PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES From Betty Crocker

These come from Betty Crocker. They're made with equal parts butter and shortening. The shortening makes these a bit crumbly and I don't like that. They taste very good, though. I flattened my dough balls with the bottom of a measuring cup before baking and didn't do the crosshatch design with the tines of a fork. The cookies in my photo are overbaked by 15 seconds. I'd given them 8 minutes but they're too crispy and flaky. The rest of the batches took just 7:45 at 375 degrees. I'm not sure I'd make these again though they are a good alternative if you don't have the full amount of butter you need but you do have shortening. I do absolutely love the crackle design on top.

I grade these a B.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES by Hershey's

This recipe comes from Hershey's. I made half the recipe in an 8" pan that I lined with foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. They baked in 26 minutes. I don't recommend you use a 9" pan like they say you can because they'll be too thin. These are slightly bitter from too much cocoa powder and are fudgy. I prefer a cake-like brownie so for those reasons I won't make these again. They're very moist which is really the only good thing I can say about these. I also tripled the salt to 3/8 teaspoon for half the recipe. I didn't make frosting topped with chocolate chips so mine aren't triple chocolate after all.

I grade these a B.

CHEWY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES From Baker By Nature

This recipe's from Baker By Nature. I made half and got 34 1 T./1.5" dough balls. The dough is very soft and needs to be refrigerated at least an hour before scooping out with scoop else it will stick to the scoop. Mine baked for exactly 8 minutes and the edges got too brown and crisp so the rest baked for about 7.5 minutes. They taste very ordinary and need more salt. They have a dark, greasy look but they aren't greasy. I wouldn't make these again.

I grade these a B.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE from Ina Garten

This recipe comes from Ina herself at her site Barefoot Contessa. I made half the recipe, which yielded one 9"x5" 2 qt. loaf, and it baked in 42 minutes. I made a thick vanilla glaze for it. I omitted the coffee granules. I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of full size ones. It's incredibly moist with an ultra-fine crumb. The only negative is that it tastes very buttery, which I don't care for. Flavorwise this reminds me of most homemade brownies that I've made with all butter.

I grade this a B and I wouldn't make it again because of the strong butter flavor.