Peanut Butter Energy Bites

Well, a whole year has passed since I last posted and I feel totally ashamed!  Life is crazy and I'm too lazy to take pics of my food when I need to!  haha!

Anyways!  We all know that Energy Bites are now the healthy craze for a yummy snack to have on hand!  This is a great recipe you can use as your base, then chooses to add in anything else that you like!!

I of course live on Peanut Butter, so my add in of choice was peanut Butter chips!  Welcome to the Coats household!  These recipes are too easy to make and you can have a yummy snack for days to come!  I will be posting a cocoa recipe soon that you can drool on as well!

RECIPE
(adapted from Melskitchencafe.com)

1 Cup (3.5 ounces) old fashioned Oats
1/3 cup (1.25 ounces) ground flaxseed meal
3/4 -1 Cup Nut Butter (I use peanut butter)
1/4 Cup (3 ounces) Honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Optional Add-ins: mini chocolate chips, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, dried fruit, chia seeds, etc...

Pulse the Oats in a blender a few times to chop them up.  Warm up the peanut butter and honey for 20 seconds.  Add to the bowl, then add remaining ingredients.  If it seems dry, add a bit more nut butter until consistency is soft but not sticky or crumbly.  Roll into balls, and place on wax paper in the fridge for 30 minutes until cooled.  Then store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks!

Reese's Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies

Ok, So I shouldn't even be posting these right now, cuz I can't even eat them right now!  But my cord that transfers my pics from my camera to my computer is broken so I can't post any of my new recipes that are super yummy and healthy!  I actually made these months ago and just haven't posted them yet.  But now that fall is coming on strong right now, these cookies are perfect to post, and perfect to eat!  Peanut Butter, need I say more?  A peanut Butter cookie with  chocolate chips AND Reese's Pieces all in one..... Heaven!  I seriously died over these!  So please enjoy them for me while I am once again in a Diet Challenge trying to get my self back in check like I do just about quarterly!  

And to be honest, I usually play with recipes and make them healthier by using whole wheat flour, and coconut oil, and all that good stuff.  But these, I just left alone, and ate them with no guilt, just cuz....

YIELD: about 26-28 medium-small cookies
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 8 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 18 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 large egg
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter (do not use homemade or natural peanut butter; use Jif, Skippy, or similar)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup Reese's Pieces
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Cream together the first 5 ingredients (through vanilla) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
2.  Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, baking soda, optional salt, and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 1 minute; don't overmix.
3.  Add the Reese's Pieces, chocolate chips, and blend until just incorporated.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
4.  Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Spoon 2 Tblsp mounds onto baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set, even if slightly undercooked, pale and glossy in the center. Do not bake longer than 10 minutes because cookies will firm up as they cool. They have slightly chewy edges with soft, pillowy centers). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
5.  Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Dream Bars

Oh Me.  Oh My.  There. Is. No. Words.  I think I finally found the mother of all peanut butter desserts.  No Lie.  This will be my new go to recipe for anyone requesting a dessert!  Of course I found this floating around Pinterest hiding away in my Dessert Board drooling over it for months.  But I try not to make desserts too often, because I'm the one sitting at home trying to hide them from myself all day.  But my friend was having a charity bake sale, so heck it was worth every calorie!  I have something similar posted in my Dessert section called PATCH BROWNIES,  that are super good.  But when you combine Sweetened condensed milk and chocolate, that's a lot of SWEET, which the Patch brownies do!  But these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Dream Bars combine Sweetened Condensed milk and Peanut Butter, oh wow!  That was the ticket.  Then it's crumbled with Reeses Peanut Butter cups & Chocolate Chips.  I highly recommend buying the King size Peanut Butter cup package, or the holiday Peanut Butter Cups such as the reeses eggs that are out right now, because there is a much higher peanut butter to chocolate ratio that makes it that much more better!  Did that sentence make sense?  Any who....

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Dream Bars:

1 Cup Melted Butter
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 1/4 Cup Quick Cooking Oatmeal
1 1/2 Cups Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 King Size Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Candy Bar
1 Cup Milk Chocolate Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Line a 9×13 pan with tin foil and spray lighlty with PAM.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together melted butter, sugar, soda, oatmeal, flour & salt until it’s crumbly.

Set aside about 1 cup or a little more.

Press the rest of the crust into prepared pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes. 

While crust is cooking, in a small bowl, stir together the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk.

Once crust has baked, evenly pour and spread peanut butter filling over the baked crust. Be gentle so you don’t pull up the warm crust while you spread the filling. 

