Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies

This recipe is from the kitchen of: Emily Grace
I ♥ sandwich cookies! But with peanut butter?! These were sooo good! Thank you, Emily Grace, for the recipe and the beautiful picture of them!

Ingredients:
1 c. butter
1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed b. sugar
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
3 c. flour
2 t. b. soda
1/4 t. salt

Filling:
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
3 c. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
5-6 tablespoons milk


Directions:
1.) In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter, and sugars. Add eggs. one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.
2.) Shape into 1-in. balls and place 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten to 3/8-in. thickness with fork. Bake at 375 for 7-8min or until golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.
3.) For filling, in a large bowl beat the peanut butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve spreading consistency.(I ended up using more milk than it suggested) Spread on half of the cookies and top each with another cookie.

Recipe Contest Winner! {and some thoughts about the other entries}

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for their entries. I thoroughly enjoyed sampling all the recipes! I will start with my comments on each recipe...

Nela's recipe for Lemon Crumb Bars:

These were delicious! I love the fact that they have cracker crumbs in them! I also enjoyed pressing the crumbs into the pan. For the judging, I had my extended family over and we all judged together. My cousin gave it 10/10! Thank you for participating in the contest, Nela!


Emily Grace's recipe for Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies:


This recipe was very good! I ♥ sandwich cookies of all kinds! And with peanut butter?! They were sooo good!! These cookies are excellent with milk! I love the filling and the cookie part is delicious too. Thank you for your entry, Emily Grace! {P.S. I like the picture of the cookies!}

Rose's recipe for Chocolate Meringues:

These cookies were excellent! Out of all the entries, they were my sister's favourite! I love the colour and the flavour that the chocolate chips add. I also liked the texture! Thank you for entering, Rose! I enjoyed your recipe very much.

Gallop Girl's recipe for Deluxe Marshmallow Brownies:

YUMMM!!! These were sooo good! I love the peanut butter/chocolate/rice crispie topping *drools*. And with that scrumptious cookie-like bottom and marshmallow middle? *help! I'm melting!* Thank you for submitting this recipe, Gallop Girl! {This picture really well done!}


And, last but not least, Scezzle's recipe for Ranger Cookies:



What can I say? These were sooo good! They were my dad's favourite out of all the entries. I love the coconut and peanuts in these cookies! Thank you for entering, Scezzle {Oh, by the way, I added chocolate chips to the cookies when I made them}.

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for... *drum roll please*

The winner isssssssss....

GALLOP GIRL with her recipe for Deluxe Marshmallow Brownies! Thanks for the recipe, Gallop Girl! Her blog is
http://www.thegallopgirl.blogspot.com/
Note: Gallop Girl is creating a new blog {and deleting this one}, so if you see this blog address in a couple of weeks and type it in, it probably won't work.

And here is Gallop Girl's award! To display the award on your blog, Gallop Girl, go to "Design", "Add a gadget", and click on "Html/javascript." Paste the code there, and you're done!

<center><a href="" target="_blank"><img alt="First Place!" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/FishyBC/forblog001.jpg" /></a></center>

And here is her recipe! {A note to anyone who entered: don't be surprised if you check my blog a few days from now and find your recipe posted. I want to share your recipes on my blog too, but I will be doing it over a period of time, probably a week or so}

Deluxe Marshmallow Brownies
Bottom layer:
¾ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/3 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons baking cocoa
Optional: 1/2 cup peanuts. Since I have a brother in my family who is allergic to nuts, I don't add the nuts.

