holidays - Kate Degelau-Pierce

The best holiday treat

My mom probably rues the day she first made these. They’re known as buckeyes around my house, but I’m pretty sure the rest of the world calls them peanut butter truffles. My mom’s line is: “They are a pain to make. You either have to love them or love someone who does.” I love them. Fully and wholeheartedly. They are like your own peanut butter cup. What could be better?

Peanut Butter Truffles

2 sticks butter, melted
2c peanut butter
6c powdered sugar
24oz chocolate chips

Mix butter, peanut butter, and sugar together. Make 1” balls. Chill for at least 2 hours.
Melt chocolate. Dip peanut butter balls into chocolate until completely covered. Gently shake off excess chocolate and place on wax paper. Let sit until chocolate is hard. (May need to re-warm chocolate.)

Peanut butter makes me happy

These might be my new favorite cookie. I mean, I love a good chocolate chip, but peanut butter + sugar… I can lose control.

Peanut Butter Cookies
(adapted from ATK’s gluten-free cookbook)

8oz gluten-free flour
1t baking soda
0.5t salt
0.25t xanthan gum
7oz light brown sugar
5.25oz sugar
1c creamy peanut butter
8T unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1t vanilla
1/3c peanuts, chopped fine

Whisk flour, soda, salt, xanthan gum in medium bowl. Set aside. Combine sugars and peanut butter into large bowl. Pour butter over sugar and mix. Whisk in eggs and vanilla and stir until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients and mix until homogeneous dough forms. Let rest 30 min.
Heat oven to 350F with rack in the middle. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Working with 2 generous tablespoons of dough, roll into balls and place 2” apart on the sheets. Press dough to 0.75” thickness using bottom of greased measuring cup. Sprinkle w/ peanuts.
Bake cookies until puffed and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look underdone), 12-14 minutes, rotating halfway through cooking. Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes, transfer to wire rack to complete cooling.

Cookie monster

I’m not going to lie… this recipe is really, really heavy on the chocolate. I find it hard to eat more than one of these cookies in a sitting. But, to my mind, that’s a good thing. I don’t need to eat more than one cookie at a time. I really don’t.

Chocolate Cookies
(adapted from ATK’s gluten-free cookbook)

12oz semi-sweet chocolate (I accidentally used bittersweet)
2T unsalted butter
4oz gluten-free flour
0.75oz unsweetened cocoa powder
0.5t baking soda
0.5t salt
0.25t xanthan gum
5.25oz brown sugar
1.75oz granulated sugar
2 large eggs
5T vegetable oil
1t vanilla extract
0.5t instant espresso powder
9oz bittersweet chocolate chips (accidentally used semi-sweet)

Melt chocolate and butter together in a double-boiler. Mix dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum) together in a bowl. Set aside.

Whisk wet ingredients (both sugars, eggs, oil, vanilla, espresso powder) together in large bowl. Add melted & cooled chocolate-butter mixture. Whisk until smooth. Add dry ingredients, mix till smooth. Fold in chocolate chips. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll generous 2T of dough into balls, place 2″ apart on sheets. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time for 12-14 min, rotating halfway through cooking.

Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes before moving to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temp.

A cute distraction

What’s it about?
Let It Snow is three stories/novellas that focus on different characters that are all tangentially related to each other. The through-line of all three stories is that there is a snowstorm. A train gets stuck in a snowdrift. A teenaged girl, a teenaged boy, and a group of cheerleaders all leave the train to go to the nearby Waffle House. The first story is about the teenaged girl (written by Maureen Johnson), the second story is about friends of the Waffle House employees (written by John Green), and the last story is about the teenaged boy (written by Lauren Myracle).

Why Should You Read It?
Because you need brain candy. I tossed this one off quickly while I had a cold and only a little brainpower. My tween-aged daughter enjoyed it, but I don’t think will be re-reading it like she does her favorite books. Still: an adorable distraction.