at least a thousand times better than Oreo’s any day of the week. I’ve almost completely cut out packaged cookies all together since I think I could make stuff infinitely better, but so could anyone. Anyway, since I’m experimenting with Nutter Butter’s I figure I may as well add peanut butter chips to the cookie dough, so we’re going chocolate chip peanut butter cookie dough, Nutter Butter, and on top a Nutella brownie. Hence, Slutterella Brownies, (Slutter Butter Brownies was my first thought) and before you kill me for the name, I didn’t come up with it, so take it somewhere else.

As for my recipes, they’re sort of a combination of What’s Gaby Cooking and the idea of Nutella Brownies from Buns in my Oven, so shout out to both of those sites for the inspiration.

Here we go with the recipe, I hope you’re ready.

Sluttarella Brownies

 

Brownie layer:

• 10 tablespoons of butter (1 stick plus two tablespoons)
• 1 cup of white sugar
• 3/4 of a cup of cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup of Nutella or other hazelnut spread
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup of powdered sugar to dust the brownies afterwards (optional)

Nutter Butter layer:

• 1 package of Nutter Butter cookies

Cookie dough layer:

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips

Starting with the brownie layer

1. Melt butter in saucepan. Once melted add sugar and cocoa powder then whisk well.

2. Add two eggs, salt, and vanilla and continue to mix be careful not to let eggs sit or they may cook in hot mixture. Mix in flour then set aside.

On to the cookie dough layer:

3. Cream butter and sugars together.

Protip: Before you throw away that wrapper from the stick of butter, go ahead and smear it all over your baking pan/dish so that you don’t need to spray it down.

4. Add egg and vanilla extract. Mix.

5. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and mix well. Mix in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Set your dough aside.

Let’s put it all together!

6. At this point you can preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

7. You can line a baking pan with aluminum foil and spray it down or if you’re like me just grab one of those inexpensive foil pans from your local dollar store. Spray with non-stick stuff or use the wrapper from the butter stick like I mentioned above.

8. Drop your cookie dough into the bottom of the pan and make an even layer to form the base of the brownies.

9. Go ahead an open that package of Nutter Butter cookies and layer them over the cookie dough mixture. Don’t double down, this thing will be sweet enough when all is said and done, just stick with a single layer.

10. Pour brownie mixture on top and make sure it’s nice and even.

11. Throw this ol’ girl in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Test with toothpick or whatever to make sure it’s cooked. Once your toothpick/testing device comes out clean go ahead and remove this from the oven and let it cool. Once cool dust with powdered sugar.

12. Enjoy with milk/ice cream or whatever else strikes your fancy.

I got a ton of compliments from my peeps at work, I think they’re way better than the Oreo version I made before, but that’s my personal opinion. Another thing to note is that you would never know there’s Nutella in here, the peanut butter is king here, the chocolate is second, hazelnut flavor is nowhere to be found, but that’s also not my intent, so if you really want the hazelnut flavoring you’re going to have to increase the amount from half a cup to 3/4 or maybe even a full cup. It’s your choice. Do with it what you will, I’m just providing a basic blueprint for one of the best brownies I’ve ever made. Make it your own like I made it my own, but you’ve got to try this, you will not be sorry…unless you eat the whole thing.

Hey, if you like this thing I made, you know what to do. Thanks for taking a peek. Until next time.

Peanut Butter and Nutella Cookies

I got this idea for making peanut butter cookies the other day, but not just any old peanut butter cookies I had to put a little sumtin’ sumtin’ in them, so I decided to go with a little hazelnut spread (aka Nutella or in my case the new Jif hazelnut spread) then I had to decide how to make them and I came across two recipes that I based my variation on:

http://pickfreshfoods.com/2013/08/17/peanut-butter-nutella-cookies/

http://www.thesisterscafe.com/2012/07/peanut-butter-nutella-cookies

I give credit where credit is due, I liked the idea of both of these recipes, but I call this Steal the Baking for a reason. In any case, I made these cookies, they were amazeballs. I think you’ll love them if you give them a try. Here’s the recipe:

 

Peanut Butter and Nutella Cookies

 

• 1/2 cup butter room temperature (1 stick)

• 2/3 cup peanut butter (chunky or creamy, your choice, I always vote chunky because of texture)

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

• 1/3 cup of Nutella or similar chocolate hazelnut spread

• 1/4 cup plain yogurt (Greek or whatever flavor you want, I went honey)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 cups all purpose flour

Makes about two dozen medium sized cookies.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream butter and sugars.

