Chocolaty Peanut Butter YumYum Cookies

Today, I'm guest posting on Glued to My Crafts. Here's what I wrote!

About a week ago I was craving chocolate and peanut butter, which is probably one of the best combinations of all time, hands down. Plus I was in the mood to make cookies. A couple hours later I had some Chocolaty Peanut Butter YumYum Cookies. 

I never knew that I could put so much peanut butter and chocolate into one cookie! They were so delicious. Here's how to make them: 

1. Gather all of your ingredients. 

- 2 1/2 cups flour

- 1 tsp baking soda

-1/2 tsp salt

- 3/4 cup peanut butter

- 1/2 cup butter, softened

- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar

- 1/4 cup white sugar

- 2 eggs

- 2 tbsp milk

- 2 tbsp corn syrup

- 2 tsp vanilla

- 1 cup peanut butter chips

- 1 cup chocolate chips

- 1/2 cup Reese's Pieces

2. Preheat your oven to 350º F.

3. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Then set off to the side.

3. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and white sugar together until it is creamy and smooth. If you have a Mixmaster, I would suggest using that to combine these ingredients. If you don't, find a nice large bowl so that you don't splatter everywhere. 

4. Beat eggs into the creamy mixture one at a time. 

5. Add milk, corn syrup, and vanilla to the mixture. Beat on high for about 2-3 minutes to ensure that the dough is well mixed. 

6. Take the medium size bowl you have with the flour mixture and slowly add in the flour. I added about 1 cup at a time and waited for that to be fully mixed before adding more. This is where the Mixmaster comes in handy because you can let it mix while you have two free hands to add in the flour. 

7. Fold in the peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and Reese's Pieces. 

8. Place cookies onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I would suggest making the cookies into balls that are about 2 tbsp and then flattening them a little bit. (The first batch I made were about 3 tbsp, which were a little too big.)

9. Place into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges of cookies are slightly golden brown.

10. Allow cookies to cool down for a few minutes before taking them off the cookie sheet. I suggest putting the cookies in an air tight sealed container so that they will stay soft. Also, tear a couple of pieces of bread apart and place in the container as well (this will hopefully ensure freshness and keep the cookies nice and soft). 

11. Enjoy! 

The recipe is so easy and everyone will love them! Below is the recipe on a printable PDF recipe card. It can be printed on 4x6” index cards or you can print it on regular paper and then cut out the recipe card.

My First Giveaway!

Hey! Hey you! Yeah you! I'm doing my first giveaway every over at Glued to My Crafts! I'm so super excited. I'm giving away a handmade pink imitation pearl bracelet.

 Here's all the other great items you can win as well! Please take the time to enter! All entries must be received by February 27th at 11:59 PM EST.

Feel Good Package (Donated by Glued To My Crafts)-Nivea "A Kiss of Vitamin Swirl" Lip Care item; Bath & Body Works "Moonlight Path" Travel Size Lotion; Ulta Beauty Smoothie "Yum Yum Yumberry" Travel Size body wash. -All are brand new/never used.

Mustard Color Crochet Knotted Ear Warmer Headband (Donated by Tutus & Tea Parties) *Note picture is just an example of what it will look like. Item will be mustard colored, not blue.

5 Rolls of Freckled Fawn Washi Tape-(Donated by Jen Wright Designs)

Ad Space from Jo My Gosh!-200 x 100 The Letter Spot. Your ad will be featured on the right-hand side of Jo, My Gosh! for 30 days. In addition, you will receive social media (Twitter, Facebook, and/or Pinterest) shout-outs. You'll also be featured in a monthly sponsor spotlight.

Handmade Bracelet (Donated by It's Just Me) Wire wrapped bracelet with imitation pearls. It's 8 1/2 inches long and not adjustable. 

Entry-Form

GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS: Giveaway is open to US residents ages 18 and over ONLY. Contest will end February 27th at 11:59pm EST. By entering, you give us the right to use your name and likeness. Number of entries received on entry form determines the odds of winning. Only one winner will be selected to win all the prizes listed above. All liabilities and responsibilities with product is directly responsible by each donor. Winner will be drawn by giveawaytools.com from all verified entries. Winner will be contacted by email provided and announced on this page & twitter at the end of the contest. Entrant is responsible for the email address they provide. Please make sure your email address is correct! Glued To My Crafts is not responsible for lost or misdirected emails. Winner has 48 hours to respond or prize will be redrawn.  All prizes will be awarded. No prize substitutions allowed. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook and we hereby release Facebook of any liability. Information is provided to Glued To My Crafts, not to Facebook and your information is never sold or shared. Facebook is not a sponsor of this giveaway. Protected tweets do not count as an entry method for tweeting. Tweets must come from a public account. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.

