Have you ever seen the show Hoarders? I haven’t seen too many episodes, because at some point it gets difficult to watch. In most areas of my life, I’m the exact opposite of a hoarder, I’m a chucker. I can’t get rid of things fast enough. Just ask my family. My kids know that if they want anything they’ve created at home or at school to be saved, they must tell me ASAP because I will file it under TRASH as quickly as possible. Now before you judge me for not being sentimental about my mini Monet’s creations, let me say that I do keep all the truly magnificent pieces of art or school work. I’m not completely heartless. I just have a low threshold for crap. And paper turns into piles of crap very quickly. Don’t get me started on the newspaper! My husband barely finishes the newspaper and I’m grabbing it out of his hand and cart-wheeling it to the recycling bin! This stuff breeds if left untouched. I like order. It calms me. That’s not a sign of a disorder is it?
There is one area of my home, however that is in utter and complete chaos. My baking pantry. It is so bad, yesterday I opened the door and two bags of chocolate chips smacked me on the forehead! I have cake mix boxes galore. Flour and sugar bags are vying for space. Brown sugar bags are smooshed in the back. I have 4 lonely cupcake liners crumpled up in a corner. There are at least 5 frosting containers, 4 boxes of vanilla pudding ( I don’t even like pudding), several bags of caramels, Halloween, Christmas, Valentine and Easter M & M’s, plus an assortment of holiday candies that were intended for my kids, but at the last minute I figured they’d be better baking ingredients, a 7 lb bag of confectioners sugar that is leaking sweet, powdery dust over my countertops every time I get it out, which I have to do often to reach my cocoa powder ( 1 of two containers in my pantry) and finally I have a variety of spreads, and bottles of syrups that have crusted caps and are stuck to the shelves. So the thought hit me (literally). I am a baking hoarder. Gasp!! Could it be? I won’t even mention the two dozen boxes of butter in my freezer!!!! AAAHHH!! The one consolation is that if we experience a natural disaster, we could survive for a few days on a version of the Buddy the Elf diet. If truly necessary, we COULD eat butter sticks. Yes, my friends, there is only one way for me to dig out of this disorder: bake, bake and bake some more!!! I decided to make Brownie Cookies. Great way to use up some chocolate. Found a bag of Reese’s peanut butter chips, thought I may as well add those for variety. Then I found a container of marshmallows bits (which I purchased simply because they were cute) hidden behind my flour. I thought, what the heck, lets polk- a- dot the cookies with these! I am supremely happy with the end result. These are not only tasty, but they carved out a little more room in my pantry. Which I will promptly fill with more stuff on my next trip to the store. Once a hoarder, always a hoarder. Besides, you never know what will be on sale. And if heaven forbid, a natural disaster should occur in this part of Ohio, like a hurricane or volcano eruption, I will be ready!!
I baked these in whoopie pie pans I had purchased ages ago. They still had the paper cover on them! You would still get excellent results making cookies on a sheet pan.
Brownie Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips and Marshmallow Bits
1/2 cup butter
4 oz.(1 oz ) unsweetened chocolate baking squares, chopped
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups peanut butter chips
1 cup marshmallow bits (or more if you prefer)
Preheat oven to 350
Combine butter, unsweetened chocolate and chocolate chips in a saucepan. Melt over low heat stirring often until smooth. Remove from heat and cool.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl beat eggs and sugar. Add vanilla. Slowly add flour mixture. Beat well. Add in your cooled chocolate and beat until chocolate is well incorporated. Once it is all combined, stir in the peanut butter chips.
If using a whoopie pie pan, add two scoops (I used two large spoons)of batter into each cavity. Top each cookie with marshmallow bits. Feel free to polka dot as you see fit here. You can also add in the marshmallow bits along with your peanut butter chips if your prefer. I wanted them sprinkled on top to add contrast. Complete personal preference. If you are using a sheet pan, drop dough by 2 tablespoon fulls onto a cookie sheet. Leave room, these will spread. Bake in whoopee pie pan for 11-12 minutes. On a sheet pan, bake for 10 minutes. Let cool in pan or on baking sheet for a minute or two. Then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Adapted From My Recipes
Lemons For Lulu 