I really don’t know what has taken me so long to write about these cookies. Except that maybe Jenn is a lazy Cook! The information on Flickr tells me that I baked these cookies on October 19th! Oh my word! I knew I still had a few recipes lingering in the drafts folder from Thanksgiving or Christmas, but I didn’t realize this one had been wallowing for quite that long. Especially since these cookies were GOOD. I brought them to work with me (as I do with most baked goods because I live alone, and my thighs just do not need that), and everyone who tried them raved about them. I even got scolded by my dentist– for not bringing some in to share!

I found this recipe on the back of the bag of toffee chips. Let’s get started!

You’ll need: Flour, brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk, vanilla, egg, baking soda, salt, and chocolate covered toffee chips

Start with 1/2 cup of shortening. Do yourself a favor and buy the handy little sticks of shortening– MUCH easier for recipes. I didn’t have any, and I was trying to use up this little container of Crisco.

Follow the shortening with 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Beat until well blended

Add one egg. Clearly, I broke mine while adding it to the bowl.

Beat in the egg until just blended

In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

and 3/4 teaspoon salt

Stir with a whisk to combine

Gradually add to peanut butter mixture

Continue until all of the flour mixture has been combined with the peanut butter mixture.

Add the bag of toffee chips. The recipe indicates to use part of the bag, and sprinkle the cookies with the remaining chips, but that’s just more work. So I added them all to the dough and called it good.

Go ahead and stir those in.

Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet

Bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes or until set. Don’t over bake them– they’ll be hard as a rock if you do!

Cool for two minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Heath Bits Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup Heath milk chocolate toffee bits, divided

Heat oven to 375.
Beat shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add egg; beat just until blended. Combine flour, baking soda, salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. Stir in 1 cup toffee bits; reserve remainder for topping.
Drop by heaping teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet; top each with reserved toffee bits. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until set. Do not overbake. Cool 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

First things, first… today is

Delurker Day! Basically it just means, if you’ve been reading and not commenting, please “delurk” and leave a comment. Even if you’ve got nothing to say about the recipe, feel free to just say hi.

Moving along!

You may have noticed that I put the “Watergate” salad in quotations in the title. There’s a good reason for that. According to Kraft, this particular jello salad is called Watergate Salad. I’ve even recently seen it referred to as Pistachio Fluff. But in my family, we have a different name for it. One that’s not exactly appetizing and blog friendly… are you ready for it? This is Barf Salad. Yes, like that-thing-you-do-when-you-have-the-flu salad. Yum, right?

The story goes, however many years ago, my cousin Matt laid eyes on this green jello concoction and said “I’m not eating any of that barf salad!” It’s been barf salad ever since, and to this day, he still won’t eat it. I hope you will though, it’s quite tasty! This salad, Watergate, pistachio or barf, has always been one of my favorite things to find on the food table at family get togethers. It’s now my job to make it.

Here’s how.

Pistachio pudding, crushed pineapple, mini marshmallows, pecans, cool whip.

In a medium sized bowl, dump one box of dry pistachio pudding mix.

Add to that one 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple without draining.

I gave it a quick stir at this point. This is also the point at which I realized that a green bowl was probably not the best choice for this particular dish. It happened to be the most appropriately sized bowl that I had though!

Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans. I used pecan chips because I was too lazy to chop pecans. Or because they were out of any other kind of pecans at the store. Or both.

1 cup of mini marshmallows

Finally, 1 1/2 cups cool whip.

Stir until everything is well combined. Make sure you get everything up from the bottom… just when you think you’re done, you’ll pull up a spoonful of pineapple pudding goo and realize you haven’t quite gotten it yet.

And the finished product! Doesn’t it look good? Okay, maybe not in that green bowl…

Okay, that’s a little better. You can probably see why this dish earned its endearing name, but it’s still delicious!

Watergate Salad

1 box Pistachio pudding mix, dry
1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 1/2 cups whipped topping

Combine all ingredients. That’s it!

Here’s another cookie that I made for Christmas goody bags this year, but once again these pictures were not taken this year. This recipe has been sitting, neglected and abused, in my drafts folder since last Christmas! I’m sorry Peanut Blossom Cookies, I had better intentions, I swear! You’ve probably seen this recipe under several different names, but my recipe card says Peanut Blossoms, and that’s what I’ve always called them, so that’s what you get!

Well, in any case, I’m posting them now, so that’s got to count for something! I love this cookie. Peanut butter + chocolate = love. Even though I do occasionally make them at other times of year, I tend to think of these as Christmas cookies. I make them almost every year at this time, and that’s when I remember making them with my mom when I was younger. (My job was to unwrap all the kisses before she got the hot cookies out of the oven. I probably ate as many as made it onto cookies.)

Super simple to make, and really good- I don’t know why I don’t make them more often!

You’ll need: Flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, brown sugar, shortening, peanut butter, egg, milk, vanilla, Hershey Kisses.

In a large bowl, add 1 3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine until dough forms. Not quite there yet…

There we go. Shape the dough into balls.

Then roll those dough balls in granulated sugar. I find it easiest to pour some sugar onto a small plate.

Place sugar coated dough balls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

While the cookies are in the oven, unwrap your Hershey kisses. (Or you can unwrap them before you get started… but I tend to do them as I go as I don’t want to unwrap more kisses than I end up with cookies.)

When the cookies are done, take them out of the oven…

… and IMMEDIATELY press a Hershey Kiss into the center of each cookie. You’ll have to leave the cookies in a single layer wherever you put them when you take them off the pan until they are completely cool. Until they’re cool, the chocolate on the kisses stays melted (I wanted to say melty, but Firefox says that’s not a word) and you’ll just end up smearing the chocolate around everywhere.

Enjoy!

Peanut Blossom Cookies

1 3/4 cup flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. crisco shortening
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 egg
2 T. milk
1 t. vanilla

Combine until dough forms. Shape into balls and roll in sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375. Top each cookie with a kiss. Press firmly.