Easy Peasy Three-Flavor Pinwheel Cookies #BakingwithBetty

Sometimes I love a recipe that's complicated. It might be several hours of work, many ingredients, and maybe even a bunch of gadgets, tools, bowls and appliances. The feeling of accomplishment when it's done is satisfying.

On the other hand, I also adore recipes that are easy and fun. I like the idea that I can make something quickly and it looks like I spent a lot of time on it.

This recipe is definitely easy and fun and creative. Made simple by the use of packaged cookie mix from Betty Crocker®, the result is still pretty darned impressive, with three colors in the swirl. And did I mention that it's pretty tasty, too? Yup. Tasty.

These cookies help you spread the cheer with the simple surprise of a three-color swirl that's unexpected. To add even more holiday flair, you could roll the edges of the cookies in red and/or green sugar, but I'm sure you'll agree that they're pretty great without any flourishes.

For this sponsored post, I shopped at Walmart:

I didn't realize there were sooooo many cookie mixes. I brought home the Peanut Butter Cookie Mix:

And the Sugar Cookie mix, which had directions for both drop cookies and cut-out cookies:

And then the fun started happening. Because it's always fun in my kitchen.

Three-Flavor Pinwheel Cookies

1 package Betty Crocker® Peanut Butter Cookie Mix, prepared according to package directions (requires oil, water, and egg)
1 package Betty Crocker® Sugar Cookie Mix, prepared using "cutout cookie" directions (requires butter, flour, and egg)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line several baking sheets with parchment paper if you will be baking immediately.

After the two cookie mixes are prepared, remove about 1/3 of each dough and place that in a separate bowl along with the 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Mix well.

Pat each dough to form a square and stack them on top of each other. Use a rolling pin to roll the combined layered dough to form a rectangle about 13x16 inches. It doesn't need to be precise - you can eyeball it.

Starting at one of the long sides, roll up the dough jellyroll style, making a nice, tight roll. The roll should be about 2 inches in diameter, and evenly thick from end to end. If the roll is uneven or too thick, you can simply roll it on your work surface to even it out and squish and press it as needed. Part of the fun of these cookies is that they're not all the same, so you needn't take the rolling too seriously. Have fun with it.

You can refrigerate some or all of the dough to bake later, if desired. Just wrap it in plastic wrap until you're ready to make cookies.

Otherwise, cut the roll into pieces about 1/2 inch thick and place them on the prepared sheets, leaving space between them. They don't spread a lot, but they do spread a little.

Bake the cookies at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to brown, and the bottoms are slightly browned.

If you choose to refrigerate before baking, the cookies will take about two minutes longer to bake.

Let the cookies cool on a rack before storing.

Don't they look fun? And everyone who ate them loved them. So ... what sort of creative things are you doing for the holidays? Hmmmm? Cookies, perhaps?

Want to make these cookies and save a little money? You can get a coupon here.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Betty Crocker. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Desperation Ice Cream (No-Cook Peanut Butter)

Around here, dessert is almost a necessity. My husband still needs to pack on a few pounds, and dessert is a few more easy calories after a meal. In summer, that dessert is often ice cream. Cake is nice, but I don't have to turn the oven on to make ice cream.

We killed off the last bit of the last batch of frozen goodness, and I figured I'd better make something new. But when I reached for my usual ingredients, I was a little shy on the heavy cream. And I didn't want to go alllllll the way to the store just for that.

So, I decided to use some evaporated milk. Because it has 60 percent of the water removed, the evaporated milk has more body and flavor than regular milk, and it's got a bit of a caramely-cooked flavor compared to fresh milk. But not as much fat as heavy cream.

Apparently, evaporated milk got its start back in the day when refrigeration was rare. Shipping and storing milk was problematic. So, evaporated milk in a can made sense. Since it was condensed, it took less space for shipping, and since it was canned, it was shelf-stable. The consumer who purchased it could add water to recreate something similar to fresh milk.

These days, I use it for cooking, and also for some cream soups, where I want a rich creamy flavor, but I might not want all the fat in cream. I use it quite often for cream of tomato soup, since it doesn't seem as apt to curdle as regular milk or cream.

