Peanut Butter Oreo Bars

So easy to make.....and so very easy to eat and eat and eat.....

A 9x13 pan can be used instead of a 9x9 for thinner bars.  If a larger pan is used just increase the chocolate for the topping.


Peanut Butter Oreo Bars

2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
12 crumbled oreo cookies
1 cup milk chocolate chips, melted

Put peanut butter and butter in a bowl.  Heat in microwave until melted, stirring often. Stir in powdered sugar, a cup at a time.  Knead mixture when it becomes too thick to easily manage with a spoon.  Add in crumbled cookies. Spread mixture in a wax paper lined 9x9 pan. Spread melted milk chocolate across the top of the bars.  Chill until chocolate is set.  Lift out bars and slice into squares.

Two Layer Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars

These bars just call to the chocolate and peanut butter lover hiding inside of me.  I was forced to taste test them very thoroughly...ehehehehe.

The salt in the crust can be omitted, but the spike of saltiness against all the sweet really does give the bars a kick in the flavor department.

I used semi sweet as my chocolate topper, but milk chocolate or dark chocolate would work just as well.


Two Layer Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars

Crust:
2 sleeves of graham crackers ground into crumbs
3/4 cup melted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp sea salt

Mix together all ingredients and press into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Cool.

First Layer:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
12 oz bag of peanut butter and chocolate chips, melted
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Mix together cream cheese and peanut butter.  Pour in sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth.  Mix in melted chips and blend thoroughly.  Spread mixture on top of graham cracker crust.

Second Layer:
2 1/2 cups dark chocolate peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk (approximately)

In a bowl, heat peanut butter and butter in the microwave until melted.  Stir in powdered sugar.  Add in enough milk to make mixture spreadable.  Spread across top of the first layer in 9x13 pan.

Chocolate Top:
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Melt chips in microwave and spread across the second peanut butter layer.  Chill in fridge until set and cut into squares to serve.

Peanut Butter Cookie Cake 2.0

The original version of this cake can be found here.  I went a wee bit overboard on this version.  I may have finally gone too far on a dessert.  ;)  I didn't think I'd ever hear myself say that though.  The peanut butter cup chunks really rocket up the richness factor.  Cut the pieces as small as possible. 

You can put chocolate on both sides of your peanut butter cup chunks, but I don't think it's necessary.  I did the double sided version by spreading a thin layer of chocolate on the peanut butter...chilling it to set...flipping it over and spreading another layer of chocolate on the back.  Honestly it's going to get broken up for garnish so there's no need for the extra effort.  If you're short on time you can just chop up some peanut butter cups instead of making your own version.


Peanut Butter Cookie Cake

Cookie Layers:
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
12oz semi sweet mini chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars together.  Mix in eggs and peanut butter.  Mix in flour and baking soda.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Divide batter between 3 greased 9in square pans.  Spread the cookie dough out into an even layer.  Bake at 350 for 10 to 14 minutes or until cookies are done.  Remove from pans and cool.

Peanut Butter Cup Chunks:
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbls butter
enough milk to make mixture easy to spread
6oz milk chocolate chips

Mix together peanut butter and butter.  Heat in the microwave until smooth and melted.  Stir in powdered sugar.  Add enough milk to make the mixture easy to spread with a spoon.  Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and spread peanut mixture out into a thin layer.  Melt milk chocolate chips and spread across top of the peanut butter.  Chill to set.  Break into chunks.

Chocolate Glaze:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls milk

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Microwave, stirring often, until mixture is melted and smooth. Stir in milk to thin glaze slightly.

Filling:
8oz reduced fat cream cheese
14oz no fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz peanut butter chips
1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
3/4 of the peanut butter cup chunks

Melt peanut butter chips in the microwave until smooth.  Set aside.  Blend together cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and peanut butter until smooth.  Mix in melted peanut butter chips.  Fold in the peanut butter cup chunks.

Spread 1/3 of the peanut butter filling on top of a cooled cookie layer.  Spread a thin layer of chocolate glaze on top of the filling.  Top with another cookie layer and spread another 1/3 of the peanut butter filling.  Spread another layer of chocolate.  Repeat with final layer, spreading the chocolate down the sides of the cake as well as the top.  Garnish with remaining peanut butter cup chunks.  Chill to set.

Nutella Peanut Butter Banana Bars

I have been meaning to try out this recipe I found on The Spiffy Cookie for ages...it was worth the wait.  Easy to make and just plain tasty.  I will definitely be making this treat again.  Who can resist the glory of Nutella?

