Peanut Butter Oatmeal Snack Cake

For this latest recipe swap, I received Kate's blog. I had my choice of anything I wanted to make, but I had quite a difficult time narrowing it down to one recipe! I wanted to make a dessert, but didn't really have an occasion to make or bring a decadent dessert. While her chocolate peanut butter cheesecake looked amazing, I knew I had to make the peanut butter oatmeal snack cake when I saw it pop up.

I love how this dessert isn't too sweet and it's pretty healthy to boot. It had a great salty/sweet taste. My peanut butter loving aunt wanted to hoard this all for herself. Pretty much all the fat is from the peanut butter, and since I use natural pb with no added sugars or anything, I had no guilt eating this for breakfast! ;)

I did cut the cake into 16 pieces instead of 9. It was pretty dense, so a little when a long way, and you definitely want a glass of milk or coffee or something to wash it down with. I did replace the milk with soy milk powder with water since I usually don't have milk on hand. Doing this ended up making this vegan (as long as your chips are dairy free), which is a plus in my book!

As always, remember to check out Sarah's blog for the full roundup of recipe swap recipes. I'm curious to find out who got my blog and what they picked!

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Peanut Butter Oatmeal Snack Cake

made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Kate's Recipe Box




ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 TBSP vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk (I used soy milk powder with water)
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a metal 8x8 pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat the peanut butter and sugar in your mixer at high speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
4. Slowly add in dry ingredients while beating at medium speed. The mixture will be dry and look like coarse sand.
5. Reduce speed to low and slowly pour in milk. Mix until a dough ball forms. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Form a dough ball with your hands then transfer to the prepared pan. Press the dough evenly in the pan.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
8. Let cool, then cut into 16 pieces (or however big you want them!)

Yield: 9-16 servings

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Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

February is heart health month, and we do various things in our office to raise money for the American Heart Association. We had a bake sale (oh the irony!) and I brought these peanut butter cup blondies plus some red velvet cupcakes decorated to look like roses!

I added a few drops of gel food coloring to get the pink shade of frosting. I used the 2D Wilton tip and piped from the inside out to create the rose effect. Not all of them came out as I liked, but everybody thought they were really cute and some told me they looked like a bouquet of roses.

Back to the blondies. When I first saw this recipe, I didn't think this recipe is in any way light. Come on, peanut butter cups, butter, eggs, and sugar? Then I looked and it was cut into 20 pieces. Well, if you eat an square inch blondie full of fat, I guess it's light? The picture on the site is really deceiving and it looks like it's a giant blondie.

I read the rave reviews, and most mentioned they had to bake for a lot longer, but they didn't mention how much longer. I played it by ear and tested it every few minutes. The batter seemed to come out clean at 23 minutes. When I cut into it, there were still a slight bit that was undercooked, but that's totally fine with me. If you need it cooked a little longer, by all means, go ahead.

To be more realistic, I cut this into 12 pieces, 16 would have worked too if I was sharing with my family. I brought it to the bake sale and it was the first to go within the first half hour of the sale. That has to say something right? Try this, you won't regret it!

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Peanut Butter Cup Blondies

made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Cooking Light




ingredients:

• 5 3/5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cup) all purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup (half stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 TBSP milk (whatever you have on hand, I used soy)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 15 mini peanut butter cups, chopped

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray an 8x8 metal baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of your mixer. Stir to combine.
3. In a separate medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then whisk in the peanut butter, butter, milk and extract. Add to the dry ingredients.
4. Beat the ingredients until just combined, then stir in chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into baking pan then use a spatula to spread evenly. Place the chopped peanut butter cups on top and press down.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 23-25 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. You may want to try a different section if peanut butter/chocolate comes up instead.
7. Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12-16 pieces or however big you want them.

Yield: 12-16 servings

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Tofu and Broccoli with Peanut Sauce

Happy New Year!

Here's to a new year, and a new you! I don't really make resolutions, but if I had to make one, it would be to eat healthier, less meat, and more whole foods. I've already started doing that, but I will continue to do so this year.

One of the things I've started reading up on and cooking is vegan meals. We've had a few good recipes for breakfast that are vegan, but we don't really have many vegan dinners. This meal was great because not only was it vegan, it was tasty and filling as well!

I made the mistake of using a stainless steel pan for this. I guess I missed the part about using nonstick! The tofu stuck a little and the sauce burned off a little. Next time I make this, I will definitely use a nonstick pan.

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Tofu and Broccoli with Peanut Sauce

recipe by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Vegan Yum Yum, as seen on Made Just Right




ingredients:

• 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed, cut into small squares
• 1 TBSP canola or peanut oil
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp mirin

peanut dressing:

• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 TBSP sugar
• 1 TBSP soy sauce
• 1 TBSP seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tsp hot chili oil (I omitted)
• pinch of salt

for serving:

• steamed broccoli
• 1 grated carrot
• cooked rice
• crushed peanuts (optional)

directions:

1. Whisk sauce ingredients in a small bowl until smooth (be patient, it’ll look curdle at first then smooth out) and set aside.
2. Fry tofu in the oil over high heat in a non-stick skillet until browned on both sides. Drain and return to hot pan (turn off the heat). Mix soy sauce and mirin together and pour over tofu, mixing well. It will bubble up and form a light glaze.
3. Plate rice, add broccoli, tofu, carrot, and crushed peanuts. Drizzle with sauce and serve.

