Easy/No-bake Whipped Peanut Butter Pie

Ingredients

½ C peanut butter

½ C cream cheese, softened/room temp

1 C powdered sugar

1 C heavy whipping cream*

1 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

1 9-inch pie crust: graham cracker or chocolate cookie crust

Optional toppings (or mix-ins): Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, mini chocolate chips, chopped peanuts, chocolate fudge sauce...

* You can substitute 8 oz frozen whipped topping to save time (sacrificing real cream), but since it is presweetened, reduce the powdered sugar to ½ cup.

Directions

Combine peanut butter, cream cheese and ½ cup powdered sugar, mixing until very smooth.

In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream to firm peaks with remaining powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Fold in peanut butter mixture.

If desired, spread some chopped Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (or other mix-ins) on the bottom of the crust or gently stir into peanut butter filling. Pour peanut butter filling into crust, spreading gently to an even thickness. If desired, sprinkle with extra toppings and/or drizzle with chocolate fudge sauce.

Keep refrigerated.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I was originally inspired to try a peanut butter cake after seeing a peanut butter & banana cupcake combination. That would probably be worth trying too, but I had chocolate ready to use up, so I went that direction this time.

I wasn't sure if these would have strong enough peanut butter flavor -- there's not that much peanut butter. The peanut oil helps bump up the flavor, and it does come through (though I might still like it stronger). I filled these with a little dark chocolate pudding, frosted them with a chocolate French buttercream, and rolled the edges in chopped peanuts.

Ingredients
½ C creamy peanut butter
1 C sugar (I use brown)
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
3 T peanut oil
¼ C applesauce
1½ C flour
2 t baking powder
¾ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 C buttermilk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.

Cream sugar and peanut butter. Add vanilla and eggs, mixing until light and fluffy. Stir in oil and applesauce.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add alternately with buttermilk until well combined.

Divide batter evenly in 24 muffin cups; do not overfill! Bake 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce

The inspiration came from Food Network magazine a while back (Food Network's photo @ top), though I didn't use their recipe... 

I had leftover peanut sauce from making Chicken Satay skewers, If you're not inspired to take on either of those peanut sauce recipes, here's a quicker 'cheater' version of  Easy Thai Peanut Sauce as an option.

I usually don't get excited about a big bowl of squash as my whole dinner. But with a good dousing of peanut sauce, a few chopped peanuts, some chopped mint and/or cilantro, and a sprinkle of pepper flakes...a bowl of squash starts to sound like a pretty good (healthy!) way to go.


How to roast a spaghetti squash...

Chicken Satay

 For another version... Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

3 C coconut milk, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbls + 2 tsp curry powder, divided

½ C + 1 T brown sugar, divided

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1½ lb boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders (breasts, cut into strips)

1 C peanut butter

1½ C chicken stock

¼ C lemon (or lime) juice

2 tsp soy sauce

20 (6 inch) wooden skewers

Directions

In a bowl, combine 1 C coconut milk, garlic, 2 tsp curry powder, brown sugar, salt and pepper, stir until sugar is dissolved. Toss chicken tenders/strips in mixture; cover, and marinate for 2 hours (refrigerated).

In saucepan, bring 2 C coconut milk, 2 T curry powder, peanut butter, chicken stock, and ½ C brown sugar to a simmer over medium-high heat. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice, and soy sauce. (Add extra soy to taste if needed.)

Preheat grill. Presoak skewers in water. Thread chicken onto skewers. Grill 4-5 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Serve with warm peanut sauce.

Chocolate Peanut-Butter Molten Cake

Found this recipe for a single-serve molten cake...easy to double or make more.

Ingredients
3 tsp butter
¼ C chocolate (chips, or chopped)
1 egg
1 Tbls + 1 tsp sugar
1 Tbls peanut butter
1½ tsp flour
non-stick cooking spray
1 tsp cocoa powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 375˚. Spray ¾-cup ramekin with non-stick cooking spray; dust with cocoa powder and set aside.

