Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

These were so good that I had to give most of them away immediately or risk eating the entire pan myself within a stupidly short span of time. They are no-bake and the hardest part is waiting until they're cooled to start eating them. In fact, I did a terrible job of that and ate quite a lot of it while it was still warm and gooey. And as long as you don't care about it being in the shape of a granola bar, you should definitely do the same thing. Shapes are overrated. They taste awesome - that's what matters.

These are just delightful. And very hard to stop eating. And super easy to make. And that, friends, is a dangerous trifecta - but one that I can only recommend.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (Adapted from this recipe)
Makes one 8" x 8" pan of bars

1/4 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. crunchy peanut butter (I used this kind)
1/2 cup crushed cashews
1 cup gluten-free oats
1 cup Honey Nut Chex crumbs (I started with about 1 1/2 cups whole Honey Nut Chex and ground them in a food processor)
3 tbsp. flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line an 8" x 8" pan with wax paper.

Combine the agave nectar, honey, and peanut butter in a small saucepan. Melt together over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or just until it starts to simmer.

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, combine the cashews, oats, Honey Nut Chex crumbs, flaxseed meal, and salt. Pour the hot liquid mixture in and mix well. Add in the chocolate chips and stir again.

Pour the entire mixture into the pan and press down firmly. Let cool completely, then slice into bars. Store in an airtight container.

Fudgy Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Chocolate Icing

Ohmygod-sogood. This was amazingly delicious, and super easy to throw together. Thick in the middle of finishing up my Master's thesis, I was having some hard core chocolate cravings last week. So I pulled out a Gefen boxed chocolate cake mix that was on sale after Passover ended and modified it to make it lower fat. Then, I modified the frosting and ended up making it higher fat. So it probably all comes out in the wash, and you won't remember modifying anything once you're having a piece.

After trying the frosting in the box (which was so so sugary I couldn't eat more than a tiny taste of it - and that is saying something, because my tolerance for sugar is usually well above average - I decided to scrap it and make my own frosting. And what could be better than the combination of peanut butter and chocolate? I couldn't think of anything, so that was that. It turned out to be fabulous. If you want these to be more like brownies, I suspect you could eliminate one of the eggs - but I haven't tried it myself. But even as it was, the cake had a lovely rich texture, and the icing was the perfect complement to its chocolatey-ness. Perfect for a night of studying and sure to satisfy chocolate cravings, stress-induced or otherwise.

Fudgy Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Chocolate Icing

For cake:
1 package Gefen gluten-free chocolate cake mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup fig butter
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup almond milk

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9" round pan. Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer for about 3 - 4 minutes, or until smooth. Pour into the pan and bake for 25 - 40 minutes (depending on your oven), just until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely (if you can stand to wait).

For icing:
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
3 - 4 tbsp. natural cocoa powder (to your own taste)
1/2 - 1 cup powdered sugar (to your own taste)
2 tsp. vanilla
Dash of salt

Mix all ingredients together very well, and adjust ingredients to your own taste until you get the consistency you want in your icing. Spread evenly over completely cooled cake. Then eat the rest with a spoon. (Seriously - you won't be sorry for at least 10 minutes.)

Store cake in the refrigerator and let warm to room temperature before serving.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins

Heavenly. Simply heavenly. I loved these so much that I had to give most of them away. If I hadn't, I would have eaten the entire batch by myself, easily--probably in a shamefully short amount of time.

Peanut butter and jelly is one of my favorite combinations ever. I love it so much that I ate peanut butter sandwiches every day for several years in my first two jobs as an adult. I still eat it all the time. It's one of the things I could probably live on for a good long time before I got sick of it.

