Incognito

Yup, I am at it again with the Peanut Butter. Be honest though, can you ever have too many desserts with Peanut Butter and Chocolate?? I think not.

This recipe comes from my Grandma's recipe box. Deceivingly these were titled Peanut Butter Bars, but as you can see these look more like a brownie than a Peanut Butter bar! In reality these moist little bars are more like a brownie with a slight Peanut Butter undertone than what I think a Peanut Butter bar to be so I am changing their name to Incognito Bars (because the PB flavor is undercover in these chocolatey-looking bars).

These bars are thick, moist and all in all very good. I will be making these again and I really liked the simplicity of the recipe and how quick they came together.

*Next time I might increase the amount of Peanut Butter by 2 TBS and increase the amount of cocoa powder to 3TBS total(decreasing the amount of flour by 1 TBS so the texture and consistency of the bars remains unchanged). I might also add mini chocoalte chips or those mini Reese's PB baking cups or chips to the batter before baking.

As you can see, I have several ideas in mind for these little babies in the near future because these bars were very good and worth a try.

I tasted one of these babies while they were warm and found the flavor of both the chocolate and Peanut Butter to be too subtle for my liking. I felt they needed to be "Jazzed" up a bit. So, I whipped up a simple Chocolate/Peanut Butter 'frosting' and topped with crumbled a Butterfinger bar.

The Result? MMMMM, finger licking good!

I did notice, however, after cooling the flavor of the bars themselves seemed to deepen a bit and you can taste the chocolate and peanut butter a little more than right out of the oven. Because their flavor seems to deepen after they set a few hours/overnight you may want to try these bars after they have cooled and set without the frosting/candy bar topping to see if you feel they need that extra sweetness.
I found them to be great with the additions by my tooth has been known to be pretty sweet!

Incognito Bars
1/3 cup Peanut Butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
2 TBS cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting (if desired)
Chopped/Crushed Candy bars (if desired, Butterfinger's pictured)

Preheat oven to 325.
Line an 8x8 pan with foil and spray with PAM.
In a medium bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
In a medium mixing bowl cream the peanut butter, butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs and beat well. Slowly add the flour mixture.
Spread batter in pan and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool.
Frost if desired and sprinkle with crushed Butterfinger bar (as pictured) or Chopped Reese's PB cups.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting (Optional)
1/2 cup Peanut Butter (creamy)
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1 TBS shortening

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, stir toghter Peanut Butter, chips and shortening until smooth. You can add more Peanut Butter or Chocolate chips depending how much frosting you want and to taste.
Gently Spread Evenly over bars. Sprinkle with crushed/chopped candy if desired.

Ooey Gooey Peanut Buttery!

I have been craving a Peanut Butter sweet lately and had a jar to use up. I went searching for a recipe and found this winner on the Jif website! I did top the bars with some chopped Reese's cups before covering in marshmallows because I had some to use up and really Reese's PB cups make any dessert a little better! These taste fabulous!

I really really liked the taste and texture of these bars. The base has a nice Peanut Butter flavor and is light in texture. It is topped with a layer of melted Peanut Butter and then covered Marshmallows (and chopped PB cups in my version) and then baked again until the Marshmallows puff and bec0me light brown. Do not overbake or the Marshmallows will be hard and crisp.

My one complaint about these bars is that they are VERY difficult to cut and eat. The marshmallows stick to the knife (even after greasing the knife) when cutting making them not look too pretty. Also, the PB/marshmallow topping does not stay on the base while cutting and eating. The topping stuck to the knife and got pulled off of the crust slightly. This happened again while eating. I do admit, that I did not allow these to cool completely before cutting and serving so that may have been the problem. The seperation of the cookie base and toppings did not affect the taste, these were soooooo good!! For flavor I give them a 9! The chopped Reese's PB cups really added that extra Peanut Butter flavor I was craving and will continue to add them when making this recipe. I will definately be making them again very soon. Next time I will cool completely to see if that makes a difference in cutting and serving.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars
adapted from Jif
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 salt
1/2 cup Jif Creamy Peanut Butter
4 cups miniature marshmallows
7-8 individual Reese's PB cups chopped (more or less to taste)

