Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

I know this isn't like our typical posts of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and bars, but it sure smelt and tasted like a peanut butter oatmeal cookie! And it was just too darn good to not share with all of you!

Casserole sized Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie!!

Sure seems like there is a lot of hype about baked oatmeal and steel cut oats lately. And I jumped right on that bandwagon. Seemed fitting being that I consider myself an oatmeal addict. Willing to bet that I eat oatmeal at least five, if not six, days a week. Not always for breakfast either. Numerous times when I have eaten it for lunch or supper. Making a packet of instant oatmeal is about as easy as it gets. But after having this baked oatmeal it is sure is going to be hard to go back to the instant oatmeal. Ya know the stuff that always smells better than it actually tastes.

And look how ooey gooey the middle was!

I highly recommend having a tall glass of milk handy when eat this! The website where I found the recipe even suggested pouring milk right over the top of it. Either way, you will need some milk!


Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease either an 8x8 inch pan or 1 quart casserole. Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Spread into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown. May top with sliced bananas, chocolate chips, yogurt, or maple syrup.

Source: Tidy Mom

Buckeyes

Ever since I checked the book, Bake Explorations, out from the library, I have been dying to make this recipe. Chocolate+Peanut Butter+Cream Cheese+Graham Crackers=YUM! I knew with a list of ingredients like this it had to be a winning recipe. Apparently these treats are best known in Ohio where this candy resembles the horse chestnut from the Buckeye State. Living in Minnesota I have never heard of them, but sure do love em! They literally taste like you are eating peanut butter cookie dough wrapped in chocolate. The insides are light and soft just like cookie dough. One of my coworkers said it best when she said, "these are better than sex balls" as she kept popping them in her mouth. Too funny. I know there was more than one person who was having a hard time having just one. Warning: these may cause you to overindulge.

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 cups confectioners' sugar

10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

12 oz good-quality dark chocolate

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and peanut butter until combined. Add the graham cracker crumbs and beat on medium speed for 10 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and butter. Beat at low speed for 20 seconds to prevent the sugar from spilling over; then gradually increase the speed until the mixture is completely combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again. The mixture will feel slightly dry. Set the peanut butter filling aside while you melt the chocolate.

In the top of a double boiler set over hot water, melt the chocolate, stirring frequently until it is completely smooth. pour the chocolate into a small, deep bowl. Let it cool to tepid (about 100 degree) while you shape the peanut butter centers.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Scoop out slightly more than 1 tablespoon's worth of filling and use your hands to form it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared sheet pan and repeat the process until all the filling has been shaped. The balls can sit fairly close to each other on the sheet, just make sure they are not touching.

One by one, use a fork or large skewer, dip each ball into the chocolate. Roll the ball around from side to side to cover almost the entire peanut butter center, leaving a small part uncovered. Manipulate the buckeye so that the dripping chocolate covers the holes made by the fork. Let the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl and return each chocolate-covered buckeye to the pan. Refrigerate the entire sheet pan for about 30 minutes to set the chocolate before serving.

Bake on!

-Michele

Gooey Good Bars

What's in a name? You would think with the word "gooey" in the title that this would be an instant hit. While it was well received by the audience, I was disappointed. I am my own worst critic. It definitely did not live up its title. I was expecting peanut buttery ooey gooey goodness but that is not what I got. I'm sure at this point you aren't interested in the recipe, but here it is. Like I said, everyone else loved them (and my adaptations-keep reading)


1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup oatmeal

Frosting:
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk

Cream together first five ingredients. Stir together flour, soda, and 1/4 tsp salt. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in oatmeal. Pat firmly into a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degree for 12-15 minutes. Cool and frost with a mixture of the remaining ingredients.


Clearly, from the picture you can tell that I didn't follow this recipe exactly. I made these bars in a 9x13 inch pan and they were a little past done at 12 minutes. I can't imagine what they would have been like had the dough been spread even thinner in a 15x10 inch pan. I didn't have any powdered sugar in the house to make the frosting so I improvised. After I took the pan out of the oven. I threw most of a bag of dark chocolate chips over the bars. I let it sit for a couple minutes to melt. In the meantime I took about 1/2 cup of peanut butter and melted it for about 20-30 seconds in the microwave. I drizzled this over the chocolate chips. By now the chips had melted so I spread the PB/chocolate mixture over the bars. I'm convinced that this frosting saved the recipe. Had the bars been baked a few minutes less this recipe could have been a winner. For now, I'm sure I will move on. There are plenty more PB/choc recipes out there to tackle.
Until then,

