Peanut Butter Bars That Make You Go NUTS! :)

Hi!

I hope all of your summers have been going well, although I know that many people have gone back to school by now. No matter what occupation or education you are in, a sweet can always brighten anyone's day! Recently, I had the need to bake something, but didn't want to actually "bake" something. Does that make any sense? I settled on a super-easy "no-bake" dessert. For those who have tried and enjoy peanut butter, this one is for you! All I can say is sooo yum, with no thought required. We can all use one of those once in a while!

This is another go-to recipe that is sure to be a non-disappointment! My mom has been making it for years thanks to her friend Carrie.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE BARS 
Ingredients:
11/2 Sticks Butter, melted
1 Cup Peanut Butter
2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 Cu[s Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 Pkg. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip Morsels

Directions:
1. Blend butter, powdered sugar, crumbs, peanut butter in a large bowl. Mix well.
2. Press into a 13x9 pan. DO NOT GREASE THE PAN! (It will make the bars soft and mushy. Not a pretty sight!)
3. Refrigerate for one hour.
4. Melt the chocolate chip morsels over a double boiler or in the microwave at a low power (maybe 4 or 5 at 30 second intervals.)
5. Pour the melted morsels over the pan of bars, spreading it so it is completely covered.
6. Refrigerate for another 15 minutes.
7. Cool and cut at room temp or freeze then bring to room temp and cut.

First, Powdered Sugar!

Graham Cracker Crumbs

Adding the Peanut Butter and Butter

A totally mixed batter!

Pressed into the pan...

Melted chocolate on top!

Side View of the Completed Bar! 

As a new school year begins for many, I wish all who are experiencing this a wonderful time back at school! For those who are out of school, I wish you all the best! Keep smiling!

What is your favorite recipe that includes peanut butter?

˜Victoria˜

Hot Chocolate Brownies To Celebrate A Graduation

Hi!

I know that it has been a while since I have posted and I am sorry, but I do have a good excuse. No, my doggies did not eat my recipes! We had family in town for the past week. When there are two families living under one roof, things can get pretty crazy and the regular rhythm of life definitely gets thrown off track! Before the relatives came in town, though, I was asked to bake some treats to bring to a close family-friend's home in celebration for their daughter's graduation. After the graduate requested a chocolate dessert for her party, I knew exactly what to make.

Chocolate is fun ingredient to use in baking because it comes in many flavors and forms. The recipe I chose to make involves many flavors and textures of chocolate and turns into a melt-in-your-mouth brownie. But what makes these brownies soooo good? They don't use cocoa powder. NOPE! Brownies without cocoa powder, but with hot-chocolate mix. And YES....I use a hot-chocolate mix that includes those mini marshmallows. These brownies might sound weird and even gross, but trust me, nothing can compare to them.

How did I come up with using hot-chocolate mix for these brownies? It is actually a funny story. I was watching my brother many years ago and he wanted to make brownies. Ok, I told him, we would use a mix. Well, we found no mixes, which used to be a staple in our household. So my brother and I turned to the internet, which once again it came in use. We found a recipe called "Good Ol' Homemade Brownies" from the website http://bunsinmyoven.com. The recipe looked perfect and my brother and I set to work baking.

As we worked we came to the step where we needed to add 1 1/4 cups of cocoa powder. I went into the pantry and found out that like the brownie mix, we were out of cocoa powder. I didn't want to scrap the batter we had already began to make, so I did some digging in the pantry. I saw hot chocolate mix and decided it would have to work.

I continued making the recipe as it was written except for the last step of adding 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. We hit another bump. We only had about 1 cup left. I did some further digging to find left-over hershey bars that my family used for s'mores and some white chocolate chips. I chopped the bars and added enough of the chocolate chips to make another cup.

The final product? The BEST BROWNIE WE HAD EVER HAD! No kidding. Not even joking. :) These are some seriously amazing treats.

Now, my altered recipe is our go-to. We never use cocoa powder for this; only hot-chocolate mix. And you may be wondering how they went over at the graduation party. Well, I am glad to say that they were a hit! Not a crumb left.

Ingredients:
1 Cup (2 sticks) Butter
2 1/4 Cups Sugar
4 Large Eggs
1 1/4 Cups Hot Chocolate Mix
1 TSP Salt
1 TSP Baking Powder
1 TBSP Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Cups of Mixed White, Semi-Sweet, Milk Chocolate Chips (can add chopped hershey bars if like)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish.
2. In a small saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely. Stir in sugar and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Do not allow sugar mixture to boil.
3. Pour butter mixture into a large bowl or stand mixer, beat in cocoa powder, eggs, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
4. Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until well combined.
5. Spread into prepared pan (batter will be very thick and sticky) and bake for about 30 minutes, until a tested comes out mostly clean. The edges should be set and the center should still look slightly moist, but not uncooked. Cool on a wire rack.

