Tag Archive: Peanuts

Lunch Box Trail Mix

Lunch Box Trail Mix

I’m a conservative when it comes to trail mix politics. I won’t go near one at the store if it has dried pineapples or brazil nuts; I would say that even pumpkin seeds are pushing it for me. The best trail mix is the simple kind you grew up with.

This is a classic mix with a few different nuts, chocolate M&Ms and of course lots of peanuts. My 5-year old self would probably pick out the chocolate first and leave the raisins behind but I’ve come to appreciate them more and more.

Lunch Box Trail Mix Candies

Pay attention to whether the nuts you use are salted or unsalted. I’d recommend only using salted peanuts and unsalted cashews and almonds for the best flavor. Roasted nuts are more traditional but use whichever you think have the best flavor.

Lunch Box Trail Mix

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 5 cups or 20 servings):

  • 1 1/2 cups roasted salted peanuts
  • 1 1/2 cups whole almonds
  • 1 cup whole cashews
  • 1 cup M&Ms
  • 1 cup Raisins

Lunch Box Trail Mix Yield

Method:

  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
  2. Store in an airtight container and keep in a cool place when not eating.

24 Hours of Peanuts {Giveaway}

April 11th 030

A couple months ago I was lucky to be included in a project the National Peanut Board was making with various food bloggers. Just this month the 24/7 Energy Recipe Resource project has been printed and released and I got a few copies to flip through. The book is filled with peanut facts, ways to snack and recipes that incorporate peanut butter into every meal. Come to think of it I’m sure there have been days when I’ve had peanuts at every meal but never with such a range of flavors and unique ideas for using them.

April 11th 038

My recipe contribution was peanut butter granola. I love that and need to make it again sometime, but before that I wanted to try some of the other recipes in the book. One of the simplest and most appealing I could find was for a peanut butter banana quesadilla. The recipe calls for whole wheat tortillas but I swapped those out for corn tortillas to easily make it gluten-free.

April 14th 009

It was delicious. I never would have thought to put cinnamon with peanut butters and bananas but the flavors totally worked. I would probably add a drizzle of honey next time because the peanut butter I used had no sugars added to it. Otherwise this was a great snack and there are plenty of soup, sauce, and dessert recipes to try to fill the other 23 hours of the day.

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The National Peanut Board gave me plenty of prizes to share the love of peanuts around. I have a duplicate prize pack of one that I received featuring a recipe booklet, apron, cocktail shaker, notepad, peanut spreader and (of course) peanuts as well as 2 extra recipe booklets to give away, so I’ll randomly pick 3 winners from the comments.

To enter leave a comment with the name of your favorite peanut recipe.

For extra entries

I’ll pick 3 comments at random next Wednesday night, April 24th, and email the winners. Good luck!

Candy Party Mix

Candy Party Mix

This kind of treat has a lot of names. “Monster mix” and “Trash mix” come to mind; let’s call it a party mix since that sounds more elegant when you’re stuffing your face with candy at 8pm.

After Halloween everyone’s always stuffed with more candy than they know what to do with. This is a great recipe to use it up and have something fun and festive to put out at a party or the office. Adding some salted nuts helps to break up the sweetness and add a little crunch factor without making it into a “healthy, boring” treat.

Candy Party Mix Serving

Adapt to use what you have; swap out chocolate covered raisins instead of the almonds or use pretzel M&Ms. It’s entirely versatile.

Candy Party Mix

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3 cups):

  • 1 cup salted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup chocolate covered almonds
  • 1/2 cup M&Ms
  • 1/2 cup Reese’s miniature peanut butter cups(or regular sized peanut butter cups cut into quarters)
  • 3/4 cup small Swedish Fish

Method:

  1. Mix all of the ingredients together and enjoy.

Candy Party Mix 2

You’re welcome for the sugar rush.

White Chocolate Candy Corn Bark

White Chocolate Candy Corn Bark

Candy corn seems to be one of those foods that divides families. People either love it or they hate it. Personally, I’m addicted to it. Sometimes it tastes good; other times it tastes like nail polish remover. But I will always eat it.

Still, candy corn on its own can be a bit much; I find it’s better with other things like Chex mix or Halloween crack corn that cut through the sweetness. White chocolate isn’t going to do much for that but peanuts and a little bit of dark chocolate definitely do. This bark is all around fun if you like candy corn and sweet treats.

White Chocolate Candy Corn Bark Broken

White Chocolate Candy Corn Bark

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 16 pieces):

  • 8oz(1 cup) white chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup candy corn
  • 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
  • 1/4 cup chocolate chip

Method:

  1. Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave or over a double boiler.
  2. Pour the melted chocolate onto a non-stick surface and spread it into a layer about 3/8-inch thick.
  3. Evenly drop the candy corn, peanuts, and chocolate chips onto the bark and press them in gently.
  4. Move the chocolate to the refrigerator or freezer to harden for 15-20 minutes.
  5. Cut the bark with a sharp knife into asymmetrical pieces. Store in the refrigerator when not eating.