So anyway, that's why I had evaporated milk. I pretty much always have a can or two around. And I had sweetened condensed, because I bought it specifically for ice cream.

No-Cook Peanut Butter Ice Cream

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract.
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.

You can do this with a whisk, but I suggest a stick blender to get that peanut butter un-lumped. Or pour it all in a blender, and let the blender do the work.

Refrigerate the mixture until well-chilled, then churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Transfer to a storage container and freeze until firm.

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Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pudding Poke Cake

First up, I'm calling this a peanut butter poke cake, but I didn't actually use peanut butter. However, "chocolate and substitute peanut butter poke cake" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. And this tastes like peanut butter, so it's what people would think when you serve it.

But first, about the cake.

I had the urge to make this cake for quite some time. It started with a photo of a chocolate poke cake. But then I thought, gee, peanut butter would be fun. I love chocolate with peanut butter. But trying to shove plain peanut butter into the holes of a poke cake probably wouldn't be successful.

So then I decided that I needed to make a peanut butter pudding. That's something I've never made before, but it certainly seemed worth a try.

But! For the peanut butter, I used WowButter, which is a non-peanut, safe-for-schools product. There are more and more nut-free butters out there, which is a great thing for kids with allergies. This one is made from toasted soy nuts.

I used to buy toasted soy nuts as a snack, and the WowButter has a similar flavor when you taste it on its own. It has a nutty flavor without tasting like a specific nut. But the toasted flavor is a little more prominent than what I've noticed in standard peanut butters. It's a really nice toastiness.

But when the WowButter was used to make peanut butter pudding and then added to cake, I think most folks would just assume it's a nut butter. And that's a good thing.

For this particular cake, I used a box mix, but you could certainly use any chocolate cake recipe you like, as long as it's enough to fill a 9x13 pan.

Or you could make a smaller cake and use less pudding, like this wacky cake. Another smaller cake is Midnight chocolate cake, which is a little denser, and also very good.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Poke Cake

1 9x13 chocolate cake, freshly baked

For the peanut butter pudding:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup WowButter

For the whipped ganache frosting:
8 ounces (by weight) dark chocolate chips or bar chocolate, chopped
8 ounces heavy cream

The cake and pudding should be warm when they meet each other, so make the cake first, and start making the pudding while the cake is baking. You can take your time making the pudding, and if the cake isn't done when you're finished with the pudding, you can gently re-warm it.

To make the pudding:
Put the sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and whisk to combine and break up any lumps. dd the cold milk and stir to combine, making sure there are no clumps of cornstarch.

Heat the mixture on medium heat until it thickens to coat the back of a spoon. Add the WowButter and stir to combine. This mixture needs to be thick enough to turn into pudding when it has cooled, but it also need to be thin enough to pour and seep into the holes you'll form in the cake. If it's too thick, you can add a little more milk to thin it to a pouring consistency.

To add the pudding to the cake:
Use the handle of a wooden spoon (or any implement of a similar size) to poke holes in the still-warm cake. I didn't count the number of holes, but you do want to make sure you have multiple holes per slice of cake.

Pour or spoon the pudding onto the cake, focusing on getting it into the holes in the cake. Make sure the pudding is going down into the holes and not just forming a pudding bubble above an empty hole. You can use a skewer to make sure the pudding is settling into the hole.

If you have a significant amount of pudding left, you can poke more holes into the cake and add more pudding.

Let the cake cool, then refrigerate it until it is chilled.

To make the whipped ganache frosting:
This is simple to make in a stand mixer, but you can also make it in a bowl with a hand mixer. Make the ganache after the cake is cool, and just before you want to frost.

My favorite 9x13 pan from Silverstone.

Put the chocolate into the bowl of your stand mixer fitting with the whipping attachment.

Heat the cream until it is simmering. Add it to the chocolate. With the mixer on low speed, "stir" the mixture until the chocolate is fully melted. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to make sure there are no lumps of chocolate stuck to the bottom or sides of the bowl.

Turn the mixer speed up a notch or two and continue mixing. This will help the chocolate cool a little faster. If you're using a bowl and hand mixer, it's probably easier to just let it cool rather than stand there mixing.

