Sea Salt & Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie Peanut Butter S'mores // Summer of S'mores Pt. 5

It's Friday.  We made it.  Let's celebrate. 

I know there are a few of you out there who take issue with people like myself who like to trash up their chocolate chip cookies. 

Not only have I done that, multiple times, (see here, and here), now I have trashed up my trashed up cookies by turning them into s'mores.  You are very, very welcome. 

Are these really s'mores?  I don't know.  Probably not, considering that there's not a graham cracker in sight. 

In my defense however, the whole goal of this Summer of S'mores was simply to be inspired by the three classic flavors, and these are definitely evocative of the girl scout classic, albeit they do not meet all the technical requirements.

These salty, nut-filled cookies are giving graham crackers a run for their money in my house. 

Let's get right into this.

First we need to make the cookie dough. 

You know the drill, right?  Soft butter meets sugar and an egg before it gets cozy with the dry team - flour and baking soda. 

Now for the fun part. 

And by fun, I mean chopped almonds, chunks of milk chocolate, and sea salt. 

I love a good wrinkly cookie top. 

And I live for crispy edges. 

So, now we have cookies.  Cookies that are perfectly wonderful on their own, but are we done yet?  Of course not, because it's Friday and we need more chocolate. 

Creamy peanut butter and melted chocolate make an excellent spread for lots of things.  S'mores, toast, your fingers...  

If you have not noticed yet, I am not a graceful marshmallow-toaster.  In fact, I am much more of the light-it-on-fire-and-let-it-burn type.  I like the char, and I'm incurably impatient. 

Cookies?  Check!  Peanut butter chocolate gooeyness? Check!  Toasted (read: burnt) marshmallows?  Check! 

And we are done.  Happy Friday!

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Sea Salt & Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie Peanut Butter S'mores

makes 8 s'mores or 16 cookies

for the cookies

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

- 1/4 cup light brown sugar

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 

- 1 large egg 

- 1 teaspoon vanilla 

- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 cup milk chocolate, roughly chopped

- 3/4 cup raw, unsalted almonds 

- 2 teaspoons course sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer for 1 minute; until fluffy.  Add sugars and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is light in texture and the ingredients are well incorporated.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  

With the mixture on low speed, slowly add the flour and baking soda to the butter mixture, beating until smooth and homogenous.

Fold in the chocolate, almonds, and sea salt using a rubber spatula, being careful to evenly distribute them. 

Portion the dough out into 16 cookies, using a spring-loaded cookie scoop or a large spoon.  Place the cookies on baking sheets, lined with parchment and bake on the center rack for 10 minutes.  For even baking, rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time. 

Set the cookies on cooling racks while you prepare the chocolate peanut butter spread.  The cookies do not need to be completely cooled when you assemble the s'mores, but you do not want them to be too hot, otherwise the chocolate peanut butter spread will just slide off the surface. 

for the s’mores

- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

- 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

- 24 marshmallows 

In a small glass bowl, combine peanut butter and chocolate.  Microwave for thirty second increments, stirring after each, until the mixture is smooth.  Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, until it has thickened slightly.

Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the chocolate peanut butter mixture unto the bottom of eight of the cooled cookies.  Top the remaining eight cookies (top-side down) with three marshmallows and place on a baking sheet.  Set the marshmallow-topped cookies under the broiler* of your oven and broil for 1-2 minutes, until the marshmallows are soft and well-toasted.  Be sure to keep an eye on your cookies so that the bottoms do not burn!  

Press the marshmallow halves against the chocolate peanut butter-coated cookies and serve immediately.  Enjoy! 

*You could forgo the broiler altogether and use a kitchen torch to toast your marshmallows, I just find sometimes that it does not melt the marshmallows all the way through. 

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Butterscotch Blondies with Smoked Almonds & Sea Salt

I have a hazy memory of a Saturday afternoon with my father and little sister, standing in line at Dairy Queen.  It’s one of those memories that has a cloudy, golden overlay - the kind that makes it impossible to see the fine details of the day, leaving only the general picture for reminiscing.  I am pretty sure we were wearing bathing suits, which means that a day of fishing had likely taken place beforehand.  There we stood, waiting in line for free ice-cream cones that were being handed out to all of us very hot, dairy-loving Virginians.

For some reason, I must have been feeling adventurous that day because I forsook my beloved chocolate-dipped cone for a butterscotch encased cone of fluffy ice cream.

Looking back, I am sure that this once-heavenly cone was not as revolutionary as my eight-year-old mind imagined it to be, but at that time, on that hot day - it was perfect.

Aside from its role in that singularly perfect cone and its nostalgic qualities, butterscotch does not often cross my mind.

However, after a request from my fiancé, I figured it was time for butterscotch to reenter my life.  

Of course, I could have simply poured this sweet butterscotch sauce over vanilla ice cream and called it a day, but this is the weekend and we have time to be a little fancy.

Blondies need baking makeup.  Unlike their chocolatey cousin, blondies just don’t do it for me on their own, so I poured a pan of butterscotch and a handful of smokey, salty almonds on top.  It seemed like the right thing to do. 

I’ve been wondering what my eight-year-old self would have thought of smoked almonds.  She likely would have been unimpressed and asked for the honey-glazed peanuts instead.  The things I didn’t know…

Something about the combination of smoked almonds and butterscotch is magical.  The geek in me is seriously thinking about trying to smoke cream for a smoked vanilla ice cream that I could pair with this sauce.  Hmm. Definitely putting that one on the list.

These blondies are super easy.  Like, you could make them with your five year old, and you should…unless they have tendencies to eat flour like my little cousins used to, then maybe you should just bake during nap time.

What do I know about kids?  Not much.  But, I’m good at feeding them sugary things, which makes up for all other shortcomings -- at least that’s what I tell myself. 

Melted butter and brown sugar gives these blondies a rich, buttery foundation that keeps them soft and chewy.  I tested these little darlings twice.  The first time I used baking powder, and bleh.  They were cakey and crumbly and just…really bad.  For the second batch, I used baking soda and they were perfect!  That, my friends, is the powering of leavening. 

No beating required, just a wooden spoon and a strong arm. 

Drizzled with butterscotch, sprinkled with almonds and we are almost done!  Pour yourself a glass of milk and set the oven timer.  

Simple and sophisticated, salty and sweet - and there you have it, blondies have more fun.

Bye!

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Butterscotch Blondies with Smoked Almonds & Sea Salt

makes 9 / butterscotch recipe adapted from Deb Perelman

for the butterscotch

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 cup heavy cream 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Once the butter has melted, whisk in brown sugar, salt, and heavy cream.  Bring to a slow boil and cook for five minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Allow to cool while you prepare the blondie batter. 

for the blondies

• 1 large egg 
• 3/4 cup brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted 
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/3 cup smoked almonds 
• sea salt 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk to combine egg and brown sugar.  Whisk in melted butter.  

Sift to combine flour, salt, and baking soda.  Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and whisk to combine.

Grease an 8-inch baking pan and spread the batter evenly into the pan.  Drizzle with prepared butterscotch sauce and use a small spatula to swirl the sauce through the top of the batter.  Sprinkle smoked almonds on top of the blondies and press the almonds gently into the batter.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt.  

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the center looks almost set, but still slightly underdone.  

Allow the blondies to cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving.  Enjoy!