The Secret Recipe Club: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies

January is here, group B’s reveal date is here, and The Secret Recipe Club is back! We took a little break in December for the holidays and decided to start off fresh again in 2013!

This time around I was given Erin’s fun blog Dinner’s, Dishes, and Desserts. With a name like that, I instantly knew I’d be baking up something sweet. I like when The Secret Recipe Club comes around the same time a UFC event is being played at my best’s friends home. I don’t like to come empty handed and a couple dozen cookies will make them all very happy. These cookies in fact were very popular.You have a peanut butter cookie, with chocolate chips and then topped with a chopped up miniature Reese’s peanut butter cup. You could only imagine how good these smelled baking up.

I can’t believe I found VALENTINE’S DAY candy ALREADY!!!

I thought 1 cookie would be enough because they are quite large but I realized I went back for seconds and thirds. I love chocolate and peanut butter and I had a good workout that day, so I deserved it! Oh and I’d recommend a glass of ice cold milk to wash it all down!

Please head on over to Dinner’s, Dishes, and Desserts for the recipe to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies. She has a cute blog and you will find many other great recipes there as well.

Happy baking!
Fallon

Telluride Trail Bars

As I’m typing this up I’m having one of these amazing granola bars as my dessert after dinner. I came upon these bars through the blog Family Fresh Cooking. Marla has a really nice blog all about fresh and healthy cooking. We both can relate to that. I was actually in the market for some homemade granola bars because I’d like to limit my intake from store bought bars. In reality it is cheaper to make your own bars and you can use all natural ingredients. These bars are suppose to mimic one of my favorites, sweet/salty peanut butter pretzel Clif Mojo bars. Which is also one of Marla’s favorites as well! Marla’s Telluride Trail Bars were inspired by their many trips to Telluride, CO. I’ve never been to Colorado but by her photos, it looks like a beautiful state!

The bars have pretzels and peanuts, with peanut butter and banana being the binder/sweetener. No refined sugar is added to these bars. A touch of honey or maple syrup would be nice but I really don’t think it is necessary. They bake up beautifully and are great snacks. I’ve enjoyed mine like Marla and her family does by making little sandwiches with them or adding it to some plain kefir with a drizzle of peanut butter. I tweaked the bars a little bit by adding in some pepita and sunflower seeds, chocolate chips and chia seeds on top! Also instead of plain peanuts I added some honey roasted peanuts (these will contain refined sugar).They make a great dessert like I mentioned earlier or a pre/post workout snack. I totally recommend peanut butter on top!

  

Telluride Trail Bars

Adapted from Family Fresh Cooking

Ingredients

2 cups toasted old fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts, chopped

2 tablespoons raw pepita seeds, toasted

2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds, toasted

4 mashes very ripe bananas

1 cup natural peanut butter

1/2 cup whole grain or spelt pretzels

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons chia seeds

Optional: natural sweetener to taste

Direction

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Lay peanuts, seeds and oats in a 9 x 13” baking dish in a single layer. Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly toasted and golden brown. When you can start to smell the oats, peanuts and seeds, that means they are done. Set aside and let cool in a medium bowl.

Keep the oven heated to 350 degrees. Line the 9 x 13” baking dish with parchment paper. Heat up peanut butter and mashed bananas in microwave or over the stove and stir well to combine. Let cool a few minutes. In the medium bowl with the toasted oat mixture add in the peanut and banana mixture. Fold in the pretzels and 1/8 cup of the chocolate chips. The chocolate will melt into the mixture. Taste granola and add any sweetener if desired. Spread the mixture evenly in the baking dish and top with remaining chocolate chips and chia seeds.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The granola bars are done when the top is golden brown and the edges are a bit crispy. Let them cool so they are easy to handle, gently transfer to a cutting surface removing parchment paper and cut with a serrated knife or pizza cutter.

Plain kefir, go lean crunch cereal, crumbled up telluride bars, and peanut butter drizzle.

