Not as pretty as my last pie on Friday, but it tastes just as good. And is just as juicy. It is the season for pies – well, what season isn’t pie season — as I am a huge fan of berry pies. Blackberries come closer to the end of the berry season and I am happy that I’ve found some good ones this year. Very juicy. The almonds, toasted separately, add a lovely crunch too.
We interrupt this summer of fresh flavors do to a year-round recipe: Roasted Cashew Chocolate Heart Cookies. Based on a recipe for peanut butter cookies, I thought I’d swap out the type of nut butter. This does not always work well. Some nuts have greater protein or more or less oil than others, so it’s not exactly a precise science. In fact, I ended up having the add an additional half cup of flour to make this come together correctly, and even so, they spread more than I would have liked. That said, they *taste* even better to me than peanut butter cookies. Yum Yum!
Cookie inspiration in the summer time can be a little harder. It’s too hot to bake, I don’t necessarily want to use chocolate and cinnamon because those are “winter flavors” (who am I kidding … chocolate is any time!) so when I came across a lime and coconut cookie, I thought that this combo might be a good idea. It’s like some of my other thumbprint cookies, but uses the tropical flavors. Not the prettiest, but they taste damn good.
I know that a lot of people associated roasted nuts more as a winter thing, but I had an urge to make some, and figured they go just as well with a couple of beers on the back porch as they do at Christmas time. These are smokey and sweet, and not too spicy. Just enough to keep you thirsty — and grabbing a few more — but not overly hot, salty or sweet to any extreme. Try ‘am, you’ll like ’em.
PS: you can use any combination of nuts that you like. I particularly like this combo and ratio, but whatever floats your boat.
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.