Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Here's another muffin recipe for you!  It's been awhile and I've had this one bookmarked for some time.  I thought these would be a winner since pb & j sandwiches are almost a weekly lunch staple with the kids.  Warm, right out of the oven, these muffins were really tasty.  However, as my husband noted when he tried one, "These taste like soggy, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."  My daughter only ate a couple of bites of hers at breakfast the day after I baked these and told me that she didn't like it.  So unfortunately, these will not be made again in this house. :(

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins
recipe from Alli 'N Sons

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat (or white whole wheat) flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1-1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup raspberry jam

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 muffin cups with nonstick spray or line with muffin liners. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl stir together the flours, sugars, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl whisk together the milk, peanut butter, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract. Whisk lightly, until the ingredients just come together.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, stirring until just combined.

Stir in the peanut butter chips.

Fill each muffin cup 1/2 full.

Spoon 1 teaspoon jam into each cup.

Spoon the remaining batter on top of each cup.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the muffins are a golden brown and spring back when touch lightly.

Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Family Rating:  So-so.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I don't bake a lot.  Although my family loves cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. we just don't eat a lot of them.  My kids have a very chaotic schedule this summer.  Between who goes to camp on which days, swimming lessons, gymnastics, etc. I had to create a special calendar just to keep track!  Last week my daughter was at camp all week but my son only goes three days a week.  So on one of his home with mommy days I recruited him to help me make these cookies.  They were easy enough for him to help make.  What I love about making cookies is that they don't take a lot of time to bake.  In less than 15 minutes we were sampling a warm out of the oven cookie.  I was going out to dinner with an old colleague of mine later that night so I packed a little bag of cookies to give to her.  The kids were going to my parent's house for dinner that night (so I could go out!) so we brought along a bag to share with them.  And after all that sharing we still had plenty of cookies left over for us to enjoy.  These had a lot going on but were a tasty treat.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
from Edesia's Notebook

Yield:  Approximately 4 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cup shortening
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1½ cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, cream together shortening, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until just combined. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until just light brown. Don't over-bake. Cool and store in an airtight container.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies

I was cleaning out my kitchen shelves and came upon an unopened bag of Reese's peanut butter chips.  On the back of the bag was this recipe.  Since I had all the ingredients I figured that I'd whip a batch up.  Since the recipe yields 48 cookies I ended up halving the recipe.  The 24 cookies we ended up with was plenty!  As noted in step 3, the cookies will be soft after baking.  I was over eager to get them off the pan and several ended up breaking into bits.  When I was a bit more patient, the cookies hardened a bit on the pan and were able to be moved to the cooling rack.  The kids loved these.  I thought that they weren't bad.....(who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter?!)  However, I've definitely had better cookies. 

Reese's Chewy Chocolate Cookies
from HERSHEY'S website

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cups (2-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; set aside.

2. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

3.  Bake 8 to 9 minutes. (Do not overbake; cookies will be soft. They will puff while baking and flatten while cooling.) Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4-1/2 dozen cookies.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie

It's that time of the month again....time for the Crazy Cooking Challenge, hosted by Tina at Moms Crazy Cooking.  This month's challenge was fruit smoothies.  Unfortunately, I don't like smoothies.  I'm not a big yogurt drinker to begin with, and then mixing it with stuff and drinking it is just not appealing to me.  My kids however, love smoothies!  I don't think I've ever made them a smoothie before now, although I don't know why.....I discovered how easy they are to make!  I have been a big fan of the Dole Smoothie Shakers.  You just add fruit juice and shake!  The kids like them.....but I can't tell you how they rate on the store-bought smoothie scale!  When I was looking for smoothie recipes this one caught my eye.  Peanut butter and bananas are staples in our household.  I only had crunchy peanut butter which I used in the smoothie and I shouldn't have.  The peanut chunks ruined the smoothness of the smoothie.  I had a taste of the smoothie and it didn't make me a fan of them.  My son downed his but my daughter didn't like hers.   I'm glad that I was finally able to make my first smoothie.  However, I won't be making this one again.

Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie
recipe from Alli 'N Sons

Yields: 2 smoothies

Ingredients:
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 banana
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey, more or less to taste
1 cup ice cubes, more or less, depending on how thick like smoothies

Preparation:
Pour all of the ingredients in a blender, then blend until smooth. Add more honey if you want it slightly sweeter, more ice if you want it a little thinner.

Family Rating: So-so.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Skillet Monkey Bread

When I saw this recipe while blog perusing I immediately bookmarked it and had to make it.  If I haven't mentioned it, my kids LOVE peanut butter and jelly.  That's what they'd have for lunch every day if I let them, but I try to limit it to one time a week!  I thought this would be a nice treat for them and it looked easy enough for them to help make.  All I can say is YUMMY!  I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing. And next time I won't stop, because it definitely didn't taste nearly as good the next day! 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Skillet Monkey Bread
from Picky Palate

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 can Refrigerated Biscuits, 8 count
1/4 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, warmed in microwave until liquid like
1/2 cup jelly of choice, warmed in microwave until liquid like
4 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and spray 9-inch cast iron skillet with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Cut each biscuit into fourths. Place melted butter into a large ziplock bag and toss in cut biscuits. Shake around to coat then toss in sugar, mixing to combine. Pour into prepared 9-inch cast iron skillet and drizzle warmed peanut butter and jelly over top. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until cooked through and golden.

3. Whisk the heavy cream and powdered sugar until combined then drizzle over warm biscuits. Serve warm.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

Marbled Peanut Butter & Nutella Brownies

Today, March 1st is National Peanut Butter Lover's Day!  My family loves peanut butter!  I am way behind in my posts....I've cooked too much and I have more recipes than time to post them!  In honor of this day, I am sharing this recipe that I made for us for dessert on Valentine's Day. I had just bought some nutella and these caught my eye.  They seemed easy enough and our family loves the chocolate and peanut butter combination.  So I knew these would be a hit!

They looked really nice with the swirl!  Unfortunately, the peanut butter really overpowers in this recipe and we couldn't really taste the nutella very much.  However, they were nice and moist and of course we didn't mind the peanut butter flavor!  And really, who doesn't love homemade brownies?!!! 

Marbled Peanut Butter & Nutella Brownies
from Cookie Madness

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used crunchy)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Swirl Mixture:
1 1/2 oz dark or dark chocolate with hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon butter
1/4 cup Nutella

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 inch square metal pan with non-stick foil.

In a mixing bowl, using medium speed and high speed of an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until soft. Beat in vanilla and peanut butter, then add eggs and beat just until mixed in. Scrape sides of bowl and beat in baking powder and salt, making sure they are evenly distributed; Add flour and stir until it is mixed in. Spread peanut butter batter in pan.

Make swirl mixture. Melt chocolate and butter in a small microwave-safe bowl at 50% power. Alternatively, you may use a double boiler or bowl set over a pot of barely simmer water. Remove melted chocolate from heat and stir in Nutella. Drop spoonfuls of Nutella mixture over peanut butter brownie batter and drag a knife through to make a marbled pattern.

Bake on center rack for 30 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the side of the pan and center seems set. Cool pan on a wire rack. When brownies hit room temperature, chill them for an hour or so. Lift from pan and cut into squares.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up!