Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:

Bars

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º F and line a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment paper or grease and flour it.  I used Pam with flour ... happy baking.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal and baking soda, and set aside.

In a large bowl or mixer, cream together peanut butter, butter and sugars until fluffy and lightened in color. 3-4 minutes.

Beat in egg and vanilla extract, then gradually mix in dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Press dough/batter into baking dish and even out into a smooth layer.

Bake for 13-14 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool completely.

In a bowl or mixer, beat together butter, peanut butter and vanilla until combined, and smooth and creamy.  Alternate adding powdered sugar and milk until mixture is fluffy and desired consistency is reached.

Once bars have completely cooled, from baking dish, cut into squares, frost liberally and enjoy!

Myrtle's Note:  First, the frosting is so spectacular that it should be used in ALL instances where peanut butter frosting is needed.  Second, I think it is so incredible because I, obviously, switched one ingredient: milk to heavy cream!  Frosting aside, this is a very tasty recipe, one which I highly recommend if you are, like me, a fan of peanut butter.  And, speaking of peanut butter, I used Peanut Butter & Co.'s The Bee's Knees Honey Peanut Butter.  Anyway, the base is like a combination brownie and cookie, with a bit of oatmeal texture to it; the frosting is like fluffy ambrosia clouds atop the base.  You will, however, have enough frosting left over to almost frost a cake.  I froze the rest for later and did not bother trying to reduce down the frosting recipe.  It is perfection.  You simply do not mess with perfection!  

Yield:  12-16 bars

Source:  http://12tomatoes.com/2015/04/for-the-ultimate-pb-lovers-peanut-butterfrosted-oatmeal-peanut-butter-bars.html/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=12t&utm_campaign=for-the-ultimate-pb-lovers-peanut-butterfrosted-oatmeal-peanut-butter-bars&utm_term=20150710

Chocolate Scotcheroos

Ingredients:

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Grease a 9x13 pan with butter and set aside.

In a large pan, on low heat, melt the sugar into the corn syrup.  Once the mixture comes to a gentle boil, add peanut butter, stir vigorously, and remove from the heat.  It is important to not let it boil longer than a minute at best.

Fold in the Rice Krispie cereal and then spread into a pan and let cool until hardened.

Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring frequently.  Spread atop the Rice Krispie mixture.

Myrtle's Note:  The topping was very thin, so it is important to fully melt it before trying to spread it.  As noted above, it is also important to not overcook the sugar and syrup lest you end up with rock hard treats.  I changed the ingredients from regular chocolate chips to milk chocolate chips.


Yield:  24 servings

Source:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-scotcheroos-2/

Thai Honey Peanut Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 dollops Gourmet Gardens® Garlic (or approximately 2 large cloves minced)
• 2 heaping tablespoons natural peanut butter 
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha (optional)

Directions:

Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a wide, shallow bowl.  Cut up the chicken in bit-sized cubes.  Put the chicken in the marinade and stir thoroughly until completely coated.  Cover with plastic and refrigerate for  an hour (or longer).

Sauté over medium heat until cooked, approximately 7-8 minutes.

Serve over Jasmine rice.


Myrtle's Note:  So authentic!!!  Simply great!  Since I just love Thai peanut sauce, I doubled the sauce ingredients for the next time I make this.

Yield:  4 servings


Source:  http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2010/11/a-tasty-recipe-thai-honey-peanut-chicken/

Peanut Butter S'mores Cookie Cups

Ingredients:

• 1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup marshmallow creme
• 1/2 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in peanut butter.  Then, add egg and vanilla and beat until well incorporated. Stir in milk. Gradually add in dry ingredients, beating after each addition until combined. Chill dough in fridge for about an hour.

