Bacon Nut Bars

What makes everything taste better?   Bacon!!!  It amused me to no end to turn out a bacon version of this nut bar.  Tasty and a dose of extra protein.


Bacon Nut Bars

1 1/2 cups sliced and toasted almonds
2 cups roasted peanuts
1/2 cup crumbled bacon pieces
1 tbls toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Semi sweet chocolate for garnish

With the bottom of a cup or a rolling pin crush the peanuts and almonds roughly. Mix nuts together with bacon and wheat germ. Set aside.

Line a 9x13 pan with waxed paper.

In a saucepan mix together honey, syrup, salt, and vanilla. Stir continuously over medium heat until temperature reaches 260. Remove from heat and pour over nut mixture. Mix together throughly. Pour into prepared pan. Spread mixture evenly across pan. Place another piece of waxed paper over pan and use a rolling pin, or bottom of glass to compress down. Remove top wax paper. Let cool for about 20 minutes before flipping bars out onto cutting board. Remove bottom waxed paper and cut into bars. Garnish with chocolate.  Any bars not consumed keep nicely in the freezer.

I really don't enjoy cooking bacon even though I love the flavor. Grease everywhere.....meh!  This bag of precooked bacon pieces is my go to solution for recipes.  No muss...no fuss.

Nut Bars

There is a fantastic post for Homemade KIND Bars over on the Yummy Life blog.  The recipes in this post provided a wonderful jumping off point for experimentation.  Goodness knows I love to change around a recipe....ehehehehe.  I was less concerned with a reproduction than a tasty nut bar so I swapped ingredients out freely.


Nut Bars

1 1/2 cups sliced and toasted almonds
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
3/4 cup roasted macadamia nuts
1/2 cup roasted pistachios
1/2 cup oats
1 tbls toasted wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
Dark chocolate for garnish

With the bottom of a cup or a rolling pin crush the nuts up into smaller pieces. Mix nuts together with oats and wheat germ. Set aside.

Line a 9x13 pan with waxed paper.

In a saucepan mix together honey, syrup, salt, and vanilla. Stir continuously over medium heat until temperature reaches 260. Remove from heat and pour over nut mixture. Mix together throughly. Pour into prepared pan. Spread mixture evenly across pan. Place another piece of waxed paper over pan and use a rolling pin, or bottom of glass to compress down. Remove top wax paper. Let cool for about 20 minutes before flipping bars out onto cutting board. Remove bottom waxed paper and cut into bars. Garnish with chocolate.  Any bars not consumed keep nicely in the freezer.

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.  ;)

Chocolate Popcorn

I ran across this recipe here.  It wasn't a bad little snackums, but it was missing something...maybe some brown sugar in the syrup.  A fun treat to make...who can resist chocolate covered popcorn?


Chocolate Popcorn

12 cups popped popcorn (2 bags microwave popcorn)
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
12oz milk chocolate chips
12oz salted peanuts

Spread popcorn across baking sheets.  Top with salted peanuts.  In a saucepan combine corn syrup, and milk chocolate.  Cook, stirring constantly, until boils.  Spread over top of popcorn and nuts.  Stir to coat.  Bake at 300 for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring often.  Cool before breaking into pieces and packing away.

Cracker Jacks

Dangerously addictive.  Cheap Ethnic Eatz posted this fabulous recipe.  This one is definitely on my make again list....again and again.  Nom!

I had a little less coverage with the coating since I had about 6 cups of popcorn instead of 4, but I was still a happy camper.  I was noshing away when I realized I was eating whole grain peppered with heart healthy nuts...clearly this should be classified as a health food right?  Pay no attention to the candy coating....whole grain trumps all!

My trolling through the avalanche of fabulous bookmarked recipes continues. 


Cracker Jacks

1 bag microwave popcorn
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup peanuts


Spread popped popcorn on a baking sheet and add peanuts on top.

In heavy saucepan mix sugar, butter and corn syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.  Continue cooking for 5 minutes at medium heat without stirring. Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda.  Pour over popcorn and peanuts and stir to coat quickly.

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour stirring several times. Cool, break apart and store.

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.

Salted Peanut Clusters

Every so often I have leftover melted chocolate from a dessert.  I can't let that beautiful substance go to waste....that would just be criminal.  ;)  Stir in some unsalted, dry roasted peanuts until nicely coated and drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.  Sprinkle on coarse sea salt.  Chill to set.  Easy peasy peanut clusters.  Simple and oh so tasty.

