I made AB's peppermint patties!

@f00l I’m sure they’d be fine. 5 cups of powdered sugar isn’t that much, is it?

@j2 But how do they compare with a Clark bar?

@Limewater not at all IMO. Or 5th Avenue (my personal fav)

Part of the issue might be because they’re made with pistachios not peanuts. I’m thinking if I try them again maybe I should use peanuts or maybe a layer of nut butter. I just don’t think they have a strong nutty taste.

@j2 @Limewater
Alton Brown’s “Butterfinger” recipe… It’s not even close. This is the real deal. From The Ultimate Candy Book. I made these and entered them in the State Fair a few years ago. They got first place

Crispy Peanut Butter Chocolate Candy

1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces milk chocolate, chopped

Combine peanut butter and vanilla in the top of a double boiler and set over simmering water. Stir until mixture is warm and well combined. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm. Set aside.

Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves completely and the syrup comes to a boil. Raise heat to high and continue cooking without stirring until mixture reaches 290 degrees. Remove from heat and stir in warm peanut butter. The mixture will thicken almost immediately. Quickly spread mixture into a well buttered 9 inch pan.

When cool enough to handle, turn pan over and remove candy in one piece. Chop into bite sized squares. Melt chocolates together and dip candy pieces into chocolate shaking off excess. Let cool on parchment paper or a wire rack.

@ironcheftoni @Limewater Thanks! And…curse you!! I thought I was done making candy and was going to transition to Christmas cookies. Guess I have one more weekend of candy

@j2 @Limewater you won’t regret it! For me, it’s candy season. My family doesn’t do the Christmas cookie thing but instead does candy. If the weather is dry this weekend, I’ll start doing peanut brittle, fudge, and toffee. Most will be shipped to friends and my folks if Christmas is a repeat of Thanksgiving and the recommendation is not to travel.

@ironcheftoni @j2 I have a question:
The recipe calls for smooth peanut butter.
I am assuming that this means “normal” peanut butter, like Skippy or Jif or Peter Pan rather than natural peanut butter, since natural peanut butter is usually not as good for baking.
But I don’t know for sure, so I am asking. What kind of smooth peanut butter do you use?

@ironcheftoni @Limewater I usually only do cookies but I’ve been baking and cooking A LOT since March and now I’ve branched out to candy.
My mother called last night - apparently my dad and his cousin were reminiscing about cookies my grandmother used to make with almond paste and pine nuts… guess I’m trying my hand at Pignoli this year too! Unfortunately most of her recipes were in her head (or alterations never written down) so there’s a lot of trial and error.

@j2 @Limewater I usually use Jiff Natural. Smooth is type, not a brand… no crunchy peanut bits in it.

@ironcheftoni @j2 @Limewater I just read this recipe this morning, pignoli sound amazing!
https://thetakeout.com/pignoli-cookies-recipe-1845812067

@j2 @Limewater @mossygreen Interesting. I don’t use pine nuts that much. Usually stick to Pecans since they are more plentiful.

@ironcheftoni @j2 Thank you for the clarification. I understood what “smooth” meant, but there are now a few common types of peanut butter, so it’s not always clear.
True Natural peanut butter can be smooth or crunchy/chunky, but the defining characteristic is that it has a maximum of two ingredients: Peanuts and salt. These have to be stirred.
Then there are the no-stir “naturals,” which typically replace some or all of the peanut oil with palm oil and will often also include sugar.
Then there are what most people think of as “normal” peanut butter, which also seems to usually include sugar and uses partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
True natural peanut butter has very different properties from the other two, which is why I was asking.

@j2 @Limewater I use the no stir natural variety.

@ironcheftoni @j2 @Limewater I remarked to my mother that the recipe seemed like it would be the basis of several successful cookie recipes, perhaps including my beloved Bobbies (layered almond paste and raspberry) which, to the best of my knowledge, are only made by the Edelweis Bakery in Rancho Bernardo, CA, which is thousands of miles away from me.

@ironcheftoni @Limewater Made them today. I used natural peanut butter (the kind that separates). The only issue I had was that I couldn’t cut into squares - they often broke where they wanted to (not sure why) …but they still taste amazing!!! Thanks for the recipe @ironcheftoni

@j2 @Limewater glad you enjoyed it!

@ironcheftoni @j2 @Limewater

Unfortunately most of her recipes were in her head (or alterations never written down)

Yeah we had that problem with one of my grandmothers too. “The Aunts” decided to do something about that and so measured every single thing grandma used when making their favorite things before she could dump that item into the bowl/pan. Grandma would occasionally complain which is why one recipe says to add enough flour for the spoon to stand up straight.

@sammydog01 I cook a lot, an LOVE Good Eats, even reruns. I read the title the same way the 1st 3-4 times, too !!

@sammydog01 a guy’s gotta eat! Planning for retirement.