Heat oven to 350.
Grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish with PAM spray.
In a large bowl combine brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, peanut butter, sugar and egg.
Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add gradually to creamed mixture at low speed. Beat until well blended.
Cover. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
Press into prepared dish. Bake 20 minutes or until light brown.
Do not over-bake. Cool 2 to 3 minutes.
Place peanut butter in microwave-safe measuring cup. Microwave for 1 minute. Pour over cookie base. Spread to cover.
Cover Peanut Butter layer with chopped Reese's PB cups and marshmallows. Return to oven. Bake 5 minutes or until marshmallows are light brown. Do not over-bake.
Loosen from sides of dish with knife. Remove dish to cooling rack.
Cool completely.

Don't lick the Screen

Lick the beaters, the spoon, your fingers, the knife and your plate. These are THAT good in my opinion. I have been tweaking a basic brownie recipe for the past six months that I found in my mom's recipe box. The recipe was tattered and and speckled with dried batter (a sign of a winner in my book!). My mom rarey makes brownies from scratch anymore as she is a woman of convenience and the $.88 boxed brownie mix. She did remember that she used to bake these from scratch all of the time when she was my age and first married to my dad but doesn't remember where she got the recipe.

The first time I baked the brownies according to the recipe but they were not very chocolatey and way too cakey for my liking. I did some tweaking (more/less eggs, sugar, butter, chocolate, cocoa powder, etc) every time I have made them and lets just say that these brownies came out to be the Brownies I had dreamed of. I only hope to have continued success with the recipe as written, if not, I am not afraid to tweak some more until pure brownie perfection is achieved. **Fingers crossed for future success!!

After my latest tweaks I stood there looking at the batter in my mixing bowl. Not wanting to be disappointed by another plain-jane-so-so brownie I decided to jazz them up a bit. In my book chocolate, cheesecake and peanut butter is a combination created by the Gods. And let's just say the God's have shined down upon this recipe. These brownies are fudgey, gooey and oh so chocolately (thanks to THREE different kinds of chocolate) with a creamy peanut-buttery cheesecake swirled throughout not once but twice. If that wasn't enough peanut butter overload these babies are topped with chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups the last five minutes of baking. Just long enough for them to melt into the brownies a bit but still retain their shape making these brownies fall into the FOOD PORN category.
Go ahead and indulge!

Double Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

3/4 cup butter, very soft (not melted but softer than room temp)

1 cup sugar

1 TBS vanilla extract

2 large eggs
1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

1 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirl

4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cups creamy PB

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

5-6 Reese's peanut butter cups (regular size) cut into 6-8 pieces each

IMPORTANT: Do NOT omit the Reese's Peanut Butter cups. They take these brownies over the top and add the "Double" Peanut Butter taste the title tepts tastebuds with

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8x8" square pan with foil and lightly coat with PAM cooking spray.

In a microwave safe bowl melt the two baking chocolate squares in 30 second intervals stirring after each interval until smooth and melted after stirring. Do not scortch! Remove from microwave and allow to come to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, Beat together butter and sugar until combined. Beat in eggs one at a time until blended. Add vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix to combine. Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl and wisk together. Gradually stir dry ingredients into butter mixture. Do not overmix.

In separate mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg and beat until just combined.

Spread about 2/3 of chocolate brownie batter into prepared pan. Evenly drop 1/2 of cheesecake batter in dollups over brownie batter. Run a knife through both mixtures to slightly swirl.

Dollop remaining brownie batter and cheesecake batter over swirled mixture. Run knife through the browine and cheesecake dollups (not all the way through the already swirled layer) to create a swirled pattern.

Bake for 40-45 minutes**, or until center is set and a toothpick inserted in the center has a few crumbs stuck to it. Do not overbake or they will harden, if underbaked they will be too gooey. Every oven is different so watch and check these after about 35-40 minutes of baking to ensure propper doneness.

**After about 35-40 minutes of baking (with about 5-7 minutes of baking time left, you just need to eyeball it) gently place cut up Reese's cups over top of almost fully baked brownies. Finish baking until a toothpick inserted in the center has a few crumbs stuck to it. The Reese's PB cups will melt but hold their shape slightly. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting and serving.