Middle layer:
4 cups mini marshmallows

Top layer:
1 and 1/3 cups (8 ounces) chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups rice crispy cereal

In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla;beat until fluffy.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa; add to creamed mixture.
Spread in a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350'C for 20-25 minutes.
Now, depending on your oven, you might need to add some more time. I usually do half an hour with our oven. So, start with 20 minutes, and increase the time as you go along :)
When baked, remove from oven and sprinkle the marshmallows evenly over top; return to the oven and bake for about 2-3 minutes more, just enough to melt the marshmallows. If you do too long, you might burn them and that just won't do!
Then, using a knife dipped in water, spread the melted marshmallows evenly over cake. I usually just skip this step because I don't see the point in it, but that's what the recipe says, so if you want to do this step, go right ahead :) P.S it might get a little sticky!!!
Now let it cool. This is very important. Once when I was in a hurry, I did not let it cool completely, and the top layer did not harden. In the end I had to stick it in the freezer to get it to harden. In the long run, it's worth it to wait till it has had time to cool completely.
For top layer, combine chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter in a small saucepan.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until melted and well blended. Remove from heat; stir in rice crispy cereal. Spread over bars. Chill.
Yield: about 3 dozen.


Annnnnd, I just could not make up my mind, so I decided to have an honourable mention. Here it is:

Scezzle! with her recipe for Ranger Cookies! Congratulations Scezzle!

Her blog: http://www.soulclanterritory.blogspot.com/
To display the award {below} on your blog, follow the instructions I gave Gallop Girl.
Thanks for entering!

<center><a href="" target="_blank"><img alt="Honourable Mention" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/FishyBC/chocolate_chip_ranger_cookie.jpg" /></a></center>

Here's Scezzle's recipe:

Ranger Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
- 1 cup coconut
- 1 cup raisins or dried fruit. We use peanuts instead.

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.
Stir in any remaining flour. Stir in rolled oats, coconut, and raisins or peanuts.

2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in 375 F oven for about 8 min or until edges are golden. Cool on cookie sheets 1 min. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.


Thank you to everyone for entering!

Recipe Contest

I have decided to host a recipe contest!!! The theme is Cookies and bars. Here are the details...



Post a cookie/bar recipe on your blog and then comment telling me which blog you did it on and what the address to the blog is.

Contest rules:



-The recipe has to be a cookie or bar



- You don't have to follow to enter, but it would be preferred



-You don't have to have a picture of the food with the recipe, but it would be preferred

The winner will recieve a medal for their blog (kind of like a button, but a little different), their blog address posted, and their recipe posted.

Contest starts: February 17, 2011
Contest ends: March 2, 2011
Winners will be announced: March 6, 2011

Thanks in advance for entering!

If you have any questions, comment and ask. I'll get back to you asap

Oatmeal Date Sandwich Cookies

These cookies are a MUST try! They've got COCONUT in them! Who can resist that? Even if you don't like dates, you'll LOVE these cookies!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup coconut

Cream together the butter and sugars.
Add the eggs and combine well.
Add all the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Chill in the refrigerator an hour. (make the date filling while the dough chills)
Roll into small balls and flatten with a glass by about half the thickness.
Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Date Filling:

Buy a 1 pound package of dates. .the kind that is a rectangular block. They will be found by the raisins in the grocery store.
Chop them up and put them in a small saucepan.
Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer.
Stir occasionally and simmer until the consistency of thick jam.
Let cool.
To sandwich the cookies put a small spoonful of date filling on the underside of one cookie and sandwich with the underside of another cookie. Freeze in a container.

Chocolate Chip Mufins

Here is yet another chocolate chip muffin recipe. These are deliciously easy to make and just as easy to eat. :)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or more if you desire)

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center. Add oil, vanilla, vinegar, and warm water. Stir just until moist. Add chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling to top. Bake at 400 for 15 to 20 minutes. (or you could bake at 375. You can choose.)

Banana Bran Muffins

I love banana muffins of any kind! These are probably some of the best.


Ingredients:

3 beaten eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup salad oil
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
3 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups natural bran
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Mix bran, buttermilk, and bananas. Let sit while mixing other ingredients.
Combine eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and baking soda, then add bran mixture and the rest of the dry ingredients.
Put in muffin tins. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

You have to try this recipe! It is so good! I have wanted to make chocolate chip bananas muffins and was really excited about trying these, I wasn't disappointed.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, bananas and vanilla, beating each in well. Add combined dry ingredients and choc chips, stir until just moist. Fill prepared muffin tins. Bake at 350F, for 25 min. Yield: 6 jumbo, 12 large or 15 medium