Bake on!
-M

Source: http://cookie.betterrecipes.com/gooey-good-bars.html

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie

So around Christmas time I was going through the Sunday paper and drinking my morning coffee when I came across the recipe for this pie in the coupon section of the ads of all places. Anything with the words "peanut butter" always catches my attention. At that time I was so busy doing all of my holiday cookie baking that I saved this one until now. Yeah, I have not been faithful with my blogging as of late. Sorry. I was utterly disappointed in myself when at the end of my Christmas baking I realized that I had forgotten to take pictures of my masterpieces. Grrr. Well, I have some of them so I will try to get up to date. In the meantime, lets get back to this peanut butter pie. I brought it to work today and I don't think that I could've picked a better day. There was only one tiny little sliver that was left and I think that it was only there because my coworkers were practicing "Minnesota nice" and didn't want to take the last slice just in case someone else wanted it. Well, the near empty pie tin clearly speaks for itself. If you like PB you will enjoy this treat. I bought the prepared pie crust the recipe calls for... I think if I was to make it again, I would make up my own recipe for a chocolate pie crust and make this in a 8X8 pan. When I made this dessert there was too much filling and topping and it ran over creating a nice little ooey gooey mess. I also only end up using about 2/3 of the fudge topping that it calls for. So, here is the recipe. Enjoy!

1 cup creamy peanut butter, plus 2 Tbsp, divided
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 12oz. container whipped topping, thawed
1 11.75oz jar hot fudge spoonable ice cream topping

1. Beat together 1 cup peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar in large bowel with an electric mixer on medium until well combined. Gently mix in 3 cups whipped topping until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture into pie crust. Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie.

2. Reserve 2 tablespoons of hot fudge topping in the corner of a resealable food storage bag; set aside. Microwave remaining topping on high for 1 minute. Stir. Spread topping over pie covering entire peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until set. Spread remaining whipped topping over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.

3. Cut a small corner from bag containing topping. Squeeze bag to drizzle topping over pie. Place remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter in a resealable food storage bag; cut bag corner and squeeze to drizzle in opposite direction from topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I really want to have a pic here for y'all but it was eaten much too quickly. Just know that it would make your mouth water.

Bake on!
M

Peanut Butter Snickers Suprise Cookies

Love, love, love these cookies. How can you go wrong with the combination of peanut butter cookies and snickers? Chewy peanut butter cookie, sweetness of the chocolate, gooey caramel, and the crunch of the peanuts! Yum-O!

The only downfall about these cookies is the numerous steps it takes to reach the finished product. Unwrap miniature snickers, shape dough around snickers, bake, cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and drizzle with chocolate. Whew! That is the exact reason why we make these at our annual mother-daughter baking day while the guys are gone hunting. Definitely need three of us working on these. Especially because we triple the batch and make over a hundred.

Peanut Butter Snickers Surprise Cookies

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 pkg (13 ounces) miniature Snickers
1 pkg Dove milk chocolates, melted

Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugars using a mixer on meadium speed until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda. Cover and chill dough for 2-3 hours.

Unwrap all of the miniature snickers. Take approximately one tablespoon of dough and flatten in the palm of your hand. Place a snickers in the middle of the dough and form the dough into a ball around the snickers. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

After cookies have cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar (works well to use a fine mesh sieve) and drizzle with melted dove chocolates.

Nothing Beats Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

As many of you may already know, I have a tendency of eating peanut butter by the spoonfuls! It actually has become kind of a problem. A daily problem. To the point where I have to mentally tell myself to look pass the peanut butter. I could easily sit down with a jar of peanut butter and a spoon and eat the whole darn thing. In fact, that would be pretty close to heaven for me!

Last night during my nightly routine of surfing the internet I stumbled across a new blog! I love, love, love when that happens! I spent several hours reading and bookmarking recipes from Bake at 350! I am in pure awe at her cookie decorating skills!

While I was browsing her blog I stumbled across the post for Peanut Butter Chip Bars and immediately started salivating! I needed to try these and I needed to try them now! First of all, what is better than peanut butter and chocolate? And second, look at her pictures of the bars! Specifically the middle of the bars!! Their gooeyness sucked me right in!


Peanut Butter Chip Bars

6 TBSP unsalted butter
1/2 c chunky peanut butter
1 c sugar
1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 c flour
1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8 x 8" pan

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. Cream the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Beat in the sugars until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.Stir in the flour mixture. Add the chocolate chips, stirring until combined.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan (you WILL want to lick the spoon...it's yummy!). Bake for about 30- 32 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy the Sweet Escape!
-Jess

Thee Best Cake Ever!

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze!!

Oh my god! This cake is by far the best cake we have ever made! It leaves me at a loss of words! Absolutely speechless! Can't even find words to describe to all of you how amazing it is!




I am seriously convinced that sour cream is the ultimate secret ingredient for baking! Every thing that I have made that includes sour cream has turned out absolutely wonderful! They always seem to turn out super moist, light, and fluffy! And this cake lived up to this theory as well!

