peanut butter bars

1000000000 times better than a reeses cup. with only a few ingredients and the satisfying taste of being home made 🙂

i am literally about to change your life.

What You NEED for 8 bars:

1/3-1/2 c creamy peanut butter

8 graham crackers

2/3 stick-1 full stick of melted butter (yes.)

1/3 c powdered sugar

1 cup milk or semi sweet chocolate chips (or 2 cups if you like a higher chocolate to peanut butter ratio, i like more pb than chocolate, personally)

 

How its Done:

refrigerate a cookie sheet or brownie pan while you get all your ingredients together.

in a blender or food processor, process the graham crackers until they are fine crumbs.

add in the butter and powdered sugar, blend until all combined and moist.

transfer to the cooled brownie pan and mix in the peanut butter until its all combined. spread evenly in a flat layer, you can make the bars as thick or thin as you’d like, i like them about 1/2 inch thick overall. dont worry, the mixture is going to seem liquidy but as it cools it will harden up to become a sturdier consistency.

in this picture you can see my mixture only takes up half the pan, because that was 8 bars and if i made a full 16 i would eat a full 16 so…yeah.

refrigerate for 30 minutes.

once the peanut butter mixture is hardened, melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave

spread the chocolate over the peanut butter layer. i like a 2:1 ratio peanut butter to chocolate.

put in the fridge for 30 minutes or until the chocolate is cooled and firmed. slice into bars. then you can eat them or if you are saving them for later, put them back in the fridge for another 30 minutes before taking them out and moving the slices to a container. THATS IT. seriously. no baking. no nothing. its easy, the actual work takes 5 minutes. and i promise these are INCREDIBLE.

 

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strawberry short cake napoleons with chocolate raspberry sauce

i dont know what to call this. while Tater and I were on a run this morning my brain developed this dish. (don’t get me started on the irony of conceiving this dish while exercising–i dont want to talk about it) it was DELICIOUS. and pretty!! and easy!! ayoo let the games begin!

Whatcha Need for 8 Cakes:

DO NOT CRITICIZE MY BOX MIX USAGE–I”M NOT A BAKER ( 😦 )

1/2 box of white cake mix (in regard to preparing half a box: just divide the wet ingredients requited by the box in half and then add that to half of the prepared cake mix.) OR JUST MAKE YOUR OWN CAKE, YOU PASTRY PRODIGY.

approx 10 large strawberries thinly sliced (use a mandolin if ya got one)

approx 12 fresh raspberries +a few more for garnish

1 pint of heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2  heaping T granulated sugar

For the Raspberry Chocolate Sauce:

you can either use raspberry preserves or you can make your own raspberry syrup by melting down frozen raspberries and granulated sugar in a sauce pot over medium heat until thick and syrupy. or just use the raspberry preserves.

3 handfuls semi sweet chocolate chips

 

Execution:

bake 12 cupcakes according to the box directions.

once the cakes are finished cooking, let cool while making the whipped cream and sauce.

in a blender or in a stand mixer , combine the vanilla, sugar and whipping cream. whip until thickened..until its whipped cream.

in a small sauce pot melt down the sugar and frozen raspberries or just heat the raspberry preserves.

once syrupy, remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until fully melted.

now that the cakes are cooled, cut them in half horizontally. lay down one half on the plate. top with slices of strawberries and 3 whole raspberries and a dollop of whipped cream. add the top half of the cake. (you can stop at this point or make it the empire state building of desserts-like i did) add on another layer of strawberries, raspberries and another layer of whipped cream. add on a third slice of cupcake to the top. top with whipped cream and pour the raspberry chocolate sauce over. garnish the plate with chocolate chips (i used minis) and raspberries.

 

 

 

the best brownies, ever.

im annoyed that i made these. because it has been 12 hours and only 1/4 of the brownie pan is left. that means that i alone, have eaten 3/4 of the brownies. i’m going on a juice fast for eternity, minus the juice, starting now.

and so it is with great shame in my head and a sugar rush in my veins that i pass on this brownie torch to you. take it and do with it what you will, if you are smart, you will cut it down so that it makes 2 brownies. or, you will make them all, and immediately give them away and leave one for yourself. but hey, where’s the fun in that?

so for this brownie recipe you should use any brownie recipe you like-your grandpa’s recipe, your friend’s cousin’s neighbor’s recipe, your favorite food blogger’s recipe or your good ol’ box mix 🙂 do whatever suits you with these alterations: only use 2 eggs, not 3 and add 2/3 the amount of oil that you normally would as the peanut butter in these is oily enough and you don’t want greasy brownies, you want FUDGEY RICH OH MY GOSH brownies.

So, once you’ve made your favorite (or easiest, ahem, boxed mix) brownie batter, add in 8-12 crushed reeses cups (not minis! full cups)  and 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter

Pour your super thick and hard to pour brownie batter into a greased baking pan and then dollop spoon fulls of peanut butter on the top of the brownies and swirl in with a knife.

bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until a toothpick or fork comes out clean, let cool, and enjoy!

low fat, less sugar oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!!

this is not my recipe. my roommate found this recipe online and i adapted it a teeny weeny bit. it’s not mine, ,but i’m posting it here because i think its so glorious and you should all know about it. these cookies are chewy and delicious and i love the person who invented them.