I tweaked the recipe a bit because I had extra bananas on hand and no hazelnuts....not that I usually need an excuse for tinkering...ehehehe.


Nutella Peanut Butter Banana Bars

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup bananas, mashed
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/2 cup lightly salted peanuts
1/4 cup Nutella

Mix melted butter with brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla.  Add salt and flour. Mix in bananas, peanut butter, and peanuts. Pour into greased 8 inch pan.  Melt the Nutella briefly in the microwave and drop by spoonfuls over the batter, and swirl in with a knife.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool before slicing.

My swirl could have looked a little better...I think I was distracted by the bowl of dreamy Nutella in my hand.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  ;)

Peanut Butter Bar Treats

I used the Fat Witch Bakery peanut butter bars that Plain Chicken posted a while back as a base for these treats.  Sweet, salty, and chocolatey....it's all in here.  I've been fond of the peanut butter, pretzel, chocolate mix lately.  These treats zip together very quickly and easily.  Not the most attractive looking dessert, but darn yummy.

I was really tickled with the Fat Witch bar recipe.  They were dense, chewy and quite delicious.  A surprisingly low amount of butter. 


Peanut Butter Bar Treats

Peanut Butter Bars:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
.
Beat the eggs and both sugars until smooth. Add the peanut butter, melted butter, and vanilla and mix until well combined.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spread the dough into a greased 8x8.  Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 or until done.

Middle and top layer:
2 cups natural creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups salted pretzels, crushed
1/2 cup skim milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips

Melt peanut butter and butter together in the microwave, stirring often until smooth.  Stir in milk to thin the mixture.  Fold in powdered sugar and pretzels.  Spread mixture across the top of the peanut butter bars.

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave until melted smooth.  Spread across the top of the peanut butter layer.  Chill to set the chocolate before slicing into bars.

Monster Chocolate Stout Cake

I continue to whittle away at the mountain of recipes I've been wanting to try out.  ;)  At the top of the chocolate cake pile was this wonderful recipe I found over at Ryan Bakes.  I combined it with another really cool cake recipe from Completely Outnumbered.  A twofer....who could pass that up...ehehehe. 

I'm not a coffee drinker so I replaced the coffee with stout....and because I never take the conservative approach I used a LOT of stout.  I was a wee bit nervous about how the end product was going to taste, but it was amazing.  Seriously....dive face first in....amazing.

It was definitely an adult orientated flavor.  I doubt this cake would appeal greatly to the young ones between the dark chocolate glaze and stout.  I actually ate more cake than I intended chasing after the taste....that's my excuse and I'm totally sticking with it....ehehehehe.  A bite of this cake leads off with a lovely rush of chocolate followed by the stout....so good.

I drizzled the sweetened condensed milk over the cakes while they were still in the pans which actually made the cake bottoms quite sticky and a challenge to remove from the cake plate when serving.  Next time I think I'll flip the cakes out of the pans and drizzle from the top down.

I used candy corn and peanut butter to make my Butterfinger crumble topping instead of actual Butterfingers. Mix 1 cup candy corn and 1 cup peanut butter and heat in the microwave, stirring vigorously to create this.


Monster Chocolate Stout Cake


1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbs baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or soured milk
3/4 cup oil
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups hot stout (Guinness)


2 - 14oz cans non fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 tbls milk
Crushed Butterfingers & Toffee Pieces (or candy of your choice)


In a large bowl mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the sugars to this and mix together lightly.  Slowly add the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla, and stout, mixing well.

Pour the batter into 3-8inch greased rounds or divide between a greased bundt and tube pan.  Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes at 350 or until cake test as done.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

Use a skewer to poke holes in the bottom of the cakes.  Slowly drizzle one can of the sweetened condensed milk over the holes so it will soak down into the cakes.  After about 30 minutes, flip cakes out of pans to finish cooling.

Stir together remaining can of sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla.  Microwave, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth and melted.  Stir in milk to thin to desired consistency.  Spoon over top of the cakes.  Top with crushed candy.  Chill to set chocolate before slicing.

Take 5 Bars

Heaven....pure heaven.  These bars have it all....sweet, salty, peanuts, and beloved caramel.  I ran into this recipe over at Bittersweet and have never been happier that I did.  ;)

I tinkered with the recipe a bit....it still needs a little further work, but that just gives me the excuse to make it again...ehehehe.  Ahem.  The chocolate top was a little too thick......my beloved hubby loudly insists thicker is better....how can I not love a man who appreciates chocolate like that?   

