Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Chip Cookies with Orange Zest

This was my first attempt at making peanut butter cookies.  I adapted the recipe from here, but as always, tweaked the recipe quite a bit.  I made it into a peanut butter and white chocolate cookie with an orange twist.

The recipe was easy, but I found that I needed to add at least a cup of milk to the dough to get it to the right consistency.  The cookies turned out a little bit dense, but on storing them overnight, a lot of the moistness returned.  Anyone that likes peanut butter cookies would really enjoy these, but I think I might move on to different cookies the next time around.

You will need:
3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 cup (105 grams) light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (185 grams) peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts or 1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)
• 1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
• 1 cup cold milk (if required)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F  and place rack in the centre of the oven. 
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes). You could use an electric mixer for this, but I used a hand mixer.
4. Beat in the peanut butter. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine. 
5. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. 
6. Add to the peanut butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Fold in the chopped peanuts if using, if using, the white chocolate chips and the orange zest. (If the batter is too dry at this point, add milk a few teaspoons at a time. Alternately, if the batter is too soft, keep in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before forming into balls.)
7. Roll the batter into 1 inch (2.5 cm) balls. 
8. Transfer the cookies to the prepared baking sheet, placing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Then, using the tines of the fork that has been dipped in white granulated sugar, make a crisscross pattern.
9. Bake the cookies for about 10 to12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges. 
10. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container, for about a week. Freeze for longer storage.

Makes about 40 cookies.

Day 200 - Macro Week Complete and I'm on Day 200! Yay!

Today was a day of changed plans - thanks to the horrid weather we have been having since late last night.  The forecast called for a bit of early morning snow, so I got all excited and set the alarm for sunrise.  But, the winds started up late last night - howling and gusting at almost 80 kmph!  I barely slept for the storm raging outside and when I woke up to the alarm I only saw sheets of rain and snow being blown around.  I couldn't possibly go out in that.  So, I didn't even do my grocery shopping today, and neither did I go out for an evening photo shoot as I'd planned.

My first lot of shots this morning didn't turn out great at all.  Then as I was baking some muffins this evening, I decided to turn my camera on those.

The pictures were taken under fluorescent lighting, so I did it on CWB.  I shoot mostly in RAW but still like to adjust the WB in-camera because I prefer to spend less time trying to fix that in post.  Although I'm using Lightroom 3 now, and it's a breeze fixing images, I still prefer to fix my WB in-camera.  Of course, there is no great WB fix for fluorescent lighting, but I find the light in the images a lot improved, as opposed to the green cast it always takes on when shooting in this kind of light situation.

And if you're wondering what muffins these are - hold tight, it's a loooong name - Banana-Blueberry-Chocolate Chip-Pecan Muffin.  These are deliciously fluffy and moist!

I've improved the recipe over time, and I'm as much an experimental cook as I am an experimental photographer.  If you want the recipe for the photos, find them below:

90 mm, f/32, 25s, ISO 100, Custom WB, Aperture Priority

90 mm, f/22, 13s, ISO 100, Custom WB, Aperture Priority

Now, if you are hungry from just saying the name, and want the recipe for the muffins, here it is! :o)

Recipe for Banana-Blueberry-Chocolate Chip-Pecan Muffin

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• couple of handfuls of chopped nuts ( I use walnuts or pecans, depending on what's available on hand)
• couple of handfuls of fresh or frozen blueberries
• handful of chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, beaten egg and melted butter.
3. Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda.
4. Stir into the banana mixture until well blended.
5. Stir in nuts, blueberries and chocolate chips.
6. Line a muffin pan with paper cups and spoon in the mixture up to 2/3 full. 
7. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.  
9. Or, if you're like me and can't wait to dig in, drop a blob of butter on top of a warm, freshly baked muffin and enjoy!

Mmmm  mmmmuffins!!  Isn't that delicious!!!  And you will just not go wrong with this recipe ... trust me! 

Day 199 - Macro Week - Rum Cake

A colleague brought in some rum cake that he had baked.  Being German, he's a fantastic baker, and this cake was fluffy and really moist as well.  We had pieces of this towards the end of the day, so it was a really great way to cap off the work week.

Fortunately, I had my camera with me today as I'd intended to go out during the lunch hour and do some texture photography.  But that didn't come to pass and I was getting a little restive about what to photograph today.  The opportunity to take a shot of the cake was too great to pass up and so I took a big bite off it, and got to work.  :)

I can't say the composition is the greatest, because I became a little conscious of my colleagues watching me as I took the shots.

90 mm, f/3.2, 1/15s, ISO 200, Aperture Priority, Custom WB