TRY THIS!

Enjoy,

Fallon

Are you this dedicated…

…that you’d have a separate shelf for all your nut butters and nuts? It wasn’t something I really thought about but once I started organizing my new kitchen I realized that I had way too many nut butters. I also had way to many bags of nuts (to make nut butters). So I dedicated 2 shelves for these items. Oh don’t worry, chocolate has its own shelf as well. It is above the bag of nuts. ;)

Peanut flour, white chocolate PB, creamy PB, dark chocolate AB, Barney butter packets..

More PB and AB. Coconut butter decided to join the party too!

I’m hoarding 2 bags of hazelnuts up there because they are VERY hard to find. Basically I’m saving them and I don’t know when I’ll eat them! I’m so silly ;)

This one is currently my favorite. That clearance sticker sure is tacky but they are crazy for discontinuing this cashew butter. The best store brand by far and it was the last jar. You know me I would of stocked up for my collection.

So dreamy.. I mean creamy!

So amazing?

MMM HMMM!! Come back tomorrow and I’ll share my flavor of amazing!

Fallon

Cinna- Peanut Butter Fondue

I decided to enter in The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition recipe contest. The decision was simple. I love peanut butter and the prize is really nice! Peanut Butter & Co makes some of the best peanut butter I’ve tasted and winning six jars would be amazing! In order to win I had to come  up with a fabulous recipe where peanut butter has been heated through somehow or by adding some extra heated spice! I thought about it, I dreamed about it and I finally came  up with a recipe that was somewhat healthy, exciting and would be delicious. Cinna- Peanut Butter Fondue. The peanut butter is melted in a mixture of coconut milk, maple syrup, brown sugar and peanut butter chips. I spiced it up by adding cinnamon and a little salt to bring out the peanut butter flavor.

The best part was tasting the fondue with all the different dippers like pretzel rods, green apples, bananas, marshmallows and honey graham crackers. I then decided to test it out on top of homemade vanilla ice cream as well and it was over the top delicious! Each dipper brought out the fondue to a whole new level. My favorite was using the pretzel because the crunch and salt went well with the sweet cinnamon and creamy peanut butter. This is a great snack to enjoy with the kids after school or make it into a fondue party!

Cinna- Peanut Butter Fondue By Fallon         Ingredients

1/4 cup coconut milk (any milk of choice)

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed lightly

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Dash of salt

Dippers: green apples, bananas, marshmallows, pretzel rods, honey graham crackers, dark chocolate squares, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodle cookies, cheese cake bites etc.

Directions                                                                                                                              In a heavy saucepan, cook and stir over a medium-low heat, coconut milk, peanut butter, peanut butter chips, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir until everything melts and becomes smooth. Add in salt and cinnamon; continue to stir. After 6-7 minutes and mixture is completely smooth and creamy, transfer to a fondue pot or miniature ramekins.    7-8 servings (2-3 tablespoons each)

                

This is when it got dangerous AKA topping for vanilla ice cream!

     

I can’t wait to see all the other fabulous recipes and what competition I’ll be up against! Wish me luck!!!

Fallon

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Crispy Brownies

Now is that a mouthful or what? This post will be cut short because I believe the title and the photos speak itself. You must make immediately if you are a fan of peanut butter, marshmallow and chocolate! I know I am, so this was right up my alley. It is very sweet so a nice “healthy” serving goes a long way. I made these for the super bowl. I figured it be a good treat to enjoy while watching the game but I guess the guys just don’t know what good dessert is all about. I know us females enjoyed them!

This isn’t the first time I’ve enjoyed these brownies. My best friend made a batch of them almost a year and a half ago! I shared them in this post here. I sent her the recipe and little did I know she actually made them as soon as she saw the recipe! I noticed I wrote that I would make with nutella the “next” time. Well note to self AGAIN I will make with nutella. ;)

 

To get this wonderful recipe please head on over to The Cooking Photographer for Peanut Butter Marshmallow Crispy Brownies.

