Peanut Butter - A Runner's Food

(above) Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I've spent a good part of my summer running a few miles every couple of days. There is something really nice about running that a lot of people just don't really get. I can see why people hate it, I really can. The biggest reason most people running is that it hurts like hell. I agree wholeheartedly, but to me, that is kind of the reason why I love it so much. Running pushes you to be stronger both mentally and physically; it forces you to go outside your comfort zone to achieve a new level of personal fitness and mental strength. You may be wondering why I am talking so much about running and how in the world it connects to this post. Easy: 1. I am a cross country runner and therefore live and breathe running and 2. peanut butter is an awesome food for runners. Peanut butter gives you the protein and energy necessary for an athlete in training. These cookies have one full cup of peanut butter crammed into them. Eh, maybe just this once we can get away with calling these a health food (when we all know its really... not). Delicious nonetheless.

I've heard that these cookies are comparable to Nutter Butters or Girl Scout Do-si-do cookies. I honestly wouldn't know since I haven't tried either of those. All I know is that these cookies are really really good. The crispiness of the cookie and chewiness of the oatmeal, along with the creamy peanut butter filling gives an explosion of textures and flavors that scream heaven. Are they as good as a runner's high? Unlikely. The only thing that could make these cookies better? Dunking them in chocolate. But then again, chocolate makes everything better.

(above) I baked 12 cookies per tray.

(above) I noticed that a 9 minute baking time will give you crisp cookies while 8 minutes produce chewier cookies.

(above) Peanut butter and butter are key ingredients to the cream filling. I think this is my favorite photo out of this post. Is it weird that I enjoy staring at a photo of peanut butter?

(above) I distributed the cream filling with a makeshift piping bag (a plastic baggie with a corner snipped off). I actually went back and added a bit more filling to the cookies you see above before I sandwiched them together. Be sure to pair up the cookies as best as you can according to shape and size.

(above) The cookies - paired, creamed and sandwiched.

(above) The cookies with their peanut butter cream filling.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Original recipe from Allrecipes

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup quick cooking oats
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter or margarine, 1/2 cup peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Add egg and beat well.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir. Add oatmeal and stir.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto greased baking sheet, and press each mound down with a fork to form 1/4 inch thick cookies. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until cookies are a light brown.
4. To Make Filling: Cream 3 tablespoons butter or margarine with the confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, and the cream. Spread filling onto half of the cooled cookies, then top with the other half to form sandwiches.

Notes: I used milk instead of the cream and reduced the amount to around a tablespoon plus a little more.

California Girls, We're Unforgettable...

(above) California Rolls

I have been converted. After trying three of his recipes (all of which have passed with flying colors) I can now officially say that I am an Alton Brown fan. I made these California rolls using Alton Brown's recipe for sushi rice and California rolls. Crabmeat, cucumber and avocado surrounded by seaweed, seasoned rice and toasted sesame seeds make a pleasantly refreshing (and not to mention delicious) summer lunch. Rolling the rolls was a bit of a tricky process, but I figured out that they key to making the best rolls is actually to use as little rice as possible (just enough to cover the seaweed). A rice overload will not only make it difficult to roll up the sushi but create less room for the oh-so-very-important fillings. There were a couple of ingredients that I had to go out of my way to buy such as the Japanese rice, rice vinegar, seaweed and crab meat. That being said, I think that it is worth it to double the recipe as getting all the ingredients together can be kind of a pain. However, I must note that once you get the hang of it, making the rolls can be a pretty fast process. It's mainly the extra-ingredient shopping that can get a bit tedious. Nonetheless, these rolls are delicious and definitely much more economical if you ever have a craving for sushi.

Oh, on a side note, did you get the title reference? It was pretty obvious. You know, the Katy Perry song that has been playing on the radio repeatedly all summer? California Gurls? California rolls? Sorry for the corny pun, but I just had to do it.

(above) Sushi rice at room temperature.

(above) I toasted white sesame seeds on an non-stick frying pan.

(above) Preparation is key to making California rolls, so be sure to prepare the crab sticks, cucumber and avocado ahead of time. A squeeze of lime will prevent the avocado from browning.

