Peanut Butter Whiskey Cookies

I did not have the best day today... things at work are not going exactly to plan, my meeting ran long and had to skip the gym and as usual, I forgot about after work commitments which kills almost all of my time for cooking and relaxing after work.

After a long day, I really want to have a decent meal and if that can't be had, at least a good snack. I remembered when I first moved out on my own making peanut butter cookies quite a bit. Mostly because they only required a couple ingredients and took no kitchen appliances or time to make. Today, I decided these were a must... Even though these are good enough to stand on their own, I thought maybe I could do something to make them a little different than the basic recipe... What else goes good after a long day at work? Whiskey!

With very little additional work, I jazzed up this super easy recipe and turned it from an after school snack, to an after work snack. You could swap out the whiskey for other alcohols... spiced rum I think would be very good here. I origianlly  planned to have some chopped pecans on top, but I didn't have any on hand.. I instead used some apple slices. Apple and whiskey go, apple and peanut butter go, so I can only assume that Apple, peanut butter and whiskey all go perfect together.

Here we go with the recipe. The basic recipe is just the peanut butter, sugar and chia egg. From there, you can add things as you like. Just remember to balance the wet and dry ingredients. If the batter is too wet, the cookies will be flat and crunchy. If the batter is too dry, they will get cakey.

Peanut Butter-Apple Whiskey Cookies
*Makes 15 cookies, 20 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used brown, but white works too)
• 1 chia egg (1 tsp ground chia seeds whisked with two Tbsp water)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp whiskey (I admit, I free poured... )
• 1/4 tsp instant espresso (optional.. this is my secret ingredient in most baked goods)
• 2 Tbsp Flour (Again this is an estimate depending on how cakey you want the cookies. Add by the table spoon)
• 1 apple, peeled and sliced thin

Very easy to make. Pre-heat the over to 325 F. In a bowl mix the peanut butter, sugar chia egg, salt whiskey and instant espresso. Once everything in combined, add a Tbsp of flour and mix. Does it look like cookie dough? If it is too thin, add another tablespoon of flour. I would not go beyond 4 tablespoons though.

The ingredients... looks kind of gross, but thinking these are going to taste great!

I wanted a crispier cookie, so I only added a little flour.

Now, take a spoonful of dough and roll it into a ball and place it on an un-greased cookie sheet. Press each cook dough ball down with a fork until flat. Top with apple slices and some extra sugar. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, you don't want to over cook!

Roll into a ball and flatten with a fork.
This will make the cookie, look like a cookie

Ready for the oven!

And.. the result? Well, first I wish I hadn't eaten half the apple and put slices on all the cookies. As you can see above, I ran short and figured sugar was enough. It was good, but the apples make it so much better.

The apple looks good and tastes even better!

These cookies are pretty boozey, if you are not into boozey cookies, use vanilla instead of the whiskey. or cut the alcohol in half. Me personally? I can't wait to eat these with a glass of whiskey on the rocks for dunking ;)

Apple Crisp with a Twist

My mom is not known for being big into cooking. I think to her it was much more of a chore than it was a hobby. However, she has saved over the years a select amount of recipes that are so, so good. I never gave her a lot of credit for this, but her small stash of recipes are top notch. Last night, I was craving one of these: Apple Crisp.

Apple crisp is an easy recipe and found on many menus in Edmonton and probably found in a lot of kitchens too. Ingredients are generally simple and the steps are fairly easy to put together successfully. Apple is one of my favourite foods. I am not able to pass up apple dishes when I go out and I take my apple crisp very seriously.

The trick to an amazing apple crisp is to make sure that it isn't too sweet, has a bit of salt and a bit of spice. You also need to ensure that the crisp is crispy. My mom's recipe accomplishes all of these things, so of course I stole it and veganized it. Then I jazzed it up a bit because.. well... I also was craving peanut butter. It was just one of those nights. I am not sure who to give credit for this recipe. I suppose my mom. She obviously got this recipe out of a newspaper about 20 years ago, so who ever came up with it, thank you! The peanut butter caramel topping I adapted from Veganomicon.

Apple Crisp

• 4 apples, washed, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1/3 cup of flour
• 1 cup of quick-cooking oats (I used regular)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup melted margarine or earth balance

Peanut Butter Carmel Topping

• 1/3 cup of peanut butter (not the kind that separated, the regular stuff)
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 1/2 Tbsp brown rice syrup
• 2 Tbsp chopped Pecans

Preheat your oven to 375 F. While that is heating up prepare your apples and put them into a large casserole dish. Now prepare the topping, combine the flour, oats, sugar, salt, cinnamon in a bowl and combine. Add the melted margarine and mix until everything is coated. Pour on top of the apples and bake uncovered for about 30 minutes.

While the crisp is cooking, prepare the topping. In a sauce pan combine all the ingredients except for the pecans. Heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture pours off your spoon in a ribbon. Add the pecans and stir again. (Note: make this just before the crisp is ready so it doesn't harden on you).

When the apple crisp is ready take it out of the oven and drizzle the topping over it. You should let it chill for a bit before serving, but I usually risk the burns and dig in immediately. I have very little self-control when it comes to dessert. If you want to fancy it up, sprinkle a little powdered sugar and garnish with mint.

Enjoy!