pb & chocolate chip cups

I have come to the harsh-but-true conclusion that I'm a fair weather baker.

I cannot take the heat. Literally. Pressure isn't great either, but the hot weather and humidity suck the life out of me. If I were a denizen of Alpharetta, Georgia, you can count your cookies that there would be no beurrista.

Now that school is in full swing, now that the mornings are cooler and the air crisper, I am finally hearing the siren song of the oven. The Kids are even asking for cookies after a summer full of ice cream and ices.

Today, s'mores are in the oven. I made chocolate chip cookies last week. What has been in the forefront of my mind, however, is pb&j. I love that combination. I wanted to make a pb&j bar cookie, but after running it by The Tasters, I realized that I'd have No Takers. I'd have to eat the whole pan myself...

peanut butter and jelly cupcakes {msc}

I know a girl who would eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every school day, day in, day out. I wish My Kids were that easy. Said girl would love this baking club assignment, though I wonder if she'd want one after her sandwich lunch. Maybe for breakfast?

peanut butter chocolate chip pretzel cookie

The snow keeps falling, and that makes me hungry for a stick-to-your-ribs kind of food cookie.

What comes to mind is chunky and chockablock-full-of-good-stuff.  I had a yummy peanut butter/pretzel/chocolate chunk cookie this past summer at the Hester Street Fair.  The cookie was super crunchy and delicious, but the pretzel was quite hard.  Today's recipe produces a semi-soft cookie filled with chocolate and balanced out with a crisp, salty crunch from the pretzels.

thumbprint cookies {bwd}

I have sweet memories of my mom making Thumbprint Cookies with us when we were children. She would fill them raspberry and apricot jams after we jammed our thumbs into the dough. Having no recollection of what her recipe was, I looked forward to trying Dorie's and also seeing all the other bakers' cookies. I previously made one with almond paste, but otherwise haven't made a thumbprint in many, many years.

After perusing the recipe, I realized that this isn't a regular thumbprint. This is a pb&j thumbprint cookie. I then thought, "Why not double the peanut butter pleasure?"