3. Add yogurt, peanut butter, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract (optional, maybe this makes too many different nut flavors, I don’t know, do whatever floats your boat) and mix well.

4. In separate bowl mix dry ingredients. In two parts combine with mixture from step 3 above.

5. Spoon dough onto cookie sheet and flatten. Take teaspoon or so of hazelnut spread and drop on top of cookies. Take small amount of cookie dough and cover up the hazelnut spread, completely or not, make these cookies your own. I did not cover completely as you can see in the photos.

6. Bake at for 8-10 minutes or so depending on your taste. Remember it’s always best to undercook them because the residual heat will keep them cooking for a little bit after they’ve been taken out of the oven. I gave my cookies no more than 9 minutes and out they came.

7. Enjoy with your beverage of choice.

Hope you love these cookies the way everyone who got to try these did, they’re delightful. Please let me know what you think of them.

Fat Elvis Cookies or Banana & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies With Bacon Bits

I thought I had come up with this concept all on my own a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t looked into it until yesterday, but I did not see this combination, so this is completely original and true to the King himself. A cookie comprised of mashed banana, peanut butter chips (which for some reason I invariably end up calling peanut butter chocolate chips, which does exist and is a swirly version of chocolate and peanut butter chips), and bacon bits.

I wouldn’t consider myself an Elvis fan, nor have I ever tried his signature peanut butter, banana, and bacon between two pieces of bread, which is then fried a la a grilled cheese sammy. So, the fact that this cookie even occurred to me is a little weird, but the truth is that these cookies are very nummy and if you tried them it would probably be a safe assumption that you’d grab more than one.

Enough about the origins of the idea that led to this cookie and on to the recipe itself, this stolen recipe comes from How Sweet It Is, which is ‘adapted’ from the recipe of someone else, which is pretty much how all blogs work at this point, right? Here’s what you’re going to need:

Fat Elvis Cookies

• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 8 tablespoons of butter, melted (1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter) then cooled
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 ripened bananas, mashed (Note: I didn’t use the ones pictured above, my were very ripe)
• 1 2/3 cups of Peanut Butter chips (1 bag of Reese’s peanut butter chips)
• 1/2 cup of bacon bits

1. Melt your butter in the microwave, then place in the refrigerator to cool.

2. Mash bananas.

3. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

4. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

5. In another bowl, mix cooled butter and sugars until combined.

6. Add vanilla extract and egg and mix thoroughly.

7. Add in mashed bananas and continue to mix.

8. Slowly add in flour mixture.

9. Fold in peanut butter chips and bacon bits.

10. Spoon onto cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are brown.

11. Eat up, but try not to eat them all lest you turn into a Fat Elvis, and I’m not talking about the cookies.

So, aesthetically I don’t necessarily find these cookies visually appealing. The cookie and the peanut butter chips all blend in and mine didn’t look as great as they tasted. The cookies were delicious, though, so who cares. For a little bit of color and variation I added in a little bit of chocolate chips to the final batch:

All in all, I’d call this recipe a success, but if I think a couple of minor tweaks are probably in order, notably I might have put too much banana, I used half a banana more than called for. The flour might have been a little less than needed because of this and the dough wasn’t very firm because of this, also because I didn’t use peanut butter in the dough as was called for in the original recipe. If I perfect this I’ll make adjustments and edit the recipe, or if you’ve got an idea to make this better, I am all ears. Just drop a comment below. Until next time, I stole this baking, and it was worth the calories.