Using a double boiler or microwave, melt butter and chocolate. (This is a very small amount; if using a microwave, be very careful not to cook your chocolate!)

In a separate bowl, whisk egg, sugar and peanut butter until light and creamy. Stir in chocolate until well incorporated; add flour, stirring until just combined. Pour into ramekin.

Set on baking sheet; bake approximately 10 minutes - a little less for a runnier molten center (about ¾" around the edge will look dull, with the center still moist), slightly more for a creamy yet 'set' center (almost all of the top will look dull/dry).

Let cake cool 2 minutes before serving; cake can be (carefully!) inverted onto dessert plate and dusted with cocoa powder or powdered sugar if desired.

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Cake

My Mom gave me this recipe (from People magazine) as a request for upcoming family birthday celebrations....with some modifications: No one in my family wants coffee or coconut. Peanut oil substitutes easily for the coconut; water will do for the coffee, though other subtle flavors could be introduced with a liquid if desired.

Ingredients:
1½ C flour
1½ C sugar
¾ C unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt
2 eggs
½ C milk
¼ C sour cream
2 Tbls canola oil
1 Tbls coconut oil
3½ tsp vanilla, divided
¾ C warm coffee
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 C creamy peanut butter
9 Tbls powdered sugar (that's ½ C and 1 Tbls)
½ C heavy cream
5 C chocolate buttercream frosting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350˚. Coat 3 8" round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray; line bottoms with parchment paper and coat with non-stick cooking spray.

Whisk together dry ingredients in bowl of a mixer. Add eggs, milk, sour cream, canola oil, coconut oil and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat at low speed until blended. Gradually add coffee; mix until smooth.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Remove parchment.

Beat cream cheese and peanut butter until creamy. Add ½ cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla; beat slowly until blended.

In a separate bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Add remaining powdered sugar and vanilla and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into peanut butter mixture until smooth.

Spread half peanut butter mixture between each of the layers of cake. Frost with prepared chocolate frosting.

Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 3 days.

'Monkey Bites'

Hardly need a recipe for these. Saw them in a magazine promoted as a 'better for you' frozen dessert.

Ingredients:
banana(s)
peanut butter
chocolate
optional garnish: sea salt or peanuts

Directions:
Slice bananas; freeze the slices for about an hour - on a cookie sheet lightly coated with non-stick spray. Spread half the slices with peanut butter; top with the other half of the slices, then refreeze for another hour. Melt chocolate (chips, broken up chocolate bars...) in a double boiler. Dip the peanut-butter-banana bites in the chocolate. Top with coarse sea salt or half of a peanut. The 'Monkey Bites' can be returned to the freezer for a frozen treat, but they'll also keep equally well in the fridge for a softer bite.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites

Tried these...looking for possible recipes for my students to try that are gluten free. With no eggs or butter, this one would also be okay for a strict vegan diet. (You could use carob chips.) They taste...okay. Hoping to find well-rounded recipe options, not just desserts, but something like this may get more students to try it out. :) They're very dense, almost doughy. I could try simply baking them a little longer, or fiddling with the recipe. I don't do much gluten-free (or vegan) baking...


Ingredients:
1 ¼ C canned chickpeas, well-rinsed and patted dry
2 tps vanilla
½ C + 2 Tbls peanut butter
¼ C honey
1 tsp baking powder
½ C chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine all the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, in a food processor and process until very smooth. Scrape sides to thoroughly process all ingredients. Stir in (or pulse in) chocolate chips. Form into 1½″ balls. Place on cookie tray lined with parchment paper. Press balls into 2" cookie rounds. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Divinity

This is my first attempt at divinity. I think I should have beat it longer...it's supposed to lose its gloss, and mine are fairly "shiny" and a little too sticky, but it was starting to cool and thicken enough that I was anxious to get it spooned and swirled into bite-sized clouds. (Or mouthful-sized clouds, as these turned out.) Still, they're delicious! If practice does, indeed, make perfect I'll improve on these because I do intend to make them again. :)

Ingredients:
2 C sugar
½ C light corn syrup 
½ C water
2 egg whites
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
(optional: chopped nuts or 1 C peanut butter*)

Directions:
Bring sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil in a large saucepan. Continue to boil, undisturbed, until the mixture reaches 265°.  While it is coming up to temperature...

