Strawberry Love

     This week I was swamped with homework and working, so I took a little break from baking and decided to treat myself to someone elses goodies. There is a very yummy bakery near my house and I decided to go in one evening and see what they had to offer. The bakery had many good looking desserts from chocolate brownie bars, cookies, cupcakes and tarts. I decided to try something new and go with a strawberry tart. I love strawberries and anything dessert related really, so I figured this was a good choice. This particular bakery is very inexpensive, I purchased this tart for just over a dollar. Anyways, when it was time in indulge, I found out that the tart contained custard which is not a favourite of mine, more a whip cream kind of gal. Regardless, the top was very yummy and I'd purchase again just to eat the top off. :) I will also be looking into making my own strawberry tarts, with whip cream in the center though of course, so stayed tuned!

Peanut Butter Filled Cookies

     Now this has got to be the best of both worlds - Chocolate and peanut butter, how can it get much better than that. This was a not the easiest recipe to do, but I personally feel that it was definitely worth it. All of the ingredients required were every day items, in which I just found in the kitchen cupboards and did not have to make any special trips to the grocery store for items. The recipe calls for separating the wet and dry ingredients until the end, yet next time I make these I will combine everything as I go as I found that when combining at the end and using an electric mixer can be a real pain. I think more flour and dry ingredients ended up all over myself and the counter than stayed in the bowl. Once everything was mixed together, the batter was to be rolled and flattened into little balls, then the peanut butter filling was to be dropped in the middle. This was kind of an annoying step, as everything was sticking to my hands but after the first couple I started to get the hang of it. Overall, these cookies were quite yummy and I would suggest this recipe to anyone who loves peanut butter and chocolate! Check out the below recipe and steps and try it for yourself!
Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 1/2 Cups

Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1/2 Cup

Baking soda - 1/2 Tsp

Unsalted butter, softened - 1/2 Cup or 1 Stick

Sugar - 1/2 Cup

Brown sugar, packed - 1/2 Cup

Peanut butter, - 1/4 Cup

                       - 1/2 Cup for filling

Egg - 1 large

Vanilla extract - 1 Tsp

Powder sugar, sifted - 3/4 Cup

        Directions
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.       
-Combine flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
-Cream butter using an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Gradually beat in granulated sugar, then brown sugar and finally ¼ cup peanut butter until everything is well combined.
-Add egg, vanilla extract and continue beating until well blended. 

-Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently stir in the flour mixture. Shape dough into ¼-inch balls and place them on prepared cookie sheets. 

-For peanut butter filling, stir together powder sugar and ½ cup peanut butter until smooth. Shape mixture into ¾-inch balls.
-Flatten each chocolate dough ball and top with a peanut butter ball. Wrap chocolate dough over the peanut butter filling so that it completely covers the filling. Roll dough into balls, then slightly flatted them again, and sprinkle the top with some granulated sugar.

-Bake for about 8 minutes or until just set and surface is slightly cracked. Cool chocolate cookies on baking sheets for 1 minute before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely.

Source: http://www.grouprecipes.com/82963/peanut-butter-filled-chocolate-cookies.html