When the chocolate is cool, it will begin to thicken. Turn the mixing speed up and continue beating until the frosting is as light and fluffy as you like.

To finish the cake:
Remove the cake from the refrigerator. If there are pools of pudding on top, scrape or spoon the pudding off - it will make the frosting harder to spread if there's a thick layer on top.

Frost the cake. You can serve the cake immediately, or refrigerate to serve later. The ganache will get firmer when it is chilled. Keep any leftover cake refrigerated.

I received the WowButter at no cost to me as a sample; I wasn't required to use it in a recipe.

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Oatmeal Peanut Butter Dried Plum Bars #TheFeelGoodFruit #CG

Healthy snacking is a great idea, but I have to admit that I'm not virtuous enough to snack on foods that taste like hay and and twigs. If it doesn't taste good, I'm going to go looking for something else. It really helps if I make something at least vaguely healthy, and have it on hand.

So when Clever Girls and Sunsweet offered an opportunity to have some fun with dried plums - the fruit formerly known as prunes - I jumped right on it. I like prunes a lot, but I usually eat them as-is, just snacking straight from the bag. They're a nice combination of sweet and tart, with a little chew to remind you that you're eating real food.

My challenge was to create a healthy snack using the dried plums. Hmmm. After snacking though half of the bag of whole prunes they sent, I decided that the diced plums would make a good addition to baked goods, so I created this recipe for bars with oatmeal, white wheat flour (which is a whole grain product) and nuts. And of course the diced prunes.

Are you ready for your close-up?

Dried plums and peanuts playing the starring roles as far as the flavor, with the plums adding sweet/tart to complement the savory nuts.

Fiber is one of the good-for-you components, courtesy of the grains and the dried plum. Peanuts provide protein. And plums provide potassium.

Texture is a big component when it comes to food, and the oats and nuts add their texture to these bars - but not so much that it's a chore to chew.

Some of the oats are ground to a powder, so the bars have a slightly cakey, softer texture rather than being dense and chewy like a granola bar.

And then they're studded with the soft, sweet, squishy dried plums.

They're tasty, they're filling, and they're really easy to make. They're great for snacking any time, or for a quick running-out-the-door breakfast bar.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Dried Plum Bars

2 cups rolled oats, divided
1 cup white wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup Sunsweet diced dried prunes
1/2 cup peanuts

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8-inch square pan with baking spray.

Take 1 cup of the oatmeal and grind it in blender, food processor, or spice grinder until you have a fine flour-like powder. You can also buy oat flour, but if you'r not planning on using it for other purposes, you might as well just grind your own.

Combine the oat powder, rolled oats, white wheat flour (you can sub all purpose flour, if you prefer), baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Combine the peanut butter and brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl where you will beat with an electric mixer.

Beat the sugar and peanut butter until well blended. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until combined.

Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with two additions of the buttermilk - starting and ending with the dry ingredients. In theory, you could add all the buttermilk at once, then add the dry stuff - but, trust me - doing it in several additions is easier to get it mixed, AND it's less messy.

Stir in the diced dried prunes and the peanuts. You just want them well distributed in the mix. If you want to add more, go for it. I won't tell.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread it evenly in the pan. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean - about 35 minutes. The edges will be slightly brown and will be pulling just slightly away from the pan.

Let the bars cool completely before slicing into 9, 12, or 16 pieces depending on how snacky you feel!

The three products that Sunsweet provided were whole prunes, diced dried plums, and plum juice.
They said: PlumSmart® Light: This juice is made from a special variety of fresh, juicy plums and has only 60 calories and 15g of carbs, and helps you stay fit on the inside by providing a good source of fiber. PlumSmart Light is a great addition to a smoothie.

I said: Okay, I haven't tried this yet, but I'm giddy excited that it exists. I love plums, but their season is so short. Plum juice sounds danged good, and if we're being honest, it's going to end up in a cocktail. Just wait.

Yeah, I ripped that prune bag right open. Yup. *munch*

They said: Amaz!n™ Prunes: These little gems are a good source of fiber for only 100 calories per serving. Amaz!n Prunes are nature's perfect way to feel good with nutrition and delicious taste. Prunes also have a low glycemic index, which means they keep you feeling fuller longer. They add a powerful boost of nutrition and fiber to snack time or your favorite recipe.

