Cowboy Cookies

I stumbled upon this recipe for cowboy cookies via stumble upon months ago and have been dying to try them ever since. I love anything that is both salty and sweet so the concept of putting pretzel bits into a cookie just sounded  brilliant to me. They turned out to be pretty darn  good, but not the best i've ever had. However in the recipe's defense, my mom and I both decided that they cannot be compared to my all-time favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe - from the infamous Neiman Marcus scandal (which I will post eventually) - because they are in totally different leagues. For one, this cookie has pretzels in it, which in my opinion makes it more of a day time snack-like cookie versus a more decadent dessert cookie (like the NM' s). They are chewy and chocolaty, and the pretzel adds a unique texture that is somewhat salty but not at all overpowering.  

This recipe is based off of one I got from a blog called My Baking Heart which was ultimately inspired by the book entitled Baked Explorations 

Ingredients 

1-3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 c rolled oats
14 tbsp (which means 2 sticks minus 2 tablespoons) of unsalted butter
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 c dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 lg egg
1 lg egg yolk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp espresso powder - also called instant espresso coffee (found in the instant coffee section NOT the baking section. make sure to ask for help before you completely give up. It can be found in your regular grocery store but don't bother looking at whole foods they don't have it.)
2 c semisweet chocolate chips (which is one regular sized bag)
3/4 c thin salty pretzels, broken into tiny pieces but not crushed into dust

1. Set the oven to 350. In a large bowl, blend the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. then add the eggs and beat until even lighter and fluffier.

2. beat in the vanilla until just combined. *remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl between each step

3. microwave 1/4 of a cup of water for about 35-40 seconds and stir in the espresso powder until it has completely dissolved.

4. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt). In a coffee grinder, blend 1 cup of the rolled oats. Then partially blend 1/4 of a cup and do not blend the remaining 1/4 cup of oats. This is not required but I personally am not wild about the texture that oats give a cookie (although I love the flavor) If you do blend the oats it gives the cookie a nice chewy texture which I personally enjoy. Add all of the dry ingredients together and stir until they are pretty well combined.

5. Starting with the dry ingredients (ALWAYS start and end with dry) rotate blending the wet espresso mixture and dry (about 2 or 3 times each). This way you have the most control over the consistency of the cookie and are less likely to get a clumpy or runny dough.

6. Add the chocolate chips and then add the pretzels. (If you aren't baking all of your cookies at once, I suggest you leave the pretzels out until it's time for baking so they stay fresh and crunchy. if you leave them in the dough over night the pretzels tend to soften)

7. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

8. Roll about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough and slightly flatten them so they look like fat disks. Leave about 3 inches of space between each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes (11-13) or until golden brown.

My Perfect Trail Mix

So basically, I LOVE trail mix. However, i'm pretty picky as too what goes in it. Monster mix from target. yum. sweet and salty from the airport - yummer. But I've never been able to find that perfect trail mix that has absolutely everything I want in it. THUS I have concocted my own blend, and of course, it is absolutely perfect in every way (at least to my stadards). I think the only way this would be ever better is if it had zero calories, but unfortunately in the world of trail mix that is completely impossible.



*Warning* this makes A LOT of trail mix. (enough to get me through about 2 weeks but probably longer for the average person) otherwise recipe may be halved

Ingredients
16 oz. Unsalted Peanuts
16 oz. Salted Cashews
1 lb. unsalted sunflower kernels (whole foods)
1/4 lb. unsalted pumpkin seeds (whole foods)
15 oz. Sun-maid raisins
12 oz. bag craisins (pref. ocean spray)
M&Ms "medium" size bag -or- 19.2 oz.
regular salt

Directions
It is easier to just buy pre-salted ingredients but I like to salt it myself (except for the cashews because unsalted is too expensive) so everything has a unified taste AND so I know what actually goes into my trail mix.
First preheat the oven to 325. You're gonna need two large trays (or cookie sheets that have rims). Boil water in the microwave and add about 2 1/2 tablespoons of salt to the water and stir until pretty much everything has dissolved. Put the sunflower kernels and pumpkin seeds on one tray and the peanuts on another. Pour just enough of the salt water mixture to get the seeds and nuts wet and toss them around with your hands. Place the 2 trays into the oven and watch them carefully for about 20 minutes. Occasionally open the oven and mix around the nuts and seeds so that they don't stick and to make sure that all of the seeds etc. get toasted. Let everything cool for about 10 minutes and then combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl. If you eat it right after its all combined the m&ms are a little warm which is my favorite part! (but make sure everything isn't too hot that the m&ms melt completely)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

I got this recipe off of a food blog I found on food gawker. The instant I saw those pretzel glamor shots I just KNEW I had to make these. Let me tell you, they are amazing. Equally as addicting as muddy buddies slash puppy chow (whatever you like to call it). It's somewhat labor intensive and a bit messy, but it's totally worth it. I actually think it's less messy than making muddy buddies, but be ready to get your hands dirty (and your kitchen)!


I found this recipe on a blog called 17 and Baking


Ingredients 
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2/3 cup powdered sugar (plus 2ish tablespoons if it isn't thick enough)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Pretzels
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions: 

Basically all you do is blend the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and thick. Then scoop out slightly larger than teaspoon sized clumps of the peanut butter mixture and roll them into balls. Sandwich the peanut butter between two pretzels and continue until there is no mixture left. Freeze them for at least and hour so they don't melt when you dip them into the hot chocolate. 

Melt the chocolate chips in either the microwave or a double boiler. Dip the peanut butter sandwiches into the chocolate and place them on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil. Place the dipped pretzel bites in the freezer for at least and hour, then transfer then to the fridge. When the chocolate looks pretty hard, you can take then out and keep them at room temperature from then on. I like to transfer from the freezer to the fridge first because it prevents the chocolate from getting sweaty and it makes them harden faster. 

**The only thing I would add is to not leave the finished pretzels in the fridge for more than a day. Even though they are still delicious, the pretzels lose some of their crunch. I recommend storing them in an airtight container like a tin can. (tin is generally better at keeping things fresh than plastic)