Sweet Tooth Saturday – Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Blondies

I was a blondie virgin until this weekend, and now the only question floating around in my mind is, “Why? Why did I wait so long??” Like everyone else in the universe, I have a surplus of Halloween candy, and I wanted to do something other than mindlessly stuff my face with it. Enter these Peanut Butter Blondies from Brown Eyed Baker.  Peanut butter, peanut butter chips, peanuts, and Reese’s pieces all together in one decadent treat….a peanut butter lover’s dream come true!


I made exactly three minor modifications to the original recipe - creamy peanut butter instead of crunchy, replaced 1/2 cup of brown sugar with sucanat, and added the Reese’s Pieces - so if you have any interest in making these (and you really should want to make these RIGHT NOW), head over here to get the recipe.


In case I hadn’t made it abundantly clear yet, I loved these blondies. They were easy to make, the ingredients are things that I typically have on hand, I had fun playing around with the design of the candy on top, and most importantly, they are rich and moist and packed with so many variations of peanut butter yumminess. However, Cesar says they could stand to be even richer, so next time I make them, I plan on chopping up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and adding those to the batter as well as making the Reese Pieces chevron pattern solid. More candy = richer, right? And how much more festive will they look with more color on top?


I learned two interesting(?) things about Reese’s Pieces while making these. #1 – When the Reese’s Pieces get really hot, they have the tendency to crack and pop open, and they sound a lot like the sound Rice Krispies make when you add milk to them. #2 - The colors are not even remotely evenly distributed in the mini Halloween packs. Apparently people don’t like brown pieces very much?


I’m about to curl up with two pugs and watch The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I love Judi Dench, so I have high hopes for the movie. I hope everyone is having a fabulous Saturday night!

Pretty in Pink 15k Recap Numero Dos

Race #2 of the fall is in the books. Maria already provided an awesome recap of all the race particulars, so I don’t need to rehash all of that stuff, but I want to add my two cents about the experience. This was the first race I have run put on by Premier Racing Institute, and I was impressed. As much as I love running the big races, I also like supporting the smaller, local races as well, and this one was a lot of fun. I definitely got the feeling that they put on races with the runners in mind rather than with the sole focus of making a bunch of money. They are putting on a half marathon on November 4th, and based on yesterday, I am thisclose to signing up.

Yesterday was a new PR for me at the 15k distance! I finished in 1:12:09 (7:48 pace), which was about 2 minutes faster than my previous PR and was good enough for 1st in my age group and 24th overall. While I’m really happy with the results, I am less than happy with how I got there. Maria and I started off slowly because the course was narrow and there were a lot of runners to navigate around in the first mile. We were able to speed up around mile 2, and things went well for the next few miles. However, things quit going according to plan for me a little past halfway through the race. I don’t think I did a good job of hydrating at the first few water stops, and by mile 6, I was not feeling well at all. At that point, I started walking through all of the aid stations and making sure I was getting in a decent amount of H2O, but the damage was already done, and my pace definitely took a hit. I wish I could say it was abnormal for me to get slower as a race progresses, but for some reason, the marathon is the only distance where I have been able to do decent job of running negative splits. Oh well, live and learn, right??

Yesterday’s excitement did not end with the race. After we ate breakfast, Maria and I dropped into Fresh Market to pick up some groceries, and after months of searching in every grocery store I have visited in multiple states, I finally found this little bit of heaven in a jar. It is every bit as good as I had imagined it might be…maybe even better.



Sigh. I’m never going to give up my dream of a world where scientists have managed to make celery taste just like peanut butter.

Sweet Tooth Saturday - Peanut Butter Oatmeal Triple Chip Cookies

For some reason, I’ve been feeling nostalgic for my college dining hall lately. I know it probably sounds weird to say that, but we actually had pretty decent food at Macalester, and I especially loved having a huge selection of desserts from which to chose at every meal.  There was one dessert that Cesar and I both loved, so last weekend, I decided I would make it for him.  I had already started creaming butter and sugar together when I discovered that I was missing a key component. I was lazy & stubborn and refused to make a trip to the store or take any more butter out of the fridge, so I started combing through my bookmarked recipes to find something else that required the exact same amount of butter and sugar I already had in the mixer.  These cookies from Pinch of Yum were the first things I stumbled upon, and since peanut butter and chocolate is the single best flavor combination ever, I decided they were a good choice.

I made a couple of very minor modifications to the original recipe; I used three kinds of baking chips, added some peanut butter extract, and I refrigerated the dough for a few hours prior to baking.  I usually chill my cookie dough because I like a thicker cookie, and I also think it lets the oats soak up a bit of moisture.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Triple Chip Cookies
Minimally adapted from Pinch of Yum’s Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup unpacked brown sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp peanut butter extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup Hershey’s Mini Milk Chocolate baking chips

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until smooth. Add the peanut butter, vanilla extract, peanut butter extract, and egg and mix until well blended. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the bowl of the mixer and mix until just moistened. By hand, stir in the oats and baking chips until evenly distributed.
2. Refrigerate the dough for at least three hours; if you have extraordinary patience, even longer is better.
3. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Using a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop dough onto a cookie sheet lined with a silicone mat.
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges just start to brown. If you bake the cookies too long, they won’t remain soft.
6. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Cesar liked these cookies, but he didn’t love them.  He preferred the bites with mini Hershey’s chips to the the dark chocolate chips because the Hershey’s chips remained solid while the dark chocolate chips were melted.  He also said they could have had more peanut butter; however, keep in mind this is a guy who regularly does battle with family sized jars of peanut butter with a spoon as his only weapon and wins.  Even with all of these recommendations for improvement, I did notice that six cookies were missing from the cooling rack before I managed to get them put away.  Me thinks someone fancies himself quite the food critic.  But I guess that’s what I pay him for, right??