Tag Archives: Peanut Butter

Nutella Crispy Treats

14 Sep

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“Rice Krispies Treats” as most of us know the gooey and delicious marshmallowy, rice cereal bars…are in fact, tasty. But maybe a little boring? I’m posting this to bring you to a happy, happy place where the rice cereal and mallow squares you thought you knew, get turned upside down with a major chocolate explosion.

This treat can be made with any brand of chocolate rice cereal, but the key to making these addicting and wonderful is the combination of peanut butter and Nutella. OH MY. These will make you and everyone who has one, swoon.

How am I able to say this to you with confidence?

I’ve made these twice, and they’ve disappeared BOTH times within less than 24 hours. The latest occasion was Friday evening and when I returned home after a get-together with girlfriends with 4 remaining in the pan, my husband took the pan from me and 3 disappeared in the next 23 minutes. We compromised and split the last one. (Marriage is about compromise, right?!)

These take about 15 minutes to make (no joke kids, 15 minutes) and all you need is a stove top OR, a microwave would work in a pinch. I modified the recipe from Handle the Heat and I think you’ll love it!

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 6  (or so) cups of chocolate rice cereal (any brand you want)
  • 1/2 cup Nutella (mounded scoop)*
  • 1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter (mounded scoop)*
  • 1 bag of mini marshmallows (10 oz)
  • 2 Tbsp cocoa powder

* I originally stated I added about 3/4 c. of Nutella and PB, but after remaking this recently, this was too much (I had eye-balled it and apparently guessed a bit high the first time I posted this) and resulted in treats that weren’t quite marshmallow-y enough to stick together. So instead, just mound out your scoop of both Nutella and PB, but not quite enough to do 3/4 c.

How to Make:

Alrighty people, here we go. First things first, you need a saucepan if you are going the stove top route. If you have only a microwave, then grab a medium-sized microwaveable bowl. The butter goes into your warming device of choice and melt that baby down.

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Now time to add in the good stuff. Add in your entire bag of mallows…

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…the Nutella…

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…and the peanut butter.

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You want everything to melt down smoothly. The only remaining lumps should be from the peanuts in the crunchy peanut butter.

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Once it’s all thoroughly melted and mixed, add in the 2 Tbsp of cocoa powder and stir that in.

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This extra bit of chocolate is what is going to make your bars GOOD. Not: good. But: GOOD. You feel me?!

Grab a large bowl (bigger is better as this part is a bit messy) and pour in the chocolate rice cereal of choice and then pour your mallow/chocolate liquid over the top.

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Spatulas work well for the next task which is to mix all of the cereal into the mallow/chocolate. Be patient, it takes a bit to get everything all worked in together. Once you have a big wonderful mass of chocolate goodness, you’re ready for the next step.

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Spray a pan with Pam or another similar butter/oil spray and then plop everything in. Use your fingers or the spatula to press everything into the corners and smooth out the bars. Let ’em cool for about 10-15 minutes, which will harden things up enough to cut them.

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Divide these into big OR small bars, but regardless, know that folks will still come and pick from the pan and nibble continuously until they’re all gone. I think it’s the peanut butter, but these are just plain addicting and having one is near impossible.

Hope you make these for your next ‘quick and easy dessert’ occasion!

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Oatmeal Chocolate No-Bake Cookies

15 Apr

Before I jump into this post about cookies that will knock your socks off…wanted to hint that we’re getting VERY close to another giveaway post. I’ll provide all of the details in my 60th post so everyone is aware of what’s IN said giveaway of treats and what level of excitement they should have (aka high excitement or HIGH EXCITEMENT). Being eligible to win the giveaway box o’ treats is super simple, you just need to be a follower of the blog. That means, you clicked the button in the upper right of the homepage to “follow”, confirmed you’re “following” via the email notification you received and now get lovely emails each time I post. I think it would be great fun to have two winners this time around, so your chances to win are even better than last time!

So if you’re not already a follower of the blog but you enjoy getting baked goods in the mail and enjoy the occasional blog post from me, now is time to make things official.

More details to come in my next post!

Enough with giveaways, let’s get to the baked goods…

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Ok, so I’m on this no-bake treats kick. Not sure where that came from but no complaints as I’ve discovered a plethora of tasty and SUPER easy recipes to share with you all that you can make in a snap. This particular awesome recipe is one that I think most everyone has had at some point. You may have had one at a past potluck, your 3rd grade classmate’s birthday treat, your coworker brought them in as they’re expecting a baby, I don’t know. (I had my first in Girl Scouts in Elementary School and they were called “monkey poop”…how appetizing)

Regardless, I bet some $ that you’ve had some form of this cookie before and now you shall know how to make it.

This recipe is from my soon-to-be Mother in Law (81 days to go until that’s official…not counting down or anything…) and I cannot articulate to you more clearly than to say that these are GOOD and SO addicting. I had coworkers who ate >5 because once they had their first, they couldn’t stop.