Part of my tinkering involved using a syrup to hold the pretzel crust...which really needed to be a little thinner...together instead of the usual butter, sugar, bake scenario.  I adore pretzel crusts, but those bishes flake apart on me at the drop of a hat leaving half the good stuff behind in the pan or serving plate. 

Even though this has plenty of the salty factor with the pretzels and the peanut butter some coarse sea salt across the top might be fun.....or some bacon....ok I drooled a little....next batch must have some bacon garnish.

I did use my own caramel for this recipe, but a good substitute is caramel ice cream topping or regular caramels melted and thinned with milk.


Take 5 Bars

Pretzel Base:
2 cups pretzels, crushed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tbls butter

Combine the brown sugar, water, and butter in a saucepan.  Stir over medium heat until mixture boils.  Continue cooking for 5 minutes without stirring.  Remove from heat.  Stir in crushed pretzels.  Press mixture firmly into a greased 9x9 pan.

Peanut Butter Layer:
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbls skim milk

Combine peanut butter and butter together in a bowl.  Melt in the microwave, stirring often, until mixture is smooth and creamy.  Stir in powdered sugar.  Add in the milk to make the mixture spreadable.  Layer over pretzel base.

Caramel Layer:
14oz thinned caramel 
1 1/4 cup salted peanuts, roughly crushed

Heat caramel slightly to make it easy to pour and spread.  Spread across top of peanut butter layer.  Top with crushed peanuts.  Press nuts down into the caramel.

Chocolate top:
12oz Dark Chocolate Chips

Melt chocolate in the microwave, stirring often, until smooth and creamy.  Spread across peanuts.  Chill in fridge until candy cools completely.  Turn candy out onto a cutting board and slice into pieces.  Nom!

Look at those layers and know joy!  Seriously...I'm glad the tray of goodies left the house this morning because I would have decimated them.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I ran across this wonderful, tender bread on Sweet Pea's Kitchen.  I modified the recipe a bit...it's a compulsion.  ;)  This loaf originally had a lovely peanut butter glaze....I omitted this step since I was making it just for me....if I were sending it out like I normally do I'd have glazed away happily.  ;)

I think the only change I would make would be to reduce the sugar and brown sugar down to 1/3 cup each...I think that would be plenty of extra sweetener. 


Peanut Butter Banana Bread

1 1/2  cups mashed banana
1/3  cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/3  cup creamy natural peanut butter
3  tbls oil
2  eggs
1/2  cup sugar
1/2  cup brown sugar
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4  cup  ground flax
3/4  tsp  baking soda
1/4  tsp  salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8  tsp allspice

Beat together the bananas, yogurt, peanut butter, oil, and eggs until well mixed. Add sugars.  Mix in both flours, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Beat just until blended.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for 60 to 70 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Beautiful slices...if only I remembered the Nutella tucked in the cabinet and slathered some on.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie

The Cake Duchess made a really cool Peanut Butter Pretzel Tart.  I really liked the concept so I played around with something similar to make this pie.   A quick, easy dessert.

If you don't feel like tackling pralines, I think some honey roasted peanuts would work beautifully for a top layer.  Happily I had a sack of pralines in the freezer waiting to be used up.


Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie

Crust:
2 cups hard sourdough pretzels, crushed fine
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix together crushed pretzels, brown sugar, and butter.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Press into a 9 inch pie plate and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  Cool.

Filling:
8oz reduced fat cream cheese
14oz no fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz peanut butter chips
1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter

Melt peanut butter chips in the microwave until smooth.  Set aside.  Blend together cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and peanut butter until smooth.  Mix in melted peanut butter chips.

Topping:
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup peanut pralines, crushed roughly

Crush the peanut pralines by hand or in a food processor.  Spread over top of the filling.

Melt the dark chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth.  Spoon into a plastic bag with a corned nipped off and pipe lines across the top of the pie.  Chill.

I should be banned from slicing pie....seriously.  Anywho.....it was really tough not to go back for seconds...I curse you moderation!

Behold....the cure for all peanut butter cravings.

