Last week, Kenny and I had a mini-getaway to Hershey, PA. A lot of people were confused about our choice of location since we went without our kids, but if you know me, it’s not confusing at all.
For one thing, it’s close to home so if there’s a kid emergency, we can get back fast. The resort is super fabulous. I mean, there’s a chocolate spa. And best of all, there is chocolate everywhere.
How many days can you go without a brownie? Because I can last two days. Then it all falls apart.
There are two desserts in this world that I can never say no to. The first is a chocolate chip cookie. I know very few people who can ever resist one. I even love the Costco ones. They’re processed. They’re huge. They’re delicious.
And then, taunting me always, is a perfectly fudgy brownie. You’d think that there aren’t a lot of good ones out there, but man, is that wrong. There are incredible brownies everywhere. It’s kind of encouraging, really. What kind of world would we live in if good brownies weren’t available on every street corner along with Coke Slurpees and Starbucks?
I’ll be honest. I said I was going to post recipes containing cocoa all week, and I really meant to.
But then I realized that New Year’s Eve is tonight, and what better to ring in the year than my favorite combination in all the world? I mean, really. It had to be peanut butter and chocolate.
So cocoa will be back Friday. For now, I’m all about this dip. This fantastic dessert dip is perfect for a New Year’s party and a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. It’s also easy and it can be made without gluten. So don’t stop yourself this time!
Everyone else is happily beckoning in autumn, but not me. No way! Because it’s still 90 degrees out and I’m hanging out at all the frozen yogurt shops.
My obsession with fro yo is all in the toppings. You go fill your cup with lots of frozen goodness, but then you can dump whatever you want on top. I do that totally logical thing where I get a bucket full of fat-free yogurt and then proceed to pile on the chocolate. Lots of chocolate. And sometimes brownies or cheesecake, too. It’s like a make your own sundae party, any day of the week!
Do you ever feel like you’ve been hit with a Nyquil stick?
As in, your limbs just get heavier. You’re exhausted. You think about people who sleep later in the morning and you feel nothing but intense envy.
It’s the beginning of the school year. I’ll adjust. In the meantime, when I finally drop into bed, I’m sleeping very well. And I’m also rediscovering the joy of candy to keep me going during those conscious hours!
When I was in college, this really eccentric husband-wife team oversaw my dining hall. They looked like a sweet older couple, but he always made really dirty jokes and she would shoot you the evil eye forever if you so much as left a scrap of food on your plate. But they fed me, so I was grateful.
Every now and then, they’d serve the best slice and bake cookies in the universe. No, I’m not exaggerating, so leave me alone. They were really the best. And I’ve hunted them down for years without any luck. It’s so sad!
They were rich chocolate cookies, huge ones, with an amazing peanut butter center that reminded me of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Can you wonder at all why these were my idea of perfection? Years later, I learned that this kind of cookie is called a Magic Middle. And while they are magical, they can take a while to make with both the cookie dough and the peanut butter center dough. So I made up a shortcut, a cheat, a whatever. And they taste even better than the labor-intensive ones!
Everybody has a different idea of fun, which explains skydiving. I’ve never felt the urge. Yeah, I get that the adrenaline pumps because you think you’re about to bite it and then you don’t and woohoo and all that, but I can get my thrills a lot cheaper.
Oh yeah, you challenge? You betcha. If I can find just ten minutes of uninterrupted reading time in my zoo of a household, that’s all the fun I can handle.
Wait. Now I sound boring. So to change your mind about me real quick, here are these bars! They are the essence of fun.
Have you ever had Magic Middle cookies? If not, you are missing out. I’ll be baking some in the next few weeks to share with you. Basically, it’s a chocolate cookie with a peanut butter center. It’s the best thing ever!
Well, along with these brownies. I’m a big fan of putting peanut butter cups in everything, and these are no exception. Except instead of using just mini-cups, I’ve used two sizes. Why not? Sometimes a girl just needs to go that one step too far!
You know how much I love peanut butter by now, right? Because I really, really, reallyreally need that fix every day. Preferably in some kind of peanut butter cup, but I’ll take the stuff straight up as well. Stirred, not shaken. With a spoon!
Years ago, I was part of a tour group in a foreign country. We stopped in a grocery store, and there on the shelf was a jar of Peter Pan, imported and outrageously marked up in price. I bought it immediately and without any hesitation, despite the fact that everyone in my group was mocking me for spending so much on a jar of peanut butter.
Well, folks, the laugh was on them. I sat on the tour bus, opened the jar, inhaled the sweet aroma and looked up, only to realize that the entire bus was eyeing my Peter Pan with what can only be described as mad lust. And for the rest of the trip, people kept asking if they could have a taste. They missed it so much, you see, and I was the smart one. I was also nice and shared, but not after a whole lotta “I told you so” lectures.
I’m on a peanut butter kick, people. Just roll with it. It’s Sunday!
One peanut butter cup is never enough. Have you noticed that? You eat one and then this force overtakes you and controls your mind, telling you that nothing will satisfy you until you eat another peanut butter cup. Or several.
Can you relate? Can you tell I’m an addict?
That’s why I decided that for these cupcakes, there need to be two peanut butter cups involved. One for you, and the other for…you. The peanut butter cake and peanut butter chocolate and buttercream are nice, too. You may feel like you’ve had almost enough by the time you’re through with these. But no guarantees out there in life, people.