So when I saw the Gluten-free Goddess' Peanut Butter Banana Cake, I knew I had to try it out for myself. I made a few modifications, and then decided at the last minute to make it into a portable PB&J sandwich by adding a dollop of my homemade Black Raspberry Mango jam before baking them. They turned out to be FABULOUS. One of my friends took one bite and said, "So this is basically a peanut butter sandwich shaped like a muffin. It's wonderful." And I had to agree as I scarfed mine down with her.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins (Adapted from Gluten-free Goddess' Peanut Butter Banana Cake)
Makes 9 muffins

2 large bananas
1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 tsp. white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 - 5 tbsp. of your favorite jam (I used my homemade black raspberry mango)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners.

Cream together the bananas, peanut butter, agave nectar, sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix together the coconut flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture and mix well. Coconut flour can be particularly clumpy, so try to work out all the lumps.

Spoon into the muffin tins, filling each one about 2/3 full. Spoon about 1 or 1 1/2 tsp. of jam into the middle of each one. Bake them for about 17 - 20 minutes, or just until a sharp knife comes out clean, and the top is slightly browned. Remove from the oven and let sit in the hot pan for about 3 - 4 more minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

These only lasted long enough for me to verify they are still good 2 days later. But I suspect if you keep them in the refrigerator, that they will keep for about 4 days.

Puppy Chow for One

It's been a rough few months. And I have a rough few more ahead of me before school is over. Some day soon, I will have only my full-time job to keep me busy.

In the meantime, I need a steady supply of snacks. And if you're like me, you'll eat exactly as much of this as you make. So in an effort to at least curb my stress eating, I decided to make a single serving at a time. That way, at least 4 minutes of preparation stands between me and more of it. Because it is so good. So full of peanut butter and chocolate, one of the best combinations that exists on earth. So addictive.

So go ahead. Join me in an attempt to eat just a little of it. And enjoy every bite.

Puppy Chow for One

1/2 cup Honey Nut Chex
1 tbsp. natural peanut butter
1 tbsp. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 -3 tsp. powdered sugar

Melt the peanut butter and the chocolate chips together for 1 minute in the microwave. Stir the chocolate chips and peanut butter together, then add the chex. Stir to coat.

Put the powdered sugar in a small baggie. Pour the chocolate-coated chex into the bag and shake it to cover with the powdered sugar.

Store in the refrigerator...if you can wait that long to eat it.

Flourless Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Oh my GOD were these good.  I scarfed down more of them than I honestly care to admit, although I did give a significant portion of them away, too.  So at least there's that.

Trader Joe's makes gluten-free oats now - did you know that?  I just discovered them recently - and not only are they certified gluten-free, they are also a lot cheaper than their competition - by several dollars.  AND they come with a recipe for oatmeal cookies on the back.  What more could you want from a bag of oats, celiac friends?

I modified the recipe quite a bit, of course.  I added a few different ingredients, reduced the fat, etc. (all my usual courses of action).  And they turned out to be fabulous - they were chewy, moist, and full of flavor.  Everyone who tried these loved them, and I suspect you will, too.

**Update: Since giving up sugar a few months ago, I also created a modified version of these that - in addition to being free of gluten and dairy - is also sugar-free. That modification is below!

Flourless Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen medium cookies

Regular version:
1.5 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread
1/4 cup fig butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sunflower butter or peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups gluten-free oats
5 tbsp. unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
3/4 - 1 cup chocolate chips

Sugar-free version: 
1.5 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread
1/4 cup plain pumpkin puree
1/2 cup Stevia in the raw
1/2 cup nut butter (I used plain salted almond butter, but sunflower or peanut butter will do, too! Just be aware that many nut butters have added sugar)
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups gluten-free oats
1/3 cup roasted sunflower seeds
1/2 - 3/4 cup pecan pieces
**Chocolate chips are usually full of sugar, but if you find ones that aren't, add them back in by all means!

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Whip together the Earth Balance, fig butter/pumpkin puree, and white and brown sugar/Stevia until well-mixed.  Add the egg and mix together well.  Add in the nut butter and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, and salt.  Stir them into the wet ingredients and mix well.  Add the extras (sunflower seeds, pecans, and/or chocolate chips) and stir in to combine.

