I Love Croissants!

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

My second Daring Bakers challenge...CROISSANTS! It's definitely a challenge to make croissants for the first time. We don't have a lot of counter space I had to clear away the appliances so I had enough room to roll out my croissants.

I love croissants, and I was happy mine turned out pretty tasty! Not big and fluffy, like bakery croissants, but they tasted right and were the right texture. I made a few plain croissants, some almond filled, and a couple chocolate. I love, love, love almond croissants so those were my favorites.

Here's a picture of how they turned out:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

In celebration of a friend's birthday, I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Learning that he had a love for the classic combination of chocolate and peanut butter, I thought this recipe would be perfect. These thin, peanut buttery cookies are splattered with bits of chopped chocolate, creating a new twist on the chocolate chip cookie.

This recipe in particular seems to be used in various adaptations because I also saw the same recipe on another website swapping nutella for the peanut butter (now a cookie that is high up on the my list to bake). When I was making this recipe I upped the amount of chocolate by quite a bit and ended up using two types of chocolate because that was what I had on hand. I roughly chopped both a 63% cacao bar chocolate and semisweet chocolate chips and mixed them together.

Even though I don't love peanut butter cookies in general, especially the traditional fork smashed variety, these came out pretty tasty. While some came out a little more done/crispy than I would like, the ones that were crisp and chewy at the same time were yummy. It's important not to bake them too long because they will continue to crisp up while they cool. Also, the recipe says it yields 24 cookies, but I used about a tablespoon per cookie and I ended up with 55 good-sized cookies!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup creamy peanut butter

10 oz chocolate, roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. Add vanilla and peanut butter and beat until just incorporated.
4. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Remove bowl from mixer, and use a spatula to fold in chocolate. 
6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. With your fingers gently press each cookie down so it's flat.
7. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time, until cookies are slightly brown. Do not overbake.
8. Remove pan from oven and cool cookies on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer individual cookies to a wire rack to cool.
9. The cookies are best the day of, but can be stored, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days. They will get slightly crunchier, but perfect for dunking in a glass of milk.

Adapted from Food Gal