4X Chocolate / Peanut Butter / Pecan Cookies

WARNING.  These contain nuts, eggs, sugar, chocolate and will lead to drinking milk or coffee at odd times of the day!!  

4X Chocolate / Peanut Butter Chip / Pecan Cookies:

                Recipe adapted from the Joy of Baking’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies!

My Batter.  Yummy!!

Ingredients:

4 ounces chocolate, chopped, for melting purposes (I used Theo Chocolate’s Dark Nib and Vanilla Chocolates!)

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour **

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt**

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup raw or "white" sugar**

2 large eggs

1 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup White Chocolate chips

1/2 cup Peanut Butter Chips

1 cup oven roasted pecans, chopped ( I put the pecans in a glass dish and in the oven during the preheat stage and roasted for about 15 minutes, leaving them to cool for a few before chopping them up and adding them to the cookies!)

** I do not have white granulated sugar or regular iodized table salt in my home.  Thus I use Sea Salt and Raw Sugar (organic too!).  I also use Whole Wheat Flour.  Every little thing counts, right??

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Melt the 4 ounces of chocolate in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water.
3. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
4. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
5. In a large Bowl, beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy (using electric or hand mixer).
6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. Add the melted chocolate and beat until well mixed.
8. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
9. Then beat in the vanilla extract.
10. Add the flour in stages, mixing until incorporated.
11. Fold in the chips and nuts.
12. *At this point, my dough was too runny, so I dusted the cookie batter with a few tablespoons of flour.
13. Scoop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet (you can use parchment paper lined sheets for easier cleanup!
    
14. Gently flatten the dough into 2” rounds.
15. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until the center is just about set in the center.  Cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack. 

 Yield about 20 cookies

Cookies before pressing into rounds.

Cookies Cooling, awaiting a glass of milk!

Source Link:  http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateChocolateChipCookies.html#ixzz14MEMd3fT

November

It's one of my favorite Months!!  Stews, Soups, Chowders, Roasts, Crockpots, and so many other slow simmering foods!  The cold crisp weather makes me want to snuggle up to a good book with a  cup of strong coffee or tea while simmering a warm me up lunch/dinner on the stove.  Of course I'd be sitting in front of my heater.  It would be a fireplace if I had one, but you do what you can with what you have!

Here's a quick Preview of what's coming this month:

1. Book Shopping.  You never know what you'll find at . . .
2. Elk Chili.  (Yes, it's that time of year)
3. Apple Stuffed Pork Loin
4. Fall Deserts (Apple Gallette, Muffins, and more!)
5. Pumpkin-Pecan Pie.  Sounds scrumptious eh?

Miss Tori waiting for her apples!

To top it all off, I'll be planning a Birthday Menu for my cold December Birthday.  I'll take any comments or suggestions on what kind of food to prepare, as you know it'll be some kind of grilled food with lots of spirits.  The Theme will be:  Going Back to the Ranch, the MMR that is!

All of you know when and where.  It's just what to make will be the question!

Cheers to a Happy November!