Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars AKA Party In Your Mouth

Pinterest viewing can be fattening to your health. I saw a picture on Pinterest of a Chocolate Peanut Bar (they called it a Reese's bar but I really don't want to be sued by Reese's since it contains no actual Reese's) and it reminded me of my Starbucks days. I worked at Starbucks for six years. It was a great job in college and I have fond memories of sitting down after a shift with a hot cocoa and a chocolate peanut butter bar to study. Plus the recipe called for graham cracker crumbs, which leads me to the question- Why the heck are crumbs sold in such big boxers? I was more than happy to use up the rest of the box I had on these. I think it was originally from a cheesecake a few years ago.

The original recipe can be found on Let's Dish Recipes. 

I adapted it slightly to use up some extra Hershey bars from s'more season and after doing the first batch realized I would halve the amounts of the peanut butter layer to make a more balanced bar. Also, I make it in a square Pyrex not the 9*13 that was originally recommended. This recipe is by no means a healthy recipe so it's best made when you know it will be shared. Otherwise (if you're like me) you'll just grab a piece every time you open the fridge. 

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup peanut butter (I spray the measuring cup with cooking spray so the pb slides out.)

1 cup confectioner's sugar

4 Hershey bars (1.55 oz bars) broken up into the squares

1 more large spoonful of peanut butter (roughly 2 TBS)

1. Melt the butter in a microwave or pan. In a bowl mix the melted butter, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, confectioner's sugar and graham cracker crumbs and stir until well mixed into a paste. Spray a square glass pan (9*9) with cooking spray then line the bottom with the paste. Even out the top so it is as smooth as possible. 

2. In a microwave safe bowl heat the pieces of Hershey bar and the large spoonful of peanut butter until the bars are melt-y. Stir and put back in for a few more seconds if you feel like it's not smooth enough. Just be careful, burnt chocolate does not taste good! Spread the chocolate peanut butter mixture on top of the peanut butter layer and smooth out the top.

3. Put the pan in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Cut into squares and eat with friends! Beware they are addictive! I have found that storage in the fridge is best but taking them out and setting them on the counter for 5 minutes makes them easiest to cut. 

And yes I keep a fork & knife in the pan for ease of eating :) The fact that this many remain 4 days after I made them is a testament to my willpower.

I always have lots of help eating them.... 

Refrigerator Radish Dill Pickles

Radish Dill Pickles

Early in the CSA season there are an abundance of radishes and greens to use. We eat salads nonstop and even experiment a little. My husband was NOT a fan of the mustard green juice I made :)

The ginger juice did not exactly get a "Woo-hoo" response either. 

Radish dill pickles are a new item to my lineup this year but this is now the third batch I've made. They are super simple to make as they are just refrigerator pickles. This means that I don't process them in any way- no hot water bath, no pressure canning- just good old-fashioned vinegar. I'm going to run through the steps but there will be no exact measurements. If you follow the proportions you'll be able to do this with any quantity of radishes. I had a mixing bowl full and it made 3 pint jars and one small canning jar of pickles.

You will need:
Canning jars, bands & caps
Radishes
Fresh Dill
Kosher Salt
Water
Vinegar- I use white

Soak your radishes in water for 5 minutes to remove any loose debris. Agitate the water with your hand to get dirt off of them. Dump the water and carry the bowl over to your cutting board.

Chop the roots and tops off of the radishes and halve or quarter them depending on their size. I keep a little bowl nearby to put the ends in so I can run them to the compost easily.

If you see any black spots on the outside just slice them off. If the spot is on the inside too discard the radish.

Bring the radishes back over to the sink in the bowl and give them one more rinse. Then pack them into your jars. You want to leave about 3/4" at the top for the dill. Wash your dill and take stalks of it off. Curl them into the top of the jar over the radishes. 

Pour vinegar through the dill until the jars are halfway full. 

Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of kosher salt on the top of each jar. Fill the jars the rest of the way with water.

I top off the dill at this point. I want a lot of dill flavor so I cram as much as I can fit in there. Once your done cap and band the jars. 

Turn them upside down for about an hour on the countertop so that the dill infuses into the vinegar. After an hour put them into the fridge.

Within an hour of making them the pickles will start turning pink. I try to leave them in the fridge for at least a week before we open them to eat. They keep 3-6 months in the fridge. As a fair warning, radishes make stinky pickles. They taste delicious but they are smelly. 

Mint Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I've created a monster. Last week after toying around with granola bar recipes I found myself in our local discount store. A box of Cocoa Krispies for $1.69 and a bag of Limited Edition Nestle Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels called my name and a few days (and half the bag of morsels later) I found myself making more granola bars. They should be called candy bars but calling them granola bars makes me feel better about how many I've eaten. After I took the picture for this post, I ate my subjects.

Mint Chocolate Chip Bars

(makes 24 skinny bars, I cut them on the chunky side making 18)

3 cups Cocoa Krispies

1 cup quick oats

1/2 bag Nestle Mint Chocolate Morsels (5 oz) - If you can't find the morsels you could chop up Andes candy or find another minty substitute. Keep them in the fridge until you're ready to use them. It helps them keep their form in the bar and not melt into goo.

