Peanut Butter Fingers

A friend of ours here at the marina is in the Marines and evidently they have to pass a fitness test twice a year which includes a weigh-in. Much to his dismay, he's been enjoying the marina evening life a bit too much and had put on a few pounds that he now has to shed before the test. The discussion at the Friday night get together was centered largely around healthy food, something that is an ongoing discussion at our house in the city due to the food allergies of my grandkids. As I look at the recipes on this blog, though, not very many of them are healthy food choices, something which you'll have to pardon me for if you're a Marine, but the blog title is Cruising Comforts, and in this case, comforts is the word of choice. Comfort food is a large part of my life. My grandmother was an excellent cook as were both my mother and father. Food was always an integral part of our family gatherings, and was often provided when we were sick or sad. To  this day, I can smell certain foods and be transported right back to my dad's side at our 4th of July picnic where he would be fussing over his pecan pie. I know it's not the politically correct thing to do today, but cruising can be a stressful endeavor at times and as long as it's in moderation, comfort food is very welcome at that middle of the night watch in bad weather. So with that in mind, here is the recipe for my aunt's peanut butter fingers, a cookie that was a staple on the Christmas cookie tray at the family holiday celebrations. (Pardon a few blurry pictures - the wind has been gusting to 32 here in the slip and we're rocking a rolling. Little hard to get clear pictures that way)

Ingredients:


1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon soda
1 cup flour
1 cup quick oats
1 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 to 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar, egg, peanut butter, and vanilla. As I mentioned in another post, if you don't have an electric mixer, use a potato ricer/masher. It will mix in even the coldest butter. Here's a picture of it partially mixed. You can see how it cuts the butter up. I find that the flat kind with square holes in the face works better than the kind with the S-turn wire face.

Here's the way it should look after it's mixed well.

Measure out a cup of chocolate chips from a 10 or 12 ounce bag. Set aside. Stir in flour, salt, soda and oats and remaining chocolate chips.

Spread in a greased and floured 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Take care not to overcook.

Sprinkle reserved chocolate chips on top of hot dough and return to oven for 1 minute. Remove from oven and spread over top of hot dough evenly.

Combine powdered sugar and peanut butter until no lumps remain. Add milk a teaspoon at a time until you have a consistency that you can drizzle from a spoon, but not any thinner.

Drizzle over cookie mixture. Let cool and cut into 2- X 1-inch bars.

Got Milk?