Peanut, Butter, and Jelly LInzertorte

School has not even started yet and the requests and the obligations are already starting.  I am not complaining.  I love to do and give.  I am the first to respond to the emails offering my services.  However, I am wondering where the time goes.  Didn't the kids just get out of school?  Didn't we just begin 12 weeks of lazy days, biking at the beach, basketball in the back yard and staying up late playing Apples to Apples and Bananagrams?  Oh, how I am going to miss these long, lazy days of summer.

It is now time to return to packing lunches, the morning rush, the dreaded homework, racing to all the after school, extracurricular activities and driving, driving and more driving.  

This past week was jam packed.  I think I spent almost everyday in the kitchen.  Between Labor Day BBQ's, hosting a Jewish New Year dinner for 25, catering a dinner party for 12 and prepping for back to school lunches, my "to do" list was miles long.  I somehow managed to survive. 

This torte was the last thing on my very long list.  Our school has a tradition of welcoming the teachers and the staff back to school with an appreciation lunch.  Nothing says "back to school" like Peanut, butter, and jelly" and this torte was may way of saying, I appreciate all that you do for our community and my children.

Peanut, Butter, and Jelly Linzertorte

adapted from Ready for Dessert

yield: 1 9" tart

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts

3/4 cups sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup ( 6 oz.) unsalted butter, cubed + chilled

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 1/4 cups jelly ( I used wild blueberry)

instructions:

• preheat oven to 350*.  butter the bottom of a 9" springform pan.

• in the bowl of a food processor, process the peanuts until chopped and ground.  add the

flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  pulse until well incorporated. 

• add the butter and pulse until it resembles coarse meal.

• add the egg and the egg yolk and process until the dough comes together.

• transfer two thirds of it to the prepared pan.  press the dough evenly into the bottom and about 

1 1/2 inches up the sides of the pan.  the dough is sticky.  use wet hands to help in this process.

• spread the jelly, evenly over crust.

• lightly flour a work surface.  pinch off pieces of the remaining dough and roll them into long ropes.

arrange the ropes on top of the jelly, spacing them an inch apart from one another, until you have gone

across one end of the dough.  arrange a second set of ropes on the tart, positioning them diagonally across

the first ones, to create a lattice top.  don't worry about this looking "pretty".

• bake until deep golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.  let cool completely.

• run a knife around the edges to help loosen it.

More Garbage Cookies

I got this very upsetting email yesterday afternoon from a friend of mine regarding her daughter.  When I called her, they were on their way home from a very long day at the hospital.  Her daughter has a kidney infection.  Anyone know how a 10 year old gets a kidney infection?

She did tell me that after a hellish day, her daughter was hungry and craving Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  I told her I was going to make her cookies with that particular candy in it!  I was told, she "smiled".

After returning from dinner last night, I chopped up a bunch of "crappy" goodies to make these cookies.  This particular batch has the following:

• mini reeses peanut butter cups
• dark chocolate chunks
• homemade marshmallows
• butterscotch chips
• rice krispies
• salted peanuts
• pretzel sticks

Should have added more chocolate.  However, by the time I returned from delivering the cookies, the half dozen that were cooling on my kitchen counter were gone!  I don't think anyone noticed the lack of chocolate.

This is a really fun way to make cookies (see original post, here).  Try it and use up all the stuff that is crowding your pantry!