Peanut Butter Lover's Rice Krispie Treats

Did you know that November is Peanut Butter Lover's Month?  A whole month dedicated to us PB Lovers?!  How much better can you get?  Maybe a PB and Chocolate Lover's month?  Who knows, that may exist.  There are so many food "holidays" that I have no idea about.  I couldn't let this month go by and not share at least one amazing Peanut Butter recipe.  I got this recipe from Kim over at Liv Life, and it is truly amazing!  You combine so many great things into one little bar.  You have Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats, Peanut Butter Fudge, Rice Krispie Treats, Mini Peanut Butter Cups, and finally a layer of chocolate....Pure Heaven!!  They are a little labor intensive, but so worth it!  AND Ablsolutely NO Baking!!!  Probably not what you will bring to Thanksgiving dinner, but these would be awesome on Friday after you get back from Black Friday shopping, and are eating that leftover turkey sandwich!  Or maybe even the sugar you need to get up early enough to get all the great deals!




Do you go Black Friday Shopping?  What do you shop for?

Peanut Butter Lover's Rice Krispie Treats
From Liv Life
Printable Recipe

1st Layer

3 cups Rice Krispies

1/2 bag miniature marshmallows
2 Tbls  butter

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 

2nd Layer 

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2  cups powdered sugar

 

1 container Mini Peanut Butter cups

3rd Layer

3 cups Rice Krispies

1/2 bag miniature marshmallows

2 Tbls butter

4th Layer

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 bag chocolate chips

Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray.

 

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the marshmallows, butter, and peanut butter together.  Add Rice Krispies, stirring well to evenly coat. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.  Set aside.  

In a large microwave safe bowl combine the butter and peanut butter.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Microwave for 2 minutes on high. Stir and microwave on high for 2 more minutes.  Be careful when you remove from the microwave, it is very hot.  Add the vanilla and powdered sugar and stir to combine.  Spread over the 1st layer.  Sprinkle the mini peanut butter cups over the fudge, lightly pressing down.  Put in the fridge for about 1 hour to cool. 

After fudge is a little bit firm, make the second layer of Rice Krispie Treats. 

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the marshmallows and butter together.  Add Rice Krispies, stirring well to evenly coat.  Lightly press the cereal together and spread onto of the fudge layer.   

For the chocolate layer, melt the peanut butter and chocolate in the microwave, stirring ever 45 seconds.  Once melted, pour over the Rice Krispie treats.  Gently shake the pan to evenly distribute the melted chocolate mixture.

Place back in the fridge for about 30 minutes for the chocolate to harden.  Cut and serve once fully cooled. 

 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

My kitchen is unpacked!!  I have been spoiled with a large kitchen for the last 5 years.  The kitchen in our rental is a very nice kitchen, but it is much smaller than my old one.  I was only able to unpack about 1/2 of my stuff (I have way too much stuff).  It is really nice that we have an unfinished basement to store everything in.  I attempted baking for the first time at high altitude this weekend.  The results weren't perfect, but they were not nearly as bad as I feared.  Stay tuned for some yummy recipes once I get the hang of it!

Thank you to Kita (Pass the Sushi), Liz (That Skinny Chick Can Bake), and Kelly (Eat Yourself Skinny) for filling in for me last week.  You all did a wonderful job, and I appreciate your help!




These bars are one of the last things I made in my old kitchen.  My husband and I were both going to meet friends for lunch, and I had a few things to use in my pantry so I made these bars.  Unfortunately my husband forgot his plate of treats on the counter.  Rami, this is what you missed out on!  Shannon on the other hand received her plate of goodies!  I received an email from her later that night asking if I posted this recipe yet, because they were TO DIE FOR!!!  Well here it is!  This would make a great alternative to Pumpkin Pie this week!


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars
From Bake at 350
Printable Recipe

2 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
3/4 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Allspice
1/8 tsp Cloves
1 tsp Baking Soda
3/4 tsp  Salt
1 cup Butter, softened
1 1/4 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 bag Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare a 13x9 pan.

Mix together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt. (You could use 2 tsp pumpkin pie instead of all the spices if you had it).

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add in the egg & vanilla. Beat in the pumpkin puree.  (It will look chunky and gross, but don't worry, that is what it is supposed to look like).

Add the in the flour mixture, and stir until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread the batter into your pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.   A toothpick will come out mostly clean.  Cool completely in pan before cutting.

