Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Your typical peanut butter cookie, but with rich, dark chocolate chunks and a sprinkle of crushed sea salt.  A match made in heaven, with a gourmet taste.  I swear I'm doing more than baking, but I've already shared most all of the summer recipes I've been making.  If you're wondering what I'm doing when I'm not entertaining a toddler, nursing an infant, and maintaining the house, it's making basil pesto, lots and lots of pesto.  And sautéing swiss chard, or looking up a zucchini recipe.  But sometimes cookies need to be made for friends.  I love this recipe and will definitely be making these cookies again.  Original recipe can be found here.  

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup chunky or smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°.  Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugars until light. Add the egg and mix until fluffy.  Blend the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together well. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the chocolate chips. Drop generous amounts of cookie dough using an ice cream scoop.  Flatten with a fork, sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 375°.

Key Lime Bars

I'm back!  With a bouncing baby boy, and a lot less sleep.  Life is more hectic with a toddler and a newborn, but so far it's been manageable (with lots and lots of help).  Now that the seasonal veggies are becoming more enticing and I've fully recovered I am back in the kitchen, whipping up dishes here and there when I can steal some time.  I decided to make some key limes bars for a BBQ this weekend as my mother in-law recently brought some key limes from Southern California.  I only had about 16 or so I believe, enough for about 1/2 cup of juice (key limes are tiny and adorable and incredibly aromatic), so I substituted two additional conventional limes to bring the juice to 2/3 cup.  You can substitute limes for the entire recipe of course, as key limes aren't easy to come by.  This recipe is courtesy of Martha Stewart via Joe's Stone Crab (makes me miss living in Miami).  You don't need any other recipe for a key lime dessert, this is pretty much how you want it to taste.

1 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (about 23 Key limes total)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
freshly whipped cream (if desired)

To make crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Line an 8 inch square baking dish with parchment paper, hanging off an inch.  Press evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (Leave oven on.)  To make filling, put egg yolks and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.  Spread filling evenly over crust using a spatula. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until filling is just set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight).  Cut into 2-by-2-inch bars. Put cream in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Garnish bars with whipped cream and a slice of lime.