Dough Balls Galore

Continuing with baking for birthdays and lab meetings, last week Brenna and I made Peanut Butter Dough Balls.  Unsatisfied with the offerings at our little grocery store in the Commons, which is only a mile walk away, we schlepped another 0.6 miles to our absolute favorite market.  It was well worth the extra walking time, and the weather was in fact decent!  The only thing we didn't consider was the weight of certain things we bought (almond milk, yogurt, etc.).  Thus, our shoulders aching, we admitted defeat on the way back and took a bus up the hill.

It was a long adventure to put these dough balls together, but the minute we tasted one, we knew it was well worth it.  As soon as we took a bite, all we could say was "mmmmmm".

And they were extremely popular at our lab meeting!  Every last little ball was eaten, and there was even a request for more!

Peanut Butter Dough Balls
(adapted from peas and thank you)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp natural, crunchy, salted peanut butter (my heart belongs to Once Again Nut Butters)
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1//2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• heaping 1/2 cup natural peanut butter chips
• heaping 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Using a mixer (stand or hand-held), cream together the butter, peanut butter, sugars, and vanilla in a medium bowl until very smooth.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and both flours.  Stir to combine.
3. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, a little bit at a time, until fully incorporated.  Do not over-mix!  (If the dough looks too dry and crumbly, consider adding more peanut butter or some sort of liquid...milk, almond milk, etc.)
4. Add in both kinds of chips and stir to combine.
5. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Once the dough has chilled, use your tablespoon measure to pack a heaping tablespoon of dough for each ball.  Then, roll the ball in your hands until it is cute and round.  Make sure to really pack it tightly so it doesn't crumble apart.  Place the dough balls on a baking sheet.  They won't really expand or flatten out, so you can put them pretty close together
8. Bake for about 12 minutes until the tops are no longer too sticky.  Don't over-bake!  Let the dough balls cool on the baking sheet.
9. Bite into a dough ball and just let yourself say "mmmmm".

The spread.

Brenna's beautiful new mixing bowls deserved a photo shoot.  Pretty pretty colors with a fabulous grippy bottom (excellent for our vigorous mixing), grippy handle, and easy-pour spout!

Wet stuffs.

Dry stuffs.

Creamy creamy and smelling fantastique!  We probably could have just stopped here and eaten the whole bowl...

...but we resisted and incorporated the dry ingredients.

Generous addition of chips.

Mixing this all together took some serious arm work.

Balls all lined up.

Doughy doughy.

Just out of the oven.  Whoops we smooshed that little guy in the front a bit...we really need to invest in real oven mitts so that we don't keep using unwieldy paper towel wads and smooshing cookies on the edge of the pan.

Yummms.

Soft and gooey inside.

Another close-up glamour shot, courtesy of Brenna's iPhone and special picture-beautifying app.

Hmm...what shall we make next?  It's going to have to be fabulous to top these dough balls!