Archive for July 2012

Jul132012

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

This week I’ve made it my mission to not turn the oven on at all, and so far, so good. However, Wednesday night was posing a problem since it’s dessert night, and the kids would not let me get away with “just have a popsicle” for one more week.

So I went digging through my food board on Pinterest and followed a few links around until I came across a recipe for No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars.

The thing is, the blog that has these posted didn’t credit where they came from originally, which was AllRecipes (it wasn’t that hard to find, and I knew I’d seen it before). So I’m just going to link to it on AllRecipes and keep my opinions about copying recipes but not crediting to myself 😉

These were really easy to make and I didn’t even have to turn on the stove for any of it. I melted the butter in the microwave, and melted the chocolate and peanut there, too.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

I also didn’t bother with the separate layer of peanut butter, mostly because I didn’t read ahead and mixed it all up with the chocolate chips. It didn’t seem to hurt it, though.

It does need to sit for an hour in the fridge so make sure you give yourself time, and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before trying to cut it.

These aren’t as good as other peanut butter bars I’ve had (they’re kind of texture-less), but they’re great for not having to heat up the kitchen!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars
adapted from AllRecipes

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used about 15 sheets)
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter or margarine, graham cracker crumbs, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Spread over the prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Jul92012

Baked Kale Chips

Baked Kale Chips

Several months ago I finally gave in to a super special Pinterest trend and made baked kale chips. People were saying they were a great substitute for potato chips (they’re not), and that you could eat them by the bushel (I certainly can’t).

However. They are good.

But just don’t compare them to potato chips. People saying that sweet potato fries taste better than regular french fries got me to try those, and to this day I give a serious side-eye to anyone else who makes that claim.

But kale chips are good.

Baked Kale Chips

You don’t even need to haul out any heavy equipment. Just tear curly kale into a salad spinner, rinse it, and spin it.

Baked Kale Chips

If food is prone to fly out of bowls and around your kitchen when you try to mix it, stuff the kale into a food bag and dump in a tablespoon or so of olive oil and some sea salt and shake, shake, shake.

Baked Kale Chips

Dump onto a baking sheet (I like to line mine with foil because I am lazy).

Baked Kale Chips

Bake at 350° for about 12-14 minutes or until the edges start to just get brown. I like mine a little on the crispier side, so 14 minutes is about right for me. Just try not to undercook it because it gets chewy.

Your kitchen will smell weird.

Baked Kale Chips

That’s it. Dump it in a bowl and chow down until you get sick of it and have to pass it off to the kids.

Jul32012

TWD: Hazelnut Biscotti

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is Hazelnut Biscotti, and is hosted by Jodi and Katrina.

Now… I know this is probably sacrilege, but I hate hazelnuts. I don’t even like Nutella. I know, I’m a horrible person, right?

So instead of hazelnuts in my biscotti I decided to use sliced almonds. I also didn’t want to spend the money on Frangelico or brandy for just two teaspoons, so I just used a teaspoon of almond extract and a teaspoon of water to keep the liquid content consistent.

I also added about 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips and 1/4 cup of milk chocolate chips because why not?

I usually find biscotti to be pretty bland, even when dipped in coffee or milk. And I obviously can’t speak to how the hazelnuts or Frangelico may have actually tasted, but once this is dipped into warm coffee, the almond flavors just explode. It was really delicious.

The kids also think they’re pretty fantastic in milk. Keeper!