12 Weeks of Christmas Treats: Puppy Chow Cookies

A week ago, someone on my cooking forum posted about the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, hosted by Meal Planning Magic.  For the next twelve weeks, the group will be posting all types of different treats.  Anything you might have out on a holiday table for munching on or serving at your holiday parties is game for the blog hop, so check back every week for amazing posts that will be perfect to make for the biggest holiday of the year.

Every year around Christmas, my mom breaks out the puppy chow.  The delicious mix covered in peanut butter and powdered sugar.  Our family is addicted to it, so it disappears VERY quickly.  I think she makes more and more batches every year.

Right before I found out about the 12 Weeks of Christmas Treats, someone pinned these Puppy Chow Cookies on Pinterest, and I pinned them.  I knew they were an absolutely perfect start to this blog hop, so I jumped on making them. 

Puppy Chow Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies from Jenna's Cooking Journey,
Puppy Chow ingredients from Betty Crocker 
Ingredients  
Cookies 

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Coating 

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 to 2 cups powdered sugar

Directions
1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
2) In a mixing bowl, combine the shortening, sugars, egg, vanilla, and peanut butter until the mixture is smooth.
3) Scrape down the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet mixture.  Beat slowly until dough is just combined.  This is a dry dough, so it could take awhile to mix.  If the dough seems too crumbly, add a little water at a time until the dough is no longer crumbly.
4) Using a scoop, drop the cookie dough onto your baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. 
5) Take a fork and flatten the cookie to a 1/2 inch thickness, making a cross-hatch type of design.
6) Bake the cookies 12-16 minutes, until they just start to brown around the edges.  The tops will not brown at this point.
7) Allow cookies to cool completely.
8) In small microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, butter and peanut butter uncovered on High for approximately 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
9) Place powdered sugar in a gallon-sized zip-lock bag.  Coat each cookie with a thin layer of chocolate and then coat each cookie with powdered sugar in the zip-lock bag.  Repeat until all cookies are coated.

I made peanut butter cookies from scratch not too long ago, so I decided to use freshly made cookies instead of package ones.  I guess it depends on how much time you have in the Christmas season to do everything from scratch or you decide to do things the "Semi-Homemade" way.  I loved these cookies.  It had the same ideas as puppy chow but in a cookie form.  The powdered sugar isn't as messy (in eating form) as I thought it would be.  The cookie making process is definitely messy, but fun times will be had by all in the kitchen.

Please take the time to read all the other recipes below.  Check back next Thursday for another tasty treat!