Cooking for Seven

Chocolate & Pudding. HOW could you go wrong with such a combination?

Alright, I’ll admit it. When I attempted to make these chocolate crepes a month or so ago, they were a complete and utter failure. I must have let the batter sit too long - the crepes were very weak. This was a much-needed cooking lesson.

These crepes have been a family favorite for quite some time. They have been requested for birthdays, and are a wonderful breakfast treat.

As you can see, with Grandma’s help, we succeeded at making crepes: Dad gave us the “thumbs up”!

Grandma advised us to keep our crepe-making secrets. Thus, I shan’t give you any recipes.

**Next Time on Grandma’s Cooking School: Roast Beef!**

These cookies are a lovely blend of one of favorite flavor pairs - Chocolate & Peanut Butter. In fact, my favorite cookie recipe stars those two ingredients.

To be completely honest, I was scared of this recipe. I had my doubts about flourless cookies. So I made a half recipe.

But I had nothing to worry about! These cookies do have a very soft and chewy texture, but the flavor is straightforward and scrumptious. Make them with 60% cacao baking chips, and these cookies are lovely treat.

Note: The original recipe didn’t call for any butter, salt, or vanilla; I added all three.

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from the little red house

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar (homemade or regular)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) Place the peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix.

3) In a small bowl, mix together the oats, salt, and baking soda. Add to the peanut butter mixture and stir well. Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be very soft and sticky.

4) Drop by spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

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This summer, Grandma decided that it was time to give us girls some cooking lessons. We planned to begin this fall, but everything got a bit crazy. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that we were able to take our first course: Banana Cream Pie!

Grandma is such a patient, joyful teacher. She doesn’t have to do everything to make sure we do it right. She encourages us to be involved in every step.

It seems she has magical hands. From years of experience, she knows little secrets to success. Like adding a little water to your pan before you pour in the milk to keep it from scalding.

This pie is so delicious. I won’t lie and say it’s easy, because it isn’t - especially if you decide to make French Custard for the filling and meringue for the topping. But it is worth it.

By the way, I didn’t JUST take photos. I got involved, too! Here’s the proof.

I would give you the recipe, but I didn’t ask Grandma for permission to publish her secret recipes across the Internet. So I’ll leave you with this from her very old Betty Crocker cookbook.

**Next time on Grandma’s Cooking School: Chocolate Crepes!**

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I have been making this recipe for approximately 6 1/2 years. We printed the recipe (simply entitled Peanut Butter Cookies IX) from allrecipes on a thin sheet of paper. The page has been torn and has grease marks and purple scrawls. Penciled in next to the ingredient list are the measurements for doubling and TRIPLING the recipe. Yes, we like these cookies.

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Of course, I have made some (healthy) changes to the original. If you would like to make the cookies as they were intended to be, simply use 3/4 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup white sugar in place of the raw sugar, regular peanut butter, and 3/4 cup white flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat.

Enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup demerara sugar or sucanat or rapadura
• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour (aka soft white wheat)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup regular rolled oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 ° F.

2) In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), cream together the butter, sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir into the butter and sugar mixture. Add the oats and chocolate chips.

4) Form the dough into balls the size of golf balls and place on an ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten the balls slightly.

5) Bake in the preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Remove from oven and let the cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before storing.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies.

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