This is your forewarning. You can’t have just one. I don’t know if it’s physically possible. (Nor, do I think it’s that fun to have one and be done. C’mon!) What is it about oatmeal, chocolate and peanut butter that is so hard to resist?! As you recall with my other recent post on a very similar yet very different recipe (no coconut or additional nuts/dried fruit additions in these cookies) for no-bake bars, those are also hard to stop consuming. Ah well, we only live once right?!

So, hold on to your socks as we go through the super simple process of making one of the greatest cookies to grace our world.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 lb butter (aka 1 stick)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 3/4 – 2 1/2 cups of oats (you’ll need to eyeball it to see if it needs more or less oats…ready below to learn more)

How to Make:

This recipe starts off with the first four ingredients being combined in a medium saucepan over medium heat. So in goes the sugar…

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…cocoa powder (thought I’m sure you’re more neat than I was)…

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…butter…(I recommend slicing the butter into smaller chunks to aid in the melting process)…

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…and milk. Bring this mixture to a boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. You don’t want that sugar to burn!

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Once your 3 minutes are up, take off the heat and add in the peanut butter. Crunchy PB is the best as it gives the cookie not only a little crunch but also texture. Highly recommend, friends. (I failed to photography the PB going in…fail…but it’s in there!)

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After the PB comes the vanilla. Stir everything up to incorporate fully.

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Now, the oatmeal. Start off with 1 1/2 cups of oats and then add more, up to 2 cups, to reach the consistency you’re looking for. If the mixture seems too soupy, add more oats. Keep adding until the mixture doesn’t seem to be too soupy. Check out the pictures below if you’re uncertain what level of soupiness is okay and what means more oats.

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Mix everything really well before you begin scooping!

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I have found a new use for my ice cream scoop…perhaps I’m late the game everyone was already playing…but the ice cream scoop is perfect for grabbing cookie batter. PERFECT I tell you! However, before you begin your scooping, lay out wax paper on your counter-top.

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Now, scoop each cookie and plop on to the wax paper to harden. Be sure to leave space between each cookie! This will harden up really fast and are actually insanely delicious when they’re still somewhat moist and falling apart. So if you test one out too soon, it won’t be bad. I promise.

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Once these set (I checked mine after 30 minutes and they were all hard), you can store in Tupperware or feed to hungry humans nearby!

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Enjoy friends!!

And stay tuned for giveaway box details in the next post!!

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Oatmeal Chocolate No-Bake Bars

5 Apr

Okay my friends, are you looking for a sweet treat (for a Final Four party perhaps?) that doesn’t take you long to pull together and doesn’t completely throw you off of your “eating-healthy” plan? Something sweet enough to truly make you want to have two but won’t make you feel guilty about eating “bad”?

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You have found the perfect treat!! Plus, these are truly DELICIOUS! There’s a subtle coconut flavor (which can be replaced if you so choose…so sad for you if so) , peanut-buttery goodness and the typical amazing concoction of oatmeal and chocolate to contend with. You cannot NOT like these. I challenge you!

Found these bad boys on Pinterest and featured on the Money Saving Mom blog and wanted to give them a try. I’ve had something similar (which will be shared in a future blog post) from my future mother-in-law – she makes the BEST no-bake oatmeal chocolate cookies. These are similar but slightly different with a coconut spin and are in bar form. You can also customize these guys to be however you’d like with dried fruit and nuts. And if you’re not into coconut, you can leave that out!

And I don’t know why I keep referring to them as ‘guys’, apparently these bars are male?!? Ha anyways, I digress…

Ingredients:

  • 1 c. peanut butter
  • 1/2 c. honey
  • 1/2 c. coconut oil
  • 2 c. old fashioned oats
  • 1 c. shredded coconut (if you’re anti-coconut, I swear this consistency isn’t too weird…my anti-coconut fiance loved it!)
  • 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (insert in here any nut you choose OR dried fruit)
  • 1 1/4 c. dark chocolate chips
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

How to Make:

Prepare yourself for the easiest bar making on the planet! No need for an oven, you just need a stove top. That’s it!

First, you’re going to melt together the first three ingredients. The cup of peanut butter…

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…the 1/2 cup of honey…

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…the 1/2 cup of coconut oil (butter works too if you don’t have coconut oil on hand).

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Melt all of the ingredients together but stirring over medium to low heat. Once thoroughly warmed and mixed, turn down to low and grab another bowl for mixing the remaining ingredients.

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Measure out 2 cups of oats…

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…a cup of shredded coconut (or another dried fruit if you’re REALLY anti-coconut)…

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…the 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (or another chopped nut of choice)…

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…the 1 and 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips…a few may escape and end up consumed, it happens…

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…and the teaspoon of vanilla extract.

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Mix all of these dry ingredients up and then slowly pour in your melted warm ingredients on top. Stir, stir, stir! You need to thoroughly coat everything!

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Then, pour into a greased 9×13 baking pan (higher sides would be better) and spread as evenly as you can on the bottom.

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Then pop this into the fridge until it hardens! Ours was ready to go in about an hour or so, but just keep checking in on it to see if it’s ready to go! Then, slice these up with a sharp knife and serve ’em up to your favorite people…or if you desire after having one, hoard them for yourself 😉

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Regardless, these are delicious, addicting and you really can’t feel too terribly bad about having a treat or two of these.