1/4 cup butter

4 TBS Fluff (I eyeballed it. Spraying the spoon with cooking spray helps the fluff to slide off a little better.)

1. Combine Cocoa Krispies & oats in a mixing bowl. 

2. In a small pan, melt butter and add Fluff in. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently until smooth. While Fluff & butter are cooking, cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil & spray with cooking spray. 

3. Pour Fluff mixture into dry ingredients and mix until they all look sticky. Add mint chips from the fridge and stir just long enough to mix. 

4. Spread mixture evenly over cookie sheet and cover with a sheet of waxed paper. Press down hard thru the wax paper to compact the mixture into an even, flat layer of delicious-ness. Put the cookie sheet in the fridge for an hour. After one hour take out & cut into desired number of bars. I store my bars in the fridge because I like the way they taste cold. (Please note: I didn't take pictures of these steps so I am including ones I took for my other granola bar recipe. The bars did not magically change colors!) 

Enjoy & try not to eat all in one sitting! 

Homemade Granola Bars

I have a small Pinterest addiction. Recently, numerous posts have popped up on homemade granola bars. I pored over dozens of recipes but found myself liking parts of each but not the whole. In particular I didn't want to use honey in the bars because I wanted to create a recipe that could be vegan with an easy butter substitution.

Here is your pictorial journey thru my granola bar adventure. At the end are two recipes, Peanut Butter Coconut Chocolate Chip Bars and Oatmeal Raisin Peanut Butter Bars.

1. In a small saucepan, combine wet ingredients. You want to cook the peanut butter mixture for 5 minutes over low but it needs to bubble. It's tempting to pull it off once everything is melted but if you don't get it bubbling it doesn't thicken properly and the bars won't hold together.

2. While peanut butter is bubbling, cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil & spray with cooking spray. Many other recipes talk about using a 9*13 pan. In my opinion, it is very difficult to press the bars down evenly in a 9*13 pan and they are hard to get out. Trust me, use a cookie sheet.

3. Put all dry ingredients you are using into a mixing bowl.

4. Pour peanut butter mixture into dry ingredients & mix with a spoon until it looks wet and well distributed. 

                                       

5. Take the pan the peanut butter was in and rinse it out. Fill it with water & let it sit in the sink. The fact that I am including this as a step should speak to how important it is to do this now! Don't let the pan sit. The peanut butter will crystallize and put up a fight in coming off if you don't soak it right away!

6. Pour the granola mixture into the sprayed cookie sheet & spread around to cover most surfaces. Cover with wax paper (hint: spray the side touching the bars with a little cooking oil to prevent sticking). Use your hands to press the mixture evenly over the surface of the pan. Pay special attention to the edges and make sure they are not too thin or you will have trouble cutting the bars.

7. Put in the fridge for an hour. 

8. Take out of fridge & slice into bars. I can usually get 22-24 out of each sheet. The end bars will be a little crumblier than the center ones. I put the tray back in the fridge for another hour after slicing. I find that it improves the firmness of the bars. Use the tinfoil to help lift the bars out so they stay in one piece. You can then pack the bars into tupperware & keep them in the fridge. They keep for up to two weeks- but trust me they won't last that long. They have become a family favorite!

Yum :) 

Peanut Butter Coconut Chocolate Chip Bars- Ingredients List

Makes 24

Dry Ingredients- 

1 1/2 c rice crispie cereal ( I used generic- 2.99/box, box has 12.5 cups) .72

1 3/4 c quick oats ($3 for 42 oz= 15 cups= .20 cup) .35

1/2 c coconut (14 oz bag 2.69= .19 oz) .30

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips (I used generic- $3.69/24 oz) .90 (Hint: Keep the chocolate chips in the fridge and add them after you have started mixing the hot peanut butter mixture in. It will reduce melting.)

Wet Ingredients-

1/3 c agave nectar (32 TBS per container, $5.79 per container, 5 TBS used @ .18/TBS) .90 (You could also use honey instead.)

1/3 c peanut butter (64 oz is $5.65, .09/oz) .27

1/4 c butter ($3/4 pk=.75/stick, 1/4 c is 1/2 stick) .37

See instructions above for steps to follow. 

Total Cost for Batch- $3.84 Total Cost per Bar (24 in batch) 14 cents each

Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars- Ingredient List

Makes 24

Dry Ingredients

2 cups quick oats ($3 for 42 oz= 15 cups= .20 cup) .40

2 cups rice crispies (I used generic - 2.99/box, 12.5 cups/box= .24/cup) .48

1/2 cup raisins (3.99/container, container has 4.25 cups= .94/cup) .47

1/4 cup dark brown sugar ($2.29 for generic 32 oz, .07/oz) .14

Wet Ingredients

1/3 c agave nectar (32 TBS per container, $5.79 per container, 5 TBS used @ .18/TBS) .90

1/3 c peanut butter (64 oz is $5.65, .09/oz) .27

1/4 c butter ($3/4 pk=.75/stick, 1/4 c is 1/2 stick) .37

See instructions above for steps to follow. 

Total Cost for Batch- $3.03 Total Cost per Bar (24 in batch) 13 cents each