Peanut Butter Cookie Cake

I made this cake mainly because the idea of it tickled the heck out of me.  Who doesn't get a little giggly over a giant cookie cake?  It must be an inner child thing.  ;) 

It is quite rich, but worth the havoc it will create in a diet.  The peanut butter filling was so yummy.  Licking the bowl was all in the name of quality control!  That's my story....I'm sticking to it.

I'm a bit of a chocolate glaze fan...one of these days I might actually traditionally frost a cake.....naaaah.

Peanut Butter Cookie Cake

Cookie Layers:
1 cup tub margarine
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
12oz semi sweet chocolate chunks

Cream margarine and sugars together.  Mix in eggs and peanut butter.  Mix in flour and baking soda.  Fold in chocolate chunks.  Divide batter between 3 greased 9in rounds.  Spread the cookie dough out into an even layer.  Bake at 350 for 10 to 14 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool.

Filling:
8oz reduced fat cream cheese
14oz no fat sweetened condensed milk
12oz peanut butter chips
1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter

Melt peanut butter chips in the microwave until smooth.  Set aside.  Blend together cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and peanut butter until smooth.  Mix in melted peanut butter chips.

Spread 1/3 of the peanut butter filling on top of a cooled cookie round.  Top with another cookie round and spread another 1/3 of the peanut butter filling.  Repeat with final round.

Chocolate Glaze:
14oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6oz semi sweet chocolate chips
6oz milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.  Microwave, stirring often, until mixture is melted and smooth.  Spoon the chocolate down the the top edge and sides of the cookie cake....spreading it with the back of the spoon to get an even coat on the sides.  Drizzle some of the chocolate across the top of the cake with a fork for a finished look.  Chill to set.

A look at the interior of the cookie cake:

Chocolate and peanut butter heaven....if you have a craving this will fix you right up.  It was hard to get a neat slice...I was hindered a bit by the chocolate chunks.

The cookie layers ended up with a slight depression in the center after they were done baking.  It was perfect to hold the peanut butter filling though....especially the top layer.

I added this to the Sweets for Saturday #5 over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies.  Such an amazing collection of treats there...I must go forth and drool a bit.  ;)

Peanut Praline Squares 2.0

This is the final version of the peanut praline squares I made a bit ago. I'm still pretty partial to the filling I used in version 1.0, but the current filling is amazing!  Nom, nom!

The instructions in the recipe use a standard square pan...which is the easiest way to make this recipe.  I used some silicone heart shaped cupcake molds and a mini brownie bite mold to make mine.  Labor intensive, but cuter patuter!

It occurred to me that salted, dry roasted peanuts could be substituted for the peanut pralines, if I was in a hurry and didn't have time to whip some up.  To make the shortcut pretty, do some mini peanut clusters as toppers.  It's a pretty valid work around if you don't want to mess with anything involving a candy thermometer too.


Peanut Praline Squares 2.0

Crust:
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
2 Tbls tub margarine
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix together the peanut butter and margarine.  Heat in the microwave for about a minute, until the mixture is melted together and smooth.  Stir in graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar.  Press into the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan.  Chill in the fridge.

Fudge Sauce Layer:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6 oz milk chocolate chips
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

In a bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals. You should only need about a minute or so for your chocolate to melt.  Pour half of the fudge sauce over top of the crust.  Return the pan to the fridge.

Cream Cheese Layer:
8oz reduced fat cream cheese
2 tbls tub margarine
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbls natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter chips
1 1/2 cups peanut pralines
2 tbls evaporated milk

Blend together cream cheese, margarine, and peanut butter.  Melt milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips together in the microwave until smooth.  Blend melted chocolate mixture into the cream cheese mixture.  Mix in powdered sugar.

Spread cream cheese mixture over top of the fudge layer.  Use evaporated milk to thin the remaining fudge mixture to a glaze.  (You can increase or decrease the amount of evaporated milk to make a thicker or thinner glaze.)  Spread the chocolate glaze across the top of the cream cheese.  Top with broken up peanut pralines.  Chill before slicing into squares.

To give it a finishing touch, melt a small amount of milk chocolate chips and drizzle stripes of chocolate across the top of the cut squares.


A few more pics of the nummies.... 

Heart shapes are my favorite at the moment.  I'd dub it Valentine's Day prep, but I'm pretty sure I'd make them in July...ehehehe.

When you look at your thinned fudge glaze and think it's too thin....seriously....stop...add some chocolate chips to thicken it.  Did I follow this sage advice?  Sigh.  No.  My glaze slid right off leaving a super thin coat of chocolate behind.  I may have turned the kitchen a wee bit blue.  ;)  Instead of a beautiful, uniform chocolate coating....I ended up with a light, mocha hint o' chocolate.  These could look so much better...grrr.