Peanut Butter Cookies With Chocolate Chips (And Nutella)

I got it in my head a couple of days ago that I really wanted some peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips like the kind you find at Mrs. Fields, so I decided to try my hand at them. Then I looked at some recipes and decided against that and went with peanut butter and oatmeal with chocolate chips, but as I am prone to do I had to step it up for something a little different, so I substituted a bit of the peanut butter with Nutella (or rather the JIF equivalent, it’s just easier to say Nutella than hazelnut spread especially when your title is already long enough) and the cookies came out pretty good. Dare I say delicious. Definitely a nice little twist on a classic. Next time, I’ve got to figure out what to do with that almond butter sitting in the fridge.

Anyway, this recipe comes from AllRecipes.com and is by user ‘RUGGLES’, the reason I chose it is because it has over 200 user reviews and currently maintains a 4.5 star rating. Plus, they just looked good in their picture. So, off I went into the pantry and gathered up my ingredients and got to baking.

(Sorry for the unfocused image, it’s nearly midnight, forgive me.)

Okay, so here’s what you’re going to need and what you’re going to need to do to make you some delicious cookies:

Peanut Butter Cookies With Chocolate Chips (and Nutella or Hazelnut Spread)

• 1/2 cup of butter, softened (or butter flavored shortening)
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of white sugar (original calls for 3/4, I think they’re sweet enough once everything else is thrown in)
• 2/3 cup of peanut butter (I prefer chunky/crunchy for texture, but these were made with the creamy variety)
• 1/4 cup of Nutella or hazelnut spread
• 1 egg (2 if they’re on the small side)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup of all purpose flour (or 3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 1/4 cup of wheat flour. I went with the single cup, not as wholesome, but still tasty)
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of rolled oats (this is not the same as quick oats, this is usually sold in the organic section of your grocer, or at least that’s where I find it, it isn’t next to the oatmeal stuff)
• 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream your butter and sugars. Add in your peanut butter and continue mixing.

3. Beat in your egg and vanilla extract.

4. In a small bowl combine flour(s), baking soda, and salt. Add into butter mixture and keep on mixing.

5. Now mix in rolled oats and chocolate chips.

6. Drop your cookies onto a cookie sheet, flatten them some, (which I did not do in the picture below) and toss’em into the oven for about 8-10 minutes.

Depending on your taste in a peanut butter cookie you’ll want to adjust the baking time. If you like them a little crispy leave them longer, if you like them chewy undercook them, they will continue to cook as they cool. Also, keep in mind that you may want to remove them from the cookie sheet as soon as possible so that they do not burn or overcook.

Look at those cookies. Probably should’ve been flattened a little more, but doesn’t matter because they were, as we say in Northern California, ‘Hella good!’ The hazelnut spread really gave it a different twist and you can taste it. I think you’ll like them if you try them. Give them a go and let me know what you think. Until next time, I stole this baking and made it my own.

Grilled Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich

So, a new friend of mine mentioned this to me a short time ago and I decided I’d give it a go. (Shout out to Hillary!) Rather than just keep it to myself, I figured I’d at least share the fruits of my labor. This isn’t really a recipe so much as it is just something I was messing around with. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure that I even made it right, if there is a right way to make one of these.

I started out with some butter on bread, like so:

I threw the bread in a skillet and gave it that nice golden brown look that you know and love from your average grilled cheese sandwich. After that I took out my peanut butter and grape jelly, I tried to make this as healthy as I could. Maybe that was my downfall.This thing is supposed to be all about guilty pleasure and indulgence.

I spread the PB&J on the bread, closed up the sandwich and threw it down on the skillet for a little bit longer to heat up the filling. Removed and cut for a quick picture and then threw it down my face hole.

When I heard tale of this sandwich I just knew I had to try it out. It was pretty good. I think I need to give it another go and see if I can’t make it a little better, but all in all it’s a tasty twist on a classic treat. Normally I do PB&J on a couple of Eggo waffles which is just about my most favorite thing in the world, but this was worth a go. Apparently, this is a thing in Indiana, so if you’ve ever tried this or know of a way for me to make it better I’m all ears. Take care. See you next time.

