I'll Never Tell.

The finale of our New Year's Day feast was my pecan pie. My super-secret recipe that I have spent years perfecting--and without intending to blow steam up my own skirt, it is perfect. My pecan pie is equal parts buttery, sweet, savory and creamy. It is the one party trick I have, and no, I'll never tell.

In lieu of giving away classified information, I will give you another crowd-pleaser: peanut butter cookies, dressed up two ways. My special recipe makes them super light and fluffy and not at all your typical peanut butter cookie.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and peanut butter till creamy. Add brown sugar & granulated sugar and mix thoroughly. Beat in egg, milk and salt. In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Add a little of the flour mixture at a time to the wet ingredients. It is easiest to do this with a little elbow grease and a spoon. When all the ingredients are combined the dough will look a little dry, but it should hold together when you roll it into small balls with your hands.

Chill dough for a half hour while your oven preheats to 350 degrees. When your dough is chilled, roll spoonfuls into 1 1/2 inch rounds and place on a baking sheet. For peanut butter and jelly cookies, use your thumb to create an impression in the dough and fill with a dollop of your favorite jelly. For peanut butter kiss cookies, let the peanut butter cookies bake for 8 minutes and then remove from the oven. Carefully press unwrapped Hershey kisses into the center of each cookie and then place back in oven and cook for an additional two minutes. For plain (but delicious!) peanut butter cookies, using the tines of a fork, press a cross into each dough ball and bake for 10 minutes.

Disclaimer: I may be the worst food photographer ever...no really, ever.

Peanut Butter And Jelly Cupcakes

My friend Eryn asked for peanut butter and jelly cake for her birthday, but she is in New York and I am in Chicago so the best I could do was bake PB&J cupcakes and send her pictures. I took these to a potluck last and they got pretty good reviews.

This recipe is from Tyler Florence on the Food network website, a lot of the reviews were 5-star but a few people there said their cupcakes came out awfully, so I was a bit hesitant to bake them for a party. I didn't bake them as instructed, but instead added the milk and flour alternating 1/3 of each at a time (which is what most cake recipes instruct you to do), and so I have given you my version below instead of the original instructions. I bet they lead to really dry, dense cake. The cake itself is probably the most basic cake I have ever eaten. It's somewhere between sponge cake and yellow cake. It's the cupcake version of white bread, for sure, and perfect for the PB&J sandwich effect.

I wonder what would happen if the jelly were put by teaspoonfuls into the cupcakes themselves before baking... If anyone wants to try that, let me know how it works out. You can use any flavor of jelly, but be sure not to use anything with big chunks in it or you won't be able to squeeze it into the cupcakes.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

White Bread Cupcakes
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs plus 2 yolks
4 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 to 2 cups grape jelly

Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a cupcake pan with cups and spray them with nonstick spray. Put at least half a jar of grape jelly into an icing bag with the widest-holed tip you have, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, yolks, and vanilla. Reduce the speed to low and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Pour in 1/3 of the milk and beat in, then beat in 1/3 of the flour. Repeat with remaining milk and flour, then spoon into cupcake cups. Cups should be about 2/3 to 3/4 full.

Bake until the cupcakes have grown domes and are lightly golden around the edges, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove to cooling racks. While they're baking and cooling, make the icing and chop your peanuts.

When the cupcakes are completely cool, insert a butter knife 1" deep into the middle and twist. Insert the icing tip of the grape jelly icing bag into the hole and squeeze out about 1 tsp worth. Cover with icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts.

Peanut Butter Icing:
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 8-oz bar of cream cheese, at room temperature
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk

In a medium bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, cream cheese, salt and vanilla until very smooth and light. Mix in the confectioners' sugar half at a time, and add milk. Continue to beat for a few minutes to get it nice and whipped and fluffy.