Monday, April 25, 2011

Just tagging along.

(Part I in my Girl Scout cookie series)

When we were little, my older sister was a Brownie -- to me, that meant trips to Lakeview Library while she went to meetings, colorful fabric badges I coveted but couldn't really decipher, and most importantly, the salty, crunchy, crumbly, creamy, chocolate-y goodness of Peanut Butter Patties.

We loved them all: Lemon Pastry Cremes (sadly no longer produced), Shortbread, Thin Mints, Caramel deLites (better known today as Samoas)...but my favorites were Peanut Butter Patties (now known as Tagalongs...perhaps appropriate for a little sister who always wanted to tag-along).

Now, I'm a cook by nature, but I've been trying to get more into baking -- an endeavor which has been fully exploited by my friends and coworkers who send me recipes to "test." The latest of which came in the form of Samoas. Unfortunately, the timing could not have been worse: it was day two of Lent, and day two of my self-imposed dessert desert. Wistfully poking around the Web site she sent me, I found a recipe for my beloved Peanut Butter Patties as well. And so, friends, it seemed only fitting that my Glorious Return to Dessert yesterday would be via one of my favorite childhood treats. I modified the recipe ever so slightly, adding a pinch more salt and making part of the batch with a Nutella filling instead of PB:

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Homemade Peanut Butter Patties (a.k.a., Tagalongs)
Cookies: 1 c butter, softened
1/2 c sugar

2 c flour

3/4 t salt

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 T heavy cream


Topping: (one batch each, peanut butter and Nutella)

3/4 c smooth peanut butter/Nutella

1/4 c confectioner's sugar
1/4 t vanilla extract

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips

Cookie: sift dry ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy; then combine dry ingredients in two batches, mixing until well incorporated. Add vanilla and cream, then mix until dough is a homogeneous mixture. Don't even attempt to touch the dough: using a big spoon, scoop into two batches on plastic wrap and flatten into disks. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 350*F. After chilling the dough, pinch off 1" balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, about 3/4" apart. Bake for 10-14 min., or until golden around the edges. While the cookies are still hot and soft, use a soup spoon to make an indentation for the filling.

Topping: Meanwhile, heat peanut butter over low heat until it is a thick liquid, easy to stir. Add confectioner's sugar and remove from heat. When the sugar is incorporated, add vanilla (it might seize a little - particularly with the Nutella). Spoon a dollop into the hollow of cooled cookies.

Melt chocolate chips. Drop cookies face (filling) down into the chocolate, and rotate until the top is fully covered in chocolate. Set to dry on a wire rack (put a pan underneath to catch any chocolate drips). If necessary, freeze for half an hour to harden the chocolate quickly. (This will make your Peanut Butter Patty experience more like that of my childhood -- my mom froze them right when they arrived to keep this little piggy from eating the whole box at once...little did she know that I didn't mind them frozen.)

* NOTE: The Nutella plus chocolate makes for a sweet cookie -- I'd recommend using bittersweet chocolate to coat the Nutella varietal, or perhaps even dropping a hazelnut into the center.

Stay tuned for Samoas, coming up next.

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