flourless peanut butter cookies and parmesan pull apart rolls

Today has been a long day. Or at least it’s felt like it. I got up early this morning, watered all of the plants, whose numbers seem to grow everyday. Then I quickly got to work on these cookies. Yet another Joy the Baker recipe that I absolutely love.



I don’t how anything with only 4 ingredients can be so delicious. They are nice and crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside. I’m thinking these will probably become a staple for me. And start to finish, they only take about 15 minutes!



The recipe recommends using all-natural peanut butter, but all I had was Jif. At about 9 minutes in I checked on them and they weren’t holding together at all, I thought I was just going to have a bunch of blobs of hot peanut butter. I was cursing poor Jif’s name, sure that I should have run out and got some expensive brand. But after about 12 minutes, they were perfect. And oh so tasty.



As soon as those were out of the oven, I started these parmesan pull apart rolls. I’m determined to work with yeast as much as I can, and it’s going really well. These were AMAZING. Soft and light, with a strong parmesan taste. It’s perfect, expect that I couldn’t get them into roll shape. The dough is super sticky and after 3 tries, I just gave up and threw all the dough in the cake pan. It came out great, although I think I’m going to have to rename them parmesan rip apart rolls.




Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
From The Gourmet Cookbook via Joy the Baker


1 cup all-natural chunky or smooth peanut butter

1 cup sugar (1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup granulated sugar)

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet with butter and set aside. In a mixer combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined, about 2 minutes. Add egg and baking soda and mix for another 2 minutes. Roll into walnut sized balls and create a cris-cross pattern with a fork. If you’d like, add a few chocolate pieces to the top of the cookies. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool on a baking sheet for two minutes, then transfer to… your mouth.


Parmesan Pull Apart Rolls
From Gourmet Magazine via Picky Cook

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-oz package)
1 teaspoon mild honey or sugar
2/3 cup warm milk (105–115°F), divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 Tbsp for sprinkling
1 1/4 cups grated (with a rasp) Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 1/3 oz) (I used pre-shredded parmesan from the grocery store)
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into Tbsp pieces and softened
1 tablespoon water

Stir together yeast, honey, and 1/3 cup warm milk in mixer bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, start over with new yeast.) Whisk together flour (2 1/2 cups), cheese, and salt, then mix into yeast mixture along with remaining 1/3 cup warm milk at low speed. Increase speed to medium and beat in 2 eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat, scraping down side of bowl occasionally, until a very soft dough forms, about 3 minutes. Beat in butter, 1 Tbsp at a time, until dough is elastic, about 2 minutes. (Dough will be very sticky.)


Scrape dough into center of bowl and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp flour. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch down dough (do not knead) and turn out onto a floured surface. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each into a ball by cupping your hand and pushing dough against work surface as you roll in a circular motion. Arrange rolls 1 inch apart in a buttered 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth). Let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and dough fills pan, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.
*
Whisk together remaining egg with water and brush on tops of rolls. (You will have leftover egg wash.) Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Loosen edges of rolls from pan with a sharp knife and invert rolls onto a rack, then reinvert and cool at least 20 minutes.

Rolls are best the day they're made but can be frozen (cool completely, then wrap well) 1 month. Thaw, then reheat on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven until warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.