Why hello. Yes, I am speaking to you!

Come a little closer.. I have something to share with you.

I have chocolate, peanut butter, and marshmallow sweetness to share with you.

We even come in an army!

This was a “scrap” plate. Meaning, it was corners and edges while I cut the bars into squares. Meaning it was for me to eat because no “scraps” ever go to waste with me when chocolate is involved!

Trust me you won’t be disappointed!

Welcome Monday and Happy President’s Day!

Always,

Fallon

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Here is a cookie I made that came from the cookie swap party I help co-host back in December. My mom’s friend Paulette and her daughter brought these cookies. Chocolate and peanut butter, what more can you love? Apparently they loved them just as much as I do because they brought dozens of these cookies! I couldn’t help myself and enjoyed several of them.The creamy peanut butter cup filling and the peanut butter cookie that surrounded the cup was the perfect sweet to salty combination. In return Paulette couldn’t stop raving about how good my Peanut Butter Chocolate Dough Balls turned out. She ended up baking a batch of dough balls for her co-workers. What can I say we have good taste in flavors like chocolate and peanut butter. ;)

Next time I make these cookies, I’ll hire someone to unwrap each one of these. Can I say tedious??? hehe

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup AP flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar (I used Stevia extract instead)

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk (cows, milk, soy, almond etc)

40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.

Bake for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

I only have 1 mini muffin pan, so I think my peanut butter cups melted more then they should since I had to let the cookie set/ pan cool before putting another batch in the oven. Also I didn’t roll out 40 balls first. I used my cookie scoop and went from there. I didn’t get exactly 40, I was shy by 8 cookies. Regardless they turned out really good and if you have Stevia in bulk, I highly recommend replacing it with white sugar in baked goods. You will save calories and you won’t really notice a difference in taste. Lately I’ve been doing that a lot, so I can enjoy it too!

My holiday cookie recap is almost coming to an end, just a few more to go. Check out cookies you may have missed out on. Bookmark now and bake later. ;)

Gingerbread Cookies

Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

Cranberry Almond Chocolate Clusters

Enjoy,

Fallon  

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls

I wish I had the pleasure to try the original Annie the Baker Cookie Dough Balls. I could order them online but I think that takes the fun out of actually experiencing it in person at an event where they are being featured. They look delicious and something you can’t just eat one of. Hopefully I’ll get to experience the original dough balls one day.

Being this wannabe vegan, I came across some vegan dough balls from Peas and Thank You. She was inspired from Annie the Baker dough balls and decided to create a vegan version. When I become a mom one day, I definitely am inspired by Mama Pea and how she has raised her kids. Vegan or not, it is good to be open minded and try new things, like vegan dough balls of course! Something you can make with kids and you can even eat the raw dough without getting sick! Vegan baking is the best for that reason. ;)

I made these for my friends at a UFC event held at their house one weekend. They seemed to enjoyed them but I definitely kept it a secret they were vegan. Can’t knock it till you try it! I kept them as vegan as much as possible except instead of peanut butter chips, I had extra toffee bits to use up. I didn’t bother reading the ingredients, but I’m sure they weren’t vegan. Then I ran out of dark chocolate chips and mixed in some milk chocolate chunks.

As for that, everything else was vegan from the buttery spread and natural peanut butter. Instead of whole wheat pastry flour, I used spelt flour!

Everything turned out perfect and I decided I will be making these cookies for my first Holiday Cookie Exchange I will be hosting with my good friend Lisa. It’s not a traditional holiday cookie I would normally make but right now I’m really into vegan baked goods, and would like to share it with other individuals! Plus I’ll make sure to keep it 100% vegan for the party.

 

Head on over to Peas and Thank You for the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls recipe.

Ooey, Gooey, Goodness!

Enjoy!!

Fallon

PS: Las Vegas has been so gloomy and cold lately! Check out these clouds. This weather just makes me want to bake and stay extra cozy ;)