So tis the season for spring fruit and veg so I had a hankering to make something with strawberries and rhubarb. Yes, again. So I figured why not try cookies in this equation, so here they are. Made the filling from scratch too, because it is hard to find commercially made strawberry-rhubarb jam/butter. Sweet and tart all sandwiched between a lovely vanilla sugar cookie.
I guess technically I should call these “Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies” as not to upset the Nabisco Corporation, but you know … they are homemade oreos (wink wink). Anyway, I’ve had the Oreo Jingle going through my head for some inexplicable reason for a week now. Strange how the brain works, eh? So, I was enticed to make these here peanut butter versions of the classic oreo. Using the Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa makes them even more oreo-like (even though I guess I normally wouldn’t use Hershey’s cocoa powder for baking). At any rate, great for packing in a lunch box for the kiddos towards the end of the school year or for camp this summer. Make all the other kids jealous.
I’ve got visitors staying with me tonight and I thought I would be all “Bed and Breakfast-y” and make some muffins in case anyone is hungry in the morning. They were a bit of a flop, mainly because I think that my baking powder is getting old, so not a lot of rise to them — remember to buy fresh leavers, folks! They do taste great though, so nothing wrong with the recipe, just a chemical malfunction on my software.
Inspired by a recent visit to Austria, I thought I would make a strudel… with some spring / early summer flavors to boot. I was actually a little concerned that the tart cherries and rhubarb — which is tart as well — would be a little much, but it turned out quite nice. Perfect for an afternoon cuppa.
After a few weeks of travel and stressful catch-up from vacation, I finally had the opportunity to bake something this morning. How refreshing! It really is stress relief, even if I did get up at 4:30 on a Saturday morning. These florentines are simply lovely: sweet and crisp and almost like a nut brittle. Not to be missed!