Peanut Butter Thumb Print Cookies

Like most families dessert is a staple in our Thanks Giving traditions and this year I decided that instead of doing the traditional pumpkin pie that will end up having all weekend that I would do a bunch of cookies instead this year. We can bring some with us when we go to our families' dinners and the left overs (if there are any) are perfect for lunches. My family really doesn't complain about having too many cookies. In fact they usually doubt I have made enough so for this post I decided to share my recipe for Peanut Butter Thumb Print  Cookies. They are awesome in the fall because the peanut butter cup centre isn't melting and getting chocolate all over little hands. They are also fun for my son to help make because he loves that we put a mini chocolate in the middle, he just loves squishing things. My recipe makes about 2 dozen but that will vary depending on the size of your cookies.

Ingredients
11/4 cups  flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening,
room temperature
2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
11/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 dozen miniature chocolate peanut butter cups (more if you have more than 2 dozen cookies) or your choice of jam or melted chocolate.

You will also need a large mixing bowl, a wooden spoon and cookie sheets. I highly recommend using parchment paper just so that your cookies don't stick and fall apart when you try to take them off your cookie sheet.

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix your flour, baking soda, salt and sugar in your mixing bowl.

    2. Add in your egg and vanilla to your dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine your peanut butter and shortening. As you can see my son was helping me make the cookies this time.



 



    3. Combine the 2 mixtures until completely combined.

 

 

    4. Roll tablespoons of the dough into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper 1-2 inches apart. Than if you are using the mini peanut butter cups press them into the centre of the balls. If you are using jam or melted chocolate press your thumb into the centre and fill the hole with your choice of ingredient.

    5. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes or until the bottom edges of the cookies turn golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 5 minutes than move to a rack to cool the rest of the way. 

 

I am not responsible for any injuries or bad batches that you come upon while following my directions it is up to you to use your own discretion at all times. Good Luck and Happy Cooking.

Easy Stove Top Apple Butter (canned)

So tis the season of apples and what a more tasty breakfast than apple butter on fresh bagels. Yum!!! So for this post I decided to dedicate to making a tasty but easy apple butter recipe on the stove, not the slow cooker. I love apples and as I have mentioned my boys (my son and my partner) do as well so they were completely on board when I suggested we make some this year. As this was our first time trying this recipe I only made a small batch but I suspect we will be making a much bigger batch in the not so distant future.
This recipe uses apple sauce but you can use fresh apples if you prefer, I posted directions for applesauce in an earlier post. Using fresh apples just takes a little while longer as you have to make them into sauce before they become butter.

Ingredients
5 cups of apple sauce (or 5 lbs of apples if preferred)
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp allspice

You will also need a large sauce pan, a wooden spoon, 6-7 sterilized caning jars and I highly recommend a wide mouth funnel and a canning set (large canning pot, jar tongs, magnetic lid grabber, etc).

Instructions

1. If you are using fresh apples make them into sauce according to my instructions in a previous post if not just put your apple sauce into your sauce pan and continue to step 2.
2. mix your water, sugar, lemon juice and seasonings in well with your sauce so they are completely combined.

3.  Bring your mixture to a boil and let simmer stirring frequently for approximately an hour or until you can scoop a little out and it stays on the spoon without running off.

4.  Scoop into warm sterilized jars and turn lids until hand tight. Boil in water up to top of the jar for 20 minutes. Remove the jars let cool

I am not responsible for any injuries or bad batches incurred while following my instructions and I recommend following USDA recommendations for canning. Good luck and happy canning!

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Hey so I am sorry about the fact that I have no pictures for this post and the last my camera has been malfunctioning but this recipe turned out way too well not to share it and thank you to Google Images for the strawberry image. Like many other people out there I have SO MUCH fruit in my freezer just sitting there because I didn't know what to do with it. So I am finally running out of room and decided I need to do something with it so why not jam? The recipe I used was originally for just strawberry jam but I didn't have enough for the full recipe so I used rhubarb to make up the volume difference.


Ingredients
5 cups strawberries (or 3 cups strawberries and 2 cups rhubarb)
7 cups sugar
1 (4oz or 57g)  package of Certo or Pectin
1 tsp margarine
4 Tbsp lemon juice

You will also need a wooden spoon, a large saucepan or pot, canning jars, and I highly recommend using other canning tools, you can buy kits that come with a variety of tools including jar tongs, a metal top grabber, a wide mouth funnel etc.

Instructions

1. First you need to mash up all of your fruit, frozen or fresh.
2. add the margarine this is the best trick I have learned so far when it comes to jam some recipes call for butter but I found margarine worked so much better. The addition of margarine or butter reduces the foam at the end that needs to be scraped off.
3. Wisk in the Certo or Pectin until there are no lumps and it is completely mixed in.
4. cook the fruit mixture over medium heat until it reaches a rolling boil (it keeps boiling even when you are stirring) stirring often continue this for 5 minutes. You can continue to let it boil if desired this will break down the fruit further but if you like chunky jam take it off after the five minutes. Sterilize your jars and keep warm while you are doing this step.
5. Add your sugar and mix it in than bring it to a rolling boil again. Let it boil for another 5 minutes than remove it from heat.
6. Let cool slightly and scrape off the foam.
7. Put your jam into jars and seal the lids of the jars until hand tight. Seal the jars by boiling the sealed jars for 20 minutes than letting them cool.

I seriously recommend following USDA guidelines for canning and I am not responsible for any injuries or bad batches incurred by following my directions. Good luck and Happy Canning.