Here we go! I always seem to spend at least one day of the weekend cooking or baking something new. And this of course means that my taste testers (usually my family) almost always want a copy of the recipe. I’m really bad about getting them copies of things, especially since I don’t always cook from a recipe. So I thought I’d try keeping a blog as I try new things, or tweak old recipes.
For today, I’m baking a twist on the Peanut Butter kiss cookies. When we say goodbye to kids that we work with, we usually always bring a treat of some kind. Pizza, cookies, donuts, cupcakes, you name it, It’s always their choice. (For those of you who don’t know, I’m a Marriage and Family Therapist, and I currently provide children considered Severely Emotionally Disturbed (SED), In-home family therapy. In Wisconsin “SED” is the criteria these kids have to meet in order to qualify for in-home services. 1) It means that they are under the age of 21, have an emotional disability(mental health diagnosis) that has persisted for at least 6 months, and that same disability is expected to persist for a year or longer. 2) They also must have either psychotic symptoms, be violent, or suicidal. And 3) they have to have impairments in two of the following areas: self care, functioning in the community, school, family, social relationships).
The kids I work with can be very challenging. Some families make a great deal of change, and others don’t. Either way we like to thank them for welcoming us into their home, and allowing us to challenge them. We work in teams of two, and it can be very intrusive to have us coming into their homes up to four hours a week.
Which brings me back to why I’m making a twist on the Peanut Butter kiss cookies: Tomorrow I say goodbye to one of my teenage boys. When I asked him last week, what treat he would like he said, “You know those cookies with the Hersey Kisses or mini Peanut Butter Cups in them? I’ve always wondered what they would be like with the big Peanut Butter Cups. Those would be awesome” We joked and he finally decided that it probably wasn’t possible, and that cookies from the store bought pre-made cookie dough would be just as good. I think his dream is possible!
I started by preheating the oven to 375°. I placed my large baking bowl with my butter in it, on top of the stove to soften it since I had just taken it out of the freezer. Don’t let the butter melt though, because you will want to be able to cream it together with the sugar; this won’t work if the butter is a liquid. This can cause your cookies to end up flat. (Butter has a low melting point and goes from solid to liquid very quick. Because of this, when you put the cookies in the oven, the butter melts and the dough spreads out before the cookie can bake and set its shape. So if you’ve already melted the butter, your cookies have no hope! You also don’t want to microwave your butter. It can get way too hot. If your recipe has egg in it, you could end up cooking your egg in the bowl if your butter is too hot. ) If you do accidently melt your butter, you can always place the bowl in fridge for a few minutes.
Add the peanut butter to the butter, and beat till creamy. Add both sugars, and beat till fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla, beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in smaller bowl. Slow mix dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl. Once wet and dry ingredients have been combined, shape dough into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar, and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. While they are baking, unwrap your candy for the middle. Immediately when you pull the cookies out of the oven push the candy into the middle of the cookie. The cookies will crack slightly around the edges. Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet to cool on a wire rack. Be sure to cool them completely before storing them.
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