Tag Archives: dessert

No-Bake Peanut Butter Cup Bars

I’m not a big candy person, but when I came across this recipe, the urge  for a sweet treat hit me hard. Chocolate and peanut butter make a timeless combination, and this simple recipe (which doesn’t even require you to turn on the oven) has delicious results. The bars are wonderful straight from the freezer, where they will conveniently stay good for quite a long time, though I doubt that ‘quite a long time’ will describe the longevity of these little guys. Think Reese’s peanut butter cup, but larger. And . . . healthier? Who knows. Let’s at least pretend, eh?

I think the hardest part of this recipe was simply measuring out the peanut butter (warning: a 16.3 oz container does not contain a full 2 cups). That stuff is sticky, man. But if that’s the summit of the challenge, you can see how easy these are going to be to make.

Ingredients

(Makes 20 small bars)

2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
3 cups powdered sugar
2 cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup butter, softened
12 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

Here’s the assembly: looking totally doable.

First, pulverize the graham crackers until you have 2 cups worth of very fine crumbs. I dumped the crackers into a Ziploc bag and went at them with the heel of my hand.

Very soon, I graduated my efforts to the rolling-pin level.

Much faster that way.

Grab a large mixing bowl and toss in the graham cracker crumbs . . .

. . . powdered sugar . . .

. . . peanut butter . . .

. . . and 3/4 cup of softened butter.

Mix it slowly, because when I tried to speed things up, poofs of powdered sugar exploded from the bowl.

There! The rest of the recipe is easy: just grab handfuls of that mixture as your mood leads and insert into mouth.

Enjoy!

Just kidding.

Instead, press the mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan (ungreased).

Oh–you already ate it all? Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to mislead anyone.

For the rest of you: the mixture will stick somewhat as you press it down. See how it doesn’t want to stay put?

I panicked for about 15 seconds thinking it would never cooperate–but as I started using a combination of the spatula and my index finger to pat it down little by little, everything came together.

Phew! There we go.

And now for the chocolate. In a microwave-safe bowl, mix the chocolate chips and 1/4 cup butter.

Heat for 1 minute in the microwave, then remove the bowl and stir.

If it’s not fully melted (i.e. there are still lumps), put it back in the microwave for 20 seconds and stir again.

Repeat until the chocolate and butter are fully melted and melded together. Spread the chocolate immediately (and quickly) over the layer of peanut butter.

Don’t try to use a spoon like I did–a spatula will make it go much faster.

If at some point in the process your finger looks like this:

I adjure you to follow the voice in your heart. You will know what to do.

Now cool the whole thing in the fridge or the freezer until the chocolate hardens. Cut it into small squares and serve!

Store the bars in the freezer and serve them directly from there–the texture will be perfect (not rock-solid, don’t worry).

Delicious, easy, and the results will put a smile on your face.

Plus, you can always keep a batch in the freezer to whip out when unexpected guests drop by demanding nutrition.

Or when unexpected hunger pangs hit. Your pick.

Enjoy your weekend, peoples! I, for one, will be spending some quality time with my friend Vessie, who is in Chicago on business and is sticking around to play with me for a couple days. I love that girl! Check out some pictures of her from our little photo shoot on the porch last fall. She’s got it all–beauty, smarts, energy, athleticism–and a huge heart!

See you all Monday for more adventures in food, with a little story of unintentional carbonization as an added plus. Or an added minus, depending on your perspective.

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Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I guess the theme of the moment on this blog is lemon–lemon bars, lemon cookies, and an upcoming lemon pasta. There’s just something about the fresh zestiness of lemons that feels so optimistic and spring-like to me. These cookies (click here for the original recipe) have a very delicate lemon flavor–there’s no punch, just a lingering hint of sunshine. So if you’re looking for a knockout wollop of lemon on your tongue you can always increase the quantity of lemon zest. But seriously, they’re lovely exactly as they are.

I love the texture, which is somehow soft and chewy and crisp all at the same time. So when life gives you lemons, please ignore the old saying and make these cookies instead.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 tsp lemon zest (triple for more punch)

1 TBS fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease two light-colored baking trays with butter or cooking spray.

Now dump the butter and granulated sugar into a mixing bowl.

Cream the butter and granulated sugar together until they’re fluffy.

Zest that lemon!

How I love my microplane. It makes zesting a lemon so much less . . . dangerous.

Add the vanilla, the egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and whip.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl . . .

. . . and whip again until evenly mixed.

Measure in all the dry ingredients (except for the powdered sugar) . . .

. . . and stir gently until just combined.

It’s much easier to use a spoon or spatula to finish off this part.

Spread the powdered sugar out on a plate.

Roll the dough into little balls the size of a heaping teaspoon, then roll them in the powdered sugar.

I knew I was going to have problems getting all the little spheres to be uniform, so I rolled them all first before sugaring them up. You should end up with about 24 of them.

Place them on the greased baking sheets . . .

. . . and bake for 9-11 minutes until the bottom of the cookies is barely getting golden and the tops have a matte finish (not shiny or glossy). Take the baking sheets out of the oven, and let the cookies sit on the baking sheets for 3 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack. When they first come out, they look kind of poofy and rounded on top.

 As they sit, they will collapse ane get . . .

. . . crinkly!

And that’s why they’re called Lemon Crinkle Cookies.

If you’re totally getting whacked out of shape by the changes in lighting in these pictures, please know that I was happily using my external flash in my almost-always-dark-kitchen, but around 5:30 pm, light briefly floods through our little alley-facing window. It goes away a few minutes later, but I seized the moment and snapped away sans flash.

I should also mention that if you’re using a darker colored baking sheet, the cookies will need about 2 minutes less in the oven.

Here they are innocently sitting on the cooling rack.

Little do they know that I’m about to . . .

CHOMP!

It’s not cruel–I’m helping them fulfill their destiny.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Lemon Crinkle Cookies