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 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.

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.

Peanut Pralines

I found this praline recipe in an old Wilton candy book and thought it would be neat to try out with peanuts.  I probably eat an unnatural amount of peanuts and peanut butter to be honest....but it's the good fats!  Pecan pralines I can take or leave really.  I don't mind pecans, but I don't crave them either.  Peanut pralines, however, are like crack for me.  Crack!  Seriously, I found excuses to go to the kitchen to sneak nibbles.  ;)  I had to decide if it was safe to store the extras in the freezer for future desserts....or would I hear them calling to me....demanding I nosh.

This recipe is super easy to whip together and it doesn't take much time.  The only thing special you need really is a candy thermometer.


Peanut Pralines

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup non fat evaporated milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 cups unsalted dry roasted peanuts

Combine the sugars and the milk in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook until mixture reaches 236 degrees.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and peanuts.  Continue to stir for a minute or so.  Spread mixture out on a cookie sheet.  Cool before breaking apart.


Another picture of my new addiction...

If you stir your peanuts too long or the mixture cools too far while you are dropping spoonfuls on your cookie sheet...the mixture can lock up and solidify.  As you can tell...that happened to me...ehehehe.  It's not that big a deal just scrape everything out of your pan onto the cookie sheet and break it apart.  It won't look as pretty, but it will taste just fine.  ;)

Peanut Butter Lover Brownies

The original title for these brownies was "better than crack brownies" which I ran across here. Honestly though with a name like that I couldn't resist baking these up. They are yummy mind you and incredibly rich....but I wasn't compelled to snarfle my piece like a woman crazed. ;) Personal preference there I expect....the crazed snarfle reaction usually involves caramel ehehehe. I went with a more descriptive title for convenience.

The only thing missing was peanut butter in the brownie mix. The brownie batter needed to be studded with peanut butter chips I think. Of course that will make the brownies even richer.....and this would be.....bad? Not! Sacrifices must be made and all that.


Peanut Butter Lover Brownies

Brownie Layer:
1 cup tub margarine
4 squares (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter chips or peanut butter/milk chocolate mix (optional)

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. Mix in peanut butter chips. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes.

Middle layer:
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/3 cup tub margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk chocolate
3/4 cup lightly salted dry roasted peanuts

While the brownies are baking, melt together peanut butter and margarine on the stove top. (I think this could easily be done in the microwave as well.) Remove from heat and stir in the powdered sugar. The dough should form into a nice ball. Pinch off small portions to form little peanut butter balls and place on a plate. Chill until ready to use. When brownies finish baking sprinkle the peanuts across the surface of the brownie. Take one cup of mini peanut butter balls and sprinkle across the top of the brownies. Spread the milk chocolate chips across the top next. Return to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes.

Topping:
12 oz milk chocolate chips
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1 1/2 cups rice crispy cereal

While the middle layer is baking, stir together milk chocolate chips and peanut butter. Melt in the microwave until smooth. Stir often to make sure you don't overheat. Stir in cereal. Pour over top of the brownies when they come out of the oven. Cool and then chill.


A few more pics.
After I tasted these I cut most of the squares I had in half. I didn't want anyone to go into sugar shock. ;) Mmmm....nothing prettier than a tray full of goodies.


Aren't these little peanut butter balls just cuter patuters? Ok a note here....if you don't feel like making these you can substitute in a cup of chopped Reese's peanut butter cups for the mini peanut butter balls and 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips. The original recipe calls for the Reese's but never have those on hand so I just made a version of my own. ;) I confess I'd rather use my own version anywho...I know what went in them.

These whip together super fast and you really don't even need to form them into any shapes....frankly you could just do dollops across the top of the brownie. One cup only used up about half the mini's though and I knew I'd be storing the rest in the freezer so I wanted actual shapes to be able to toss into cookies and what not down the road.

A little warning....it is tough to resist nibbling on the candy as you are shaping it.

Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

This treat is sinfully good. I really didn't need to be taste testing it at breakfast, but my word it was wonderous. Thank goodness I sent everything off with Paul is all I have to say about that...ehehehe. Anywho this yummy is based loosely on this Toll House recipe. In the future I probably will make it in pie form, but it's easier to send to the office in squares. Not that the shape really matters all that much. ;)


Caramel Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used one sleeve)
1/3 cup tub margarine, melted
2 tbls sugar
1 tsp dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
1/2 cup caramel, thinned with milk (caramel topping would also be fine)
12 oz milk chocolate chips
6 oz peanut butter chips
14 oz non fat sweetened condensed milk
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
8 oz Cool Whip Free, thawed
3 oz melted milk chocolate, (garnish)
1/3 unsalted dry roasted peanuts (garnish)

For the crust, combine the margarine, sugar, and cocoa powder. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs. Press into a 9x9 greased pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350. Spread the caramel across the crust and top with the crushed nuts. Press the nuts down into the caramel. Cool.

Combine the 12 ounces milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips in a bowl and melt in the microwave, stirring often to prevent overheating. Set the melted chips to the side for the moment. Beat the cream cheese and the sweetened condensed milk together. Add in the melted chocolate mixture and mix well. Stir in whipped topping until well combined. Pour mixture over the cooled crust and spread evenly. Pop pan into the fridge to cool.

For garnish melt the 3 oz milk chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth. Spoon a third of the chocolate into a ziplock bag with one corner snipped off for chocolate drizzle. Seal the bag and set to the side for the moment. Combine the remaining melted chocolate and the 1/3 cup peanuts. Use a spoon to spread the chocolate covered nuts across a piece of waxed paper in clusters no larger than two. Put the nuts into the fridge to set. When the chocolate covered nuts have hardened enough to handle remove them from the fridge along with the pan of treats. Spread the chocolate covered nuts across the top of the cheesecake squares. Use the ziplock bag to drizzle lines of chocolate across the top of the nuts. Return the pan to the fridge to cool. Cut into squares before serving.


A few pics of the process...
A little picture before I sliced up the goods this morning. I really think some drizzled caramel would have looked lovely in addition to the chocolate covered nuts and milk chocolate, but I used up all the caramel I had ready topping the crust.

Peanut and caramel topped chocolate crust. Is it done yet? If you are using standard caramel it's easy to thin with a couple tbls of milk/evaporated milk to make it easier to spread and nosh. I usually have thinned homemade caramel in the freezer ready to use because it's handy. I do the same with fudge sauce....which reminds me I need to make some. ;)

Chocolate covered peanuts for the garnish. Yes, it was a wee bit on the tedious side to drop one chocolate covered nut onto the wax paper at a time. I cheated with the occasional cluster of two. If you end up with clusters any larger though it would be super hard to cut into portions.

Chocolate Peanut Oatmeal Bars

This is a gooey, rich treat. I found this recipe in an old Better Homes & Gardens cookie book. It cried out......bake me....nosh me....make me yours! I tweaked the recipe a bit of course. These beauties really benefit from chilling in the fridge after they cool.....makes the flavor pop.

Chocolate Peanut Oatmeal Bars

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup tub margarine
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 egg
1 14oz can non fat sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Mix together oats, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend in the butter. Stir in the chopped peanuts. Remove 1 3/4 cups of this mixture to another bowl and add in the chocolate chips. Set this aside for your topping. Stir the egg into the remaining mixture and press it into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Stir together the sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter. Pour this mixture carefully over the baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping.

Bake another 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool and then chill before cutting into bars.

Peanut and Potato Chip Chocolate Clusters

Chocolate and potato chips.....brilliant! Nough' said. ;) Normally I make my clusters with uncrushed peanuts but I have to say the smaller size made the texture more interesting and the peanut flavor a little more subtle.


Peanut and Potato Chip Chocolate Clusters

1 cup crushed unsalted dry roasted peanuts
1 cup crushed potato chips
8 oz melted milk chocolate

Mix everything together and drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Chill until firm.

Mmm......chip pics....yum yum...
Now any chip type will do, but I've had a craving for these for a while so I decided to go with them. So tasty!

Chocolate Shot Glasses

These treats are just too cool. I don't drink much liquor (hides the rum bottle) but I could get behind some attempt to get drunk on chocolate.....eheheheh.