I said: I love dried fruits for snacking all on their own, and with a prune you get a quick fix of all the goodness of a plum in one bite. These don't last long around here.

They said: Amaz!n™ Diced Prunes: Grab a handful of these delicious diced prunes for nutritious snacking. Toss them in cereal, oatmeal, salad or your favorite recipes for added flavor and fiber. One serving of Amaz!n Diced Prunes is a good source of fiber for only 100 calories. Add to your favorite snacking recipe for extra fiber and a fruit flavor boost.

I said: Let's be serious for a second. Dicing dried fruit is not fun. It's sticky. It sticks to your knife. It sticks to your cutting board. You're not enough of a ninja to get pretty, even cuts. If you want diced dried plums that don't look like you cut them with a dull lawnmower, just buy the diced version. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration.

Want to know more about Sunsweet? You'll find @SunsweetGrowers on Twitter and Sunsweet on Facebook.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Peanut Butter Madeleines

I have madeleine pans, but I seldom use them. Most of the recipes I've seen are for basic vanilla madeleines, or maybe there's some citrus zest.

That's fine once in a while, but when there are so many other recipe for cookies, cakes, and cupcakes with great flavors ... well, madeleines don't need to be made all that often around here.

When I received the book Madeleines by Barbara Feldman Morse, I was curious how many variations I'd find.

Wow. First I wanted to make the dark chocolate espresso madeleines, then I boggled at the savory ones. Now that's what I talking about.

Then I saw a recipe for peanut butter madeleines dipped in chocolate. And that's where I stopped.

Chocolate-Dipped Peanut Butter Madeleines
Adapted from Madeleines by Barbara Feldman Morse

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup all purpose flour
For the topping:
2 cups dark or semisweet chocolate chips or 8 ounces chopped semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups peanuts, chopped medium or fine

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 12-shell pans with baking spray.

Put the butter and sugar in a microwavable bowl and heat on low for 2 minutes. Stir with a whixk until smooth. If the butter didn't melt continue heating 30 seconds at a time until it melts, stirring in between heating.

Note: mine never really got smooth, even though I beat the heck out of it with an electric mixer as suggested in the front-of-the-book instructions. It was supposed to fall off the beaters in ribbons. That never happened. I'm not sure if I heated it too much or too little but in the end, these were really good, so I guess it doesn't matter all that much.

Let the mixture cool for 3-4 minutes before adding the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition.

Whisk in the peanut butter until well blended.

Add the vanilla, salt, and flour. and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.

Fill each shell with batter until it's almost full, pressing the batter gently to distribute it evenly in the shells.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the madeleines puff up and there are no shiny spots. The edges should be slightly browned, and there might be some cracks on the top. Do not overbake,

Remove the pans from the oven and let them cool on racks for a minute or two, then flip the madeleines out of the pans on the racks. If the stick a little, just give then a little push on the edges and they'll release. let them cool completely.

Melt the chocolate 30 seconds at a time in the microwave, stirring after each heating, until the chocolate is completely melted.

Now, you can dip the madeleines into the chocolate, or drizzle it over the top. I went with the Jackson Pollack effect.

Sprinkle the chopped nuts onto the chocolate. I decided to skip the chopped nuts, but they would be good with the dipped chocolate version.

Allow the chocolate to set before serving or storing. If you're in a hurry to get the chocolate to set, you can refrigerate the cookies for a short time.

This book was supplied to me by the publisher at no cost to me.

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Peanut Butter Ice Cream #ICTScoopAdventures

I love making ice cream. In the summer, there are always a few flavors available, and I like to mix things up a bit. But when I made this ice cream from the book Scoop Adventures for the first time, I immediately made another batch.

And then another. And more.

It's that good.

Oh, and I have a copy of this book to GIVE AWAY. Check the end of this post for details!

The recipe calls for unsalted natural peanut butter, but I used plain old Skippy, because it's what I have around here. I'd suggest using whatever peanut butter you like - and it would probably be great with other butters, too, like cashew butter or pecan butter. Or even sunflower or pumpkin seed butter for folks who can't have nuts.