NOTE: I have not baked the brownie recipe without the Double Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirl and Reese's on top so I am not sure how the brownies themselves rate. Let's just say I may not find out as I am in love with the Double Peanut Butter Cheesecake recipe.

NOTE 2/13/08: I changed and added 5-7 minutes the baking time as a few people who have made the recipe indicated a longer bake time was needed than oringinally posted. The recipe listed above reflects those changes.
All ovens are different so be sure to keep an eye on your brownies to prevent overbaking. Brownies are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out with a few crumbs stuck to it.

My Favorite Cookie

EVER!!

Monster Cookies!

I am a lover of cookies. I love trying new recipes, but this one I crave more than all the others. I love the combination of Peanut butter and Oatmeal. I am not sure why they are called Monster Cookies, that is what my mom always called them.

I love this recipe for looks, texture and definately taste!

This recipe is so versitile and you can really make it your own (just like the Basic Blondies)! The peanut butter taste is not overwhelming but provides a subtle backround flavor that pairs nicely with whatever you choose to stir into this recipe. The oatmeal provides a great texture without being too grainy as some can be. These are enjoyed by adults and kids alike!

Monster Cookies

½ cup butter, room temp
1 1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs

1/8 cup vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I like Creamy)

1 tsp baking soda
4 ½ cups oatmeal (quick cooking or old fashioned)

Add-ins should equal 1 -2 cups total:

(I used 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 3/4 cup Reese's Pieces Holiday Edition)

chocolate chips

white chocolate chips

butterscotch chips

PB chips

M&M's

Reese's Pieces

Nuts (walnuts, peanuts, pecans)

Raisins

Craisins
Preheat oven to 350.

In mixing bowl, combine butter and sugars until blended. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until combined.

Add Peanut Butter and baking soda. Beat until combined.

Slowly add oatmeal. Blend in as much as you can with mixer and fold in the rest by hand along with your choice of Add-ins.

Drop on parchment lined baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes until light brown and just set around edges. Cool on counter. Store in tupperware with slice of bread (not touching cookies) to keep soft and chewy for a few days.

The Way Nature Intended

Peanut Butter, that is.
This is my first time using all natural PB, (I usually by Jif or Skippy) but the last time I was at store I decided to give "All Natural" a whirl.
My friend has raved about this recipe for months now, insisting that I just HAD to try it.

She ONLY buys "All Natural" products and insisted that this recipe is not as good with any other peanut butter because of the chemicals in them (chemicals schmemicals, I love my Jif and Skippy and its lab created flavor. Plus the stuff has an incredibly long shelf life, not that I have personal experience with an open jar lasting long enough around here to be sure).

This is my first time using this recipe so I do not know how they would turn out with using your regular old tub of Peanut Butter. In my opinion, anything with Peanut Butter is pretty darn good, so I will definately have to try out my good old Jif (in the name of science of course!)

I have not taste tested one yet because they are for work tommorow, but I can NOT wait to sink my teeth into one of these babies.

Naturally Nutty Peanut Butter Cookies













1 3/4 cups plus 2 TBS flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups natural creamy peanut butter, (make sure to stir it to combine the oil and solid mixture)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
4 TBS unsalted butter, room temperature (NOT too soft)
2 eggs
2 TBS light Karo corn syrup
1 TBS vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350.
In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl blend together the peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, and butter on low speed until JUST combined, making sure not to over mix. With the mixer turned off, add the eggs, corn syrup and vanilla extract and beat on low until JUST combined.

Slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Stop mixer before the flour is completely incorporated to prevent over mixing and finish by hand.The dough should a little sticky.

Using the Pampered Chef Medium size scoop, shape the cookie dough into balls Place formed dough balls on parchment lined cookie sheets. With the tines of fork dipped in sugar, lightly press and flatten each ball making a crisscross pattern.

Bake cookies 9-11 minutes until they are JUST SET and start to show a tiny amount of light brown color on the edges. Cool the cookies in the pan for a minute. Then, transfer to wire rack to cool completely.