Butterfinger Blitz Cookie Squares

Soooo.....I made one healthier, lighter recipe the other day....I feel so virtuous....obviously this trend cannot continue.  Enter sugar bomb of dooooom!  A small piece goes a long way on this one.

Mmmm.....candy corn in December...madness I know.  Candy corn is a year round treat and none shall convince me otherwise!  ;)  Yes....melted candy corn mixed with peanut butter does taste exactly like a butterfinger....it's way cool....makes my inner child giggle in glee.

The Butterfinger streusel topping actually came about by accident so the squares were double butterfingered....ok that sounds a little dirty....moving on.  Next time instead of the middle butter finger layer I think I will just do the streusel across the top.


Butterfinger Blitz Cookie Squares

Peanut Butter Cookie Crust:
1/2 cup tub margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 cup oats, ground fine

Cream margarine and sugars together.  Add in egg and peanut butter.  Mix in dry ingredients.  Stir in ground oats.  Spread into a greased 8inch pan and bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes.  Cool.

Middle layer:
1 cup candy corn
1 cup natural smooth peanut butter

Pour candy corn into a bowl and melt in the microwave.  Stir in peanut butter until well combined.  Spread mixture across the top of the cookie crust.

Topping:
6oz Milk Chocolate chips
1/2 cup candy corn
1/2 cup natural smooth peanut butter

Mix together candy corn and peanut butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave for about a minute.  Stir vigorously to break apart the candy corn.  Pour mixture out on a plate and use a spoon or knead with your hands to break apart the remaining candy corn pieces.  You should end up with a coarse streusel type mixture.  Set aside.

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth.  Spread across the top of the middle butterfinger layer.  Sprinkle butterfinger streusel across top of the chocolate.  Press lightly.  Cool in fridge before slicing into squares. 

One more picture of the goodness...

Soooo....this streusel topping came about when I decided to experiment with melting the butterfinger mixture.  I thought melting the peanut butter and candy corn together would actually make the mixture easier to work with.....not...ehehehehe.  Ahem.  The candy corn didn't melt into the peanut butter like I expected...it had to be broken apart into it...it was actually quite strange.  As I was breaking up the candy corn with my fingers I was like man this is an epic fail....but wait.....this would make a fab topping...so you'll be seeing this again in the future.  I'm thinking it will probably involve cheesecake.

Nutella & Peanut Butter Granola 3.0

This is the final version of this recipe.  I'm finally happy with it.  ;)  Meanwhile, I got the cutest pack of silicone cupcake cups as a present.  They were perfect for making adorable little granola servings.  I left the usual...press into a 9x13 pan instructions in the recipe...but have fun with your granola if you have any cute silicone forms laying around. 


Nutella & Peanut Butter Granola Bars 3.0

2 1/3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
2 tbls tub margarine
1/2 cup raw honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup Nutella

Pour your peanuts in a 9x13 pan. Crush them up a bit with the bottom of a cup, or whatever you have handy for crushing purposes. Add wheat germ, oats, and sunflower seeds and mix everything together. Pop pan into the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees for a quick toast. Stir the ingredients in the pan a couple times just to make sure nothing gets overdone. When the 10 minutes are up turn off oven and pour the toasted mixture into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a saucepan mix together the honey, margarine, and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and then continue to cook for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and Nutella. Pour over the mixture you just set aside. Mix until everything is well combined. Spray a 9x13 pan and pour the granola spreading it out evenly. With a piece of wax paper protecting your hand press down firmly to compact the granola. Toss the wax paper when your done. Let cool before turning out granola on a board for cutting. Cut into 20 pieces.


Another pic of the cuters...

Still cute.....but they cry out for the dark chocolate stripes.  Dark chocolate being healthy for us and all...it's a crime to leave it off....snicker.  A small amount of dark chocolate goes a very long way.  Melt it in the microwave and then use a ziplock bag with the corner cut off as a handy piping bag.

