Peanut Butter Blondies

This is a recipe that I decided to make at the last minute when I found out I was having lunch with a vegan friend.  I chose it because I had all of the ingredients on hand, it was a bar cookie which is less work than scooping out individual portions, and it was described as appealing to people who like really peanut buttery desserts.  I had no expectations and just hoped they would turn out reasonably good.  I ended up getting such a huge reaction from my friends and actually had several people describe these as one of the best desserts they’ve ever had.

This recipe got me excited about Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar again.  When I first got the book I had really high hopes since I’m such a fan of the authors’ cupcake cookbook.  The first cookie recipe I tried from it was great, but the second really wasn’t very good.  After my success with this recipe I’m going to put the cookbook back in more regular rotation.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars – Mini Post #5

Not the prettiest picture, but trust me – these bars are so good.   They perfectly capture the flavor of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and have been a huge hit whenever I’ve made them.

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Apple Peanut Butter Softies

I could bake all day, every day for several months and still not bake every recipe that’s caught my eye.  I must have close to a hundred recipes bookmarked from all of the food blogs I read, not to mention the six binders of recipes that I’ve clipped from magazines, and of course there are my cookbooks filled with colorful flags marking the recipes that I’d like to try.  And yet I still find myself sitting at home with a desire to bake and no idea what to make.  It was on one of these nights that I stumbled across this recipe while searching for something that would use up some of my CSA apples and satisfy my craving for peanut butter.  Read the rest of this entry »

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Krispies

So it’s really hot in New York.  Really, really, really hot.  Just terribly hot.  And it’s going to be hot for 10 days.  There are a lot of terrible things about the heat.  Being outside is miserable.  Being inside can also be miserable (my office likes to crank the AC so high that it’s like working inside a walk-in refrigerator).  You feel tired before you even make it to the end of your block.  What do I usually do when I’m miserable?  I bake.  Not when it’s 99°.  That’s where no bake recipes come in.  And these chocolate-covered peanut butter krispies are definitely the best no-bake dessert I’ve made this year. Read the rest of this entry »

Peanut Butter Cup Whoopie Pies

My Nana is the queen of whoopie pies.  She makes huge batches every Christmas and any other time they are requested.  They are requested quite often, because they are SO good.  This past Christmas she substituted her normal vanilla filling with peanut butter and chocolate, and it was a really nice change of pace.

Some important whoopie pie tips from my Nana:

1) Use a cookie scoop.  The size of the scoop isn’t so important – these work as mini or full size whoopie pies – but using the scoop is super important so all of your cakes are the same size.  You’ll also use the same size scoop to get the perfect amount of filling.

2) Individually wrap your pies in plastic wrap.  Whoopie pies are often classified as a cookie, but they are really cake.  They’ll stick together if you don’t wrap them.  I guess you could just put parchment paper between the layers, but the saran wrap serves the dual purpose of helping to keep the cakes moist. Read the rest of this entry »

Peanut Butter Fudge

I began baking in college, but it was after I graduated and had a real kitchen that I started baking a lot.   Inevitably when I meet a new person and start talking about baking they say, “I could never make all those treats.  I’d eat them all.”  I understand why people say that.  I love sweets too, but it would be impossible to eat two dozen cookies, a cake, and twelve muffins all in the same week, all by yourself.  It’s just too much food.  When you bake a lot you need to have friends, family, or coworkers to give all of the food to.

That’s where my office comes in.  I’m very lucky to work in an office that has between 30 and 50 people in it everyday.  That means that I can put out whatever I’ve baked the night before and it will be gone in less than an hour.  And no matter what it is, and no matter how bad I think it has turned out, everyone is so nice and thankful.  And it makes me want to bring them more sweets.  This recipe is the first thing I ever brought into work.  Everyone raved.  I never told them that there was Velveeta in the fudge.  At the time I’d only worked there for 3 months.  I thought they would be disgusted and think I was a weirdo.  This week I made it again.  And I told everyone was in it.  And they ate it anyway.  And raved.

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Chocolate Caramel Slices & PB Banana Oatmeal Cookies @ the Food Bloggers Bake Sale

On Saturday Joanna and I participated in the National Food Bloggers Bake Sale to benefit Share Our Strength, a charity that fights to end childhood hunger.  The New York sale took place at the Brooklyn Flea and was organized by the lovely Jacquie at the JHL Life.   The bake sale raised over $1100 dollars!

Joanna made her gorgeous Heart Shaped Linzer Tarts.  One woman was so impressed by the tarts that she bought five.  I made Chocolate Caramel Slices and Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies.  I chose the caramel slices because they are by far the most popular thing I’ve ever made.  I really wished I’d made a triple batch.  They were gone in half an hour.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Parfaits

Last week me and my boyfriend both bought 1/2 gallon containers of milk on the same day.  Since we normally can barely finish one half gallon before the milk goes bad I had to make something that used up a LOT of milk…PUDDING!

I really love making pudding.  The moment when you are stirring the liquid and it suddenly become solid is very exciting.  It makes me feel like a scientist.  This recipe is very easy.  I made some changes since the point of making up this pudding was to use up some leftover milk.  I thought it was still very creamy even though I used 1% milk instead of a combination or whole milk and cream.  I imagine if you tasted the 1% version alongside the full fat version you would notice the difference, but on its own it didn’t seem lacking.  And if you’re like me and are wary of low-fat desserts, don’t worry:  this recipe has chocolate and peanut butter so it’s anything but.

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Peanut Butter Buttons

When I first saw these button cookies on Bakeralla I sort of freaked out.  I LOVE buttons.  I knew I had to make them and luckily I had the perfect occasion.  We were having a special day to honor my best gal-pal at work and she loves buttons and crafty things as much as I do.

These cookies are actually really easy to make.  Bakerella uses a peanut butter cookie mix, but I used my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe.  It’s actually my favorite cookie recipe-period.  Even if you don’t have any interest in making button shaped cookies I recommend every peanut butter cookie fan tries this recipe.  If you don’t like peanut butter cookies you might want to try them too.  They’ve been known to make converts.

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