(above) Serve with soy sauce.

(above) California Rolls

California Rolls

Recipe from Alton Brown

Makes 24 pieces

Ingredients:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
4 sheets nori (seaweed)
1/2 batch sushi rice, recipe follows
1/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into matchstick-size pieces
4 crabsticks, torn into pieces

Directions:

1. Squeeze the lemon juice over the avocado to prevent browning.
2. Cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap. Cut nori sheets in half crosswise. Lay 1 sheet of nori, shiny side down, on the plastic covered mat. Wet your fingers with water and spread about 1/2 cup of the rice evenly onto the nori. Sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds. Turn the sheet of nori over so that the rice side is down. Place 1/8 of the cucumber, avocado and crab sticks in the center of the sheet. Grab the edge of the mat closest to you, keeping the fillings in place with your fingers, and roll it into a tight cylinder, using the mat to shape the cylinder. Pull away the mat and set aside. Cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all of the rice has been used.
3. Cut each roll into 6 pieces.
   

Sushi Rice

Recipe from Alton Brown
Ingredients:
2 cups sushi or short grain rice
2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.
2. Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
3. Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi.

Notes: I used a rice cooker to cook the rice. I also followed the directions printed on my bag of rice and used 1.3 cups of water for every cup of rice. I did not have kosher salt, so I used one teaspoon of table salt.

Classic Homemade Pizza

(above) Homemade Pizza - featuring Easy Pizza Sauce and Basic Pizza Dough

I can't say this enough, but one thing that this blog has made me do is to try out new things all the time. So, today I made my very first entirely homemade pizza. This meant no 1. ordering out for delivery (which has become a rather bad habit for, well lets admit it... all of us), 2. using frozen pizza dough, and 3. using jarred tomato sauce. The pizza sauce seems too easy to be true. Practically all you have to do is mix some ingredients which you probably already have laying around the house together and let them sit for a while. The sauce was pretty tasty, and lets not forget, oh so simple. One thing I didn't like too much though was that the oil in the sauce separated a little on the pizza and bled into the crust, leaving orange oil-stains on the crust.

Lets talk about dough - pizza dough. I added in half a teaspoon of sugar to the dough just to give the yeast a little boost. It probably didn't make much of a difference but it sure didn't hurt either. The dough created a solid, standard pizza - definitely a keeper. I didn't have a pizza stone so I just slid my pizza onto a hot cookie sheet in the oven. This resulted in a crust that wasn't as crispy as I would have liked. However, this pizza is perfect when re-heated as leftovers, when the pizza can crisp up nicely as it warms in the toaster oven.

I topped the pizzas with some shredded cheese. I will definitely try this recipe again with toppings such as sliced bell peppers and onion, but under no circumstances pineapple. Many, I know, will disagree, but pineapple does not belong on pizza.

(above) So the above + a cup of water is really all you need to make pizza sauce. You don't even have to cook it over the stove. Amazing.

(above) The finished pizza sauce! You may want to beat the sauce with a spoon or fork (in the same motion as you would when beating an egg) if you are having trouble combining the oil into the sauce.

(above) I divided the dough I made into two balls in order to create two 9 inch pizzas. You will want to roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.

(above) Pizza dough rolled out.

(above) You are going to want to grate up some mozzarella cheese.

(above) The pizza topped with pizza sauce and shredded cheese.

(above) The pizza, all baked up!

Basic Pizza Dough

Makes 2 large pizzas

Recipe from Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
½ cup warm water (about 110°)
1 envelope (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
1 ¼ cups water, at room temperature
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl

Directions:

1. Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
2. Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
3. To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
4. Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.

Notes: I halved the entire recipe. This created two 9 inch pizzas. I added in half a teaspoon of sugar to the yeast/ warm water mixture. I did not have a pizza stone so I slid my pizza onto a hot cookie sheet.

Easy Pizza Sauce

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients:
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 cup water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
Directions:

1. Mix together the tomato paste, water, and olive oil. Mix well. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste, oregano, basil, and rosemary. Mix well.
2. Let stand several hours to let flavors blend. No cooking necessary, just spread on dough.