Scoop the cookies out by the teaspoonful or tablespoonful onto the cookie sheets and space 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes (JUST until they start to brown on the edges), then remove from the oven.  They probably won't look completely done - that's ok.  Let them sit on the hot cookie sheet for another 3 - 5 minutes or until you can scrape them off onto a wire rack without their falling apart.  Cool completely, then store in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Flourless Fluffer Nutter Cookies

Remember Fluffer Nutters?  Peanut butter and a thick slathering of Marshmallow Fluff brought together in one amazing sandwich?  They are a part of my childhood, and every once in a while, when I have a peanut butter sandwich, I reminisce about them.  So when I recently confirmed that Marshmallow Fluff is, in fact, gluten-free,  I was maybe a little too happy.  In fact, I promptly opened the jar I had just bought and ate a spoonful right out of the jar.  Yeah.  I do that sometimes.  (But don't worry, I don't double-dip, for those of you who eat my baked goods!)

Later that week, I was making a batch of peanut butter cookies for my cousin's birthday party and suddenly remembered that jar of Marshmallow Fluff.  Inspired, I took it off the shelf and decided to find a way to insert it into the recipe.

It worked!  They were delicious. Out of curiosity, and to test how well another favorite sandwich of mine would translate into cookies, I also made a few with strawberry jam instead of Fluff, and those were a success as well. (Directions for those are at the end of the recipe.)

The bottom line is, these peanut butter cookies are fantastic.  They have no flour, making them naturally gluten-free, and unmitigated peanut butter-y flavor.  The only problem is that they disappear quickly, so be sure to make enough!

 
Flourless Fluffer Nutter Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

3/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter (I used Trader Joe's Creamy PB)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
3-4 tbsp. Marshmallow Fluff

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line two cookie baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the peanut butter and sugar until well mixed.  Add the vanilla and baking soda and mix.  Add the egg and mix very well until it is evenly distributed.

Using a teaspoon measure, scoop out the dough and roll into a ball with your hands.  Line up the balls of dough about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets.

Before putting in the oven, use a fork to crack each ball in half.  Place about 1/8th of a teaspoon (I'm just guessing since I didn't measure, but just a very tiny dollop) of Marshmallow Fluff into the center of each ball and then re-form the ball around it, rolling them in your hands.  Place the balls back on the cookie sheet and, using a fork, smash down each ball gently, creating creases on the top of each cookie.

Bake for 10 minutes or just until set.  Remove from oven and let sit on hot cookie sheets for another 3 - 5 minutes until slightly cooled, then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

**For peanut butter and jelly cookies:  Instead of placing marshmallow creme inside the cookie dough balls, use your thumb to press each ball of dough flat and then scoop about 1/2 - 1 tsp. strawberry jam into each cookie after baking.

PB&J/N/H Bars; or Peanut Butter Bars with Jam, Nutella, or Honey

Perhaps I should just say first that these were gone immediately.  I just consider myself very lucky that I had two friends over to help me eat them or I might have consumed the entire pan, which would have been only fleeting joy, I'm sure.  So just consider yourself warned - if you keep reading, you will very likely end up with a highly tempting and addictive pan of cookie bars.  

I adapted these from a recipe on Our Best Bites - the link to the original post, "Peanut Butter & Jam Bars," can be found here.

I know I have written of my undying love of all things involving peanut butter before.  I love it in all forms, and there are many variations that I enjoy.  Peanut butter with jam; peanut butter with honey; peanut butter with nutella; peanut butter with marshmallow fluff (yes, that's right); and perhaps my favorite of all, peanut butter with maple butter.

So I decided, why limit myself to only one of these variations simply because it's the one in the original title?  As I measured, spooned, sifted, and stirred, the delicious smell of peanut butter began to waft up at me, and I knew I couldn't.  I rummaged around in my cabinet and pulled out some nutella-like chocolate spread I found in the store here, as well as a jar of special Swazi-made creamed honey.  After spreading half the batter into the bottom of the pan, I spread nutella, honey, and strawberry jam on top, divided into three sections, and then covered it with the rest of the batter before sticking it in the oven.

