Author Archives: michcorbett

Peanut Butter and Nutella Cookies

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Peanut Butter and Nutella is one of those classic combinations that you’d be crazy not to like. The sweet, nuttiness of the Nutella combined with the richness of peanut butter– it’s just heaven. In fact, one of my favorite indulgences is to put this combo on a spoon and eat it as a lollipop (you know you’ve done it too!). So tomorrow is a peanut butter cookie bake-off at my office so I decided that my submission would be a cookie that highlights this classic combo.

After searching the internet for inspiration, I found this recipe on a blog called Delightful Bitefuls and the cookies looked delicious, so I decided to try them. The ingredient list is pretty straightforward, and aside from peanut butter and Nutella, the rest of the ingredients are ones you probably already have in the house:

  • 1 stick butter at room temperature (leave it out for about 30 minutes to get the right consistency)
  • 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup Nutella (or more if you <3 Nutella)
This recipe starts the way most cookie recipes do, by mixing butters and sugars until well blended. Assuming your butter is at room temperature, this should happen pretty quickly. You don’t need to mix them too much, but you want them to be well blended. Add the egg and the vanilla and mix again until blended.
Next you want to add the baking soda, salt, and flour and mix until combined. If you have a Kitchen Aid this whole process should take about 5 minutes total. A little trick of the Kitchen Aid trade: turn the mixer on and off a few times after you’ve added all the flour so that it doesn’t end up all over your kitchen. Just 3 or 4 quick “pulses” will help get the flour slightly incorporated so that you can leave it on low speed and still have the flour in your bowl.  Once that is incorporated, add the Nutella and use a butter knife to swirl it into the batter. If you love Nutella as much as I do, you’ll want to make sure that you get every last bit of the 1/4 cup into the bowl, so spray your measuring cup with Pam to help eliminate sticking. Also, if you love Nutella as much as I do, you’ll probably want to increase the amount you put into your cookie to 1/3 cup. The way my cookies ended up, some had great PB to Nutella ratio, others not so much…
Refrigerate the dough for at least 15 minutes while your oven preheats to 350. Now, the next step is a bit messy, but what helped me was to spray my hands with Pam to make the dough easier to handle. I use the Pam trick a lot when I need a little bit of something to go a long way– like spreading sushi rice onto nori, but that is a different post…Roll tablespoonfuls of the dough into balls and place on parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheets.
Using a fork (also sprayed with Pam) press down the cookies in the center creating a criss-cross pattern and flattening out the cookies. 
Bake for 10-12 minutes (rotating oven position half way through) until cookies are just golden brown and slightly firm. When you take them out of the oven they might seem under-baked but don’t be fooled by them! Just let them rest for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and they’ll become the perfect consistency. Move to a cooling rack (if you have the self-discipline). These are DELICIOUS when they’re hot with a nice glass of milk (or soy milk!).
Aside from the slight increase on the Nutella and couple of additional minutes of bake time (original recipe called for 7-10 minutes) I didn’t modify the recipe. These are an excellent indulgence and its hard to eat just 1, so I would recommend sharing them with friends or co-workers. The recipe made 3 dozen cookies. Fun cookies to make with kids and perfect for beginners! Even my mom, who burns break and bake cookies could handle these! What a great tribute to a classic combo 🙂

Leftover/Makeover Fajita Chicken Salad

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My husband always makes fun of the fact that I don’t know how to cook for 2 people. The way I see it, cooking too much food just means you get to be creative with leftovers the next night. I’m very much a fan of variety so one of my favorite challenges is to turn leftovers into a completely different dish. Tonight’s challenge: fajitas!

