Now, it’s no secret that I adore chocolate peanut butter desserts. I’ve blogged more than a few. And I feel like every time I share another one, I rave about how amazing it is. But seriously – these cookies are to die for. If you only ever make one recipe from this blog, please make it this one!

The pudding makes these incredibly fluffy and soft – and there are plenty of chocolate chips, chocolate covered peanuts and Reese’s Pieces in each bite.

These are quite possibly the best cookies ever.

Peanut Butter Pudding Cookies
(from Inside BruCrew Life)
Makes about 3 dozen

3/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. Reese’s pieces
1 c. chocolate covered peanuts

In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and pudding mix and set aside. In a large mixing bowl cream butter, peanut butter, and sugars until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and honey and beat again. Slowly add the dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips, Reese’s Pieces, and chocolate covered peanuts by hand.

Drop by tablespoon onto a baking sheet, leaving 2 inches in between each cookie. Bake at 350F degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on pan for 3-4 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. Store in a tightly covered container.

In high school and college, I was involved with various community service groups. After I graduated, I moved my focus from big, group activities to things I could do on my own to make the world a better place. One of my current favorite organizations to support is Operation Baking GALS. Each month, volunteer bakers sign up to bake and ship homemade goodies to soldiers deployed in a war zone. Every month, it’s the opportunity to try out some new recipes and ship them to some very deserving people.

Bar cookies are one of my favorite things to make for Operation Baking GALS boxes because they ship so well. These had the added bonus of being ridiculously easy to make. I always send multiple treats in my boxes, so it’s nice to have some quick ones in the mix!

Monster Magic Cookie Bars
(from Something Swanky)

9 full graham crackers
4 T. butter, melted
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3/4 c. old fashioned oats
3/4 c. mini M&Ms
3/4 c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan and line with parchment.

Crush graham crackers into crumbs using a food processor or rolling pin. Mix in melted butter until well-combined. Press crumbs into lined baking dish.

Evenly pour the sweetened condensed milk over the graham cracker layer. Sprinkle the oats, M&Ms and chocolate chips evenly over the sweetened condensed milk. Gently press in a little.

Bake for 30 minutes or until browned and pulling away from the edges of the pan. Let cool completely before cutting.

For the latest recipe swap round, I was introduced to Fried Ice and Donut Holes. Melissa has tons of great recipes and I had all the good intentions of cooking up one of her many vegetarian dishes for dinner… until I ran across this cookie recipe.

Now, it’s no secret that I’m a sucker for all things chocolate and peanut butter, but before this I’d never actually bought the Reese’s peanut butter chips. I had no idea what I was missing! They’re tasty little suckers, and these cookies are the perfect vessel for them. These flattened out a bit more than I was expecting, but the taste and the texture was still excellent.

So that veggie dish? Maybe next time.

Chewy Reese’s Cookies
(from Fried Ice and Donut Holes)
Makes about 4 dozen

2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 c. (2 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 t. Vanilla
1 2/3 c. Peanut Butter Chips (1 – 10 oz. bag)

Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in the peanut butter chips. Refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Drop by the rounded teaspoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-9 minutes (Do not over-bake; cookies will be soft and will buff out while baking, but flatten when cooling). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

I love looking at dessert recipes. I seem to be especially drawn to ones with 10 lbs. of sugar and several sticks of butter involved. When I ran across this recipe I was pleasantly surprised to see that is called for whole wheat pastry flour and oats – and no butter or oil.

They were perfect. And gone within 24 hours of coming out of the oven.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Snack Cake
(from How Sweet It Is)
Makes 9 squares 

1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 c. old fashioned oats
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1 T. vanilla extract
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add peanut butter and sugar and mix on high speed until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Add in flour, oats, salt and baking soda, mixing on medium speed. The dough will look crumbly and you want the peanut butter mix to be broken up into clumps. Add milk with the mixer on low speed, and mix until a dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips.

Make sure dough is completely combined, and roll it into a ball with your hands. Place it in the middle of an 8×8 baking dish, pressing it to fit. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until set and golden on top. Let cool completely, then cut into 9 squares.

These cookies were a new addition to our Christmas cookie baskets. I liked how easy the recipe was and how festive they looked with red and green M&Ms. Switching out the M&M colors would make them perfect for any occasion.

And chocolate cookies with chocolate candy in it – how can you not love them?

Chocolate M&M Cookies
(from Beantown Baker)
Makes 3 1/2 dozen

2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 c. unsalted butter
2/3 c. granulated sugar
2/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 c. M&M candies + additional for decorating

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture in two or three additions. Mixture will be quite thick. Stir in 1 c. M&Ms.