No-Bake Nutella, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Squares

Remember the ‘rent is too damn high’ guy from a couple years ago? I was a little like the ‘heat is too damn high’ guy today, even though it was a cool 96 degrees compared to the 100 or so of the past couple bake days. So, I just didn’t want to turn on the oven. And, I didn’t. I found a ‘no bake’ recipe that let me keep my house cool in this Central Valley climate. Score!

I’ve been looking for something to do with Nutella for a little while and I thought my first crack at it was going to be chocolate cupcakes with Nutella frosting, but I changed my mind and got a little lazy. And though my usual M.O. is to not leave the house on these hot days especially for one ingredient I made an exception this one time. And the results are the absolute greatest thing to come out of my kitchen ever. Maybe because I consider a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (full size, not King Size, not Miniature) to be one of Mankind’s crowning achievements, God’s gift to Mankind, the nectar of the God’s in a solid disc form. In other words, I love me some peanut butter cup and this recipe is essentially one gigantic peanut butter cup with a little something extra and it is delightful. So without any further nonsensical ramblings, I present to you a recipe for Hazelnut Spread, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Squares, or Nutella, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Squares if you want to stick with brand names, despite me not even using Nutella, more on that later.

Here’s what I adapted from a SugarLaws.com titled Nutella and Peanut Butter Bar Recipe. First of all, while I stayed true to the spirit of the ingredients of said recipe I varied where I thought it might make a difference, so you feel free to go either way with this one. Here’s what I did:

Hazelnut Spread, Chocolate, and Peanut Butter Squares

• 12 whole low fat graham crackers obliterated in a food processor
• 1 cup softened butter
• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup natural chunky peanut butter for a little texture, feel free to use creamy
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup JIF Mocha Cappuccino flavored Hazelnut spread (Nutella alternative) divided into 1/4 cup and 3/4 cups.

 

1. Pulverize your graham crackers in your food processor.

2. Mix butter, graham cracker crumbs, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and peanut butter until smoothed out.

This was the peanut butter I chose, a natural chunky style for a little bit of texture.

3. Place parchment paper into 9” square pan (for easy clean up) and spread peanut butter-graham cracker mixture inside pan.

4. Place in your refrigerator for about an hour until firm.

I have Nutella in the cupboard, but I chose this because I thought it might add a little more flavor. Apparently this is a new product, based on the indication on the label, so you may or may not be able to find this in a store near you.

5. (One hour later) Use a metal bowl or small pot over hot water to melt your chocolate and 1/4 hazelnut spread.

6. Spread over peanut butter graham cracker mixture. Refrigerate for another hour.

7. (One hour later) Distribute remaining 3/4 cups of hazelnut spread over now cooled and hardened chocolate, refrigerate one last time. Cut into squares when nice and firm and enjoy with a nice glass of cold milk, non-fat of course.

I think this is a fairly straight forward recipe, it’s hard to wreck it if you follow directions. I tried to give it a different kind of flavor by using a flavored Nutella alternative and dark chocolate. I also used low fat graham crackers because my feeling is that if you can cut just a few calories off a super sweet dessert, go ahead and do that.

One thing I liked about this recipe is that it features a lot of downtime when you place the bars/squares into the refrigerator, time that I used to play a game of Battleship with my son and play a couple of songs in Just Dance 3. You can use it to prepare dinner or watch a TV show, might I suggest Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, or even Dexter.

Anyway, this is usually the spot where I talk about what I learned, but this is so straight forward that there’s not much to learn with a recipe like this. I’ll give it a a go, though.

What I learned:

• I used my square cake pan for this, but I think one of those disposable deals from a place like the local dollar store would have been perfectly fine, especially when you’ve got a plan to transport it somewhere.
• Even if you’re not using Nutella just put it in the title so that search engines will find it because people probably aren’t going to their search engine and inputting ‘hazelnut spread chocolate peanut butter squares’
• This thing is a pain to remove from the pan, as you can see from the photo above, even with parchment paper.

As always, thanks for reading. Share both the recipe and the squares with friends they’ll be amazed at your ability to make something this delicious and you can laugh yourself silly because it’s so simple. Enjoy!