M&M Candy Corn Blondies

Happy Halloween!  We carved our pumpkins and roasted the seeds yesterday; my son has his costume and is ready to go!  It should be a fun night for all the kids.  We had a great weekend as a family.  My husband was supposed to get here around lunch time on Saturday, but he surprised me and showed up at 10:00 on Friday night!  I was just getting ready to go upstairs and I heard the garage door open.  One of the best surprises ever! 

I found these bars awhile ago on Pinterest, and I was instantly in love.  I am obsessed with Blondies recently, after just discovering what they are.  It is a little late in the season to make them, but you could substitute white chocolate chips if you can’t find the M&M’s.  But I suspect if you go to the store first thing tomorrow morning, you will find them on clearance :)  You really should make a special trip tomorrow to find them, these Blondies were insanely good! 

 

M&M Candy Corn Blondies

Adapted from The Little Kitchen

Printable Recipe

1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla

½ cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup M&M white chocolate candy corn, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare an 8 inch pan or line with foil.

Cream brown sugar and egg until it's light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and melted butter, mix well

In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and incorporate with a spatula. Stir in M&Ms by hand. Do not over mix.

Pour batter to the prepared pan. Bake for about 25-28 minutes. The top will be dry.  Cool completely before cutting.  

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies

I almost forgot to write this post.  We got an offer on our house last night, so the whole night was spent discussing what to do.  Do you take the offer, or do you counter?  Too much stress!!!  I just want it all over, so we can move out to Colorado and be a family again!  It has only been 2 weeks, but I am done with this living apart thing. 

It is a good thing I remembered to write this post though, you are going to want to make these bars.  Obviously I like peanut butter and chocolate, that is not a secret, but these were delicious.  I liked my Coconut White Chocolate Blondies so much, I wanted to try another version.  I found this peanut butter version over at Ravie NomNoms that was about what I was thinking.  I changed it up a little to use what I had on hand, and they were perfect! 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Blondies
Adapted from Ravie NomNoms
Printable Recipe

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 350º.  Prepare a 13x9 pan.

Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and peanut butter.

In a small bowl combine the flour and baking powder.  Slowly add flour to the peanut butter mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips.  Spread mixture into your prepared pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top starts to look dry.   Allow to cool before cutting and serving. 

Coconut White Chocolate Blondies

This week over at erecipe.com I am the featured Chef of the Week! Go check it out!

Remember back when I made Citrus Garlic Chicken with Coconut Lime Rice? It was a great use of my coconut oil. I knew I wanted to make a savory dish when I received it. I am glad I did, because it was amazing. But I couldn’t skip dessert, could I? I thought about banana bread or muffins or something along those lines. As good as that sounded, I wanted a real dessert. I had seen this Blondie recipe from Cassie at Bake Your Day and I thought this would be the perfect experiment. I am not sure I had ever made Blondies before, so I was very curious how they would turn out.

They were really good! I am not a big fan of coconut, or at least I thought I wasn’t. You could definitely taste it in these, and I liked it! It didn’t have the texture coconut usually has, maybe that is part of my problem with it. I will be branching out and trying other coconut recipes though!


Coconut White Chocolate Blondies
Adapted from Bake Your Day
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup Coconut Oil, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 8×8 pan.

Blend coconut oil and brown sugar together until smooth. Stir in egg and vanilla. Add flour and salt, mix until combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips and sprinkles.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until it is set, and slightly browned. Cool completely before cutting. This part is torture, but Cassie claims it is necessary!

Twix Peanut Butter Brownies

Let it be known (not that it was a secret before), I like peanut butter and chocolate together.  I have seen so many different versions of peanut butter and chocolate brownies floating around.  Some have peanut butter cups, some have just peanut butter, others have peanut butter chips or other candy.  Well I had to jump on this bandwagon, late to the party or not!  I didn't want to have to go shopping though, so I raided my pantry.  Guess what I found?  Two Peanut Butter Twix candy bars from my son's Easter Basket.  As any parent out there, I ration the candy my son eats.  So we end up with a lot of it on a shelf in our pantry.  Every once in awhile I go through and clean it out.  Now I am going have reason to do it more often.  There are yummy treats in there, that should be turned into wonderful desserts! 

Twix Peanut Butter Brownies
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 Twix Peanut Butter Candy Bars

Mix together chocolate and butter.  Add in sugar and eggs, and stir until well combined.  Add flour, salt and baking powder.  Mix until just combined.  Chop the candy into small pieces.  Fold into the batter. 

Pour into a prepared 8x8 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Cool, and enjoy!

S'mores Bars

I think things are finally calming down around my house!  Now to catch up on blogging, and some real work.  I am lucky enough to work out of my house, but that also means I feel like I should always be working!  Ok, maybe not always, but I do have a lot of catch up to do.  Hopefully the long weekend will help!