I melted about 6oz of milk chocolate chips in the microwave and spooned some straight into one of my shot glass molds. For the other three glasses I crushed 1 cup of unsalted dry roasted peanuts in the food processor and mixed them with the remains of the chocolate. I spooned that into the other three molds. I didn't fill the molds all the way up to the brim. The base is fairly thick and I wanted a slightly thinner layer there. Shake and tap the mold on the counter to get all the bubbles out. Chill until glasses are solid before popping them out.

I was torn over what to fill these with, but I had about 1/3 of a batch of chocolate lemon frosting/filling leftover from another project and I blended it with 8 oz of reduced fat cream cheese. (I included the frosting/filling recipe below.) I piped that into the molds and then drizzled a bit of melted milk chocolate of the top. There are so many possible filling mixtures.....caramel....brownie bites....ect ect....the experimentation will be mighty!

Chocolate Lemon Filling/Frosting

14 oz fat free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tbls lemon peel
4 cups powdered sugar
12 oz chocolate chips

Mix sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon peel together. Beat in powdered sugar. Melt chocolate chips (I used 1/2 dark chocolate, 1/4 milk chocolate, and 1/4 semi sweet chocolate) in microwave stirring frequently until smooth. Add to milk mixture and stir into chocolate is mixed in well. It will thicken over time.


A photo of the shot glass mold....man this mold is cool...
I found this silicone shot glass mold on Amazon. It says it's for ice cubes, but the cool thing about silicone is that it can easily be flipped to candy/chocolate use. It was tough to pull the glasses out of the mold without melting the chocolate just a bit where I was holding onto it. I might need to add a little freezer time next time I try it to see if that helps.

Peanut Butter Cookie Squares

These are some very rich treats, but I do love the mix of textures and flavor.


Peanut Butter Cookie Squares

Crust:
1 1/8 cups unbleached flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup tub margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

For crust cream sugars and margarine together. Add in egg and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Spread mixture into greased 9x13 pan and bake 20 mins at 375. Crust will be lightly browned. Cool slightly.

Filling:
3 cups salted peanuts
2 tbls tub margarine
2 cups peanut butter chips
1 can non fat sweetened condensed milk
2 cups mini marshmallows

While the crust is cooling prepare the filling by melting margarine and peanut butter chips in a saucepan. Add in milk and marshmallows and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in peanuts. Spread filling over crust. Cool slightly.

Topping:
6oz milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 tbls tub margarine (optional)

While topping is cooling prepare the topping by melting the milk chocolate chips, peanut butter, and margarine together. Spread gently over the top of the filling. Cool then chill. Cut into squares.

Pad Thai Dip

This dip came out beautifully, better than I hoped for actually. It may not look like much, but it is packed with flavor. I was tired of the usual round of spinach, artichoke, and taco dips. I wanted to try something a little different with a little more meat to it. So I took about 1/3 of my pad thai recipe and combined it with a tub of reduced fat chive and onion cream cheese which had been warmed in the microwave. That simply the dip was done. Serve warm with crackers or chips.

Spicy Chocolate Peanut Clusters

Peanut clusters are really easy to whip up. This version has a bit more pop to it though. I took the sweet and spicy bacon nuts I made here http://flourdusted.blogspot.com/2010/06/sweet-and-spicy-bacon-nuts.html and broke them up a bit more before adding them into my chocolate. The flavor turned out very subtle. I could tell something was different but it wasn't till after I finished my piece that the seasoning on the nuts really came through. I have a feeling the spicy factor would build up with multiple pieces, but the whole moderation thing won't let me test that theory out. ;) If you don't want any zing with your chocolate just substitute unsalted dry roasted peanuts for the spicy nuts.


Spicy Chocolate Peanut Clusters

2 cups sweet and spicy bacon nuts
1 bag (12oz) milk chocolate chips

Melt milk chocolate chips in microwave until smooth. Mix in nuts until coated. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Chill.


Just a couple pics I snapped while whipping these up....

There is nothing special you have to do to form up clusters...a simply drop from the spoon onto some wax paper and it's done. Though I would watch how thick/high you get your cluster. It can be tough to bite through one of the really thick ones. Though that does bring back memories of gnawing on the solid chocolate bunny ears back in the day.


One of the best parts of baking....the licking of the spoon and bowl. No....I have no idea how I got chocolate on my forehead. Obviously a baking related incident that should never be mentioned again. ;)