Chiffon Cupcakes

(above) Chiffon Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

My obsession with cupcakes continues as I venture into a new type of cake - the chiffon cake. Up to this point I have never made chiffon cake. In fact, I'm not quite sure if I had ever even tried it. Anyway, chiffon cake is unique in the sense that it uses beaten egg whites for leavening and oil instead of the traditional butter. This results in a fragrant vanilla-scented cake that is spongy and light in texture. It is very similar (if not the same!) to the cakes seen in many Asian bakeries. I chose to top these chiffon cupcakes with my favorite chocolate frosting. I wanted to try a new chocolate butter cream recipe, but I felt that the heaviness of a sugary chocolate butter cream just wouldn't pair up with the light cake. I can't wait to use this cake recipe (which I highly recommend!) with different combinations of flavors and frostings. I can imagine that a lemon-scented chiffon cake (with lemon zest mixed into the cake batter!) and a cream cheese frosting would go together brilliantly. Or perhaps sliced strawberries and some fresh whipped cream? Yum.

(above) The beaten egg yolks at the "ribbon" stage.

(above) 1/3 of the beaten egg white ready to be folded in.

(above) The folding in of the egg whites.

(above) You can see how much the egg white lightens up the batter!

(above) The batter is divided into paper cups. [Not shown: I smoothed the tops of the cupcakes before putting it in the oven. I don't know if this made a difference in the outcome]


(above) I recently bought these mini cupcake baking cups and I wanted to test them out! Aren't they cute?

(above) The chiffon cupcakes baked! They took around 11 minutes. The cakes rise in the oven and fall a bit during the cooling process. Just thought you should know.

(above) I guess I was a little skimpy with the batter with the first tray of cupcakes. This is the shortest cupcake. Look at the texture! It is light and spongy.

(above) The cupcakes baked up and cooled.

(above) The mini cupcakes, frosted.

(above) Cupcakes - frosted and sprinkled.

(above) More cupcakes.

Side note: Last week I received a lovely award from the very sweet Adriana from Bittersweet Baker. Thank you for thinking of me!

I'm sharing the love with 10 other food bloggers:

Just Eat It

The Novice Chef

La Mia Vita Dolce

Ai Bake Cake

Zoom Yummy

It's the Cookie Monster

Buttercream Barbie

Blue Ridge Baker

Jane's Sweets

Teen Cooking Queens

10 things that make me happy:

1. Running
2. Chick flicks
3. Accomplishing new things
4. Pad Thai
5. Frosting cupcakes
6. Listening to Owl City or Taylor Swift
7. Hot chocolate
8. Toothpaste that makes your teeth feel all clean and polished
9. Kind words
10. Long, rambley chats with friends during sleepovers

The rules are: Copy and paste the award on your blog. List who gave the award to you and use a link to their blog. List 10 things that make you happy. Pass the award on to 10 other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know!

Chiffon Cupcakes

Recipe from Alton Brown on the Food Network, with slight adaptations

Makes 24 cupcakes
Ingredients:
5 1/4 ounces cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 large eggs, separated
6 ounces sugar, divided
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place paper liners into 2 (12-cup) muffin tins and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
   Place the egg yolks and 5 ounces of the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' when lifted. Add the water, vegetable oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients and whisk just to combine. Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl while you whisk the egg whites.
3. Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean bowl and whisk on high using the whisk attachment, until it becomes foamy. Decrease the speed to low and gradually add the remaining ounce of sugar. Increase speed to high and continue whisking until stiff peaks form, approximately 2 minutes.
4. Transfer 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter and whisk until well combined. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in gently. Transfer batter into prepared muffin tins, evenly dividing the batter between the cups. Place both muffin tins on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean or the cupcakes reach an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F. Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

A Piece of Cake!

