Peanut Butter Temptations

I love the holidays. I think they are wonderful. And while I would like to say that I have this giving spirit all year round, it really comes out during the holidays. Yesterday I decorated my house. I know, it's a little early. But my family tradition is to decorate the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm going to be back home and will decorate my nostalgic home the day after. This means that if I wait, I really won't have time to decorate until two weekends after Thanksgiving and then I have to leave in two weeks to travel for more family holidays. I really do love spending all this time with family, seriously. But if I'm going to have enough time enjoying my own Christmas decorations at home, they've got to go up before Thanksgiving. So we deal.

Here's my favorite display of holiday decor (I don't even want to talk about figuring out lighting for this picture - it still doesn't do it justice):


I'm starting to go a little overboard with the snowmen, but I love them! Anyway, my home is so warm and cozy with all of the cheer. It even smells like the holidays.

Here's what was baking in my oven yesterday. They are Mike's favorite cookies (I only make then so often because we can't leave them alone). I got this recipe from my friend Eliz's mom, Mrs. Lindner (she's fabulous). Unfortunately I lost it and had to use the recipe off the back of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minatures bad. I'm not sure if it is the same recipe, but it still tasted pretty darn good.

Ingredients

1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
aprox. 40 Reese's Peanut Butter Bups Miniatures

Method

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter. Then add the egg and vanilla. Last add the salt, baking soda and flour. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and put into miniature muffin tin. Bake for 8 minutes.

Here's what happens when you try to be moderately artistic:


They get too dark. It doesn't look like it here, but they are too dark. Don't make that mistake. They should look almost not done so that they stay moist enough. You also have to press in the peanut butter cups right away. Otherwise they don't go in as easily.

Here's what they actually should like like:

Okay, so the difference doesn't come out quite as stark in these pictures as they do in person, but there is a HUGE difference in taste even if you can't see the color difference here.

Side-note: Did you know that Reese's can expire and go very, very bad? Well, they can. I didn't have enough bought, so I went to my chocolate box (yep, I actually have 2 chocolate tupperwares in my cupboard), and found I had some. Some really old ones. Reeses where the peanut butter is no longer creamy but crumbles in your mouth when it opens up. It's pretty disgusting. That's why some of the cookies don't have the peanut butter cups in them. They still taste decently okay, but the chocolate really makes it. Like these.

I know it's just chocolate in a bowl, but doesn't it make you salivate?

They're pretty delicious, and they make your house smell wonderful. These are going to my house for the night before Thanksgiving. I'm bringing pumpkin roll and dad has already threatened to eat it before the Turkey Day. Therefore, I'm bringing these to tide him over. Sort of like a warm up. :)