Peanut Butter Blossoms

These remind me of my childhood. I hadn't even had them since then! Crazy, I know. I've been on this peanut butter kick lately and decided to give these a go. Actually, I made these Valentines ones...you guessed it...on Valentine's Day yesterday :) They turned out very well and actually would make an awesome base for peanut butter cookies.

The originals use Hershey's kisses, but why not jazz them up a little?

Check out those beautifully 80's counter tops! Love 'em ;)

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Yield: 24 cookies

24 Hershey's kisses

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

additional sugar

Remove chocolates from wrappers, set aside. 

Beat shortening and peanut butter until combined well.

Add 1/3 cup sugar and brown sugar, beat until fluffy.

Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat well.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Beat well.

Shape dough into 1" balls.

Roll in sugar until lightly coated and place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 6 minutes.

Remove cookies sheet from oven and press chocolate 

into the middle of each cookie.

Return to oven and cook an additional 2-4 minutes or until lightly browned with cracked edges. Allow to cool on cooling rack.

ENJOY!

Adapted from Hershey's

Tips:

• May use heart-shaped chocolates in place of Hershey's Kisses like I did.
• Cookies will get a crackled look around the edges as they cook, this is normal.
• Overcooking will result in a crunchier cookie.
• Try using a variety pack or chocolates.
• As you are mixing the dough, it may seem to be too dry. Don't worry! It will come together as you form the dough into balls.
• The peanut butter makes the dough slightly greasing, so the cookies do not stick at all and form balls nicely.
• You may omit the chocolates to have regular peanut butter cookies.
• The original recipes says you'll get 48 cookies out of this amount. Either that's a lie or what I think is an inch and what they think is an inch are two different things!

Note: This is one of our favorite cookie recipes. I originally posted it on my food blog "Ashley's Eats". I no longer run that blog, so I'll be moving several favorites ono this blog! 

Quick & Easy Weeknight Meals: Classic Pigs-in-a-Blanket

We've all been there. It's just "one of those days". This leads to that and in a blink of an eye it's 6 o' clock or if you are anything like me, it's 9 o' clock... and you're rushing to come up with something quick and easy to make for dinner. 

Here's a bonus, this one is cheap!


A good ole classic. The price range on this meal can set you anywhere from $3-$8 ish, depending on the price of each ingredient and the brand. That $3 can serve 8!

 Serves 1-8

  What you need:

Package of hotdogs (any brand) $.88-$5

Refrigerated crescent rolls (any brand) $1.99-$3

Cheese slices (optional, any brand) minimal amount

1. Prepare slices of cheese:

Cut into long strips.

2. Prepare hotdogs:

Cut a slit into each hotdog...hotdog style ;)

Add cheese slice into slit.

3. Roll out crescent rolls.

4. Roll 1-2 crescent rolls around each prepared hotdog.

5. Place on greased cookie sheet.

6. Cook at 350F for about 20 minutes, 

or until dough is golden brown and hotdog is cooked through. 

Be careful as cheese will be very hot.

ENJOY!

The price of the hotdogs makes a big difference in the total price of the meal. Here, I can find hotdogs for as little as $.88 for a pack of 8! They're decent quality too, but my dear husband's favorite hotdogs are Nathan's brand. They're a little on the spendy side and so I don't prefer to buy them for that reason, but they're super yummy. 

I haven't noticed much of a difference between off-brand or other brand crescent rolls. I like to use two crescent rolls for each hotdog to cover up the hotdog and use up a full package of rolls for 4 hotdogs and use the leftover hotdogs at a later time. 

You can skip on the cheese, but we love cheese! The more cheese you use, the more ooey gooey they become...which is awesome. I buy the bricks of cheese and cut it myself to save on money. Just use your favorites! You can't beat the price of this meal. While it may not be the healthiest meal, you've got a few food groups in there ;)