(above) Frosted Yellow Layer Cake with Strawberry Jam Filling

Sunday was my sister's 20th birthday and a brilliant excuse to make a layer cake. While I strongly believe that cakes should be an equally everyday sort of thing as well as celebratory, for some reason I find myself making layer cakes only during celebrations. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it has to do with my cupcake obsession. I mean, cupcakes are cute, portable, delicious, and easy to share, so it makes sense why I like to make cake in cupcake form. Nonetheless, I rarely make layer cakes and in fact, this time was the first time I had ever made a cake with 1. a shell border and 2. a filling. Since my sister doesn't like chocolate (weird, I know, but more chocolate for me!), I made a yellow cake with vanilla frosting and a strawberry jam filling. I used a cake recipe from Smitten Kitchen.The taste and appearance were both acceptable but I think it could have been a tad moister. Then again, I baked the cake two days in advance and wrapped it in plastic wrap to store it in the fridge, so I can't exactly give an accurate review. After making Our Best Bite's delicious chocolate frosting, I decided to use the vanilla version of it. I have to say, I think that the chocolate version was better. However, that could just be because of the fact I like chocolate more than vanilla in general anyway. With the vanilla version, you really have to make sure that you use high quality butter or else it will taste really cheap. In addition, you may not want to dump the whole teaspoon of vanilla extract in all at once like I did because it changes the color of the frosting to an off-white. Other than that, the frosting had a wonderful texture and a not-too-sweet flavor.

Side note: Thank you all for your wonderful comments! I really appreciate all of them and keep them coming!

(above) Buttermilk is pretty much nonexistent where I live so improvising was nessasary. I used Joy the Baker's tip of mixing 1 cup of milk with 1 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. Taking Joy's advice, I mixed the cream of tartar with 2 tablespoons of the milk before dumping the rest in to avoid lumps.

(above) Cake pan ready to go! Give it a couple of taps against the counter to get rid of air bubbles.

(above) The cake, all baked up! I was glad that the cake didn't dome too much.

(above) I halved the recipe and only made one layer. I leveled the top of the cake using a long, serrated knife. I put 4 toothpicks around the cake to help 'guide' me so that I could split the cake in half relatively evenly.


(above) Cooking the flour base of the frosting.


(above) Pipe a ring of frosting around the first layer of cake so that the filling will not squish out.


(above) The cake is filled with strawberry jam. If the jam is too hard to spread, you can pop it in the microwave for a couple of seconds.

(above) On goes the top layer!

(above) So you want to frost on a 'crumb coat' or thin layer of frosting first. It should look messy and highly unattractive. This is ok. We will cover it up later. Pop the cake in the freezer or fridge for a couple minutes so the frosting can harden a little bit.

(above) Using a spatula, spread on the rest of the frosting (unless you want to make a piped border).

(above) This was my first time making a shell border! I practiced on parchment paper before I decorated the cake. Comment if you would like me to post a how-to or demonstration.

(above) I didn't have enough frosting (even though I tried to save some!) so I added in some butter and icing sugar to create a butter cream. I added in some blue food coloring as well and gave it a mix.

(above) The cake all frosted and decorated! I used a homemade parchment paper icing bag to do the lettering.

(above) A cross section of the cake. You can see the jam filling and the blue shell border.
(above) A close-up of the shell border. I think I did a pretty good job considering it was my first time.

(above) A piece of cake! (pun intended) At least I think I'm funny =D

Best Yellow Layer Cake

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen
Makes two 9-inch round, 2-inch tall cake layers, and, in theory, 22 to 24 cupcakes, two 8-inch squares or a 9×13 single-layer cake

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.
3. Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.
   

Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling
Recipe from Our Best Bites
Generously frosts 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons flour

1/2 C milk

1/2 C real butter

1/2 C sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or other flavor if you wish

Directions:

1. Whisk together the flour and the milk. Heat in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk continuously until it starts to thicken. Let it cook, while stirring, until it looks like pudding. Strain and then let it cool completely to room temperature or chill it in the fridge.
2. In an electric stand mixer, beat the butter and the sugar for a minute or two until well combined and fluffy.
3. Then while beating, add in the thickened milk mixture and the vanilla. Beat on the highest speed for around 7 minutes or until light and fluffy. Use it to fill cupcakes or other pastries, or as a frosting on top.

Notes: For the frosting, add the vanilla extract a little at a time (maybe in 1/4 teaspoon intervals). You may not wish to dump the entire teaspoon of vanilla extract in because it changes the color of the frosting slightly. In addition, this recipe makes just enough to frost a one-layer round nine inch cake.