Muddy Buddy Cookies (★ ★ ★ ★ ☆)

I’ve been a bad blogger mommy. 

(Yes, I’m a nurturer by nature and this blog is my baby.  And no, that’s not weird.)

Yesterday, I was stricken with a terrible disease.  I caught a case of the procrastinations. 

Gasp!

Actually, it’s something I’ve always dealt with, but I haven’t had an episode in so long that when it flared up again yesterday, I just didn’t know how to handle it. 

Granted, I was also nursing a pretty substantial migraine, but that had subsided by 10pm with the help of some Advil and cozy pajamies.  Sure, I could’ve gotten back to work, but by then I was so exhausted that all I wanted to do was watch Parenthood and bawl my eyes out. 

So I did.

And it was gooooood.

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I should really be writing these things at least by Tuesday night, but I thrive on pressure.  Every Wednesday night is like a thrilling cramming session.  Can I finish in an hour or will I be up till 2am like that one time I had absolutely nothing interesting to say? 

I know.  I know. I’m ca-RAy-Zay!

But today I let you down.  I know you just wake up every Thursday morning and think to yourselves, “Thursday’s are the worst.  It’s life’s last sick “ah ha” tease before the weekend finally comes to save me.  Well, at least I know I can read Nat’s blog.  That gets me through the day.  Makes me remember why I keep going on.”

I am a bad, bad person.  I’m devastated that I did that to any of you.

So here’s to faking myself out and pretending that my blog entries actually post on Wednesdays.

Just a side note. 

Today’s post is out-of-this-world delicious. 

Definitely worth the wait.  Promise. 

I am like a big kid. 

And frankly, I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of it.

I still get excited about going to Disneyland.  No, like, embarrassingly excited.  Like, Ride-Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-10-times excited.

I always bite the heads off of any cookie shaped like a living being before eating the rest.  If it’s a gingerbread man it’s even more methodical.  It goes: head, arm, leg, arm, leg.  Yes, I torture my holiday treats. 

I love eating way too much Kraft Mac and Cheese – from the blue box.  And now that I’m an “adult” I can eat a whole half of a box and my mom can’t stop me! 

I carry a teenybopper sized torch for Zac Efron and Justin Bieber.  Thank God, they grow older each year too so the creepiness factor doesn’t increase the older I get…it just stays the same!

I get giddy every time TSwift comes out with a new album, hanging out the dirty laundry of all of Hollywood’s hunks. Oh Jake, Jake, Jake.  She got you good this time.  Deciphering which song is about whom is to little girls what crosswords are to old people.

But you know what else floats my boat?  

Muddy Buddies.

Those peanut buttery...

                                      choc-o-chocolatey...

                                                                        cereal-y covered goodness.

Anytime I see them, I'm instantly taken back to my childhood.  My strongest memories?  That we hardly ever made them because the adults deemed them "too messy" and that even one small morsel would instantly send me into a state of ravenous hunger.  There was never enough. 

So when I saw recipes going around for a cookie version of these...

Well, they had me at "hello."

Only, I discovered some issues:

1) People were using either peanut butter cookie mix, from a package, or a recipe that called for flour.  
    Um, if we want legitimate peanut butter flavor, we definitely have to go flourless.

2) And none, get this, none called for Chex cereal.  I'm sorry, but isn't that like the main ingredient in 
     a Muddy Buddy?  I mean if we're talking ratios, Chex is pretty vital.

So I made them.  

And I made them right.  

And guess what?  They were fantastic.

Muddy Buddy Cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies with Chex Cereal

• 1 Cup of Peanut Butter
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 cup Rice Chex Cereal (or Wheat/Corn)
• Pinch of Salt for sprinkling

Coating

• 1 Cup Chocolate Chips
• 1/4 Cup of Butter
• Approx. 1 Cup Powdered Sugar

Preheat oven to 350F

Bake for 9 minutes

Makes approximately 32 small cookies

For the cookies:

1) In a large bowl mix together peanut butter, sugar, egg, baking soda and vanilla.  Beat until well 

    blended.  Mixture will be crumbly. 

*Tip: If you spray the measuring cup with olive oil/cooking spray before measuring anything really sticky or gooey...like, just for arguments sake, say, peanut butter...then you will find that most of it slides right out and clean up is a breeze.  That's what my measuring cup looked like right after plopping the PB out of it.  No spatula, no scraping.

2) Lightly crush the Chex cereal into the PB mixture.  I just used my hand.  Using a hand beater
    blend until well combined.

3) Carefully fashion small (think teaspoon sized) peanut butter balls and place about an inch apart on a
    greased baking sheet. Dough will be very crumbly so getting a tight wad of is a little
    laborious, but doable.  Also, remember to think small.  You are going to be dipping these and
    shaking them up in a bag.  I feel like "smaller" can take more abuse.

4) Press balls of dough lightly with a fork.  Cross and press again.  Sprinkle lightly with salt. Bake for 9
    minutes in the oven until cookies are slightly golden.

5) Let cookies cool thoroughly before proceeding.

For the coating:
6) Melt chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Start with 30 seconds and then stir. Heat
    in 15 second increments until smooth and melted.

7) Place cookies lightly, one at a time, into the bowl of chocolate. Using spoons to maneuver the cookie
    flip it over and coat any exposed areas.

8) Scrape as much excess chocolate off as you can. It's a messy process so don't freak out if it's not  
    perfect.

9) In a ziploc bag (quart or gallon size) add about a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.  Start loading up the
    bag with the chocolate coated cookies.  Fill the bag with as many cookies as will fit comfortably, but
    still have some room to move around.  Close bag and shake. Make sure each cookie is thoroughly
    coated in powdered sugar.  They will be easily manageable and not sticky if coated properly.  Add
    more powdered sugar to bag as needed.  Repeat until all cookies are finished.

10) Store any uneaten cookies (if there are any) in the fridge.

The Bestie begged me to make these again for her birthday.

Ya, that's not till next June.  Can we say clingy? 

That's how good they are. 

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And I've been meaning to post a picture of my super cool photo set up.  

So I present to you my homemade lightbox:
Bringing you awesome pictures from my counter.

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