I alos didn't use the jelly this recipe calls for. I was the weird kid who liked plain peanut butter on white bread or jelly on toast - but not the combo. I don't actually hate it, but I don't love it, either. So, I skipped the jelly in this recipe.

I did, however, experiment with using a bit of chocolate sauce as a topping. It was pretty darned good.

But if you're a PB&J fan, go ahead and add the jelly as the recipe suggests.

And - here's a little tip. I found that mixing the peanut butter and the ice cream base went a lot faster when I used my stick blender to do the mixing. The mixture was perfectly smooth, as was the ice cream.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream
Recipe from Scoop Adventures by Lindsay Clendaniel (Page Street Publishing; March 2014) Printed with permission.
Makes 1 generous quart

1 1/2 cups whole milk, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Skippy)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups  heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup grape or strawberry jam (I skipped this)

Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons (30ml) of the milk with the cornstarch, whisk and set aside. Whisk the peanut butter and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

Combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream and sugar in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring the milk mixture to a low boil. Cook until the sugar dissolves, 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture.

Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.

Pour into the bowl with the peanut butter and whisk until smooth. Set the bowl in the ice water bath to cool, 20 minutes, whisking occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Once chilled, pour the ice cream base into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Spoon a small layer of jam into a freezer-safe container and lightly spoon a layer of ice cream on top.

Continue to alternate layers of jam and ice cream until the container is full, gently swirling with a spoon (careful not to muddy the ice cream).

Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.

This post is part of Ice Cream Tuesday, created by Jenni from Pastry Chef Online. This week, bloggers are all making ice cream from the same author (from her book or blog), so make sure you check out all the participating blogs - and enter to win your own copy of Scoop Adventures, below.

Check out more amazing ice creams on Pinterest.

Visit the other bloggers!!!

• Berry Goat Cheese Sherbet from Kimberly at Hungry Goddess
• Red Velvet Ice Cream Sundae from Kim at Cravings of a Lunatic
• Chocolate Sesame Brittle Ice Cream from Jenni at Pastry Chef Online
• S'Mores Ice Cream Sandwiches with Toasted Marshmallow Malt Ice Cream from Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic
• Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream from Dionne at Try Anything Once
• Hops and Nuts Ice Cream from Sophia at NY Foodgasm
• Blueberry Mojito Ice Cream from Barb at Creative Culinary
• Chocolate Coconut Ice Cream from Betsy at Desserts Required
• Peanut Butter Ice Cream from Donna at Cookistry
• Thai Coconut Ice Cream from Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Dark Chocolate Orange Ice Cream from Allison at Decadent Philistines Save the World

Giveaway is now OVER.

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Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies don't need a whole lot of explanation. A big glass of milk, maybe. Or a mug of coffee, if you like dunking.

Words, though, they don't need. I mean, you've got the dark chocolate chips studded in the cookies. And the flavor of peanut butter. And the texture and chew from the oats.

For these, I used Thick-Cut Rolled Oats from Hodgson Mill. They emailed me a while back, and said, hey, ya want some healthy stuff? And I said, sure, I'll try some.

I go through a lot of rolled oats around here, which is sort of weird considering I never use it for breakfast oatmeal. But I use it a lot in bread, cookies, muffins, and other baked goods.

So I embarked upon making these cookies, combining some of my favorite things in a single cookie.

Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen cookies

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup Thick-Cut Rolled Oats
1 10-ounce package dark chocolate chips

Cream the butter, peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl with your electric mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well-blended. Scrape down the bowl a needed. Add the flour and oats and mix well.

Mix in the chocolate chips.

Cover the bowl or put the dough in a plastic bag and refrigerate for at least a few hours or up to several days.

When you're ready to bake, heat the oven to 350 degrees and use a small scoop to portion the dough into tablespoon sized portions, leaving some space between them.

These don't spread a lot on their own, so if you want flatter cookies, press the dough down as much as you like.

Bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned along the edges, about 14 minutes.

Remove the cookies from the pan and let them cool completely on a rack.

Disclaimer: I received the oats (along with other products) from Hodgson Mill, but was not required to write this post.

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