S'mores are everywhere, in every way shape or form.  I have seen cake, bars, cookies, milkshakes...you name it, is out there.  Well, I couldn't let the summer pass without making my own S'more treat.  I went for a Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies that had a Graham Cracker Crust, and Marshmallows mixed in.  These were delicious!  Perfect for this long weekend.  Bring to a BBQ, make for just you, whatever it is just make them!

S'mores Bars
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups Graham Crackers (1 sleeve), crushed
2/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup mini marshmallows
1 bag chocolate chips
3 Hershey Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar.  Press into the bottom of a 13x9 in pan.  Bake for 7 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly.

Cream butter, shortening, sugar and brown sugar together.  Blend in eggs and vanilla.  Stir in flour, salt and baking soda.  By hand mix in the chocolate chips and marshmallows.

Spread over the graham cracker crust.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Top with broken pieces of Hershey Bars.  Return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove and allow to cool before cutting.  Enjoy!

This is linked over Family Fresh Cooking

Double Peanut Butter Bars

School started last week here.  My son went for the first 2 days, and then was home sick.  Somehow he managed to get Strep in the first 2 days of school, really?  It was a long weekend of trying to get him better.  His fever has been impossible to get rid of, so he wasn't exactly himself this weekend.  Now with 4 doses of antibiotics in him, hopefully this will be the turning point.  I know I could use a good nights sleep, can't even imagine how good it will be for him! 

These bars were one of a few desserts that our whole family liked.  My husband isn't much of a chocolate lover, and I am a complete choco-holic.  So finding something we agree on is not easy.  Peanut butter is one thing though!  My husband came home from work one day, and asked if I could make something for him to bring to work the next day.  I had just found a bag Reese's Peanut Butter Chips in my pantry, so I figured I would make something with them.  The recipe on the back of the bag looked good enough to me.  They were a hit!  People at worked loved them, we loved them, and they were great slightly warmed with ice cream on top later!  I will gladly make these again!


Double Peanut Butter Bars
From Hershey's
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened 
1/4 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 cup sugar 
1 cup brown sugar 
3 eggs 
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups  flour 
2 tsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp salt 
1 package Reese's Peanut Butter Chips 
1/2 cup chocolate syrup

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

Beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl. Add sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; mix into peanut butter mixture, blending well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Spread half of batter in prepared pan; spoon syrup over top. Carefully top with remaining batter; swirl with a knife for marbled effect.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut and Enjoy!

Nutella No Bake Bars

It is no secret that I like Nutella.  I made my own, turned it into cupcakes, made ice cream...I love the stuff!  I have been thinking about making no bake cookies with Nutella for awhile.  But then I ran out of the homemade stuff.  Now that school is starting though, I need to have cookies in the freezer for my son to take in his lunch.  Well, I don't have to, but I like to put a little treat in his lunch for him.  No bake cookies are one of his favorite, the freeze well, and come together in about 10 minutes.  So they are a win all around in my book.

I just took my recipe for No Bake Cookies, and substituted some Nutella. I was lazy, and in a hurry, so I just poured the batter into a pan to make bars.  You could make them like normal cookies as well.  The bars were just so easy!  I took them on a picnic we had with friends the other day and they were a huge hit.  From age 2 up to the adults they were loved!

Nutella No Bake Cookies
Printable Recipe

2 cups Sugar
4 Tbls Cocoa
1 stick Butter
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Nutella
1 Tbls Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Oatmeal

In a heavy saucepan, bring the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk to a boil.  Boil for 1 minute. Then add in Nutella, vanilla, and oatmeal.  Pour mixture into an 8x8 pan, or drop by the spoonful onto a lined cookie sheet.  Put in fridge to harden.

I think they are best eaten cold, so I always keep mine in the fridge.  Enjoy!

Fudgy Brownies

I always make the same brownie recipes, ALWAYS!!  It is the same one I made with my mom when I could barely walk.  I have tried a couple here and there over the years.  But never did I make them more than once. I am really not sure what tempted me to try this recipe last week, but I did.  Maybe it was the promise of super fudgy?  Whatever it was, I am glad I tried it.  It WAS fudgy, it was chocoately, it was moist, it was delicious.  If you like dark chocolate, you will really like this one.  My normal recipe is a little sweeter than this one.  I will make this recipe again, maybe not my go to recipe, but definitely a keeper. 


