Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Almost daily I come across recipes that I can't wait to make. I usually hold off though until I have some sort of occasion where I can share my creations with others. Otherwise, I know that Joe and I will eat all of them and that is not a good thing! On Friday night we got together with some friends to celebrate exams being partially done so I made these cookies. They are decadent and comforting and should definitely be shared. I was very happy with both the soft, but firm texture of the cookies, and the smoothness of the filling.

Ingredients for the cookies:
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup quick cooking oats

Ingredients for the filling:
4 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 confectioners sugar, sifted
4 1/2 Tbsp heavy cream

Directions:
For the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and stir until well combined. In the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the peanut butter and blend until light and fluffy. Blend in the egg and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until just incorporated. Add the oats and stir until well blended.

Using a small ice cream scoop, place small balls of dough on the prepared baking sheets. Keep them a couple inches apart to allow for spreading. Try to make sure that each dough ball is approximately the same size. Bake 9-10 minutes, rotating the cookies sheets halfway through baking. Let cook on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

Once the cookies are room temperature, being matching them up by size until you have all pairs. For the filling, combine the butter, peanut butter, and confectioners sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer or with a hand mixer. Cream together until smooth and fluffy. Add the cream and mix until well combined and very smooth. Using a knife or spreader, spread the filling onto the flat side of one cookie. Sandwich the other cookie on top and press down so that the filling reaches the edge of the cookies.

*Source: Allrecipes

Birthday Cheesecake

This past weekend marked the birthday of one of my husband's law school friends. We found out through his girlfriend that his favorite dessert was cheesecake and his favorite flavor was blueberry. So, I set off in search of a good cheesecake recipe because despite my husband's boasts that I make "a great cheesecake", I have never in fact made real cheesecake. Normally I make a healthy version that we call "fake cheesecake". When I don't have any recipes in my cookbooks, my go-to recipe site is Annie's Eats. Everything of hers that I've made has turned out really well and this cheesecake recipe was no exception. I figured that individual sized cheesecakes would be best since having an entire cheesecake sitting around is just too much of a temptation.

Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the crust:
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar

For the topping:
6 oz. fresh organic blueberries
2 tbsp. sugar

For the filling:
3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 8 oz package reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325˚ F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar until all ingredients are moistened. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down with the bottom of a glass or small measuring cup. Bake 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack while you prepare the blueberry puree and filling.

Combine the blueberries and sugar in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth, then pour through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Use a spatula to press the juice through.

To make the cheesecake, beat the cream cheese on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly blend in the sugar until smooth. Mix in the salt and vanilla. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

To assemble, spoon 3 heaping tablespoons of the cheesecake batter over the crust in each cupcake liner. Dot a ½ teaspoon of the blueberry puree in a few dots over the cheesecake filling. Use a toothpick or a wooden skewer to lightly swirl.

Bake until the filling is set, about 22 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours before serving.


Please excuse the poor photo quality. The cheesecakes were a hit and all of them were consumed within a couple hours!



*Source: adapted from Annie's Eats