Enjoy!!

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PB&J Potato Chip Thumbprint Cookies

14 Apr

Were you the cool kid who put potato chips on your peanut butter and jelly sandwich? I bet you were! There’s just something great about the mix of the sweet jam and the salty chips…not to mention a nice, satisfying crunch every bite would create.

However, if you’re thinking – what the heck!? Chips and PB&J? Who ARE you?! I hope you take second to gather yourself, and then read on. These are cookies that bring the best of the sweet and salty worlds together and I sincerely believe you’ll like them. I made them over Easter and my sample group of friends and family (who are extremely blunt) told me they were very tasty. I even doubled checked with a few to be sure they weren’t ‘just being nice’. I wouldn’t dare blog about a recipe unless it would be delicious for YOU to try!

When the results were in – these were a winner. They’re not hard to make, but are more fun when you have sous chefs or visitors to chat with while making. You’ll see what I mean.

This is a recipe from a blog I LOVE to read – Spoon Fork Bacon. They have it all with great pictures, tasty recipes and my kind of humor.

Ok – lets get to the cookies:

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (I don’t think crunchy would work as well for baking, but if you’re a rebel, give it a go!)
  • 1 egg white, lightly beaten
  • 2 cups potato chips, crushed (pop the chips into a Ziplic and pound them onto the counter top or roll on top of them with a rolling pin. Or find other demolition possibilities.)
  • ½ cup jam of your choice (I used a classic [in my opinion] – strawberry. Go with your favorite PB&J jam flavor and I’m sure it’ll be an excellent choice.)

How to Make:

Preheat your oven to 375. Don’t forget this step! (We all know I tend to do that. Oopie.)

Grab your hand mixer (if you’re a sad person like me) or a stand mixer (if you’re one of THOSE people…yes, yes we know I want to BE one of THOSE people…) and cream your butter. I highly recommend you don’t attempt to cream together very cold butter. That would be a rookie mistake right?!? Who does that?! I’m sure you see where this is going…don’t be like me. Work with warm, room temp butter or if needed, pop it into the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up. Butter creams so much better when it’s not cold. (Your butter should not be clumpy like my cold butter in the pic below. I did microwave it a bit after this pic and it actually ‘creamed’ instead of ‘clumped’ after that.)

Add in both of your sugars and cream those in with the butter (I was a space cadet and just added the white sugar…as you’ll see in the pictures. Don’t worry, I did eventually come to my senses and add in the brown sugar. But avoid this moment by just adding in both at the right moment.)  This will take you approximately 3 minutes to cream everything together.

Add in the 1 whole egg (save the 1 egg white for later) and vanilla. Keep up the mixing so these two new ingredients are thoroughly mixed in there.

Grab yourself another bowl and “sift together” (Those are the words of gals on Spoon Fork Bacon. I don’t sift due to lack of sifter and just mixed in all ingredients like normal. If you want authentic cookies as SFB describes…sift your little heart out.) your flour, baking soda and salt.

Once it’s all mixed together well – add it  into your other ingredients and stir it all up to combine, just right. At this point add the PB and make sure it’s thoroughly mixed in. You don’t want any cookies to not have the proper PB taste…so mix well people!

Now, the fun part! Find a little bowl for your egg white – this will be station #2. Put your crushed chips out on a cutting board or a big plate – this will be station #3. Spray your cookie sheet with some Pam and lay it nearby – this will be station #4. Ready?

Roll your dough into a ball (station #1)…

…drop into the egg white (station #2)… [ignore the terrible pic…I’m posting just to show what station #2 looks like]

…then pull it out and roll it in potato chips (station #3) … (the below pic is like ‘Where’s Waldo’ except it’s ‘Where’s the Cookie’?)

then place it on your baking sheet (station #4). Rinse, repeat. Oh wait, that’s something else. You know what I mean…repeat until you have 12-15 balls on your baking sheet. Make sure they’re all evenly spaced (laying them in a 3×4 or 3×5 pattern works best I think).

Now for the finishing touch – find your pinkie finger…the left one…or the right one…or your Mom’s…doesn’t matter. Gently press the pinkie into the center of each cookie ball. Now, they’re oven ready!

Put them in the oven for 12-15 minutes. With the egg white coating, you’ll know they’re done when they start to get that golden hue on top. When I pulled out my first batch, the little pinkie prints hadn’t remained as imprinted as I would have liked, so I just went through and gently pressed each one back down again. No fear if this happens to you too!

Place the cookies on a cooling rack or cutting board until they’re cooled completely.

Once they have, NOW is the time for the jam! Fill each cookie with a small amount of jam, just enough to fill up the pinkie indent. Let them sit with their jam filled tops for about an hour, so they can ‘set’ as best as they can. We covered them in Saran wrap (as these were made the night before Easter) and the jam sticks just a bit to the top of the  plastic. But make sure to leave them out for about an hour before wrapping – that should help.

Fill up a glass of milk…grab a cookie (or two!) and enjoy the goodness of sweet/salty heaven. 🙂

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