Today is some-what of my first official day of my holidays. I had to swing by campus early in the morning but I have spent the majority of the day with Ninja :)
I'm a bit belated in sharing but over Thanksgiving I had the worse blogger nightmare happen to me! I went to upload my pictures and it stated that I had reached my picture limit! WHAT? I had no clue that there was a limit-- yes probably if I read the fine print I would have seen that but since I did not, I was shocked! I am sure they put limits on pictures because the option was to buy more picture space- so it is smart business move. I was close to just paying the fee, but I stopped and thought- there must be a way to get around this? Well the hubby helped me research and found out there is! And here is how:
Create an account at a free photo site. I chose Shutterfly, because that was the site I was familiar with but feel free to choose the site you feel most comfortable with. You then create an album with pictures you would like to share on your blog. For Shutterfly, I am not sure about other sites, but you then can click on the album and then on the picture-- you want to make sure you click twice on the picture so the picture pops up in a separate window for a large view **this is key**-- once the picture is displayed, right click and choose "copy image URL." Then in blogger, make sure your cursor is where you would like to insert your picture, click on the insert picture icon- then choose "from a URL" and paste your link. This will insert your picture. Then, with the picture selected choose the size desired--I choose original to get the largest view. You must repeat this step for all the pictures. This does require more steps than the usual Blogger way or if you pay the fee to have more Blogger picture space, and so that can be a tedious but to me I find it worth it.
Christmas, to me is all about desserts. Most holidays are :) But Christmas, especially, I think reminds me of cookies because of all the Christmas parties and activities such as cookie exchanges! I wish my program or the hubby's work had a cookie exchange. I have never done one but think they would be fun. Plus I love making and eating cookies. When I was little I would envy the cookie monster. I woke up today, craving cookies, and decided to make these Mrs. Fields Peanut Butter Cookie copy cat recipe. I love these peanut butter cookies because they are so chewy and soft. If you are a crunchy peanut butter cookie kinda person- this recipe is not for you.
MRS. FIELDS PEANUT BUTTER COPYCAT COOKIES
Adapted from The Restaurant Recipe Blog
INGREDIENTS
FOR COOKIE
2 sticks of butter, softened
1 1/4 c. granulated sugar
Plus 1 c. for rolling
1 1/4 c. dark brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 c. peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
FOR DIP
1c. of chocolate chips
1/4-1/3 c. vegetable shortening
1/4 c. crushed peanuts
**The amount can vary depending on how many cookies you would like to dip
DIRECTIONS
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugars until creamy, approximately 6-8 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Next add peanut butter and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Add dry ingredient to wet and mix until just incorporated.
Scoop out on inch rounds of cookie dough (I used a cookie scoop- so much easier). Roll the cookie dough into balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart-- usually peanut butter cookies do not spread, these do! Using a fork, gently press a crisscross pattern into each cookie (each press should be 90degress from the other press). Bake for 12-16 minutes-- allow to completely cool.
To dip cookies: in a double boiler (I do not have a double boiler, I place a bowl over a pot of boiling water- works just fine). Melt the chocolate and shortening until smooth. Dip each cookie till it is covered in half. If your bowl is shallow, use a spoon to push chocolate against the cookie. Sprinkle cookie with crushed peanuts. Allow to chocolate to harden completely (I used cooling racks to keep my cookies standing up).
Enjoy,
Chika
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