Michele said it best when she said "it is the perfect marriage of flavors!" Neither the chocolate nor the peanut butter overpower the other. Rather the two compliment one another very well!

The recipe is from Sky High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes. This is the first recipe that we have tried from this book, but being that this one turned out so well, I am super anxious to try some of the other ones!

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms oand sides of two 8-inch cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper and butter the paper.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the oil and sour cream. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Divide batter among the two cake pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks and carefully peel off the paper liners.

Peanut Butter Frosting
10 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
5 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup smooth peanut butter

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the powdered sugar one cup at a a time. Mix thoroughly after each addition and scrape down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about three to four minutes. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

To frost the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand. Spread about a cup of frosting evenly on the top. Place the other layer on the top and frost the top and sides of the cake with remaining frosting.

I had a difficult time getting the frosting to have a nice smooth finish due to it being slightly sticky. But it worked well to dip the spatula into a bowl of hot water and smooth the frosting.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze
10 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half

In the top of a double broiler, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half.

To decorate the cake, simply pour the glaze over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least thirty minutes to allow the glaze and frosting to set completely


Well I think we have finally found our ultimate go-to chocolate cake recipe!! What a good feeling that is!!

This has by far been the best sweet escape ever!
-Jess

More of Michele's Halloween Treats!

Jess and I made plenty of Halloween cupcakes this year. She has already posted some of them that we created together. I made more the next day for my nephews' Halloween party. Here are some featured creations that are a bit different that those that she has already posted.

This walrus cupcake was created on top of a chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache. I dyed some cream cheese frosting blue to create his face. I pipped on some black eyes. His mouth is made out of a halved peach ring and his teeth are candy coated licorice bites.

This spider and web was created on top of a chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache. I piped cream cheese frosting to create the web. The spider's body is made out of a milk dud, chocolate licorice and an m&m.

This little blue monster was created on top of a chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache. I dyed some cream cheese frosting blue to create his face. Mini marshmallows were used to create his eyes and teeth. I quartered the marshmallows for his teeth. I created lips using chocolate licorice.

These cupcakes were inspired by a picture I saw in the MixingBowl.com Fall/Winter 2010 magazine. I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache. Then I piped on the mummy's wrappings using peanut butter cream cheese frosting. M&ms were used for the eyes.

Justin called this one my "Elmo" cupcake. It is a pumpkin cupcake that is layered with a mini pumpkin cupcake. I used pink dyed cream cheese frosting and gave this little guy a furry look. The orange nose is made out of a gum drop. The eyes are 2 large marshmallows with blue m&ms.

These cupcakes were loved by everyone at the party. I have a picture of 2 of my nephews standing on a chair next to the kitchen counter just staring at all of them. Priceless. I think my brother-in-law ate 3 of them that day. His favorite were the chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache that had cream cheese skeletons piped on them. Of course the kids at the party went crazy for all the monsters that were loaded with lots of delicious frosting. Another attendant of the party said that these were cuter and tasted better than a cupcake shop in the Twin Cities that charges $3-4 per cupcake. Kudos to us.

Bake on!

M

Michele's Halloween Treats

Peanut Butter Eyeballs

If you love PB... you will love these. Once you start eating them, you can't stop. I snagged this recipe from MixingBowl.com magazine Fall/Winter 2010. They were a perfect treat for my nephews' Halloween Party.

2 cups crisp rice cereal

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

2 cups powdered sugar

2 cups creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, melted

3 cups white baking pieces (15oz)

Red food coloring

Black decorating icing

1. Line a 15x10x1-in baking pan with foil; set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cereal, milk powder, powdered sugar, peanut butter, and butter. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed. using wet hands, shape cereal mixture into 1-inch balls. Place balls in prepared pan. Freeze for 1 hour or until firm.

3. Place white baking pieces in a double boiler over hot but not boiling water. Heat and stir until melted. Dip the balls into the melted baking pieces. Let stand until set. Using a small paintbrush and red food coloring, paint veins on coated balls. Using the black decorating frosting, pipe small dots on each ball. Makes about 50 eyeballs.

Bake on!

M

Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Treats = Pure Heaven

Last night I went to see Kari and Holly's super cute new condo and of course had to bring them a little housewarming treat! I went on the food blog hunt for a delicious recipe and boy did I find a good one! I was browsing on Brown Eyed Baker and under "the most emailed" category in the number three spot was peanut butter cup rice krispie treats. I knew I was going to love these just by the name alone! I clicked on the link and BAM suddenly there was this utterly amazing picture staring me in the face.

I love rice krispie bars. I love peanut butter. And I love chocolate. Put all three of these together and it was like walking through the gates to heaven!