My Girl-Crush

{via}

I may have a slight obsession with Zooey Deschanel. Why?

#1 She's gorgeous. She's got the prettiest eyes ever. I want them! And I love her hair. 

{via}
#2 She's so quirky and looks cute doing it. 

1//2//3

#3 She has the cutest style. 

{via}

#4 She's the "she" in She & Him. 

#5 She's a great actress.

1//2//3

Basically, if I could be someone else for a day, I'd be Zooey Deschanel. 

Taking Care of Your Piercing

I've never had a lot of piercings. I got my ears pierced when I was about 10 years old. All I really remember about the experience was that I cried a lot and I never wanted to do it again. When I was a senior in high school, I got a second set of holes above the ones I already had. I really liked them, but it took a year for them to stop hurting. It's not like they would hurt all the time, it would just hurt occasionally and I never changed them for fear that they would close up. Then in college, I decided to get my cartilage pierced. I loved how it looked, but it hurt. I couldn't sleep on that side and my ear would get red. Again, it wasn't all the time but it would act up occasionally. Plus, when I got my hair done, I was always afraid it would get caught on the brush. There was one time this happened right after I got it pierced and let me tell you... I'm cringing right now just thinking about it. I eventually decided to take that one out because it was bothering me so much. I totally regret it! I think it is such a cute piercing. 

{via}

I'd have to say the "upper" ear piercing is my favorite kind of piercing. Especially this one. 

{via}

But how can I have these without worrying about it getting infected and then having to take it out anyway?

I've come up with some tips to care for/maintain ear piercings (and possibly other piercings as well) so that you can enjoy them without worrying about the pain that comes with them. 

1. Choose the side you sleep on the least. I never thought this would make that much of a difference. I never had a problem with my other piercings, so why would it matter now? It does. Before you get your piercing, pay attention to which side you are most comfortable on while you sleep. This way you'll know what side to NOT get pierced.

2. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. I cannot enforce this enough. The person that does your piercing will give you some sort of cleaning solution and tell you that you must use it. DON'T IGNORE THEM. I always was like, "Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'll clean them at some point." My suggestion is that you clean them twice a day, if possible. Once when you wake up and then again before you go to sleep. Don't be afraid to get in there either. I know it hurts, but trust me. It will hurt 10x longer if you don't clean it now. If you run out of solution, you can use a rubbing alcohol instead. 

{via}

This is a great idea I found. Put the ear cleaning solution in a spray bottle, so then you can just spray the solution right onto your piercing. This will cause the liquid to go behind the earring so it will get to the site PLUS it will be less painful. 

3. Wash your hands before touching your earring. This means before cleaning and anytime after. There are so many germs on your hands and you do not want those to get into your piercing. I know it's tempting to twist the earring while your day dreaming, but if you absolutely must, wash your hands before you do!

{via}

4. Clean your earrings after you get out of the shower. There is a high chance that a lot of the soaps you used are caught behind your earring, which may cause infection. Prevent this by cleaning right after the shower. You may even want to leave this step until after you are finished getting ready. That way, if you use hairspray, you can clean that off your piercing as well. 

5. Keep your bed sheets clean! There is a lot of oils that come from your hair and face that get onto your pillow. After a period of time, these oils build up on your pillow and can cause your piercing to get infected. Try to change your pillow cases once a week if you can. If not, at least change them every other week. This is not only good for your piercing, but for your skin as well. 

6. If you have pain, take something for it! I'm not a doctor, so I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't take. I only suggest that an over the counter pain killer can help with the pain you may experience after getting your piercing. 

7. Follow the instructions for when you can change your piercing. You just got this new piercing and you want to try some different earrings. I get it. But wait until the specific amount of time has passed. There are so many different kinds of earrings out there and the material they are made of can lead to irritation and infection. The earring that is used for the piercing is probably allergy free and gentle on the site, which will help prevent infection. To be safe, keep the earring in for the suggested amount of time before trying to change it. 

If you try to follow these instructions, you should be able to enjoy your piercing without worrying about pain or infection. It's important to remember that your body needs time to heal the piercing, just like if you would get a cut on your hand. Give your body the time to heal it and help the process along by taking proper care of the piercing.

*I am not an expert on this topic. I only have provided some common ways to properly care for the piercing and there is no guarantee that these will work. If you experience any major problems, please contact the place that did the actually piercing.