White Chocolate Candy Corn Bark Finished

If you serve this at a Halloween party you can make up fun stories like how the white chocolate is ectoplasm and the chocolate chips are ghost droppings. I don’t know what the candy corn and peanuts would be; any ideas?

Peanut Butter Granola

Peanut Butter Granola

Sometimes I get sick of food. Kale, potatoes, eggs—all things I usually love—just don’t seem as appetizing lately. There are a few foods I never get sick of like peanut butter, oats, and yogurt. When that’s all you want to eat, what’s better to do than make granola?

This has been my go-to lunch as of late. I’m usually hurried and granola and a container of yogurt are convenient and easy to pack; add a banana and you’re all set. I’m also a huge fan of GORP and ants on a log so raisins add the perfect touch to round out the recipe.

Peanut Butter Granola Jar

This granola doesn’t have an in-your-face peanut butter flavor; instead, it’s a lighter, sweeter nutty flavor. It’s also chewier than most other granolas I’ve made and reminds me of a crumbled up granola bar on top of yogurt.

Peanut Butter Granola

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3 1/2 cups):

  • 2 1/2 cups oats
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut oil*
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup salted roasted peanuts
  • 1/4 cup raisins

*You can use any type of oil but peanut oil will have the best flavor

Peanut Butter Granola Baked

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, peanut butter, oil, maple syrup and vanilla.
  3. Spread the oats out in a thin layer on a non-stick baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 35 minutes breaking up the oats with a utensil every ten minutes or so until the oats are toasty and golden.
  5. Let the oats cool before mixing in the peanuts and raisins. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Granola Serving

Of course you could (and probably should) add chocolate chips as a mix-in. I’m not sure why I didn’t think of that; I must have been tired that day.

Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars

Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars

When you’re a food blogger, you end up having some pretty weird “snacks”. Leftover cheesecake in the afternoon? Sure. Chocolate granola for lunch and dinner some times. Anything goes.

That’s all great and delicious but there are times when I wish I ate a little bit healthier. Of course, the answer’s simple; if you want to eat healthy you need to buy and make healthy meals and snacks. So to start I made one of my favorites: peanut butter chocolate chip larabars.

Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars Serving

Most pre-portioned snacks at the grocery store are overpriced; they’re even pricier if you get them from kiosks or snack stands. By making your own, you control the costs and quality of the ingredients. Larabars have pretty clean and simple ingredients as is, but by buying dates and using other ingredients I already had I was able to bring the cost down.

You could make your own and use almonds instead of peanuts to adapt these for someone with a peanut allergy.

Copycat Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabars

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 6 bars):

  • 8oz pitted dates
  • 1/2 cup peanuts
  • 2 Tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Combine the dates and peanuts in a food processor and blend on high until the ingredients start to form a paste.
  2. Add in the peanut butter and salt and continue blending until a dough begins to form.
  3. Lastly, add in the chocolate chips and pulse a few times.
  4. Line a loaf or baking pan with plastic wrap.
  5. Drop the dough on top of the plastic wrap and press the dough into a square or rectangle about 3/4-inch thick.
  6. Cut into bars or squares. Wrap individually and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Copycate Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Larabar Cut

I left mine in squares. You could make bars or balls or really any shape you could think of with these.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Glad to know I’m not the only one who thinks peanut butter and baked beans are a delicious combination. But I forgot to mention the best part! If you leave a comment on the recipe page on Peanut Butter & Co.’s All Star Recipe Blog you’ll be entered to win a jar of their deliciously sweet Smooth Operator peanut butter.

And speaking of peanut butter…

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars Sliced

As soon as I made chocolate almond granola bars I knew I wanted to make a version using peanut butter. What goes better together than peanut butter and chocolate? But when I finally got around to making it, I thought of improvising and using white chocolate; if anything beats peanut butter and chocolate, it’s peanut butter and white chocolate.

White chocolate’s one of those things I don’t like so much on its own but goes great with just about anything. It adds a rich, buttery flavor to these granola bars that make them taste like they’re so homemade you grew the oats yourself.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Want to take these to the next level? Try using PB&Co.’s white chocolate peanut butter.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 8 bars):

  • 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup no-stir peanut butter
  • 3 Tablespoons honey
  • 1 cup oats*
  • 1 1/2 cups rice crisps cereal*
  • 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

*To make these granola bars gluten-free, make sure these two ingredients are certified gluten-free.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars Collage

Method:

  1. In a microwave or over a double boiler, melt the white chocolate.
  2. Stir in the peanut butter and honey until smooth.
  3. Add in the oats, cereal, peanuts, raisins, and salt and mix until everything is completely covered.
  4. Line an 8 x 8 baking tray with wax paper. Dump the batter into the pan and press down into an even layer.
  5. Refrigerate the bars until they’ve hardened—about 20-30 minutes.
  6. With a sharp knife, cut the bars in half horizontally and into quarters vertically into 8 2 x 4 bars.
  7. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars(2)

These were a little more crumbly than the other granola bars I made for whatever reason. Make sure when you cut into them they’re extra cold and you use a sharp knife.