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form.

When sugar syrup reaches 265°, slowly drizzle boiled sugar mixture in a thin, steady stream down the side of the mixer bowl into the stiff egg whites, continuing to beat on high speed. Continue beating until the candy begins to lose its shine. This can take 5-10 minutes depending on your mixer.

Working quickly, fold in vanilla - and chopped nuts or peanut butter if desired. Drop spoonfuls, twisting into cloud-like shapes, onto waxed paper. Cool completely before serving; candies will firm as they cool.

Store in an air-tight container.

* I have memories of baby-sitting for my kindergarten teacher (when I was years older) around Christmas time and enjoying some Christmas cookies she left out for me...including a divinity swirled with peanut-butter that I thought was quite heavenly! I've never seen a recipe for divinity with peanut butter, though some recipes do include other chopped nuts. I tried swirling the last half of the batch with about a ½ cup of peanut butter, and I thought it was delicious! But maybe it's just me. (???) :)

Peanut Butter Whipped Cream

MHS: This recipe was part of the Culinary Arts course (Spring 2012)

INGREDIENTS:

Whipped Cream:

½ C    heavy cream

1½ T   powdered sugar

¼ tsp  vanilla

Peanut Butter Sauce:

¾ C    creamy peanut butter

¼ C    powdered sugar

¼ C    heavy cream

½ tsp  vanilla

DIRECTIONS:

Combine first three cream, sugar and vanilla, beat until thick.

In small bowl combine remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.

Gently fold peanut butter mixture into whipped cream.

For a chocolate peanut butter cream pie:

Prepare chocolate pudding (use a little extra cornstarch for a thicker pie filling). Pour pudding into a prepared graham cracker crust; chill completely. Gently spread peanut butter whipped cream over chilled chocolate cream layer. Garnish with additional whipped cream, chocolate chips, mini Peanut Butter Cups (or quartered full-size Peanut Butter Cups); drizzle with chocolate sauce, extra peanut butter sauce, etc.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

My family celebrates  6 birthdays in June along with father's day and the occasional graduation, etc.  My contribution to this year's potluck meal was dessert -- in the form of a selection of ice creams, gelatos or sorbets (What's the difference?) with a variety of toppings. To honor the "birthday folks" I'd called and asked if there was a particular flavor they'd like to have. There really wasn't much need to ask, I could have guessed: chocolate and peanut butter topped the list. I've already posted the dark chocolate, here's the peanut butter. Cheesecake, raspberry, mixed berry, lemon, and maple are already posted. I'll get the salted caramel, pineapple and orange-mango up soon. 

 

Ingredients:

1 C  heavy cream

1 C  half and half

½ C  sugar

¾ tsp  vanilla

¼ tsp salt

2 C  peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, as you like)

Directions:

Combine sugar & salt with liquid ingredients; stir until sugar dissolves. Blend in peanut butter until smooth. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions. Makes about 1 quart.

Peanut Butter Cookies

These are soft peanut butter cookies. You can add more flour in order to be able to roll them and press them with a fork (for a more traditional looking peanut butter cookie). I like them soft and chewy more than I care about the fork-pressed look. :)

1 C butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C chunky peanut butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 C flour
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat together butter, peanut butter and sugars until fluffy. Add vanilla extract and beat. Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually beat in dry mixture, scraping down edges of bowl to incorporate throughout the dough. Use a cookie scoop (or spoon) to scoop dough onto an ungreased baking sheet (line with parchment if desired). Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

Ingredients
1 9" pie crust (I used chocolate cookie crust)
1 10 oz pkg peanut butter chips
3 oz cream cheese
¼ C powdered sugar
1/3 C + 2 Tbls milk
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 Tbls cold water
2 Tbls boiling water
½ C sugar
1/3 C cocoa powder
1 C whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
Optional: additional prepared whipped cream for serving.