So yes, I made fajitas last night which means in my fridge I had:

  • grilled chicken with olive oil and taco seasoning
  • sauteed peppers and onions
  • chopped tomatoes
  • guacamole
  • shredded Mexican cheese
Chicken salad is one of my favorite deli staples, but it’s one of those foods that I don’t usually indulge in unless I make it at home because the difference in calories is just ridiculous. So tonight on the ride home I was inspired to use the leftover chicken to create a “fajita chicken salad”– basically a chicken salad with the fajita veggies instead of your average celery (or apples, which is what I usually put in mine).
Now, I didn’t post about the fajitas last night because they were super simple. I actually used Trader Joe’s taco seasoning mix to cook both the chicken and the fajita veggies. The guacamole also was very straightforward… not one of my more creative versions.
So here’s what I did. First, you want to dice the chicken into bite size cubes  (I say the smaller the better).
Chop up the peppers and onions so they’re the same size as the chicken and add to bowl. Rough chop some cherry tomatoes and add to the bowl as well. Mix so you can see the ratio of veggies to chicken and add more veggies as needed to get the balance you prefer. (Veggies are a great way to bulk up anything so when in doubt, add more veggies! You’ll still get the chicken salad essence even with only a little chicken in the actual dish.) Add 2 T light mayo to the bowl. There’s really no exact science for the amount of mayo you use, but it’s always better to start with a little and mix so you don’t end up with way too much. In order to add more creaminess and because guacamole doesn’t last too long in the fridge, I added the rest of the guacamole to the bowl as well. This is the point where you’ll want to taste for seasoning. I had some extra taco seasoning on hand but it didn’t need anything more than what was on the chicken and veggies.
Now this would be delicious on a cold sandwich, over a salad, or just out of the bowl, but my husband loves anything that is warm and melty so spread half the chicken salad onto  a wrap and sprinkle the top with shredded Mexican cheese. Put the wrap onto a toaster oven tray and toast until the cheese has melted (the toaster tray will keep the wrap from getting crispy).
This dish took a total of 4 minutes plus toasting time so it’s a great leftover/makeover. If you don’t happen to have leftover fajita makings in the fridge, you can just add all the same ingredients in their basic forms (grilled chicken, bell peppers, tomatoes, avocado– I’d skip the raw onion) and add the taco seasoning (or a blend of cayenne pepper, garlic salt, paprika, chili powder). It will still be a delicious and different twist on the classic chicken salad.

Better Bites: Broccoli Cheddar Smashies

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One of my best friends from high-school called mashed potatoes “smashies” and I think that’s an appropriate title for this dish because these are not your average potatoes… they’re playful, they’re filling, and they’re healthier than they look.

I invented this dish on one of those “use whatever’s left in the fridge” nights.  Basically, I had gotten a bunch of potatoes from the farm share and didn’t have too much else left in the fridge. What I did have, though, was a convenient steam in a bag broccoli with cheddar sauce. Here’s the full ingredient list:

  • 12 small-medium russet potatoes
  • Garlic
  • Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers: Broccoli Cheddar Variety
  • Greek Yogurt (I use Fage 0%)
  • Garlic salt
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Shredded Cheddar Cheese (I use Weight Watchers Mexican blend)
  • Hot Sauce (I use Frank’s Red Hot)
Because I was not in the mood to spend a lot of time on dinner and because peeling tiny potatoes is a pain in the neck, I just rinsed and scrubbed the potatoes very well.
Next you want to cube the potatoes so they’re all equal sizes (the smaller you cut them, the faster they’ll cook). My trick to getting flavorful potatoes and not munching on chunks of garlic is to add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic with the potatoes to a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork tender (meaning you can easily put a fork into the potato), drain, and mash!
In the mean time, cook the broccoli and cheddar sauce according to package directions. In order to keep the broccoli from overcooking, I recommend microwaving it for the least amount of time it says on the bag. Add cooked broccoli and cheddar sauce to the potatoes along with 1/2 c Greek Yogurt, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese, garlic salt, cayenne, and hot sauce to taste.
I like to use Greek Yogurt instead of milk and butter in potatoes because I like the tang it adds to the potatoes. You could also use fat free sour cream if you didn’t have yogurt on hand.
And that’s it! You can feel free to season according to the way you like your baked potatoes… since essentially this is a play on a loaded baked potato in smashie form! You could add grilled chicken, chives, bacon bits, whatever you want! The results will be delicious.