Favorite Shots: RPS

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere, but not a drop to drink! (Name that movie.)

Take a look at this raspberry pretzel salad in all its Jell-O jiggly wonderfulness. V Day approacheth!

L

Pipe Dream #245: To Rush – PB Oat Cookie Bars with Marshmallow PB Frosting

I know these pics aren’t stellar. But let me tell you. Since I made these bars back in…October…I have had numerous and unceasing requests for the recipe.

Dudes are all like, “When is this going up on the blog?”

And I’m all like, “Don’t rush me!”

But I had to leak the recipe because they are just that good.

First off, the peanut butter oat cookie bar. So soft, but not like soft-batch style cookies. I actually can’t wait to try these as a regular cookie. I hesitate to say cakelike. They were kind of like a blondie, but a little lighter, I thought. And they sliced like a dream in all their underbaked glory.

The cookie layer was followed by not one, but two layers of frosting. The first was a peanut butter frosting swirled with marshmallow creme. And the second is just straight up marshmallow creme because I had some leftover and can’t be trusted with an open container of marshmallow creme in the house. Girl actually cannot get enough.

Just please make these immeds. I will too. We can do this together. Like a team-building activity.

L

PB Oat Cookie Bars with Marshmallow PB Frosting

Cookie recipe adapted from Serious Eats

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (8 ounces / 227 grams) no-stir peanut butter
1 cup (7.4 ounces / 208 grams) brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup (2.5 ounces / 70 grams) white sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (3.3 ounces / 96 grams) rolled oats

Heat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until well combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix butter on high speed until light and creamy, about 30 seconds, then add in peanut butter and mix on high until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Reduce speed to low and add the sugars, then mix on medium speed until everything is well combined, lighter in color, and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well-incorporated.

Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour mixture gradually until fully combined. Increase mixer speed to medium, add oats, and mix until fully combined.

Line a 9×9-inch square pan with parchment paper. Press the dough into the pan evenly. Bake for 9-13 minutes, until the bars look set. Do not overbake. Let cool.

For the frosting layers:

Spread cooled bars with peanut butter frosting like this  (harder) or this (easier), then about 7 ounces (1 jar) of marshmallow fluff. I cut a bit of marshmallow cream into my peanut butter frosting because I am obsessed with marshmallow. You can adjust both of these layers to taste.

Pipe Dream #244: To Eschew Comparison – NYT Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a friend once who was like, “Yeah, I like good espresso, but I like instant coffee just as much. It’s a totally different experience; they are like two different foods.”

I have since taken this philosophy and run with it, which is how I can justify liking Kraft mac and cheese just as much as homemade. This is also how I can love all types of pizza ever. Do I prefer deep dish to thin crust? No! Because it is a totally different experience. Each has its own set of pros and cons and intricate crevices of cheese-filled sensory experience.

The above picture actually slays me. LOOK.

I know the chill time on the dough is nearly intolerable (24-48 hours means an extended dose of delayed gratification, rarely an option when you are craving chocolate chip cookies). Also, the ingredient list for these babies is somewhat obscure (who uses bread flour on the reg?), but it makes for a cookie that is somewhat obscure. By which I mean that it is so far from your standard Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie, that it is like eating different foods. You can’t even compare them.

So far from your standard Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie that it is like eating different foods, I say.

Five inches in diameter, with a gooey middle and shattering rim, these cookies are easily the most professional cookies I have ever baked. They are straight out of a bakery, secret-recipe style. I didn’t change one thing about them. Having waited this long and listening to other bloggers wax on for literal years, I wasn’t going to mess about making them imperfect.

I gifted them away as soon as possible to the neighbs and also my dear friends. It was better that way.

Incomparably yours,

L

NYT Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can find the recipe here.