Yield: 2 servings

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Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

Now, that title is a mouthful!

This past weekend was Gary’s 30th birthday! I told him I would make a cake for him that would be dairy free. Who knows what store bought cake has in them, unless you specifically ask for something that is allergen free.

I thought up an ice cream cake with a chocolate peanut butter swirl ice cream sandwiched between two layers of chocolate cake, then topped off with a peanut butter frosting. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it off, but it came out pretty good. It tasted amazing and you would not know it’s vegan unless I told you.

I’ve used the chocolate cake recipe previously when I made chocolate cupcakes for a coworker. Since it tasted great the first time, I decided to use it again for this cake. Since what I wanted to make didn’t come from one particular cookbook, I found recipes for each component of the cake from different sources. Each component tasted good on it’s own already, it was just a matter of everything tasting good together, and of course it did! This photo does not do justice to how amazing it tastes.

The cake was served after leaving it in the fridge for about an hour or so, so the ice cream was a little bit melty to a pudding like consistency. I suggest leaving it in the freezer until serving if you have space, because the leftovers tasted great straight from the freezer.

 

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake
Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl ice cream adapted from: The Vegan Scoop
Chocolate cake adapted from: Go Dairy Free
Peanut Buttercream frosting adapted from: Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
printable recipe

ingredients:

ice cream	cake	frosting
1 cup coconut milk, divided	3 cups all purpose flour	1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
2 TBSP arrowroot powder	2 cups sugar	4 TBSP shortening
1 cup dairy free cream	1/2 cup cocoa powder	2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar	2 tsp baking soda	3 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup cocoa powder	1 tsp salt	2 - 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 cup chocolate chips	scant 2/3 cup canola oil	2-4 TBSP dairy free milk or cream
1 TBSP vanilla extract	2 TBSP white vinegar
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter	2 tsp vanilla extract
	2 cups cold water

directions:
at least a day before, make ice cream:
In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup coconut milk with arrowroot and set aside. (I only had 3/4 cup coconut milk total, so I used the cream for this).

Mix cream, remaining coconut milk, sugar, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and mix in arrowroot cream. Add in vanilla extract.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, at least 2-3 hours (I left it in the fridge for about 24 hours).

Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. In the last few minutes of freezing, add in peanut butter.

Line a cake pan the same size as one you’ll be baking the cake in with plastic wrap. Pour ice cream into pan, smooth out and cover with more plastic wrap. Freeze in freezer until solid. If you don’t have enough pans, you can remove the ice cream from the pan after it’s solid and leave it in the freezer until you’re ready to use it.

at least 6 hours prior, bake the cake:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 8 or 9” cake pan (I used pam baking spray on my 9” pans). Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients: flour through salt.

Make 3 small wells in the flour mixture. Place oil in the first well, vinegar in the second, and vanilla extract in third.

Pour water all over and stir well to combine.

Divide batter evenly between the 2 pans. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Original recipe called for 30-35 minutes in an 8” square pan. I put both pans in the oven at the same time, and at 30 minutes the edges were a little overdone.)

Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes in the pans before inverting them onto wire racks to cool.

After it’s cooled, you can cut off the top domed part to make a flat cake.

while cake is almost cooled, prepare the frosting:
In a large bowl, cream together butter and shortening at medium speed until smooth.

Add peanut butter and vanilla and beat until very smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in sifted sugar (make sure it’s sifted, or you’ll have lumps).

Set mixer to low speed and slowly pour in milk or cream until frosting is pale tan and very fluffy.

This makes just enough frosting to frost this entire cake.

assemble:
On a 9 or 10” cake circle, line parchment paper along the edges and let hang off, leaving room in the center to place a little frosting. This is to keep the cake circle neat while frosting, so it will be removed later. Spread a dollop of frosting on the center of the circle. Place one layer of cake on the center of the circle.

Add a thin layer of frosting on top of the cake.

Remove ice cream from freezer. Place on top of the frosted cake layer. Remove plastic wrap.

Frost with another thin layer of frosting. At this point, you must work quick, or the ice cream will melt.

Place the last layer of cake on top. If you feel you need to place the cake back in the freezer, do so at this point.

Frost the cake on top and sides with the remaining frosting.

Place in freezer until ready to serve.

Store leftovers in a freezer tight container.

Scallops with Thai Peanut Noodles

We bought a bag of frozen scallops the last time we went to BJs. We try to get some kind of seafood every time we’re there. I’ve never made scallops before, although I love eating them at restaurants.

I saw a couple of recipes for scallops that I wanted to try, but I didn’t have all the ingredients. This recipe called out to me because I’m a big fan of peanut butter, AND I had all the ingredients on hand. I also didn’t want to make a huge fuss with dinner, so I decided to make this.

