Tales of an Overtime Cook

I remember my first six figure sale so vividly. I remember the name of the company, the amount of the order, the day of the week the order was finalized, and even what the purchase order looked like. But what I remember most of all about that order was the sheer sense of awes that I felt at such a sum of money. I’m a kid. 500 bucks is still a lot of money to me. But $122k? It might as well have been monopoly money.

That was almost a year ago. In the past year I’ve worked with some big clients and have gotten used to dealing with large sums of money. Ten thousand dollar sales have become the 100 dollar sales of the past. You can therefore imagine how puzzled my coworkers were, one day, to hear me shriek, “ohmygosh it’s fifty thousand dollars!”

To understand, let me explain what my company sells. We sell electronics, all kinds. We sell the full range from low end consumer-grade electronics such as cheap point and shoot cameras, netbooks, and mp3 players all the way to super professional-grade electronics such as those used in TV studios. Some manufacturers, such as Sony, make the full range.

So my customer sent me an email asking for a quote on a Sony product. I looked at the part number and thought I recognized it as an item in the $100 retail price range. I typed it into my system and that’s when I exclaimed “ohmygosh it’s fifty thousand dollars!” The retail price on this (professional studio unit) was over fifty thousand dollars.

There’s a special kind of shock that I experienced at that moment. A good shock, but a definite shock, nonetheless. Any sale, even “just” $100 is good, but there’s no comparison here.

The best analogy I have for this kind of shock is this cookie. Looks regular, right?

A chocolate cookie is definitely a nice thing. But even a very good chocolate cookie is “just” a chocolate cookie. We’ve all had those.

I originally saw this recipe on Recipe Girl, and just from the look of it, I knew it was going to be one of the best cookies I had ever made. Bite into this seemingly ordinary chocolate cookie, and inside is where you find the awesomeness, the source of that wondrous shock. Just look inside:

Peanut butter. Glorious, creamy, absolutely delightful peanut butter. Do yourself a favor. Make these cookies. Today.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

Filling:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

granulated sugar, for rolling

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Grease or line cookie sheets.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the margarine/butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter and beat until well incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and the egg. Beat until well blended.

Slowly pour the dry ingredients into the butter/ sugar mixture. Blend just until a dough is formed.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix together the peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar, (use your hands if necessary) stir until a dough forms.

Using a small cookie scoop, measure out a ball of dough. Make an indentation in the center, and insert a small ball of the peanut butter filling mixture. Pinch the chocolate dough around the filling to seal the cookie. Roll into a ball, then roll in the sugar to coat. Flatten the ball slightly between your palms, or with a glass, then place on cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on tray for a couple of minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Yields: 2-2 1/1 dozen large cookies

Note: the original recipe called for a ton more peanut butter dough, but I had lots leftover, so I reduced the amount. If you need more just mix peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar in equal proportions.

Enjoy!

(Recipe from Recipe Girl, adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, which I bought, solely because I was so amazed at these cookies. Believe me, I did not regret that.)