Peanut Praline Squares 1.0

I should have cut these squares in half...they were really, really rich.  They are packed with a ton of delicious peanut butter and chocolate.  If you have a craving these will take care of it for you.  After I assembled everything I realized I wanted to go in a different direction for the next version of the recipe.  The squares taste wonderful as is, but I want a firmer texture for the center layer.  The cream cheese has more of a mousse like texture at the moment. I want to change how I assemble the layers as well.  Version 2.0 will look quite a bit different.  ;)

I garnished with mini peanut butter balls and chocolate covered pralines.  If you decide you want to make some mini peanut butter balls...just hold out a small portion of the peanut butter crust mixture to roll into balls.


Peanut Praline Squares 1.0

Crust:
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 Tbls tub margarine
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix together the peanut butter and margarine.  Heat in the microwave for about a minute, until the mixture is melted together and smooth.  Stir in graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar.  Press into the bottom of a greased 8x8 pan.  Chill in the fridge.


Fudge Sauce/Peanut Praline Layer:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
6 oz milk chocolate chips
6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup roughly chopped peanut pralines

In a bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Heat in the microwave, stirring at 30 second intervals. You should only need about a minute or so for your chocolate to melt. Stir in marshmallows and mix until they melt into your chocolate. You may need to heat just a bit more in the microwave to get the marshmallows fully melted...be careful not to overheat.

Pour 1 cup of the fudge sauce over the peanut butter crust. Sprinkle chopped peanuts pralines over top of the chocolate.  Press nuts gently down.

Cream Cheese Layer:
2 - 8oz blocks of 1/3 fat cream cheese
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup natural peanut butter
6oz milk chocolate chips
6oz peanut butter chips

Blend together cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, and peanut butter.  Melt milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips together in the microwave until smooth.  Blend melted chocolate mixture into the cream cheese mixture.  Spread over top of peanut praline layer.

Topping:
3oz milk chocolate chips
1/2 tbls shortening

Melt together chocolate chips and shortening.  Spread over cream cheese layer.  Put pan in fridge until chocolate is set before slicing into squares.

If you decide to garnish with peanut butter balls or chocolate covered pralines...melt a little extra chocolate to dip your garnish pieces in.  You could also use the remaining fudge sauce instead of straight chocolate if you wish for the top glaze.


Another picture of the squares....

The broken up peanut pralines actually look quite pretty....I think I will switch them to the top layer of the squares rather than right above the crust next time.

Nutella & Peanut Butter Granola 2.0

The last batch was a little heavy on wet ingredients.  I went too far in the opposite direction this time....a little too heavy on the dry.  It's pretty close to where it should be though.  If I put the oats at 2 1/3 cups I think it will be about right.  The most important factor though is it still tastes yummy.  ;)


Nutella & Peanut Butter Granola Bars 2.0

2 3/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
2 tbls tub margarine
1/2 cup raw honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup Nutella

Pour your peanuts in a 9x13 pan. Crush them up a bit with the bottom of a cup, or whatever you have handy for crushing purposes. Add wheat germ, oats, and sunflower seeds and mix everything together. Pop pan into the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees for a quick toast. Stir the ingredients in the pan a couple times just to make sure nothing gets overdone. When the 10 minutes are up turn off oven and pour the toasted mixture into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a saucepan mix together the honey, margarine, and brown sugar. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and then continue to cook for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and Nutella. Pour over the mixture you just set aside. Mix until everything is well combined. Spray a 9x13 pan and pour the granola spreading it out evenly. With a piece of wax paper protecting your hand press down firmly to compact the granola. Toss the wax paper when your done. Let cool before turning out granola on a board for cutting. Cut into 20 pieces.


One more pic of the glory that is Nutella granola....

It crumbles just slightly, but still holds together well.  Of course this not quite right batch gives me an excuse to make more lovely granola....it's a win/win.  My Nutella bonanza goes on!

Two Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

 I combined a variation of this recipe for no-bake cookies with my brownie recipe to create some oh so yummy treats.  They taste amazing!  Must have more....peanut butter.....chocolate.....gimmie gimmie!


Two Layer Peanut Butter Brownies

Bottom Layer:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Fold in peanut butter and milk chocolate chips.  Pour into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake.

Top Layer:
1/2 cup tub margarine
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tbls cocoa powder
2 tbls dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups old fashioned oats (1 cup of which ground fine)

Mix together margarine, sugar, milk, cocoa powder, and dark cocoa powder in a saucepan.  Bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat and let boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until smooth, then stir in the oats.  Spread over the brownie layer.  Cool and then chill before cutting into squares.


Another pic of the yummies....