Forty minutes later, it came out of the oven looking a bit like a piece of patchwork due to the different consistencies, but smelling mouth-watering.  We let it cool for as long as we could stand not to eat them, and then my friends and I each tried all three kinds.  Shari and I agreed that our favorite in terms of taste was by far the peanut butter and honey, although as it cooled, it took on a somewhat caramel-like texture that wasn't as easy to eat.  As for Joe, he liked the traditional PB&J variation (this is the same Joe of the recent Sweet Potato French Fries post).  The nutella one had its moments, but was not heavy enough on the nutella and thus suffered in the rankings.  With a little extra nutella though, the chocolate flavor would be more noticeable and I'm sure the taste would be more balanced.

What is comes down to is that all three varieties were delicious, fantastic, addictive, wonderful.  Need I go on?  Within 15 minutes, two-thirds of the pan had disappeared, and a mere 2 hours later (after a short gorging hiatus), there was nary a crumb to be found.  If you love peanut butter, this is the dessert you've been waiting for.

PB&J/N/H Bars (Peanut Butter Bars with Jam, Nutella, or Honey)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (I used raw sugar)

1/2 cup gluten-free margarine, Spectrum organic shortening, or butter if you can eat it

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy if you prefer)

1 large egg

2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/3 cup potato starch

1/2 tsp. xanthan gum

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Dash of salt

1/3 cup strawberry jam (or raspberry, or your favorite)

1/4 cup honey (creamed is best, but regular will work as well)

1/4 cup nutella spread or chocolate chunks

Gluten-free non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C.  Spray a glass 8" x 8" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl, cream the margarine and sugars together.  Add the peanut butter and mix well.  Add the egg and vanilla and continue to beat until smooth.

In a separate small bowl, combine the sorghum flour, brown rice flour, and potato starch with the xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and dash of salt.  Add little by little to the wet mixture, stirring very well to combine.  Batter should be light and fluffy.

Place spoonfuls of the batter into the bottom of the baking dish, then using a spoon or spatula, spread them so they cover the entire pan.  Spread your toppings evenly onto the base in whatever proportions you prefer (if you use nutella, be sure to pile it on so the chocolate flavor will come out!), and then drop the remaining batter on top, once again in spoonfuls to ensure even coverage.  Use the spatula again to spread the batter evenly over the toppings.  Place in the oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until the dough is firmly set and slightly browned.  Be careful not to overcook!  The edges should be a lovely brown.  Remove from oven and let cool for as long as you can before devouring them.

Note:  The honey in mine boiled in the oven and created a sort of honey fountain over the dough, so be careful to keep an eye so that it doesn't spill over into your oven.  It also became a little harder as it cooled, so you might want to eat these while still warm.  These were my favorite of the three!

Note:  I made these in an 8x8 pan, which gives them some nice height; I'm not sure they would turn out as well spread any thinner than that, such as in a 9" x 13" pan.

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Do you love peanut butter?  I mean, do you love peanut butter?  Because I love peanut butter.  It's one of my favorite foods ever, and I will eat almost anything that contains it (whether it's a dessert or not).  So for me and these cookies, being gluten-free simply eliminated one more barrier between me and one of my favorite foods.  That pesky flour is gone, and what is left is just the delicious intensity of the peanut butter.  You will not be able to eat just one of these!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (I used creamy, but you could use crunchy)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Cream the peanut butter and sugar in a bowl.  Add the baking powder, and mix well.  Then beat in the egg.

Mix very well.

If you have the time, stick the dough in the fridge or the freezer for at least a few hours.  When you are ready, take small pieces of the dough - about one tablespoon - and roll it into a ball.  Smaller works better with these, and they will look so much prettier if you keep them this size.  If desired, roll the balls in a little white sugar before baking.  Place on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or lined with parchment paper. 