Fudgy Brownies
Adapted from An Edible Mosaic
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup butter
4 oz semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
6 Tbls flour
2 Tbls cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare an 8 in baking pan with butter and flour.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a microwave.  Cool slightly.  Stir in the brown sugar, sugar and vanilla. Beat in the eggs until light and fluffy.  Add the flour, cocoa powder, and salt and stir until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the brownies are set in the middle, about 30 minutes.

Strawberry Crumb Bars

So strawberry week continues.  This week I do have a few other recipes to share with you as well.  But don't worry, I will keep bringing the strawberry recipes!  I have to don't I, the Milkshakes, Muffins, and Popsicles I posted so far have gotten me on the Top 9 on Foodbuzz.  I am thinking I should really have a strawberry summer! 

We are getting ready to go on our summer vacation.  We leave Friday afternoon to go to the mountains of Colorado!  We love hiking, and try to go out to Colorado once a year.  Very excited that this year we are trying out a new location.  Hopefully we will not be disappointed.  Don't worry though, I have a few guest posts lined up for while I am gone - so you won't miss me too much!  Stay tuned for them, I have had a peak at them, and they are good! 

I have been seeing strawberry, blueberry, raspberry crumb bars all over the place.  They sounded so good, I had to use some of my strawberries to make my own.  I combined a couple recipes to come up with this one.  I used Brown Eyed Bakers, Raspberry Steusel Bars, and Simply Scratches, Strawberry Streusel Bars with White Chocolate Drizzle. I did not end up putting a glaze on top, I debated for a long time.  I was just going to make a simple glaze with powdered sugar, vanilla and milk.  But I decided against. it.  They were just so good without it.

Strawberry Crumb Bars
Printable Recipe

2 1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Butter - cut into 1/2 inch pieces
    + 2 Tbls butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Quick Cooking Oats
3/4 cup strawberry jelly
3/4 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 tsp lemon juice

Spray a 13x9 in pan with no stick spray.



In electric mixer stir together flour, sugar and salt.  With the mixer on a low speed add the 1 cup of butter, 1 piece at a time.  Continue mixing until combined  - about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.  Take 1 1/4 cups of this mixture and set aside. With the remaining, press this firmly into the bottom of the pan.  Bake at 375 for 14 minutes.  The edges will be slightly browned.




While that is baking.  Add brown sugar, and oats to the reserved flour mixture.  Work in the remaining 2 Tbls of butter, using your fingers.  Work until it is in small clumps.  



Combine the jelly, strawberries and the lemon juice in a small bowl.  Mash with a fork to combine.  Be sure to leave some chunks of berries in there. 



Spread filling evenly over the hot crust.  Sprinkle with the streusel topping over the strawberries.  Bake for 22 to 25 minutes.  The crust will be brown, and the filling will be bubbly.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookie Bars

 

The other night we went to a birthday party for a 3 year old.  I was asked to bring my guacamole to the party, and was more than happy to help.  I obviously love cooking, so I asked if I could bring anything else.  She thought she had it covered, but then heard what I was thinking of making.  She immediately took me up on my offer!  And boy am I glad I did.  It was a HUGE hit!  Everyone raved about them, and wanted the recipe!  The birthday boy loves baseball, and had a wonderful cake that looked just like a giant baseball, but these bars were a great treat as well. 

I don’t usually like Cheesecake, never really have.  But recently I am turning a corner, and have tasted a couple I like.  One was a layered cheesecake, with a chocolate cookie crust and then 3 layers (chocolate, almond, brown sugar) of cheesecake.  That was good!  I have been seeing a few different ideas on this bar floating around.  Some have a graham cracker crust, some don’t.  So I wanted to make my own version.  And boy these bars were good, I will happily make them again!   I guess this might prove that if you put enough sugar in cream cheese, I will eat it! 

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookie Bars

Printable Recipe

Cookie Layer:

½ cup butter

½ cup shortening

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 ¼ cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 bag chocolate chips

Cheesecake Layer:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

The cookie layer is just my normal chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar.  Add in eggs, and vanilla.   Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Transfer this to another bowl.  

In mixer beat cream cheese until smooth  - about 2-3 minutes on medium speed.  Add sugar, egg and vanilla.  Mix until just combined. 

Using a 13x9 pan, spread ½ the cookie dough over the bottom of the pan.   Pour the cream cheese mixture over the dough.  With the remaining dough, drop chunks of it over the cream cheese.  

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes.  The top will be lightly browned, and if you insert a toothpick it will come out clean.  This was my first time making anything related to Cheesecake, so I wasn’t sure how to tell when it was done.   But it was perfect!  

Allow to cool before slicing.  Store in the fridge.