Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

A short, light post today.  Just to prove to you all that I really like peanut butter.

I am not even kidding when I say that some days when I wake up and lie in bed trying to convince myself to get up and start my day, I only get up because I bribe myself with breakfast.  FOOD!  Every single morning I spread peanut butter on top of a toasted whole wheat English muffin and it melts in the nooks and crannies and it is bomb.  Add a cup of coffee and I am one happy girl. 

That's what I had for brekkie today.  And then followed it up with a bar... or two of these bad boys. Peanut butter (creamy and crunchy), chocolate, cereal, marshmallows, caffeine, carbs?  Those are all my food groups right?  

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

Ingredients:
6 cups Rice Krispy cereal
5 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
10 oz. bag marshmallows
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips 

Directions:
1. In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter completely but do not let boil.
2. Add in marshmallows, stirring frequently with a rubber spatula to prevent sticking.
3. Add peanut butter and stir until combined.
4. Remove from heat and immediately add in rice krispy cereal.  
5. Scoop mixture into a 9 x 13 pan lined with wax paper. Pat down with a greased piece of waxed paper until smooth and even. Let set a few minutes. 
7. Melt semi sweet chocolate chips and pour over top of rice krispies.  Let set a few minutes.  
8. Melt peanut butter chips and pipe on as much or little peanut butter on top of the chocolate chip layer as you'd like.  I piped on chevron stripes just because I could.  :)  Let set.  (You can speed up the process by putting these in the fridge for a few minutes.  But be careful, too much time in the fridge and you won't be able to cut through the cereal!   
9.  Enjoy!!!!

I love the layered look of these, don't you? 

Rice krispys treats have become my go to treat for when I am either too lazy or it's too hot to bake.  I made some cookie butter rice krispy treats before, but thought I would try peanut butter out since that had been my original intention month ago.  If you recall, I wanted to do peanut butter but a friend threw cookie butter in instead, giving me a mini heart attack in the process.  So this was my redemption to myself.

Peanut Butter redemption is the best, by the way.

I owe so many people cookies it's ridiculous.  So I shall be back soon.

xoxo,
Anna

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

While transferring these cookie pictures from my camera to my computer right now I realized that I needed to eat another one.  Right now.  And so now I am stuffed with cookies.  For the second time again.  Guess that is not that rare of an occurrence.

Happy Memorial Day by the way.  :)  Are you waking up and in need of something fast and yummy to make using ingredients you probably already have in your pantry?  That was my dilemma this morning but luckily I found these.

Actually, I was just going to do peanut butter chocolate chip and while researching the best recipe, I came across this one that used oats too.

Uhm peanut butter, chocolate chips AND oats?  That's so much delicious in one cookie that I threw on my apron and ran to the kitchen.

The only thing that I would change from this recipe is to add MORE oats.  Cuz Oats are good.  And filling, so maybe you would be less likely to shove five of these babies in your mouth.  Not that I did that or anything...

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Bake at 350* for 8 minutes. Makes 18



1 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 stick (½ c) unsalted butter, at room temp
½ c peanut butter (creamy)
½ c granulated sugar
1/3 c light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, at room temp
½ c rolled oats (next time I will up it to 3/4 c)
1 c semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Sift flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
2. Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla on medium speed in a mixer.  Add egg.
3. On low, add in flour mixture slowly until fully incorporated.
4.  Fold in the oats to the peanut butter cookie dough yummyness.

5.  Fold in chocolate chips.

6. Scoop dough onto large baking sheet.  I used a medium scoop and was able to get around 18 full sized cookies out.

7. Flatten out with your hand.

8. Bake for eight minutes, these don't turn gold until around minute 10 but that's too long to leave them in, so do eight minutes and then leave them on the cookies sheet for another 1-2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.  Chewy is better I learned with these.

While I was setting up the photo shoot for these I took four with me.  But when I was done, I came back with only three.  Too irresistible.  I am definitely going to make these again. 

Can you see the oats?  How can you not sneak a bite?

Is it bad that my tummy hurts from over eating Mexican BBQ and cookies but I would still REALLY like to have another one of these?

xoxo,
Anna

Banana Peanut Butter Pupcakes

Have I ever mentioned my dogs before?

I have two.  Mochi, 6.  And Luna, 3.

I like to call them Mochi Monster and Luna Baby.  Mochi was a monster as a puppy, until she settled down and had her litter - which included Luna, the baby.

They're spoiled brats.  But they are really good, loving, girls.  With cute puppy paws and tails and wet little noses.

They spend their days getting in my way. Or basking in the sun.

And since I am trying really hard to not eat all the things I have had to cut down on baking all the things.  Which means 1) I have a fierce tan going on because I have spent my weekends outside in gorgeous sunny California weather and 2) In order to not let this blog die, I had to bake something I would not be tempted to shove in my face.

Obviously I made pupcakes! Cupcakes for dogs.  Originally I wanted to do this back in February for Mochi's sixth birthday but it was non stop raining and their hair was a mess. (See picture above)  This time the sun is shining but they got their ear hair cut too short and they look a little like lambs.  Baa.  And they were wet from a shower. Oh well.  I went for it anyways.  They're still my babies who deserve a treat.