Evenly sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top of the peanut butter and sweetened condensed milk mixture. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle the chopped candy bars and chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until topping is light golden brown and candy bars/chips are melting.

Allow to cool to make cutting and serving easier. 

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake Brownies

 Can you say YUM??  Ok, we all know I have a peanut butter obsession, but I can honestly say even if you don't, you will LOVE these!!  Just look at how ooey gooey these things are!  And it doesn't have that dry, stick to the top of your mouth peanut butter, it is a really smooth and  melt in your mouth texture!  A must try!  I brought these to a ward party and then to a BBQ and had many people asking for the recipe,  so here goes.  And the sad thing is, I've had this recipe hanging out on my email that my sister sent me months ago to try and it took me this long to get to them!!  There is also another recipe floating around pinterest, but after looking at the ingredients of them both, this one  won my heart!!

Cake:
1/4 Cup creamy peanut butter
1 Cup Water
1/2 Cup butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown sugar
2 Cups Flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Frosting:
3/4 Cup butter
6 TBLSP buttermilk
1/2 Cup peanut butter
3 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1 TBLSP vanilla

Preheat Oven to 375*,  In a medium pot add the Peanut butter, water and butter and bring to a boil..  Remove from heat.  In a seperate mixing bowl, mix the sugars, flour, salt and baking soda.  Add the peanut butter mixture to it and mix well.  Add in the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla and mix well.
Pour into a gread cookie sheet pan with an edge.  Bake for 15 minutes.

For the Frosting:  in a small pot bring the butter, buttermilk and peanut butter to a boil.  Remove from heat and add the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Whip it really good and fast to make it creamy rather than runny..  Let the cake rest for about 15 minutes, then pour the frosting over the warm cake and spread.

Peanut Butter Temptations

These yummy little cookies go back about 12 years when I lived in St. George going to college. We lived in a town home and a lady across the street brought us a plate full of these during Christmas Time. So for some reason, although these aren't just Christmas Cookies, it's the only time of the year I make them. So I guess for me, they are my Christmas cookies. And we all know how much I LOVE peanut butter, you can imagine how good these cookies are, and look at how adorable they are! Perfect to go on your Christmas plate of treats to bring to your neighbor!I tried to see if it made a difference in whether or not I rolled the dough or not, and it didn't really. Personally i think they looked better not rolled so save your self some time and just throw a spoonful of dough in your mini muffin pans and call it good!
And DON'T put those peanut butter cups in the cookie until the second they are done cooking, then pop those bad boys in real quick!

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 Cup flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

10 oz bag small reeses peanut butter cups

Cream together your butter, Peanut Butter & sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift together the dry ingredients and add to mixture. Drop spoonful of dough about 3/4 full in a mini muffin pan. Bake at 375* for 8-10 min. When done, immediately press unwrapped Peanut Butter cups into the center of each cookies. At this point I stick the whole pan in my refrigerator and let it cool, otherwise the chocolate takes forever to harden. And although these are soooo yummy to eat warm right of the oven, I actually like to store these in an air tight container in my refrigerator and eat them cold. SOOOOOOO good! Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Can this picture get any cheesier? But I guess I looked exactly the way I felt when I ate these yummy cupcakes. Can I just say, I don't like cupcakes? I don't. When ever I'm at a party and cupcakes are offered, I skip them and go straight to the icecream. But when I saw these bad boys posted on Our Best Bites, I knew without a doubt that I wanted these for my birthday! And so I made myself cupcakes, on MY birthday! Is that lame? O well, These are to DIE for! I'm not kidding! When I eat these I want to eat 2 at a time, not just one! And I don't like cupcakes! They are sooo moist, because they are a cake mix plus sour cream and peanut butter! Somebody please make these and tell me they are as good as I think they are!!!!!

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/08/chocolate-peanut-butter-cup-cupcakes-2/

No-Bake Cookies

Cookies twice in a row?? I know, crazy! But guess what, they have Peanut Butter in them so I know you will just love them, like I do! This recipe goes way back to when my Mom made them for me! I absolutely LOVE them! And I have a few freinds and family tell me from time to time that they crave these babies! Sooooo good! I just don't love the no-bake cookies without peanut butter, the consistency is off, and definitley the flavor is off! So please, Enjoy!

