I spent some extra time in the kitchen this weekend. I had a hankering for bagels, and we didn’t have any.
I’ve used this bagel recipe before, adapted to use some whole grain flour, with good results. Here’s my version of the recipe, in a previous blog post. I was a bit worried, because my yeast had a “best by” date of February 2019, but it worked just fine. You know at the beginning of the process, so no problem.
The bagels are delicious! Fabulous straight from the oven, but I actually like the slightly chewier texture the next day.
I’ve seen on the interwebz that lots of people are stress baking during this COVID-19 stay-at-home order. Apparently there’s been a run on flour and yeast at the grocery stores. I don’t think I’m stress baking; I just like to bake! I’m not ready to use more of my dwindling flour supply yet, but that didn’t stop me from making dessert.
I baked some flourless peanut butter cookies, using a mashup of The Nashville Food Project’s 3 ingredient peanut butter cookies from Judy’s Chickens and Smitten Kitchen’s 5 ingredient version. The 2 extra ingredients? A splash of vanilla, and some coarse sea salt sprinkles. Those two extras make my day.
Peanut Butter Cookies (makes about 18 2” cookies)
7/8 cup peanut butter (just a little less than a full cup)
7/8 cup packed light brown sugar, or a mixture of light brown and white sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (no mess to clean up!)
Whisk sugar(s) and egg together in a mixing bowl. Whisk in vanilla, then peanut butter, until smooth. Use a mini ice cream scoop to form balls, and place on cookie sheet. Criss cross slightly flat with a fork. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake 12-15 mins, or until lightly browned at edges. Let them cool slightly, then move to wire rack to finish cooling. Store in airtight container, if you don’t eat them all immediately!
If you used a full cup of sugar, and a whole cup of peanut butter, it would still be fine. I used all brown sugar this time, but I’ve used half brown and half white before. This is not the time to stress over your baking! Feeling fancy? Add 1/2 C mini chocolate chips to the dough. Yum!
How are you managing? Are you staying at home? Baking? Knitting? Cleaning house? OK, that last one isn’t high on my to-do list!
PDXKnitterati 
Love you emails. Are your peanut butters really soft? I will try your bagels too.
I use natural peanut butter (peanuts, salt) which is pretty soft, but regular peanut butter (That doesn’t separate) works fine, too! Glad you’re enjoying the blog!
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I have been learning double knitting while I have been anxiously waiting for my Both Sides Now yarn to arrive from KnitPicks. It is due to arrive today. I can’t wait to cast on for your beautiful pattern!
Double knitting is fun! It’s very much like brioche. But I only have mental bandwith for one or the other, so it’s brioche for me.
Did your yarn arrive? What colors did you choose?
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All your baking projects look delicious! I’m working from home, so not much different for me. Still getting some knitting in on the evenings!
Yes, that was weekend baking! I’ve been doing a lot of blog/instagram/video tutorial making during the week. DH is working from home, so I’m trying not to clank the pans too much during the day. Not much knitting right now, just enough to keep ahead of the KAL.
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