Two Sticks of Butter in Pan Beginning to Melt 

Butter Totally Melted 

Adding Sugar to the Melted Butter

The Butter and Sugar Totally Combined 

The Butter/ Sugar Mixture After Being Poured into the Large Silver Bowl

Eggs Added to Bowl

Adding the Hot-Chocolate Mix 

Adding the Salt...

Adding the Baking Powder and Vanilla Extract

Adding the Flour...

Adding the Chocolate Chips and Hershey Chunks

Mixing the Batter...

Putting the Batter into the Oven

Out of the Oven!

With Some Extra Pizzaz! I Drizzled Some White Chocolate On Top

All CUT! DOESN'T IT LOOK AMAZING!??!

Let me know what you all think about using hot chocolate in the mix! Do any of you have any fun mix-ins to your brownie recipes? 

˜Victoria˜

Old Bananas + A Stormy Day= My Family's Favorite Banana Bread!

Hi All!

Today is supposed to be a very stormy day. But, as usual, it seems our weathermen may have been a little off... so far only some clouds. Well, at least the radar is showing some storms later. I always get excited by storms, especially when they are accompanied by some thunder and lightening!

When I came down this AM I knew it was going to be another baking day, but I didn't know what to make. After scanning the kitchen, it was evident that the bananas on my kitchen counter needed to be used in some way. I, personally, am not the biggest fan of plain bananas. I like them on cereal, in bread, muffin, and cake form, covered in peanut butter, smooched between bread with some butter and also (believe it or not...on White Rice!) I know, I know...sounds gross, but trust me. Try it! It is delicious. 

Anyway, when I saw the bananas I knew exactly what to make: Banana Bread. The recipe I made is curtsy of my mother's dear friend Mishy. This is the only banana bread my mom will ever make and now; it is my duty to make it! This recipe is honestly very simple. Some may find it daunting because it is a "from scratch" recipe, but, truly, all you do is put the ingredients into a large bowl and give it a mix! My favorite part about this recipe is the consistency of the bread when finished baking. Many banana bread recipes struggle to get a moist, yet firm and flavorful texture and taste. This bread is a recipe that if you bring it to a party; you better have the recipe on hand because most people will want to know what went into the bread. This banana bread is a celebrity at any occasion and can be made in a pinch. The longest part of this recipe's process is the actual baking, which takes a hour. 

In my family, we have always made our banana bread with chocolate chips. But, the recipe can also be made plain or with nuts. It is a very good banana bread recipe, but it is definitely a dessert! It has two sticks of butter (at least this recipe makes two loaves...two sticks=two loaves :) 

Whether you are a fan of bananas or not, you should definitely try out this bread! If anything, it will make your house smell amazing and allow the worst baker to succeed at making a delicious treat! 

Below is my family's go-to recipe for Banana Bread thanks to Mishy! 

Ingredients:

2 Cups Sugar

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1/2 TSP. Salt

2 TSP Baking Soda

3 Cups Mashed (Very ripe) Bananas (about 7)... (For the banana breads pictured, I only had 5 large bananas, but it worked out fine!)

4 Eggs

1 Cup Butter 

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.) Combine all ingredients 

3.) Grease two loaf pans

4.) Divide bowl's contents evenly into the two loaf pans

5.) Bake for an hour

6.) Let the bread cool for about a hour before eating/ cutting into. (Trust me...it tastes way better after cooling down!) 

Then,  add the 2 1/2 Cups of flour to the bowl. 

First, add the two cups of sugar to the bowl. 

Once you have done so, add the salt to the bowl.

Adding in the baking soda!

Look at those old bananas! Time to get transformed...

Peel the bananas so that they can get mushed!

Time to throw away the peels!

The fork will come in handy here!

MASH IT! MASH IT!

Put the mashed bananas contents into the large bowl. 

Time to add the eggs!

Make sure that there are no shells! 

Everything in the batter has been mixed. Now it is time to add the chocolate chips! 

Add 1 cup of desired chocolate chips, nuts etc. (I always do chocolate chips!) 

Dump those chocolate chips into the batter!

Incorporate the chocolate chips into the batter. 

Divide the batter into two loaf pans that have been greased. 

Put those babies into the oven! Bake @ 350 for 1 hour!

Right out of the oven!!! Smells so good. 

Don't they both look great?!

I had to cut  huge piece! It is just too good not to :)

I am going to sign off because the aroma of this bread is killing me! Off to go share some with family and enjoy some myself. Hope you guys make it and love it as much as my family does! 

Do you like putting chocolate chips and/or nuts into your banana bread? Or are you guys a fan of it plain? Let me know what you all add!

Enjoy!

˜Victoria˜