PB&J

Peanut butter and jelly is good on bread, right? Then turning a PB&J into a cookie only makes sense. I happened upon a recipe from Desserts Magazine (dessertsmag.com) that looked very appealing. So, I figured I would give it a shot. The recipe is a fairly basic recipe and makes a lot of cookies. These cookies are similar to a thumb print cookie. You know the cookies that are rolled into a ball and you press your thumb in the middle prior to baking.

Since I am kind of a perfectionist, my thought was to use a measuring spoon to make the depression in the center of the cookie. I have this measuring spoon that is a perfect circle and I thought just the right depth that needed for the jelly in the center of the cookie. Imagine my surprise and frustration when I removed the cookies from the oven and the depression in the middle of the cookie was gone. The center of the cookies rose, which only makes sense. The next batch of cookies I figured to heck with perfection and used my thumb. Yet again when I removed the cookies, the center had risen. Luckily the cookies were pretty soft, which allowed me to use my measuring spoon to make the depression in the middle of the cookie while they were still warm. While they were cooling I filled the center with either strawberry preserves or grape jelly.

I liked that after the cookies sat for some time, the jelly added a bit of moisture. I personally felt like there could have been a bit more of a peanut butter taste. Next time I will opt out of using preserves and only use jelly. However, the reviews from my coworkers were pretty good. They were talking about them for days. Since they are potential customers, I take that as a good sign.

Ingredients:

260 g Peanut Butter

112 g Unsalted Butter

180 g Light Brown Sugar

2 eggs

1tsp Vanilla Extract

240 g All-Purpose Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

250 g Jelly

Procedure:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F.

2. Line baking pans with parchment paper.

3. Cream together the peanut butter, butter and sugar.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time and add the vanilla.

5. Sift together the flour and baking soda.

6. Add the sifted flour with the peanut butter mixture.

7. Mix until well blended, dough will pull away from the sides and form a ball easily.

8. Form the dough into one inch bass and place them on the baking pans.

9. Make a depression in the center of the ball.

10. Bake for eight minutes. While the cookies are cooling, fill each depression with about 1 teaspoon of jelly.

Isabella - The Beginning

When people think of bakeries in Chicago, there are a few that initially come to mind...Bittersweet, Bleeding Heart, or Dinkel's to name a few.  These bakeries have a good name in the city, as well as a history here.  Their products are okay, but some have the taste of a day old pastry.  As well as, the service can be shoddy.  However, there is a little known bakery in North Chicago that is fabulous.  Isabella Bakery is one block west of Ashland and Foster.  The products are made fresh daily and never have the taste of a day old pastry.  Why you are wondering, well that is because they sell out daily.  By early afternoon most of all the best pastries are gone.  The bakery is run by the proprietors and they take pride in their work, as well as customer service.  The ladies that run the place are always very helpful.  The price is unbeatable, two sweetbreads and a cup of coffee for two dollars and some change.  It is virtually unheard of to buy a plain croissant for a couple of dollars.  Isabella is exactly what we aspire to be, great service and prices for quality products.