Peanut Sauce

I love to serve this with chicken over rice or noodles and my kids gobble it up!

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 Tbsp. minced ginger (or 1/2 tsp. dry)
1/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup crunchy (or smooth) peanut butter
4 Tbsp. honey
2 tsp. hot chili paste (I've omitted this when I've been in a pinch)
4 cloves garlic, minced

*garnish with green onions and crushed peanuts

Combine the ingredients and bring to a boil. Add chicken. When serving with noodles, I pour the whole mixture over the noodles and stir to combine. When serving with rice, I put a scoop of rice on each plate with a spoonful of the peanut chicken mixture on top.

Cabin Fever Cookies

recipe/image

My sister called asking for this recipe tonight.
The cookies really are so delicious.
The honey and butterscotch taste amazing together.
So for her and you... the cabin fever cookie recipe :)

¾ cup butter, softened

½ cup peanut butter

¾ cup sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 cups whole grain oats cereal (or rolled oats)

1 cup butterscotch pieces (I threw in some chocolate chips as well!)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. In an electric mixer, beat butter and peanut butter on medium-high speed for about 30 seconds.

3. Add sugar, brown sugar, honey, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until combined.

4. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

5. Beat in flour, oats, and butterscotch pieces.

6. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons 2-inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

7. Bake 10 minutes or until edges are light brown.

8. Let cool on a wire rack.

Avalanche Bark

via

If you've ever had Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory's Avalanche Bark, this is a delicious copy-cat. Easy to make and a perfect cure-all for your late-night sweet tooth :)

1/4 C creamy peanut butter

2 C white chocolate chips (one 12 oz. bag)

1 C Rice Krispies

1/2 C miniature marshmallows, slightly packed

1/3 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place semi-sweet chocolate chips in the freezer to harden.

In microwaveable bowl, melt white chocolate chips and peanut butter - stirring every so often so as not to burn.

Once completely melted, allow to cool for about 5 minutes.

Stir in Rice Krispies and then set aside until the mixture is nearly room temperature. This will take a while but is necessary to keep the semi-sweet chocolate chips and marshmallows from melting. (I put mine in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling time, but just be careful to not allow the chocolate to prematurely harden.)

When the mixture is close to room temperature, fold in the marshmallows followed by the frozen chocolate chips. Don’t over mix or the chips may melt.

Pour the mixture into a greased or wax paper lined square (8x8) pan. Smooth out the top of the using a second sheet of wax paper.

Place in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes or until hard.

Cut into desired size pieces. If it is too hard to cut allow it to set out a few minutes and soften

"No-Bakes"!!

These have got to be by far one of my favorite combination of flavors and textures....it just satisfies.

1 cup sugar

4 T. cocoa or more if you're like me and like 'em dark chocolate!

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup milk

Bring the above to a boil and add:

1/4 cup peanut butter-chunky is best

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick cooking)

Drop onto waxed paper and chill.

Peanut Butter Bars

These are glorified Reeses peanut butter cups and are oh so delicious! I remember making them growing up and just stumbled on the recipe - which of course reminded me how much I loved them and so I made them and have since devoured way too many!

1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs (about 1 1/2 packages)
3 1/2 C powdered sugar
1 1/2 C creamy peanut butter
1 C (2 sticks) butter, melted
2 cups chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark, you pick!)
a spoonful of peanut butter

In a large mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and peanut butter and butter and beat until combined. Press into a parchment (or waxed paper or foil) lined 9x13 pan.

Place chocolate chips and spoonful of peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring after each one, until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate over peanut butter mixture and spread out evenly. Place pan in the fridge just until chocolate is set and then cut into bars.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

I've been looking for an excuse to make this recipe....my friend Julie's birthday is this month, so this is for her treat!! She said her favorite is anything with peanut butter and chocolate!

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter

1/3 c. butter, softened

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

6 oz. chocolate chips

1 tsp. vanilla

chopped peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour and salt; set aside. Melt the chocolate and butter together. Stir in the peanut butter until well blended. Add both sugars, eggs and vanilla.

Stir in the flour mixture just until blended. Add chocolate chips. Spread batter in a greased 8x8 baking pan. Top with optional chopped peanuts. Bake 30-35 minutes. Do not overbake. Cool and cut into squares.

Hint: instead of greasing the baking pan, line it with foil and grease the foil. When finished baking, remove foil lining with brownies and cool. Cut into squares. Brownies are more uniformly baked and they cut into squares more neatly.

Magic Middle Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

via Family Volley

I will forever and always be a chocolate chip cookie kind of girl, but every once in a while I like to venture out and make something different... these were definitely tasty, fun to make, and even more fun to eat!

- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg

- 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
- 3/4 cup peanut butter

In a bowl, mix flour, cocoa and baking soda, until well blended.

In a larger bowl, beat sugar, butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, beat. Stir in the flour mixture until blended. Set aside.

To Make the Filling: Combine confectioner's sugar and 3/4 cup peanut butter, and mix well.

Roll the filling into 25-30 - 1 inch balls*. I used a small cookie scoop to keep things uniform.

For each cookie, flour your hands and shape about 1 Tablespoon** of dough around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. I used a cookie scoop for the cookie also.

Once the cookies are "stuffed", roll them in the palm of your hand to make a smooth ball. Then roll them in sugar. Like you would a snicker doodle.

Use the bottom of a glass to flatten the cookies, slightly.

Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. When the cookies are done they should be set and slightly cracked.

The BEST Peanut Butter Cookies

My friend Kathryn made these cookies the other day and they were absolutely DELICIOUS! Crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside - and she made hers gigantic! mmmmm. I wasn't exaggerating when I told her it was one of the BEST cookies I'd ever had!

1/2 cup shortening (I used butter)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Mix butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and beat well. Next stir in the dry ingredients until just combined. Using an ice cream scoop, shape dough into over sized golf ball like shapes on the cookie sheet (the bigger the better!) Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

ENJOY!

Scotcheroos

...These are pure delicious!
(Thanks Chance for getting us hooked - now Joe and I crave these more often than we should!)

1 c. corn syrup
1 c. sugar
1 c. peanut butter
6 c. rice krispies
1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (6 oz.) pkg. butterscotch chips

...as you can tell, these are a VERY healthy treat :)

In large saucepan, cook corn syrup and sugar over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter; mix in cereal; press in buttered 9 x 13 pan.

Melt over hot (not boiling) water, semi-sweet morsels and butterscotch flavor morsels, stirring constantly until smooth; spread over cereal mixture.

Chill until firm, 15 minutes.