It was absolutely hilarious listening to the moans and comments as five girls inhaled the bars. All I heard from the girls between bites was "I am definitely having seconds," "O-M-G," and "I could seriously sit and eat the whole pan."

Hopefully I have you all convinced by now that you need to make these bars in the near future! Everyone that eats them will love you forever!


Peanut Butter Cup Rice Krispie Bars

6 cups Rice Krispies
1 bag (10.5-oz) miniature marshmallows
¼ cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 bag (12-oz) miniature peanut butter cups (about 40), quartered
1 cup milk chocolate chips (or 6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped)

1. Butter a 9×13-inch pan and set aside.

2. Measure the cereal into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Melt the marshmallows and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the cereal and mix well so the cereal is coated. Pour into the prepared pan and use a buttered piece of wax paper to press evenly into pan.

3. In the microwave, melt the peanut butter until thin, about 1 minute. Gently stir in the quartered peanut butter cups and then pour over the treats. Using the back of a spoon, gently spread the peanut butter mixture evenly across the top.

4. Again in the microwave, melt the chocolate chips. Using a spoon, drizzle the melted chocolate across the top. Place the pan in the refrigerator to set before cutting and serving. Store in an airtight container.

This was one heck of a Sweet Escape!

-Jess

GANACHE!!!

Chocolaty Cupcakes Dipped in Chocolate Ganache!!!!

aka "Heaven on Earth".

I have been eager to try making cupcakes that are dipped in ganache. Talk about chocolaty goodness. Just look below at my pics. My mouth is watering already. A few weeks ago, I gave it a try. It was a Monday when I brought them to work with me...boy, did my coworkers love me!!

I found my recipe at the following website: http://www.recipegirl.com/

Always on the quest for the perfect chocolate cupcakes, I baked these cupcakes up according to the recipe, with high hopes. I think that I was so focused on the ganache and the toppings that I didn't stop to make a decision on the cakes themselves. Sadly enough, these days I don't really try much of my own baking. Maybe a bite here or there. So, I really rely on the opinions of those eating my treats. Though nobody has complained once about having to test them for me. Weird, huh? With 50lbs down, I'm just not willing to sacrifice my success to try all my goodies. Yeah, me! So, taste-testers of my baked goodies...start commenting on the treats you like and the treats you don't via our blog. We would love to hear from you!!! Just hit the comment link at the bottom of our posts.

Jess and I have been talking about chocolate cupcakes a lot lately. Many recipes leave us very disappointed. They are dry, tasteless, and do not dome up nicely. Like I said earlier, I can't speak much for the taste of them, but these did seem moist and they domed up perfectly. When I make these next time I will definitely make 1 cupcake at a time until I find the perfect about of batter that will make the dome raise just about the cupcake liner. Or I will peel the liner off once they are cooled. When you apply the ganache you dip the cupcakes in the bowl of chocolaty goodness. So if the dome isn't just right you ended up with a liner that is full of chocolate...not very picturesque. You can see from my picture below that some of them turned out really well and others not so much. This only had to do with the height of the cupcake itself in relation to the liner.
Once the ganache dried I decided to take some creative liberties to add that special Michele touch. On recipegirl.com, she suggests putting some to leftover ganache (that has thickened a bit) into a plastic bag and piping on some decorations. This is what I did below, but not before I took my food processor to some Snickers and Peanut Butter Cups to add a little POW! Some of these cupcakes don't have liners as I pulled them off when they were covered with the ganache around the rims.


This next little guy is probably about the prettiest cupcake I have made to date. So proud of it. So, after the ganache dried, I swirled on some peanut butter buttercream and add a few chocolate sprinkles. I used a "Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting" recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/. Complete heaven. Even the name is mouth watering. Chocolaty Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache, Topped with Peanut Butter Buttercream and Chocolate Sprinkles. Delish! Who's hungry?

Bake on!

-M

Peanut Butter Truffle

It was time to try something other than cupcakes! Found this recipe for peanut butter truffles on the Taste of Home website. The recipe called for crushed granola to give it a little crunch, but I didn't have any around the house so I substituted crushed graham crackers. Loved the taste of the graham crackers but I think next time I will add a little less because they were a tad bit dry. I dipped them in Baker's chocolate which worked very well. The consistency is a little runnier so it gave them a nice shiny look!

Our First Baking Experience!

For our first baking experience, Michele and I thought we would rely on the wonderful recipes of Martha Stewart. We chose to try the one-bowl chocolate cupcakes topped with peanut butter cream cheese frosting. The frosting was absolutely amazing, but the cupcake on the other hand was a little disappointing. They just didn't have the intense chocolate flavor we were expecting. The frosting recipe has been filed in the "keep folder" but we are still on the quest for a knock-out chocolate cupcake recipe!