Swirls And Chocolate Peanut Butter Tarts

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: June 8, 2023

Swirls And Chocolate Peanut Butter Tarts

The same laws of nature that cause the half and half to swish through my iced coffee preside over the universe, and hence the universe resides in a cup. The swishes and swirls, on a macro level, remind me of photos I’ve seen of nebulae, frozen moments of a frenetic, cosmic dance. They’re gossamer and ghostly and seem to encompass all that is mysterious, ephemeral, and otherworldly. I like the juxtaposition of the two ideas as I prepare my morning cup.

I’ve been enamored with culinary swirls lately, the ones that happen effortlessly through the process of mixing and folding and pouring. I’m not sure anything manmade can emulate the unintended complexity that such acts bloom into being, though I’m sure the masters at Pixar are certainly trying.

I especially love the streaks that occur when chocolate is folded into meringues.

And when peanut butter is folded into a chocolate tart.

Onto other topics. I’ve been nominated for a Saveur Best Food Blogs award in the Best Photography category! What an honor! And I’m really kind of flabbergasted. I mean, I’m sure that among the minimum requirements that must be met in order to be considered a food blog, consistency is one of them? Did I mention this news is weeks-old? But, cool beans anyway! Thank you to whoever nominated me!

Finally, because this IS a food blog, I’m going to leave you with the recipe for the chocolate peanut butter tarts shown above. I’ve made them four times in the last couple weeks—for two birthdays and twice just because—and think I’ve got the recipe down. While the original recipe is intended for a 9″ tart pan, individual tarts trump giant tarts, period. The crust to filling ratio is just about perfect, and they look damn cute too. The swirls are formed simply by dropping warmed-up peanut butter in teaspoonfuls onto the chocolate, then swirling them around with a skewer. There’s no way to mess up—nature will take care of all the intricacies.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER TARTS

Adapted from Chow Makes 4 3.5″-tarts

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 T granulated sugar
pinch salt
1/2 cup + 2 T all-purpose flour

For the filling:
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
2 T unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 T granulated sugar
pinch salt
2 to 3 T smooth peanut putter for swirling

Directions:

For the crust: In a small bowl, mix the butter, sugar, and salt. Add the flour and gently mix until just combined. Divide the dough into four equal pieces and press each piece evenly into 3.5″ tart pans, including up the sides. Trim the tops and place the tart pans in the fridge until firm, 15 – 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

When firm, remove the crusts from the fridge and prick evenly with a fork. Bake about 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the filling: While the crusts are cooling, melt the chocolate and butter in a double-broiler. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream, sugar, and salt until boiling, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 minute. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate and stir until evenly combined. Pour the chocolate mixture evenly into the tart pans and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Heat up the peanut butter (the microwave works best) so that it’s runny, about 20 seconds. Using a teaspoon, drop mounds of peanut butter onto the chocolate ganache. Use as much or as little as you want; you’ll have to experiment to discover your preferences. Using a skewer or a chopstick, gently swirl through peanut butter in swoops. Don’t overdo it or the pattern will dilute.

Let set for another hour or so until the tarts aren’t quite as jiggly. You can also refrigerate the tarts at this point, but they taste better at room temperature, so remove them from the fridge about an hour before serving.

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Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Recipes

Christiana George

Updated Date:
June 9, 2023

I can’t believe it’s almost Halloween. Time is flying by. We finally got around to putting up our spooky decorations for the kids and decorating our pumpkins. Hopefully, they will have as much fun as last year when the big day arrives. In the meantime, we are enjoying these Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies. They are chock full of Pumpkin Spice M&Ms, pumpkin puree, pretzels, and Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. They are decadently good.

I love chocolate and pretzels together, so why not add a little pumpkin and pumpkin spice to liven things up a bit.

It’s okay if you eat a few Pumpkin Spice M&Ms as you are mixing everything together. You deserve it.

Once they are baked, you will probably think to yourself that these are just about the ugliest cookies you have ever seen. And you would be right. Unfortunately, Pumpkin Spice M&M’s tend to bleed out their colors when baked. If you sit then on top, like I did for my Maple Pumpkin M&M Cookies, it’s not so bad. Once mixed into the cookie, they kind make a mess. Have no fear, because we are going to pretty these up with a heavenly dark chocolate glaze.

I kept the glaze on the thick side, more of a frosting to cover any M&Ms that lost color. I just poured it on with a spoon and spread it around a little.

Since the pretzels inside the cookies became soft during baking, I wanted to add more to the top for some crunch factor. I also sprinkled the glaze with a bit of sea salt before adding the pretzel bits.

Not only did the dark chocolate glaze cover the ugly parts, but it added a new level of decadence to the whole cookie. The cookies themselves were a soft, cake-like consistency and full of pumpkin spice flavor. The thick dark chocolate glaze made them richer and enhanced the chocolate flavors while the pretzel bits on the top added a little saltiness and crunch.

Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10-12 minutes

Yields: 36 Cookies

Keywords: bake dessert pumpkin pumpkin spice Pumpkin Spice M&Ms pretzels Halloween cookie American fall

Ingredients:

For the cookies

1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pretzel pieces
1 cup Pumpkin Spice M&Ms

For the glaze

2 cup powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
5-6 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoon vegetable shortening

Optional toppings

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 cup chopped pretzel pieces

Instructions

For the cookies

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a stand mixer, add pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Mix on low until well blended.

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, spice, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture while mixer is on low speed. Mix until smooth.

Next add in the pretzel pieces, mixing until full incorporated.

Then mix in the M&M’s by hand.

With a cookie scoop, place cookie dough mounds on a parchment lined or greased baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 10- 12 minutes at 350° F , or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry. ( I baked mine for 12 minutes.)

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack with some wax paper underneath. Then let them cool completely before adding the glaze.

For the glaze

In a small bowl whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa, milk, and vegetable shortening until smooth. You want the glaze to be on the thick side.

Using a spoon, pour a bit of the glaze over each cookie and spread it around a bit to cover any M&Ms that have lost their color.

Optional toppings

If you are adding sea salt and/or pretzel bits, add them before the glaze sets. (The glaze will not be completely hard, but will become thicker.) Just sprinkle a bit of sea salt on each cookie per preference and then sprinkle the pretzel bits.