Drop by large rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Press additional M&Ms onto cookies.

Bake for 9 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to wire cooking rack.

If I had to describe our holidays in one word, it would be hectic. There was a lot of running, and a lot of last-minute scrambling. These were part of that.

The night before the office holiday potluck lunch, I realized I’d never signed up to bring something. I needed something quick, easy and festive – and these fit the bill perfectly. They were a big hit at the potluck, too – only two were left at the end!

Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites
(from Created by Diane)
Makes 36

Roll two teaspoons of cookie dough into a ball for each cookie. Place balls of dough into paper liners mini muffin pan. Make a well/indentation into each ball of dough with the back of a measurement teaspoon (dip it in flour to keep it from sticking).

Beat room temperature cream cheese with powdered sugar. Stir in vanilla. Place filling into a piping bag, cut off edge of bag. Place one teaspoon or so of filling into each area of cookie dough. Don’t over fill the cookies with filling as they will rise when baked.

Bake at 350F degrees for 9 minutes or until cookie tested with tooth pick comes out almost clean. Let cool before removing from cupcake pan.

Earlier this week, several hundred food bloggers posted their recipes for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. These lovely little cookies are the ones I made and shipped out as part of the swap. The recipe, though, is coming a little late. I’ve been a little distracted.

My father-in-law passed away at the beginning of the month after a three-week battle with brain cancer. It was a shock to the whole family and we’ve been spending a lot of our time together. The cookies I received from the swap came in the days leading up the funeral and have been such a nice comfort. It’s hard not to smile when you’re eating cookies.

These, in particular, are really fun. There’s a peppermint patty hidden inside each chocolate cookie. My taste-testers really enjoyed them – I hope the bloggers that got them did too!

Double Chocolate Cookies with Peppermint Creme
(from Everyday with Rachael Ray, Dec 2011)
Makes 2 dozen

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 egg
24 miniature peppermint patties

Using an electric mixer, beat the flour, cocoa powder, sugars, salt and baking soda on low speed. Beat in butter, then the egg. Turn the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and flatted into a disk; seal. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Like 2 large cookie sheets with parchment. Working with 1 tablespoon of dough at a time, evenly encase each peppermint patty with dough. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until just firm to the touch, about 15 minutes. Remove pans from the oven and let cool slightly. Transfer the cookies on the parchment to a rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

If you’re still looking for a fun Halloween treat, you should consider these.  It’s a recipe from Christina Tosi, the cookie guru from Momofuku in NYC. The cookies are giant – and perfect with a tall glass of milk.

The candy corn makes them super festive but the real secret ingredient here is Frosted Flakes cereal. It gives the cookies a really awesome crunchy element, without making the whole cookie crunchy. They’re this awesome crunchy, chewy, sweet and chocolatey mix. Absolutely awesome.

Candy Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies
(adapted from Food & Wine)
Makes 18 cookies

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1 1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 t. vanilla extract
4 c. Frosted Flakes
1 c. candy corn
2/3 c. chocolate chips

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter and sugars at medium- high speed until light and fluffy, 4 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. At low speed, beat in the dry ingredients, then beat in the Frosted Flakes, chocolate chips and candy corn. Mound 1/4-cup scoops of dough 4 inches apart on 4 parchment–lined baking sheets. Flatten the cookies slightly and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. . Bake  one sheet at a time, for 15 minutes, until browned around the edges but still a bit pale in the center. Let cool completely on the tray before serving.

These were so good. SO GOOD.

I’ve been trying not to make as many sweets around here because they generally disappear embarrassingly fast but I decided to try this out as sustinance for our fantasy football drafts. We had five in two days and sugar totally helps you make informed picks. They’d also be perfect for tailgating.

S’mores Bars
(from Endless Simmer)

2 c. graham cracker crumbs
2 T. sugar
7 T. butter melted
16 oz. of dark chocolate, melted
1 c. milk
4 cups mini marshmallows, divided

Place graham crackers, sugar and melted butter in a bowl and mix to blend. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of an 11×13 pan and bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Set aside to cool.

Melt chocolate with milk in a pan over medium low heat and whisk to combine. Transfer mixture to a new bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to cool (transferring the mixture to a new bowl will help to cool it faster).

Add2 cups of marshmallows to cooled chocolate mixture and mix to combine. Pour mixture over crust. Pour remaining 2 cups mini marshmallows on top and place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to toast tops of marshmallow layer. Transfer completed dessert to fridge and chill for at least 2-3 hours or overnight.