Directions
Melt 1½ C peanut butter chips. Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and 1/3 C milk in medium bowl until smooth. Add melted chips; beat well. Beat in remaining 2 Tbls milk. Spread in pie shell.

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small bowl; let stand 1 minute to soften. Add boiling water; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved. Cool slightly.

Combine sugar and cocoa in medium bowl; add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat until stiff; pour in gelatin mixture, beating until well blended. Spoon over peanut butter mixture in pie shell. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Garnish with remaining chips; serve with additional whipped cream.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C butter
½ C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C peanut butter
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 C quick rolled oats
2½ C flour
1 tsp baking soda
12 oz chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°

Cream butter and sugars. Add peanut butter, stirring until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour, oats and baking soda all at once, stirring until well incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfulls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned but still soft in the center.

Peanut Butter Bon Bons

This is a big recipe...makes 12 dozen or more. Peanut butter bon bons are a favorite with my family and friends, and are even remembered by some of the faculty at work and friends from church from our annual Christmas parties...so I end up making more than one batch, even of this big recipe, throughout the holidays. You might cut it in 1/2 the first time...all the rolling and dipping does take TIME.

Ingredients:
1 C butter, softened
1 18oz jar peanut butter
(creamy or crunchy)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
4-5 C powdered sugar
24 oz chocolate chips
2 Tbls parafin

Directions: Mix butter and peanut butter until creamy; stir in vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar, about a cup at a time, until mixture is still soft (not crumbly) but managable -- you'll need to roll it into balls. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Note: Every brand of peanut butter is different -- moister/creamier or dryer. You can simply add more powdered sugar, for a firmer consistency, and even skip the refrigeration. But I like soft, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth centers to my bon-bons...which means slightly less powdered sugar and it really needs to be refrigerated or it melts-in-your-hands when you try to roll it into balls!

Roll into bite sized balls. Return to refrigerator for 1 hour.

Melt chocolate chips and parafin in a double boiler. Using one or two forks, dip peanut butter balls in chocolate and place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper or aluminum foil to cool and harden (in the frig). Store in covered container(s) in the refrigerator. Remove from frig an hour before serving for softer bon-bons.

Variation: I have sometimes used creamy peanut butter and added a cup or two of crisped rice cereal for a lighter crunch. It's delicious, but after a day or two the crisped rice absorbs some of the moisture from the peanut butter mixture and gets a little chewy instead of light and crispy. It's usually not a problem (these go fast around my family!), but something to keep in mind.

African Yam-Peanut Stew

This is another recipe I make routinely for my World Literature classes. We're just starting our Africa unit, reading Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart -- in which their primary cash crop is yams.

3 cloves garlic
1 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 C peanut butter (chunky or creamy)
2 tsp cumin
1½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
3 lbs (4-5 medium) sweet potatoes
15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
16 oz canned or frozen cut green beans

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1 - 1½" chunks.

In blender (or food processor with knife blade) blend garlic, cilantro, tomatoes with their juice, peanut butter, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt until smooth.

Pour peanut butter mixture into 4½ to 6 quart slow cooker; stir in 1-2 cups water or broth. Add sweet potato chunks and chickpeas; stir to combine. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours, or on high setting 4-5 hours...or until potatoes are tender.

10 minutes before serving, cook/heat green beans. Gently stir beans into stew.
Serve. Garnish with chopped peanuts if desired.

Peanut Butter Pie

My mom is a chocolate-peanut-butter enthusiast...and in my family, she's in good company! It was her birthday last Friday. There are lots of similar variations of this recipe...