Well, to be exact they are picky babies who don't eat most food.  In fact they have never ever touched one of my cupcakes.  I will literally be in some weird corner of the house or backyard trying to get something decent for the blog with cupcakes on the floor or on chairs and and they will be laying around, bored. Ignoring the cupcakes.

But I was determined this time around to MAKE THEM LIKE CUPCAKES.  I made them cookies once and they refused to eat them.  But this time, oh this time I had a secret weapon.

My secret weapon?  COVER EVERYTHING IN PEANUT BUTTER!

Banana Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Makes 6 full sized cupcakes and 15 mini cupcakes.  350* for 18 and 15 minutes respectively. 


1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup natural, unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Directions:
1.  Mash up bananas.  Add eggs, vanilla, applesauce and peanut butter to mixture.  No need for a hand blender.
2. Combine flour, oats, baking powder and baking soda.
3. Add flour to wet mixture and stir.
4. Scoop out batter into regular or mini sized cupcake tins.  Feel free to use liners but make sure that you take them OFF before you feed them to your dogs!
5. Once baked, stand back and admire the banana chunks floating about the puffy cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons natural, unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 a package low fat cream cheese
Topping:  Beneful dog food - but only the hearts and doggy bones!

Directions:
1. With a hand mixer, beat cream cheese on high until fluffy.
2. Add in peanut butter and apple sauce in additions until it looks like you can pipe it on correctly.
3. Frost cupcake.
4. Add on toppings.

Yeah, I was literally on the floor picking out dog bones from my puppy's bowl. And then later I went back for the hearts.  Needed some color somewhere!  Don't judge.  

How did they turn out?   Not bad if I do say so myself.

But how did they TASTE?  (I tried the cupcake, no frosting, and it was like a banana-y dense muffin with no sugar.  I wouldn't think humans would dig it, but I'm an even pickier eater than the dogs so what do I know?)

Luna was up first.  She ate the frosting. Left the cupcake part. Typical. My heart sank as I chucked the discarded cupcake part in the trash.

Once Mochi was done with her bath I laid one out in front of her too, and hoped for the best.

After the obligatory sniff test was completed, she carried it out onto the grass to eat the frosting.  This had me worried a little.

I didn't want this to be another cookie incident.  But then something magical happened.  She ate it all!  Hoorah.  

After Luna witnessed this though, she wanted another one.  I guess it's okay to let her gorge on peanut butter every now and then?

I mean peanut butter tongues are just too hard to resist, amiright?  But in the end, once Mochi sniffed around her left over cupcake Luna TOTALLY remembered that she wanted to eat the bready part too.  Haha.  So they BOTH ate the whole thing!  Success!!!

Now if you notice, there are two sizes.

My girls got the small pupcakes.  Cuz they're little.  (Okay I lie.  Mochi is 9 lbs and little, Luna is almost 17 lbs and a beast.)  What did i do with the other ones?  Well i consulted with them and we decided to share.

I dropped some off at my friend Lacy's house.  She has three dogs and none of them had a problem eating them.  Actually, I was pretty sure that the two big dogs - Zoe a Siberian Husy and Jazzy a Rotweiler - were going to knock me over as soon as they smelled the peanut butter I brought into the back yard.   For the record my dogs took FOREVER to eat theirs, haha.

I also took Luna on a hike this weekend.  We met up with a friend who has a puppy.  And I use puppy to denote age, not size.  Because Chloe, a St. Bernard is a monster.  True story.  In any case, Chloe got some treats too.

(Treats plural because she ate her own AND the ones that were supposed to be for Luna.  I think she likes peanut butter too.  lol.) At least she was able to contain herself a little for some pictures.

Peanut butter tongue!!!

Hopefully I have gained more of my dog's love and approval after this.  If you want your dogs to love you even more, you should make them these too.

xoxo,
Anna

During Christmas My Feelings Taste Like Cookies

Well to be exact - my friends are the ones who are really tasting the cookies/feelings since i bake to give away.

I made five kinds of cookies last week.

1. Chocolate Chocolate Chip


2. Chocolate Chip Walnut


3. Sugar Cookies


4. Peanut Butter


5. Chocolate Chip Mint ( recipe #2 minus the walnuts, add 6 drops of green food coloring and mint chips)
I think my favorite were the chocolate chip walunts and the chocolate chocolate chip. Unluckily/luckily - depending on how you look at it - i didn't keep too many for myself. Maybe next year i will. Most of them got packed up in tupper wear or zip locks bags and distributed about the Bay, Philly and Wisconsin.



If you're wondering, I ended up making over 140 cookies. o.O Yeah i know. That's a lot of cookies!


I spent almost an entire day baking. Around hour three of preparing the dough, i came to the realization that the next boy in my life will have to find a girl wearing cheetah pajamas and a cupcake apron dirtied with sugar and chocolate extremely sexy. Cuz that's how I roll way too often. Feel free to pimp me out if you know of any boy (with abs) who has expressed this fetish. Thanks.

xoxo,
Anna