The Chicago Marathon is on October 10th this year. 10-10-10. Cool, right? I tell you this because I’m allegedly training for that marathon right now. I have run the last two Chicago Marathons and unfortunately know exactly how much I have to run and how much I can blow off and not die (this is not a good thing as I will ALWAYS do the minimum to get the job done). This past Sunday was one of those days that I really HAD to run. I was supposed to log 10 miles but only did 8...okay 7.5. While out on the trail, a guy who looked like a ‘real’ runner approached, coming from the opposite direction. The first thing I noticed was his brand new half-marathon t-shirt. He had obviously participated in a recent half-marathon that I had read about, but had not participated in. I immediately held him in higher-esteem. Race t-shirts are the badge of honor reflecting the hard work put forth by the runner and the completion of a set goal. It occurred to me that while I, as a runner, was impressed by this shirt, a non-runner probably would not have cared or noticed the t-shirt at all. AND, more importantly, if a non-runner had taken any notice of it, wouldn’t have understood the significance of the hours of training that had gone into achieving such a milestone. I have no way of knowing if this man had just finished his first half-marathon - something that he had worked years at achieving - or his 500th and it was no big deal (btw, running 13.1 miles is never ‘no big deal’), but I did give the guy some more room on the trail and a big smile in an attempt to show my respect.
This incident got me thinking about the other symbols and signs in my life. The ones that show the world who I am and what I’m interested in. The birdbaths and bird feeders surrounding my house speak clearly to my love/interest in birds. The overwhelming stack of books on the table next to my bed speak of my love of history and food. The basement that rivals Joanne’s Fabric speaks of my love of crafts, specifically kids crafts. And my kitchen.... a quick scan of my kitchen provides all kinds of information about me. I LOVE kitchen gadgets. The most prominently displayed one being the Kitchen Aid stand mixer. People who cook notice this piece of equipment while people who don’t cook, couldn’t care less. While the mixer is a beloved resident of my favorite area of the house, it can clearly be identified as a status symbol. That mixer is the Mercedes Benz sitting in my driveway, telling the world I’m doing okay and I know what I’m doing.
The Kitchen Aid showed up in the form of a Christmas gift one year from my husband. I had told him I really needed one. It was, of course, a luxury item considering the cost ($300ish) and the lack of baking I was doing at the time. I pulled the beautiful, shiny, smooth, rounded magnificence out of the box and just stared at it. After the staring period was over, I moved it to the counter in my kitchen. And there it stayed for about two years. It was dusted and moved out of the way to clean around it, but it was never called on to assist with anything. I had the book, the video and all the attachments but I had no idea how to use it (this may surprise you but I’m not the best at reading those books that come with everything). I knew that every serious cook owned one and used it for everything but unlike my food processor that gets used regularly, I couldn’t figure out how this huge thing could make my life any easier. What makes this story even better is the fact that I went on to ask for the pasta-making attachment and the ice cream maker to go with my beautiful, red, shiny, $300ish counter-chachki....and got them. And still didn’t know what to do with it. It took a rainy Saturday afternoon and some seriously competitive genes to get me to finally figure out the mighty mixer.
I have mentioned a few hundred times that I am not a baker. My kids, while educated in the arts of foods from many countries, did not frequently (ever) come home to homemade cookies. One rainy Saturday afternoon my husband took it upon himself to bring homemade cookies into our home. I had slipped away from the chaos to sneak in a nap. When I awoke, our house smelled wonderful and my kids were happily chomping away on peanut butter cookies. ‘Where did you get those?’ I asked. ‘Dad made them.’ Seriously? ‘Yes, seriously.’ He said confidently. The kids were happy and the cookies (much as I hate to admit it) were good. Fast forward a couple of days...’hey Mom, can you make some of those cookies Dad made? They were really good and I want some more.’ Damned kids! I assured them that I would love to make those cookies. Hand-mixer, softened butter, mess everywhere....I did make the cookies, but didn’t enjoy one single second of it (other than eating, of course). There had to be a better way... Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) was on the Food Network making some kind of cookie something or other. She just dumped a whole bunch of ingredients into the same Kitchen Aid mixer I had, pulled the lever forward and magically the dough was done. I decided to give it a shot. Paddle attachment?!! What’s a ‘paddle attachment’? I did finally have to break out the instruction booklet if for nothing other than to figure out what the various parts were. I put the right attachment on the mixer and dumped all the ingredients. It was just that easy. A whole new world was opened that day!
My kids have homemade cookies all the time now. They also have fresh bread almost every day (kneading hook, dontchaknow?). And, the ice cream maker has now been used countless times. Pasta maker...not so much. Soon, very soon. There’s a reason for the weight and the price of this machine...it’s indestructible! I throw butter practically frozen in there and that thing grinds and spins until the contents of that bowl are a fluffy, creamy pale yellow. Imagine doing that with a hand-mixer?! No thanks.
So back to those cookies...I couldn’t just replicate the cookies the husband made. He has a real job and a real career that involves other acts of brilliance. I had to go above and beyond his act to show my value in the kitchen (this is after all what I do all day and don’t get paid for). While job security is pretty good in my position, it was a matter of pride that I do better than he did. Good peanut butter cookies can only (in this woman’s opinion) get better with chocolate. A simple peanut butter cookie made with quality ingredients has no place to go if it stays a peanut butter cookie. Add chocolate and you have another creature altogether. So add chocolate I did. I’d love to tell you that I created this recipe but I don’t understand the chemistry of baking enough (yet) to create any kind of recipe. I have this amazing cookbook called ‘The All-American Cookie Book’ by Nancy Baggett. I refer to it frequently now that I know how to use the stand mixer. These cookies are a favorite in my house and I make them often. One note here...because my kitchen was very warm on the day the above picture was taken, the cookies are flat. Usually that are more mounded (is that a word?). If your cookies do not turn out flat...that’s okay, in fact that’s better.
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION: (dramatic, I know) Like most people, I try to save a couple of bucks here and there when I can. Having said this, there are some things you should NEVER skimp on. Good-quality chocolate is one of those things. Save money on butter. No one can tell the difference between store-brand butter or brand-name butter (but be sure to use butter...not that fake, chemical stuff). Cheap chocolate is not worth anything. You might as well put brown food coloring as an ingredient instead. Buy the best chocolate you can get your hands on...it makes all the difference in the world. Enough ranting...
Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chunkers
2 1/2 cups all-purpose white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups smooth or crunchy peanut butter
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
10 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (I have also used good-quality chocolate chips here - and much more than 10 oz...if you LOVE chocolate, go crazy)
About 1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts, for topping (I have also used - and love - salted cashews)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease several baking sheets.
In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, and sugar until very well blended and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla and beat until well blended. Beat or stir in the flour mixture until evenly incorporated. Stir in a 1 cup of the chopped chocolate. Let the dough stand for 5 minutes, or until firmed up slightly.
Shape portions of the dough into 1 3/4-inch balls with lightly greased hands. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining chocolate and the peanuts (cashews). Dip one half of each ball into the chocolate-peanut mixture until some bits are embedded. Place the balls, coated side up, on the baking sheets, spacing about 2 3/4 inches apart. pat down the tops of the balls just slightly.
Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 13 to 16 minutes, or until lightly browned all over, slightly darker at the edges, and slightly soft when pressed in the centers.
Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to wire racks. Let stand until completely cooled. (These cookies are NEVER allowed to completely cool. My kids stand and wait for them to be not-mouth-scalding temperature and then devour them.)
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