Using lightly floured hands, take about a tablespoon of dough and press it into the bottom of each muffin cup, pressing it up the sides a bit. Dollop a teaspoon of Nutella into the center of the dough, followed by a teaspoon of marshmallow creme. Next, take about a teaspoon of dough, roll it into a ball, then flatten it into a disc and cover the marshmallow creme in each muffin cup. When you flatten the ball of dough, keep in mind that it will be a thin layer. If you make it too thick, it will mess up the ratio of the dough to s'more filling.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in tins for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Yield: 16-18 cookies

Source:  http://www.culinarycoutureblog.com/2013/05/peanut-butter-smores-cookie-cups.html

Peanut Butter Honey Truffles

Ingredients:

• 3/4 –1 cup regular oats
• 1 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (if your peanut butter already has salt, skip this)
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2-3 tablespoons sweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

Pulse the oats in a blender for 30-45 seconds till they become a powdery flour. In a mixing bowl, stir together peanut butter, honey, vanilla, salt and oat flour. Roll the peanut butter mixture into 1-inch balls. Roll them in the cocoa to coat. Place on a large cookie sheet covered in wax paper and refrigerate for
30 minutes to chill. Serve cold. Store in the refrigerator or, better yet, the freezer.

Myrtle's Note:  I feel there is just not enough ground oats in this and so add more, up to doubling the original amount.  The key is just how ... oily ... the natural peanut butter I picked is.  Since I very much dislike coconut, I changed the dusting to sweetened cocoa powder.  However, the last time I made this, I also added cocoa to the recipe itself and liked it even better.  With the cocoa powder mixed in, there is a bit less of an explosion of honey to them and more of a balanced taste.  For what it's worth, I regularly double this recipe since it takes a bit of effort to do the rolling out and dusting part.  

Yield: 25

Adapted from:  http://theshiksa.com/2012/10/19/peanut-butter-honey-truffles/

Peanut Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 2/3 cups peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Directions:

Stir together dry ingredients—flour, baking soda, and baking powder—in a small mixing bowl.  Beat together, egg, butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar in a larger mixing bowl.  Add in dry ingredients until thoroughly mixed.  Fold in peanut butter chips.

Drop onto a baking stone and cook until done, approximately 8-10 minutes.  My oven took 12 minutes.  They will look a bit not finished, but you don't want them golden brown.  If cooked properly, they will be crispy outside and soft inside.


Source:  Rebecca Anne (Bettina Matilda) Boyles Kulp

Peanut Butter and Nutella Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (15 cracker sheets; Keebler is best)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup Nutella
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Directions:

Line an 9x9 pan with foil (to easily remove bars after cooking), grease the foil, and set aside.

Crush 2 cups of graham crackers, preferably with a food processor, and put in a small bowl.  Add sugar, salt, and butter and thoroughly mix everything together.  Then press the crust evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake crust until set, approximately 12 minutes.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, heavy cream, and vanilla, and beat until combined. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture into a separate large bowl and set aside. Add Nutella to the remaining half of the cream cheese mixture. Beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside.

Clean your wire beaters. Add the peanut butter to the reserved half of the plain cream cheese mixture. Beat until smooth and creamy.

Spread the peanut butter cheesecake mixture carefully over the cooled crust. Next, gently pour the Nutella cheesecake layer on top of the peanut butter layer and spread evenly.  When spreading the Nutella cheesecake layer on top of the peanut butter layer, it’s helpful to gently drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the layer in various spots and then smooth using a spatula. This prevents pooling in the center and ensures that both layers are even in thickness.

Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the center jiggles slightly when the pan is gently nudged. Cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before cutting into 16 bars.

Myrtle's Note:  I am not an Oreo fan, so I switched the crust base to graham cracker.  In fact, whilst making this with my friend Marie, we made the base half Oreo and half graham cracker.  If you wish to use Oreos, mix 2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs (about 2 full rows of cookies in a standard package) with 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted.  We were also not interested in cooling our dessert for 3 hours, so we put the bars in the freezer to finish setting.

Yield 12-16

Source:  http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2013/02/17/peanut-butter-and-nutella-cheesecake-bars/