Cinnamon and Cocoa Coated Pecans

I really really like pecans. So does my husband. Almonds and cashews are okay, but pecans are just so much better. It's the only nut we use except maybe when we can get out hands on some macadamia nuts.

Anyway, I went to Maine two years ago to visit my aunt and she shops at a Whole Foods store that carried cocoa covered almonds. They were so good! She and I would sit there eating handful after handful while watching movies at night for dessert. I developed a sweet and tasteful addiction to those things and when I went home I couldn't find them anywhere. I still search for them in any store that carries ingredients in bulk but have yet to come across them. Sure there's chocolate coated ones but that's so far from the same. 

Finally I attempted to recreate them with pecans and this is what I did... (go ahead and use almonds or walnuts if you'd like)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 Tablespoon Hershey's unsweetened Cocoa powder

Directions:
Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes on a baking sheet. You can usually tell when they're done when the kitchen has a nutty aroma in the air. Melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter on low in a small saucepan, stir when the chips start to look glossy and remove from heat. Don't overcook. Gently mix the toasted pecans into the chocolate mixture just until the nuts are coated. On a wax paper lined sheet, spread the pecans out evenly and set in freezer until the chocolate is hardened, about 15 minutes. Put cinnamon and cocoa powder into the bag, followed by the hardened, chocolate-covered pecans and seal the bag. Shake and enjoy!

Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories, I really do love their site.

Peanut Butter-Only & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sooo.. I had just moved into our new place and I desperately needed to bake. We had made about two store runs, one to Costco and one to the base's Commissary... Needless to say I hadn't bought any butter yet. I don't particularly put butter in or on anything unless it calls for it in a cookie so I was postponing the inevitable. Or did I have to?

Our home was fairly bare, All of our brand new appliances and pans and really, everything, was packed up in boxes. Stuck in a truck somewhere up the coast. I moved with a small frying pan, a pot, a baking sheet, a spatula, two towels, and an oven mitt. I guess it was all I needed because these cookies were absolutely delicious and they did not require butter. Peanut butter, yes.

At Costco I picked up two Skippy's jars of peanut butter because I had somewhat of a craving for the stuff for about a month. I had some chocolate chips and basic baking necessities. Minus the butter... I searched online and found this recipe, exactly what I needed! Except that I had to mix it all by hand and I really wanted to make that go as smoothly as possible. So I melted the peanut butter and oh! How easier that made mixing! These cookies were so incredibly soft and flavorful. Peanut butter and chocolate, could a girl ever ask for more? And to top it off, the next day they were even better. Believe me, I do not say that very often. I have a belief that a cookie is best right out of the oven, slightly underdone and gooey. But these, oh these cookies...

So here's the ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (or any other nut butter)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.

Melt the peanut butter in a saucepan (or in my case a frying pan). In a bowl combine the sugars and baking soda, stir in the melted peanut butter until creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Then add vanilla, followed by flour. When ingredients are well combined, stir in the chocolate.

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and slightly flatten. Bake 8-10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

Adapted from Joanne Bruno's Recipe