Cookie Butter Cookies

I’m currently on a self-imposed ‘cookie-free diet’.  So it’s a little weird that I’m choosing this time to be posting a new cookie recipe for you guys.

But you know what? A girl’s gotta do some things just because she’s nice like that.  I leave you guys hanging for days and days with nothing delicious to drool over so sometimes I just have to make it up to you.

Truth be known, I made these cookies over a month ago and they disappeared so fast my scale never knew what hit it.  I guess I finally found my favourite way to use Trader Joe’s infamous Cookie Butter. 

These were the perfect spicy little alternative to a regular peanut butter cookie.  My intention was actually to use almond butter but when I opened my cupboard and found the Cookie Butter staring at me, I knew what to do.

It’s slightly odd to use a butter made of cookies to make cookies, but hey man…whatever works! :)

Cookie Butter Cookies

adapted from How Sweet it Is Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

yields a baker’s dozen

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup Cookie Butter/Speculoos
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream butter, Cookie Butter and both sugars together until fluffy.
3. Add egg and vanilla, mixing until combined.
4. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined.
5. Add chocolate chips.  Mix to combine.
6. Drop tablespoon-sized dough balls on a baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookie bottoms begin to brown.  Let cool on rack.

The perfect combination of crispy outside and chewy inside. 

Get a glass of milk or a cup of hot tea and get to work!  Enjoy.

Cookie Butter Cups

I may have just invented the easiest, most dangerous chocolate treat EVER.

Recently, a friend brought me this jar of gold Cookie Butter from Trader Joe’s.  This stuff is highly sought after and I may have actually squealed when he pulled it out of the bag and handed it to me. 

I can haz the speculooooos!

Problem was, I didn’t much care for it.  Or rather, I’ve become so accustomed to unsweetened nut butters on my toast and celery sticks that every time I tried using the cookie butter it just didn’t float my boat.  It’s pretty sweet.

So obviously I had to find a better use for it.  I’m still considering Cookie Butter Cookies but until then how about some Cookie Butter Cups?!  They are like peanut butter cups…only about a hundred times more awesome.

The best part?  This is a 3 ingredient recipe. 

Cookie Butter Cups – aka Speculoos Cups

yields 12 mini cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dark melting chocolate or chocolate chips
• 2 tsp coconut or canola oil
• 12 rounded teaspoons Cookie Butter
• optional: 1 tbsp mini dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Line a mini muffin tin with foil liners.
2. Using either a double boiler or a microwave, melt the dark chocolate and coconut oil together, stirring frequently until smooth.
3. Drizzle one scant tablespoon of the melted chocolate into each of the muffin liners.  Carefully smooth the chocolate and spread it a bit up the side of the liners.
4. If using the mini chocolate chips stir them into the cookie butter.
5. Spoon one rounded teaspoon of cookie butter mixture into the center of each chocolate lined cup (I used two small spoons to do this).
6. Drizzle more chocolate over each cup, being careful to cover all of the cookie butter.  Carefully jiggle the pan to get tops as even as possible.
7. Place muffin tin in freezer for minimum 20 minutes or until ready to eat, share, gift, or photograph. :)

Oh.my.YUM.  The dark chocolate is exactly what the sweetened, gingerbready spread needed.  There’s a reason peanut butter cups are so popular.  Chocolate and butter just go together!  Er, well, nut butter!

I am now incredibly glad I did not purchase another jar of this stuff during my own recent trip down to Trader Joe’s.  My limited supply will stop me from eating all of this batch and making more any time I have 10 minutes to spare.

I knew I couldn’t NOT like something called COOKIE BUTTER.  I knew it!

Headache Inspired

** Awesome friend alert!  My favourite frequent border crosser, Ibby, brought me back a surprise from Trader Joe’s.  Cooooookie Butter! It’s as delicious as everyone says.

I provided him with a pan of Maple Bacon Sticky Buns as thanks.

Which reminds me…I posted those AMAZING bacon buns yesterday and I only got ONE comment.  Shocked!  I thought you guys would be drooling all over those.

** This morning I made the sad mistake of ordering a Starbucks muffin.  It was mediocre at best and barely the size of my palm.  Then when I looked it up it turned out to be a 400 calorie muffin.  400!!  How is that even a reasonable item to sell?  #@$%^&*!!!

** Tomorrow is #FoodiePenPals reveal day.  Check back here to see my fun foodie goodie bag.

** There was big plans on my workout schedule to finally try BodyPump tonight but I was thwarted by a weird, out of nowhere headache.  First I had a wave of light headedness, then kind of a wibbly eye thing that wouldn’t go away…so I relegated myself to the couch for a few hours and now seem to be fine.

** Gorgeous big pink grapefruits were on sale this week.  I bought a bag and spent three days trying to think of something creative to do with them.  Today I had a brilliant brainstorm.  Eat them!  :)

** I have missed a couple of weeks of #CanadianBloggerSeries shout outs.  Oooops!  Take a click on over to Heidi’s blog to check out posts by:

• Karen from Toronto Girl West (British Columbia)
• Cynthia from Cynthia’s Adventures (New Brunswick & Toronto)
• Leigh from All You Need is Love (Alberta)

It’s so fun reading everyone’s different views of their place in Canada!

** Oh, I suppose I should mention The Hunger Games.  I was lucky enough to get a pair of passes to the advanced premiere of the movie so the other Jamie and I checked it out.  It’s definitely worth the hype.  Very well done.  I think I was at a bit of a disadvantage having just finished the book three days prior so I was picking apart the details and timeline a bit, but overall they did a good job converting the book to the screen.

I’m wondering if anyone who has not read the book has seen the movie yet?  And if you have, were you able to follow the story just fine?  I felt like you needed to know a fair bit from the book for the movie to make complete sense.  Or was that just because the book was so fresh in my mind?

I’m now [not so] patiently waiting on my friend’s boyfriend to finish reading book two so I can have it. 

** I finally gave in a got Draw Something Free for my iPhone tonight.  I’ve played like 15 hands and I’m terrible.  But I’ve had to draw fire twice so I guess that’s my current forte.  You can find me on there as bi0nicw0man if you want to test my mad finger drawing skillz.  I’d like to earn some new colours!

I just spent like 18 minutes trying to figure out how people screen capture things on their iPhones to post to their blogs and such and couldn’t do it. 

Help me!