Tag Archive: Peanut Butter Chips

Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

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It’s a good think I never made a resolution to eat less sugar because if I did I’d be doing horribly at it.

I always like to have something sweet after dinner, whether it’s part of a chocolate bar or just a handful of chocolate chips. That’s probably why I buy a bag and end up finishing it before actually making a recipe. Oops.

These cookies are simple because all I had this weekend in my pantry was simple ingredients. But simple can be all you need.

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Loaded Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 18 cookies):

  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup cane sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup peanut butter chips

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Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, beat together the peanut butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and baking soda.
  3. Fold in the chocolate and peanut butter chips evenly.
  4. Roll the dough into 1-ounce balls. Lightly press down on the balls with a fork in a criss-cross pattern to flatten it to about 3/4-inch thickness.
  5. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the tops are firm to the touch and the edges begin to brown.
  6. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool before moving to a separate plate.

 

Bark, Bark, Bark

Yesterday I was supposed to go to the store and pick up ingredients to make bark last night. Before I could it started raining, so that never happened. Sure, it stopped raining and the sun came back out but by that time I was home and too comfortable to do more than look at bark recipes online and drool a little.

As I was looking through the bark recipes I have on this site, I realized I only had 4. That’s a shame since it’s one of my favorite things to make and it’s so so easy. I’ll be sure to improve on that from now on; you can never have too much bark.

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I made this peanuts and pretzels bark back in November when I was staying with friends for a few nights, but I stole a taste before I gave it away and I have to say it’s one of my favorites ever. You just can’t go wrong with peanut butter chips, especially in salty-sweet desserts.

Roasted-Hazelnut-And-Candied-Ginger-Bark-serving

Roasted hazelnut and candied ginger bark is definitely the most elegant bark I’ve ever made. I also used high quality baking chocolate instead of chocolate chips for these and I have to say that brought the recipe to a whole new level.

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I have weird tastes; I love bitter things. I’ve even eaten coffee beans whole on their own. That being said, they definitely taste better with chocolate. That’s why I love espresso bark. It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper than buying chocolate covered coffee beans, which are also amazing.

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My body’s two main food groups are probably chocolate and nuts, so this is practically like taking a vitamin. You could really use any nuts you like but I like making this triple nut bark with peanuts, cashews, and almonds and a little salt for extra flavor. But you really can’t go wrong as long as there’s chocolate and nuts involved.

I’ll be sure to make it to the store today. I might spend a mini-fortune on chocolate chips and crazy mix-ins, but I can tell that will be money well spent.

Any particular favorite bark recipes? Recipes and links are welcome!

Monkey Trail Mix

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If I remember anything from high school biology, it’s that monkeys are one of are closest relatives.

We like bananas; they like bananas. We like peanuts; they probably like peanuts. We like chocolate; they’d love chocolate if anyone were weird enough to give chocolate to a monkey.

Basically, monkeys have good taste in trail mix. And we do, too. This snack is packed with just things monkeys(and people!) would like.

monkey-trail-mix-ingredients

I could only find Reese’s peanut butter chips so those are what I used. If you’re looking for something more natural, Sunspire makes really good peanut butter chips which you can find at some Whole Foods and natural food stores.

Monkey Trail Mix

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup banana chips
  • 3/4 cup salted peanuts
  • 3/4 cup raw cashews
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter chips
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chips

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Method:

  1. Combine all of the ingredients and mix together.

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It doesn’t get much easier than that.

 

Peanuts And Pretzels Dark Chocolate Bark

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Over this weekend I went to Philadelphia and ran a marathon. How did I do? I don’t actually know yet; I’m writing this 2 days before the actual marathon. You can probably check my Twitter. I hope to have an actual recap up by tomorrow.

But whether I hit my goal or not isn’t important(OK, it’s kind of important); what matters more is that I had fun with some awesome people. Madeline and her boyfriend were kind enough to let me crash at their place the night before the marathon so it only seemed fair that I shower them in chocolate. 

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Madeline and Boots love gluten-free pretzels and gluten-free chocolate covered pretzels even though neither are gluten-free, which I find hysterical as someone who’s gluten-free and never even bought pretzels before I decided to make these. I don’t know that they like peanut butter, but I’m just going to assume that that’s the case, too. Because—I mean—who doesn’t like peanut butter?

I sneaked a piece before I gave the rest away(because you can’t give something as a present and not taste it first to make sure it’s good, right?) and they were good. I would have added a touch more salt; when I tried the gluten-free pretzels on their own I realized they weren’t as salty as I expected them to be and I think the sweetness is a little overpowering. Otherwise I hope these will be a hit. And if you enjoy things that are sweet and salty I’d highly recommend them, too.

Peanuts And Pretzels Dark Chocolate Bark

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes(allow 20 minutes for cooling)

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate OR 1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup crushed pretzels
  • 1/4 cup salted peanuts
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter chips

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Method:

  1. In the microwave or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate until it’s smooth and liquid.

  2. Spread the chocolate out on a piece of parchment paper in a 1/2-inch thick layer.
  3. Evenly distribute the peanuts, pretzels, and peanut butter chips over the chocolate. Press the ingredients lightly into the chocolate to make sure that they stick.
  4. Refrigerate the chocolate for 20 minutes until it has hardened.
  5. Break the bark into individual-sized pieces. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

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I hope to have a full marathon/weekend recap up tomorrow morning, but if it’s a little late it’s because I’m going from Philadelphia to Boston to Providence and then back to Massachusetts to cook and photograph and eat Thanksgiving dinner. Basically it’s going to be a bust week and I can’t wait for all of it.