Scallops with Thai Peanut Noodles
Adapted from: Eat Better America

Ingredients:
1 package (7 oz) spaghetti, broken in half (I used half a package of Thai style rice noodles)
5 cups fresh broccoli pieces or 1 bag (12 oz) frozen broccoli cuts, thawed
3/4 lb fresh or frozen (thawed) bay scallops or quartered sea scallops
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter spread (I used Lee Kum Kee Peanut Sauce)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper sauce (I used chili garlic sauce)
2 tablespoons unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, finely chopped (I omitted since I didn’t have any on hand)

Directions:
1. Cook spaghetti as directed on package—except add broccoli and scallops during last 4 minutes of cooking. Scallops are done when they turn white and opaque.

2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, beat peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and red pepper sauce with wire whisk until smooth.

3. Drain spaghetti mixture; return to saucepan. Add peanut butter mixture; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with peanuts. Serve immediately.

Final verdict: I will try this again with crunchy peanut butter instead of the peanut sauce. The peanut sauce had vinegar in it already, so it made the entire dish more tart than usual. There wasn’t enough peanut butter flavor for my taste.

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

Since Gary is now trying to be dairy free, one of the things he misses most of course is ice cream! He found a decadent non-dairy ice cream from Whole Foods that he loved. The downside? Over $5 for a pint! That’s just crazy. I’ve seen many recipes for ice cream out there, so I thought it was time for me to invest in something that would help us save money in the long run…

My new Cuisinart ice cream maker!! SO, for my first recipe I made Peanut Butter Banana ice cream, and it was pretty good. I chose this because I had all the ingredients on hand and didn’t require the thickener other non dairy ice creams needed.

While it was spinning, both Gary and I were watching it spin and work its magic. I walked away and did other stuff and expected Gary to still be there when I got back. He wasn’t there watching anymore, but he did admit he was watching it spin for a little while.

Dairy drinkers can definitely use whole milk and it would be great!

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream
Source: A Vegan Ice Cream Paradise

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
2 cups non-dairy milk or creamer (for a real treat, use coconut milk!) (I used unsweetened rice milk)
½ cups brown sugar
½ - ¾ cups peanut butter (depending on how much you love peanut butter)
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Peel bananas and place in a blender. (I used my food processor because that’s what was on my counter). Add non-dairy milk/creamer and puree.

2. Transfer the liquid to a medium-sized sauce pan. Over medium heat, dissolve the brown sugar and peanut butter into the liquid. It will be really thick and creamy at the end!

3. Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

4. Set the ice cream mixture aside to cool. It will get really thick when it’s refrigerated. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from: All Recipes
Made by: Cathy

I love peanut butter cookies. My aunt REALLY loves peanut butter cookies. I remember making peanut butter cup cookies for her and she ate quite a few cookies in one sitting.

I was craving cookies since I gave away all the chocolate chip cookies I made. Since I was going to see my aunt today, I might as well make something that we would both enjoy. These fly off the plate so fast.

The only change I made was adding and extra 1/2 cup of peanut butter. I’ve also made these with crunchy peanut butter before and it tastes wonderful like that too.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy will both work)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C).

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets. (Flatten the cookies because these don’t spread.)

3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges start to brown. Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: about 33 cookies

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcake recipe from: Hershey's
Made by: Cathy

I wanted to experiment with other chocolate/pb combinations, so I wondered if a chocolate pb cupcake would work.

I used Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake recipe and filled with a peanut butter mixture.

Ingredients:

For the filling:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar

For the cupcakes:
2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Directions:

For the filling:
1. Combine peanut butter and sugar and mix until it is dough like. Set aside.


For the cupcakes:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
3. Measure 2 tablespoons batter into the bottom of each cup.

Place a dollop (about 1/2 tablespoon size) of peanut butter mixture into pan.


Measure another 2 tablespoons of batter to cover. Repeat with remaining cups.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.




Makes 24 cupcakes.

The cupcake was good, but I guess I'm not too fond of chocolate cupcakes in general. I think next time, I might add slightly more sugar into the pb mixture, or add more pb into each cupcake.

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from: Clumbsy Cookie
Made by: Cathy

I had 1 ripe banana, and I didn't know what to do with it. I searched "banana" in my google reader, and most of the recipes called for multiple bananas. I saw Clumbsy Cookie's Banana Filled Chocolate Chip Cookies and thought I should try it. On my way home, I was thinking about what else I can pair with the banana. I was thinking nutella, but the recipe already called for chocolate chips. I thought that would be overkill. So I thought, PEANUT BUTTER! The original recipe did have a modification of peanut butter chips, I didn't have that, but I did have plenty of peanut butter.


Ingredients:
8 tbsp butter (1/2 cup or 1 stick), softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 banana, sliced
15 teaspoons peanut butter (give or take)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, combine butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla.
4. Mix in dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop mounds of dough to the cookie sheet. Using the back of the scoop, make a dent in the top for the banana slice.
6. Place a slice of banana, then place about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter on top of the banana slice.


7. Scoop another dough ball, flatten and mound on top. You should have a big dough ball now.


8. Bake in preheated oven for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.


Makes approximately 15 giant cookies.

These were so good. I couldn't resist and ate one right out of the oven.

ooey gooey banana peanut buttery goodness :)