Bake for about 7 - 10 minutes, just until the tops are firm, and then remove from the oven.  Let sit on the baking sheet for about another 3 - 5  minutes until they are firm enough not to fall apart when you remove them.  Using a spatula, remove them to a cooling rack or plate. 

A fun variation would be to use your thumb to create a tiny well in the ball of cookie dough before baking, and then fill it with strawberry jam (or the jam of your choice) to make a peanut butter and jelly cookie.

Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Bars

Have I mentioned enough times that I love peanut butter? As in, LOVE it? These bars turned out to be slightly crumbly, but stayed put together for the most part, and turned out to be completely delicious -- and even better on the second day. Good enough to bring to serve to mixed company for sure (gluten-free or otherwise). They got rave reviews when I brought them around to people at work! If you like peanut butter, you will love the flavor of these bars, made even chewier by the gluten-free rolled oats I added in. [A word of caution about oats: not every celiac can tolerate them well, especially if you've just been diagnosed, so you may want to talk to your doctor before using them. If you don't want to use oats, try quinoa flakes or coconut flakes in this recipe instead!] If you are allergic to nuts, try using sunbutter instead of peanut butter here. I added Hazelnut milk because I'd never tried it before and thought it might add a nice touch, but I think this would work fine with any other kind of vanilla non-dairy milk, especially a thicker one like soy milk. If you want something less cakey and more fudge-like in its consistency, try using only one egg instead of two. Enjoy these while they last because it won't be for long!


Peanut Butter Oat Chocolate Chip Bars

3/4 cups all-natural peanut butter (I used creamy Smuckers, but my favorite is Trader Joe's brand)
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup gluten-free oats
1/4 cups oil (olive oil or vegetable oil)
3/8 cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread, softened
1/4 cup Pacific Hazelnut milk (or other milk substitute of your choice)
2 eggs (for vegan bars, replace with 3 tsp. + 4 tbsp. warm water)
2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla
1 1/2 cups Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix (or another gf flour mix of your choice, especially if you cannot tolerate dairy; consider using 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1/2 cup tapioca starch, and 1/2 cup brown rice flour with 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. xanthan gum, and 1/4 tsp. salt)
6 oz. dairy-free chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life Chips)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all wet ingredients ingredients together, then add the flour and finally the chocolate chips. Spread into a 9 x 13 pan that has been greased or sprayed with cooking spray on the bottom. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Cool and cut into slices. Store in an airtight container and freeze any slices you won't eat within 2 days.

**This would also be tasty with any other kind of chips you think would complement the peanut butter flavor!

Creamy Peanut and Maple Butter Rice Bowl

My friends who know me well will laugh when they see this post. I am mocked enough as it is for my undying love of peanut butter and maple butter spread, swirled perfectly over toasted bread. I ate this literally every day for lunch for over a year. And I am not sick of it yet. But now I've taken it to a whole new, borderline obsessive level of food love. All day today, I have felt like my stomach was being wrung out like a wet rag. I've just felt like my whole body was rebelling against me. I'm not sure what I did to deserve this all-out rebellion, but there it was, and when I finally got home after work, all I wanted to eat was a giant bowl of some kind of comfort food. What I really wanted was, of course, my favorite fallback meal - the aforementioned peanut butter/maple butter/bread concoction - but I was afraid that the gluten-free bread would fill me up too much. And I really wanted something oatmeal-like anyway. So I used some leftover cooked rice from my dinner yesterday, and made a very simple dish that had just the creamy consistency I was looking for. It tasted like my beloved peanut butter and maple butter, but it felt like I was eating a nice, soft breakfast food. Creamy Peanut and Maple Butter Rice Bowl 1 cup cooked rice (I used Jasmine) 1/2 cup rice milk 2 tbsp. organic creamy peanut butter 1 - 2 tbsp. maple butter (to taste) dash of salt In a small pot, combine the cooked rice and rice milk and heat over a medium flame. Allow the mixture to thicken, and when it has, melt the creamy peanut butter and maple butter into the rice and stir until well mixed. Heat just until it warms through and then remove from heat. Serve immediately.