My version of the no-bake cookies came out really gooey and soft set.....which makes a fabulous topping/icing for other things.  I was torn between a cookie base or a brownie base, but sometimes a woman just needs chocolate piled with chocolate.  ;)

Chocolate Severed Heads

I had some fun molding some severed heads.  Halloween....how I love you. You can always make such cool treats during this holiday.  ;)

Peanut Butter Centers

1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/3 cup tub margarine
2 cups powdered sugar

Combine the peanut butter and the margarine in a bowl.  Heat in the microwave, stirring often, until the mixture is melted and smoothly combined.  Stir in powdered sugar.  You should have a nice firm dough.  Mold the mixture into any shape you want using different size balls, tubes, and ovals.  You don't have to dip your creations in chocolate.  They look fairly cute as is.

To dip in chocolate, take apart your creation setting the different pieces on waxed paper.  Chill for 30 minutes to an hour.  (You can use the freezer to speed this up.)  Melt 12oz milk chocolate chips with 2 tbls shortening in the microwave, stirring often to prevent over heating.  Your chocolate should be smooth and thinned.  Dip the peanut butter pieces in the chocolate and return to the waxed paper.  Chill until set.  Reassemble your piece, using some dabs of melted chocolate as glue to hold the pieces in place.  Chill until ready to nosh.

A few more pics....

A little bare peanut butter action.....they are just soooo cute.  Honestly this recipe would be super fun with children doing the molding.  ;)  One of the hardest parts of the process is not eating your material though...eheheh.

I put some melted chocolate in a ziplock with the corner cut off and added some small extra details to the severed heads.  Honestly I was happier with the plain version, but they didn't look too bad.

Voodoo Doll Fail

I was tickled with how this cookie/candy voodoo doll was going....right up until the point I covered it in chocolate.  I decided to experiment with painting on chocolate instead of dipping individual pieces.  It looked terrible...oiy.  Seriously there was no saving it.  I should have testing out painting on chocolate on a side piece before I tried it out for real, but then hindsight is 20/20.  The pouting was mighty.  I disposed of the evidence and there was no way I was taking pictures of that mess rofl.  ;)

I should have done a thin chocolate glaze and poured it over the top while the cookie was sitting on a rack to let the excess run off.  I could have just covered the cookie in chocolate and then assembled the peanut butter doll on top and left it bare too. 

It was sooooo cute.  Sigh.  Granted I could have baked another cookie platform and remolded my voodoo doll, but the thought just didn't appeal.

Toffee Shot Glasses

Yet another experiment with shot glasses. I also made some fudge glasses....we'll just let that experiment rest in peace....nough said. The toffee glasses actually turned out quite nicely. A horde of tiny little bubbles in the glasses but they still looked pretty. They were easy to handle, sturdy little containers. They were a little tough to break apart though. I could see using toffee again.

I've been wanting to play around with using my shot glasses as a kind of a vase for some other nibbles. The new Honey Wheat, Wheat Thin Crunch Stix are kind of like salty graham crackers....neat flavor. They also make perfect stems/sticks to hold goodies. I wrapped some peanut butter dough around the sticks, trying out different shapes before dipping them in chocolate. The longer shapes I molded were harder to work with and manipulate into the shot glasses....but they were so cute! The single ball shape was the easiest to work with. A double ball would probably be fine as well....but I see I didn't have any middle ground when I formed up my sticks...ehehehe. It also occurred to me that the sticks dipped only in chocolate would make a great makeshift spoon to leave in the shot glass with a different filling....like caramel or cream cheese and chocolate.


Toffee Shot Glasses

Butter the silicone shot glass molds (available from Amazon) to help the toffee release....this isn't a critical step but it does help.

Cook up some toffee...

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt

In a heavy sauce pan combine the butter and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and let cook until temperature reaches 285 degrees, stirring often.

Pour or ladle the toffee into the shot glass molds. Tap mold on counter to release some of the bubbles. Let cool. Putting them in the fridge will speed up the chilling process. Demold.

Mix together some peanut butter center dough to make the pieces you want to display in the toffee cups.

Peanut Butter Centers

1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
2.5 tbls tub margarine
1 cups powdered sugar
6oz milk chocolate chips
1 tbls shortening

Melt the peanut butter and the margarine in the microwave. Stir often to prevent overheating. Stir in the powdered sugar. Shape the dough into whatever shape you desire and slide them onto the Wheat Thin Stix. Chill in the fridge or freezer. (I am thinking next time a little dab of melted chocolate at the tip of the Wheat Thin Stix when I attach the peanut butter centers to them will help secure them.)