4 Cups Sugar

1/4 Cup butter
1/4 Cup cocoa
1 Cup Milk

Bring these first four ingredients to a boil for 1 full minute in a medium to large sauce pan (Seriously my last batch overflowed during the boil and got all over my stove top, so maybe go large). After the boil, take pan off the heat and add the following ingredients in this order:

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 Cup Peanut Butter (mix in until smooth
4 Cups Oatmeal - Regular not quick

Stir and let cool until it's thick enough (but still warm) to drop spoonfuls onto wax paper. I like to refrigerate mine (they keep longer) but some people like them room temp.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe that you just keep coming back to? Well, this is mine. I'm sooo into trying new recipes these days, but Chris just always says he really just wants me to make these ones because they never fail, and they are THAT good! My roommate in college always made these and her Dad worked at Hershey's and I'm pretty sure that's where she got her recipe from. The only thing I tweaked and you WONT be surprised is that instead of using plain old milk chocolate chips, I use the mix bag of milk chocolate and PEANUT BUTTER chips! And Chris says I can't mess with that because that's what makes these cookies a little bit more unique than plain old chocolate chip cookies.
Ingredients:
Makes approx: 3 dozen cookies

2 sticks butter, softened
1 Cup Brown sugar
3/4 Cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs -beaten
3 1/4 Cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Cups Milk Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chips

Preheat oven to 370 and in a large bowl combine your butter, sugars & vanilla with a wooden spoon, and in your eggs and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl add all your dry ingredients and slowly add to your wet ingredients and stirring with your wooden spoon. Add your chips and mix in.  At this point, if you have time, chill your dough for an hour and it will totally be worth it, not absolutely necessary though.   Take a large spoon and drop (don't roll your dough) onto your un-greased cookie sheet and bake 9-10 min until the peaks of your cookies slightly brown. Cool and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Protein Bars

Do you see the first word of this fabulous recipe? Me too! Sooooooo good. I got this recipe from a friend Jen that posted on facebook and had to try it out! And of course it turned out wonderful! They have a gooey texture which really makes them taste like cookie dough. Who doesn't want cookie dough every day for a healthy pick me up? Just remember just because they are a healthy protein bar doesn't mean they are fat free or calorie free :) They are just like the ones you would buy at the store (but taste much better) and have no additive crap, but guess what, peanut butter has calories, so does honey, so does whey protein. So treat it as one of your "six small meals a day" or eat half before you work out. They are to die for! Thanks again Jen!!!

2 1/2 Cups Peanut Butter ( I use half crunchy, half creamy)

2 Cups Agave Nectar or Honey (I use half and half)

2 1/4 Cups Chocolate Whey Protein ( I use Whey Iso)

1/4 Cup All Bran cereal or Wheaties (blended)

3 1/4 Cups Oats (blended)

2 Tblsp flaxseed meal

Mix the peanut butter, honey & Agava first, then add in your flaxseed meal and why protein and mix well.  Then add in your oats and cereal and mix with big muscles or a Kitchen Aid because it's HARD! Spray cookie pan with pam spray and spread it out smooth. Refrigerate for a couple hours until it's not sooo gooey then cut into bars. I froze half, and kept the other half in the refrigerater in an air tight tupperware so they don't go bad. Sooo Yummy!

Nutrition Info: 1 Bar (Approximately)

Calories- 224

Sugar -25

Protein - 8.5

Carbs - 23

Peanut Butter Strawberry Bars

So this is actually a recipe I've been using for a couple years now. I found it in Better Homes & Gardens Magazine, and guess what it has in it, PEANUT BUTTER! Oh it just got better. And if you can't tell, I'm not a photographer, so not the prettiest picture in the bunch! But such a great recipe for July, just add blueberries and walah, Red, white & BLUE. The recipe is down below since it's not from another blog! 3/4 Cup butter softened
3/4 Cup Peanut Butter ( I use 1 cup & it's much more moist & peanut buttery!)
1 Cup Packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 Cup strawberry jam (optional)
small tub cool whip (optional)
4 Cups Strawberrie, quartered

Heat oven to 350. Line a 9x13 pan with foil. Beat the butter & Peanut Butter for 30 sec. Beat in
both sugars, b. powder & salt until combined. Add in eggs & vanilla until creamy. Stir in the flour. Spread dough in pan and bake 25 min or until top is slightly browned. Cool Completely. Spread jam over the top then add coolwhip, then top with berries. Yummy!

Chunky Monkey Pancakes with Peanut Butter Syrup

Ok, if you know me, you KNOW that I LOVE peanut butter, and I will seriously search the web for peanut butter recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert! And so of course I came across these delicious pancakes. And as yummy as the pancakes were, I have to say the Peanut Butter Syrup was literally THE topper! So go ahead and give it a try, you wont regret it!

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/09/banana-chocolate-chip-pancakes-with-peanut-butter-syrup-chunky-monkey-pancakes/