Elvis Granola

Elvis Granola

First granola bars, now granola; I’m on an oaty roll. 

I’ve never been particularly fond of granola until I had Love Grown Foods’ cocoa granola last Summer. I didn’t realize something could be so chocolaty and also healthy. Every time I’ve made granola myself in the past it never clumped; this recipe clumps. The banana chips and peanut butter naturally pair with the chocolate. It’s really a winner. 

Elvis Granola Collage

Want to make it a little more delicious? Add in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips after the granola has cooled. This recipe is also vegan as is but I didn’t want to call it that because I ate mine with a big bowl of cow’s milk yogurt.

Elvis Granola

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3 1/2 cups):

  • 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats*
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup roasted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup banana chips, crushed

*To make this gluten-free make sure to use gluten-free oats.

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
  2. In a bowl, mix together the oats, maple syrup, oil, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and salt thoroughly.
  3. Lay the oats out on baking tray and press down until the oats are about 1/2 an inch thick.
  4. Bake for 25 minutes, gently shaking the tray every 5 minutes or so.
  5. Remove from the oven and let the granola cool.
  6. Once cool, break the granola up and mix with the peanuts and banana chips. Store in a sealed container for up to a week.

Elvis Granola Long

I can’t understand people who eat granola with milk. Yogurt is granola’s best friend; you can’t break them up.

Banana Peanut Butter

Banana Peanut Butter

I’ve always wanted to make a banana flavored peanut butter. It’s no secret bananas and peanut butter go well together. But one of the problems of a banana flavored peanut butter has always been that bananas just don’t last once you peel them. What you need is a shelf-stable banana—something like banana chips!

This was a lot easier to make than I thought it would be. Both the banana chips and the peanuts pureed quickly. The flavor isn’t quite as banana-y as if you took a banana and mixed it up with some peanut butter, but for the convenience of having this in your pantry and ready to eat with a spoon at any time it’s plenty delicious.

Banana Peanut Butter Banana Chips

After I made these I found out banana extract exists. If you can track that down in a local store, I would suggest using that in place of the vanilla extract. If not, don’t worry; the vanilla adds a subtle flavor that only enhances the banana without drawing too much attention to itself.

Banana Peanut Butter

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 1lb 2 ounces):

  • 1 cup banana chips
  • 1-2 Tablespoons oil
  • 3 cups roasted peanuts
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

  1. Blend the banana chips in a food processor until they turn into a smooth puree. Slowly add in small amounts of oil to help them move along.
  2. Once the chips are pulverized, add in the peanuts, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt and continue blending for 5-10 minutes until it forms a butter-like texture.
  3. Add in extra crushed peanuts or banana chips if desired and fold them in.
  4. Move the peanut butter into a sealable jar. Store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Banana Peanut Butter Simple

If you’re thinking this would be good on banana bread, I’m right there with you.

Thai Deviled Eggs

Thai-Deviled-Eggs

Happy Memorial Day! Hopefully you’re all set to relax on the beach, but if you’re in need of a quick appetizer or beach snack this might fit your bill.

I used to hate hard-boiled eggs(and by “used to” I mean about a year ago); the texture of the cooked yolks sort of freaked me out. And deviled eggs? Well, I’m a little suspicious of mayo still, so no thank you.

Thankfully at some point I saw the light(about hard boiled eggs—not mayonnaise. That’s still on my gross list). Instead of mayo, this recipe mixes the egg yolks with peanut butter, spices, and coconut milk for a light yet rich mousse-like filling. The peanut butter also boosts the protein in addition to being incredibly flavorful.

Thai-Deviled-Eggs-filling

I used a frosting piper to fill the centers, but you could use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off to get a similar effect.

Thai Deviled Eggs

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 dozen):

  • 1 dozen eggs
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons rice vinegar(or white vinegar in a pinch)
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder OR 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
  • 3-4 Tablespoons coconut milk(any kind of milk would do)
  • Crushed peanuts and extra chili powder to garnish

Thai-Deviled-Eggs-eggs

Method:

  1. Boil the eggs in a pot full of water for 9 minutes. Drain the eggs from the water and submerge in cold water to bring them down to room temperature.
  2. Peel the shells from all of the eggs and split them in half.
  3. Scoop out the yolks from the egg whites.
  4. Combine the yolks, peanut butter, salt, sugar, vinegar, and spices in a food processor and blend until smooth.
  5. Slowly add your liquid until the filling takes on the texture of a mousse.
  6. Either scoop the filling directly into the egg whites or use a pastry bag to squeeze them in.
  7. Garnish with peanuts and/or chili powder. Serve at room temperature. 

Thai-Deviled-Eggs-bite

Now go out there and enjoy the weather. But pack your deviled eggs first.