Melt the milk chocolate chips and the shortening in the microwave, stirring often to prevent overheating. Spoon some of the melted chocolate into a toffee shot glass. Turn the glass on it's side to coat the interior of the shot glass in chocolate. Pour the residual chocolate back into your bowl. Dip the rim of the shot glass into the melted chocolate to coat it.

Take the peanut butter shapes out and dip them into the chocolate. You may need to spoon the chocolate over them instead of dipping. Rest the dipped pieces on waxed paper. When all your pieces are coated use a fork to drizzle some lines of chocolate over them. Put into fridge to set.

Arrange your dipped peanut butter pieces in the shot glasses. Take some of the extra peanut butter center filling and form it into tiny balls. Drop the balls into the shot glass so they fill up some of the empty space....not to mention they look super cute. Chill until you are ready to serve.


One lonely little shot glass....
I coated the rim of the shot glasses with chocolate to give them a more finished look....I could have taken this a step further with some crushed toffee on the chocolate....for a sort of salted margarita glass look.

Chocolate Explosion Brownies

I might have crossed the too much chocolate line with this brownie. I actually started out wanting to play around with my peanut butter ball filling recipe and it kind of snowballed as so many of my projects tend to do. ;)

I adore the baby peanut butter balls/shapes. They will definitely be showing up on some other things I do believe.


Chocolate Explosion Brownies:

Brownie layer:
1/2 cup tub margarine
1 square (1 oz) unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla

Melt margarine and chocolate together in the microwave. Stir often and be careful not to overheat. Add in sugar and vanilla Beat the eggs lightly in a small bowl before adding them to the chocolate mixture. Stir in flour. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan and bake at 350 for 15 to 18 minutes. Allow brownie to cool and then chill. Slice the brownie in half, creating two layers. Set the bottom later on a serving plate with sides.

Fudge layer:
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
12 oz milk chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Mix everything together in a bowl. Heat on high in the microwave for one minute, stirring at 30 seconds. (Heat longer if your chocolate still needs to melt.) Take one cup of the fudge (roughly about half) and spread on top of the bottom brownie layer. Take the second brownie layer and put it down on top of the fudge.

Fudge sauce layer:
With the remaining fudge mixture.....add 3 tbls or so of milk and blend. Blend in 2 cups of powdered sugar. Pour/spread mixture over top of the brownie making sure to cover the sides. You will have a a bit of extra sauce. Chill. When fudge sauce sets up clean up the serving plate a bit as you will have an overflow of sauce at the bottom sides of the brownie. Chilling makes it easy to scrape the extra away.

Peanut butter layer:
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/3 cup tub margarine
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt the peanut butter and the margarine in the microwave. Stir often to prevent overheating. Stir in the powdered sugar. Take about half the peanut butter mixture (or more depending on how thick you actually want this layer) and roll it out into a 1/4 inch sheet wide enough to cover the brownie. I used wax paper to transfer this layer onto the top of the brownie. Nip off any excess around the bottom edges and tuck the layer in snug to the brownie. Pinch any cracks together.

Use the remaining peanut butter mixture (and you will probably have some leftover) to make garnish shapes....balls, tubes, ect.

Milk Chocolate Topping:
Melt 12 oz milk chocolate chips with 2 tbls shortening in the microwave. Stir often. The chocolate should flow nicely and coat the back of a spoon with a thin layer of chocolate when it's the right texture. You can add more shortening as needed to thin further. Spread chocolate across the top of the peanut butter layer making sure to cover the sides.

Use the remaining thinned chocolate to dip your garnish pieces in. Set them on a piece of waxed paper to set up. Drizzle chocolate over the top of the garnish pieces with a fork.

Chill everything in the fridge to set up. Arrange the garnish pieces across the top of the brownie. You can use a small dollop of melted chocolate to secure your garnish pieces on the top if you don't want to chance them moving around. Chill until ready to serve.



A few pics of the process...
I hated to cut into this pretty brownie but it had to be done.....sob. A nice view of the different layers though. From the bottom up....brownie, fudge, brownie, fudge sauce, peanut butter, milk chocolate, and garnished with chocolate covered peanut butter.

I rolled out my peanut butter ball filling to see how it held up. It will roll out fine but will crack the second you bend it. ;) Very amusing experimentation though. Cracking really didn't matter since it was covered in milk chocolate in the end.