Crust:
1½ C chocolate cookie crumbs
1/3 C melted butter
¼ C sugar

Filling:
1 lg pkg instant vanilla pudding
2½ C milk
1 C creamy peanut butter
1 C whipping cream
¼ C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 C fudge sauce
(purchased or use Myrtle's hot fudge sauce)

Mix cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Press into bottom and up sides of a 9" pie plate or springform pan. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Whip the cream, with sugar and vanilla, until soft peaks form.

Pour 1 cup of fudge sauce into crust and spread evenly. Top with about ½ of the whipped cream. Place in freezer briefly while you mix the peanut butter filling...

Mix milk and peanut butter until smooth. Add vanilla pudding mix and whisk vigorously. Place in frig for 5-10 minutes.

Retrieve pie shell and peanut butter filling from freezer and frig. Stir peanut butter filling and gently pour into pie shell, spreading evenly. Return to frig until ready to serve.

To serve, drizzle slices with remaining fudge sauce.
If desired, garnish with chopped peanuts and/or chocolate chunks, whipped cream...

Thai Peanut Soup

1/3 C finely chopped onion
1/3 C finely chopped celery
2 Tbls finely chopped sweet red pepper
1 Tbls butter
3 Tbls flour
1 tsp lemon zest or
1 Tbls very finely chopped
lemongrass (white portion only)
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 3/4 C chicken broth
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
1/2 C smooth peanut butter
2 Tbls brown sugar
1 Tbls soy sauce

Optional garnishes: chopped peanuts, chopped cilantro, julienned sweet red pepper

In a medium saucepan cook--stirring occasionally--finely chopped onion, celery, and sweet red pepper in butter 4 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Stir in flour lemon zest/lemongrass, and ground red pepper.

Add chicken broth and cocounut milk all at once. Cook and stir until mixture is slightly thickened and bubbly. Add peanut butter, brown sugar and soy; stir until well blended and heated through.

Serve hot; garnish with peanuts, cilantro, and/or sweet red pepper

This made a very thick soup. Delicious, but next time I think I'd increase the broth.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

1 1/2 C chocolate cookie crumbs
5 Tbls butter, melted
32 oz cream cheese, softened
1 C sugar
4 eggs
1/2 C sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 C creamy peanut butter
6 peanut butter cups, quartered


Preheat oven to 350°. Combine cookie crumbs and melted butter; press onto bottom and 1/2" up sides of 9" springform pan sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake 10 minutes, let cool.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy; beat in sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Remove 1 1/2 C of the batter into another bowl; stir in chocolate. Add peanut butter to cream cheese mixture in first bowl.

Pour 1/2 of peanut butter mixture into crust,and top with peanut butter cup pieces. Alternately drop the rest of the peanut butter mixture and the chocolate mixture over peanut butter cup pieces; swirl batters together gently to marbleize.

Bake 50 minutes, or until cake barely jiggles in the center. Using a thin knife, carefully cut around top edge of cheesecake to release it from the pan. Cool completely; cover and refrigerate until cold through -- 6 hours or overnight.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Fudge

1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
1 C evaporated milk
2 Tbls light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 C peanut butter

Mix sugar, salt, syrup and milk in pan. Bring to boil slowly. Cook, stirring constantly, until temperature reaches 235° on a candy thermometer. (It changes consistency a little and starts to pull away from the sides of the pan a bit as you stir.)

Remove from heat; add peanut butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR.

Cool to lukewarm, then beat just until creamy, losing gloss and beginning to hold shape. Pour into a buttered/sprayed 8x8" pan. Cut into squares to serve.

It's delicious on its own, but I often make this and chocolate fudge at the same time and swirl them together while they're both still warm. :) Or, as in the picture, I put chocolate chips and/or peanuts in the bottom of the 8x8" pan before pouring in the fudge. Use creamy or crunchy peanut butter, stir in nuts (peanuts, pecans, walnuts, etc.) if you like...