This recipe yields 12 cookies:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1/4 t cinnamon

1/8 t nutmeg

1 T butter, room temp

1/4 c brown sugar

1/8 cup white sugar

1/2 egg (beat one egg in a cup and then use half of the mixture)

1/8 cup unsweetened or natural apple sauce

1/4 t vanilla extract

1 cup quick cook oats

1/2 c milk chocolate chips

Combine the flour ,baking soda and powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. In a second bowl combine the butter, apple sauce, egg and sugars.

gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a whisk. fold in chocolate chips (and peanut butter chips if you are me 🙂 )

Spoon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking at 350 for 10 minutes. Chilling before you bake ensures a crispy outside and a chewy inside, it’s a fabulous baker’s secret that I use for every single cookie I make.

so at about 120 calories per cookie, ENJOY!

cookie printable recipe

show those ritz sandwich crackers who’s boss!

This isn’t my recipe, I saw these on a food blog when I was stumble-upon-ing. I changed the recipe a bit to make it a little healthier and more to my liking. Kudos to Two Tiny Kitchens for inventing this perfection.

What You Need: yields approx 36 sandwiches

mini pretzels

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

1.5 T softened or melted butter

1 cup milk chocolate chips (or dark chocolate if you prefer that)

2 t vegetable or canola oil

Mix together the peanut butter and the butter so that the peanut butter takes on a smooth, shiny consistency

Mix in the sugars until the peanut butter is easy to mold with hands without too much sticking.

roll into teaspoon size balls

sandwich each ball in between two pretzels

stick them in the freezer or fridge for 30 minutes until the sandwiches firm up

meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in the microwave at 15 second intervals for 45 second, stirring every 15 seconds until smooth and velvety

Dip 1/4, 1/2 or the entire pretzel into the melted chocolate. Work quickly because chocolate hardens as it cools!

Place the dipped sandwiches onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and refrigerate to set, about 30-60 minutes. Keep refrigerated until you’re ready to eat!

the healthiest dessert you will ever see on this blog.

i said the healthiest..i didn’t say it was healthy.

Berry Rutabaga Crumble

here’s why it’s “healthy”:

5 cups of frozen or fresh berries 

2 cups of frozen or fresh rutabaga

1 cup of old fashioned oats (quick cooking is also fine)

here’s why it’s a delicious tasting dessert:

1 cup of flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 stick of butter, diced. (you want to keep the butter in the fridge until you need it so its super cold)

1/4 of a cup of white sugar, (you can sub in stevia if you’d like but i don’t mess with the fake stuff)

1/2 T cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water (dont skip this, this is what creates that jelly like binding that you find in crumbles/cobblers)

1 pinch of salt

Okay here’s how you do it. It’s REALLY easy.

heat the oven to 350. 

if you are using frozen fruit defrost it in the microwave. RESERVE THE JUICE/WATER that will be at the bottom of the bowl in which you defrost.

add the fruit to a 9 x 11, or 8 x 8 (whatever) baking pan

add 1/4 cup of sugar. sometimes, i don’t even add sugar if the fruit is especially sweet. I will tell you that most cobbler recipes use more than 1 cup of sugar but I love fruit in it’s natural form and I don’t see the need to waste sugar intake on something that is already so delicious. 

now, if you used frozen fruit, measure out 1/4 cup of the reserved juice/water (it’s usually red/purple in color) if you don’t have enough for 1/4 of a cup just add water until you do. if you are using fresh fruit, just measure out 1/4 cup of water. Now, dissolve 1/2 T of cornstarch into this liquid.

Pour this into the sugar and fruit. You will immediately see the color change and the fruit jelly-ness starting to set in.

Set aside while you make the topping.

Combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, and oats in a mixing bowl. 

Dice up a stick of butter. Into pieces about this size.

Add the butter to the dry ingredients and using your hand (or a paddle attachment on an electric mixer if you are fancier than I am) and blend together until all of the dry ingredients are moistened and little crumbles/balls have formed. You can also use wooden spoon to do this. Warning: for those of you who, like me, do not have fancy kitchen gadgets-your about to get a nice arm work out. but hey, at least you’ll burn off some calories before you eat this.

Once the topping is fully moistened and has formed little balls and crumbles, sprinkle the topping over the fruit. 

Pop into the oven and bake for 40-60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the fruit is starting to bubble out.  

Serve hot with some cold vanilla ice cream or some home made whipped cream. 

(I made whipped cream in a blender to eat with this: put 1 cup heavy cream, sprinkle of sugar, dash of vanilla extract into a blender, let it whirl for a few seconds and you’re good to go!..I know, some of my cooking methods are semi-degenerative but just go with it) The whip cream should peak when put on a spoon:

Don’t judge my interpretation of “dollop”….

I love this recipe because you hit so many taste profiles. hot fruit with cold whipped cream. Crunchy topping with smooth filling. YUM!

half baked..

Ben and Jerry’s clusterfluff ice cream in between 2 pretzel potato chip chocolate chip cookies. 

Just follow any normal chocolate chip cookie recipe and add a teaspoon of instant coffee powder to the dry ingredients, substitute 1/4 of your white sugar for brown sugar, and fold in pieces of pretzel and potato chips at the same time that you fold in the chocolate chips. Then, the secret of all good, chewy cookies…put in the freezer until almost frozen. Do not thaw, transfer directly to a cookie sheet and into the oven. That’s how you get that melty center and crisp outer edge. 

Hollaback.