I cannot stand the texture of peanut butter and its ability to glue to gums and teeth. The idea of grabbing a spoon of peanut butter and licking it leaves me paralyzed with terror. These peanut bars? Seriously addictive. In her original post, Lauren called them “World’s Best Peanut Butter Bars.” I have not tried that many – full disclosure, this is my second – so I share the recipe with you, and if you are a peanut butter bar connoisseur, let me know what you think.
for the bars: 3/4 cup butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 cup light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (plus more for spreading over baked bars) 2 + 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
for the chocolate frosting: 1/4 cup butter 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder 1 + 1/2 Tablespoons milk 1 + 1/4 cups powdered sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter with both types of sugar. Add the eggs, vanilla, and peanut butter and mix well.
In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to creamy mixture.
Press firmly into a greased 9×13” pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-20 minutes. It will look just barely set in the center, and will harden as it cools. Allow to cool completely, then spread a thin layer of peanut butter over the bars.
To make the chocolate frosting: Add butter to a small skillet over medium heat. Once melted, stir in cocoa. Remove from heat and add milk, powdered sugar and vanilla. Whisk until smooth, using electric beaters to get out any lumps, if needed. .
Spread chocolate frosting over the top of the bars. Cut into squares once the topping is fully set. Using a knife moistened with very hot water from the faucet helps to get neat slices.
Comments: These bars were donated, but I “sampled” a little of the trimmings. It’s a good thing I had planned to donate them, because just like a certain cauliflower of my recent past, portion control with this baby would require Herculean efforts. If you make it, consider cutting in even smaller squares if you can, because they are rich. Decadent. I love the inclusion of oats in the base. I am thinking of incorporating oats in sugar cookies in the near future.
Cauliflower is a unique wild card in the kitchen. When you want to low-carb anything, it is the first option that comes to mind. Well, here we have an exception, this is no low-carb, low-calorie recipe. This is cauliflower for the brave. When we finished our meal, the husband said “this may very well be the best cauliflower I’ve ever had.” I would like to bow and get a crown or at least a nice tiara, but all credit must go to Joanne. She raved about it, and when she raves, I cook.
for the chipotle honey sauce: 1 can chipotle chiles in adobo (about 7 oz) 1 cup barbecue sauce (homemade or store-bought) 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/8 cup bourbon juice of 1 lime
for the cauliflower: 1 large head of cauliflower 1 cup flour 3 tbsp cornstarch 1 cup milk 1/4 tsp kosher salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
for the mango salsa: 3 ripe mangoes, diced 1 large avocado, diced ¼ cup cilantro, minced 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced juice of 1 lime salt, to taste
Combine the chipotles, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, bourbon, and lime juice in the bowl of a food processor. Process until completely smooth.
Heat oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Break the cauliflower into larger florets. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, milk, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder until thick and completely smooth. Pour the panko into a separate bowl.
Toss the cauliflower florets into the wet batter in batches, making sure they are completely coated. Next, transfer them to the panko bowl and coat them completely in the panko. Place on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with the chipotle honey bbq sauce. Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes to allow the sauce to set and soak into the florets.
Make the salsa. Combine the mangoes, avocado, cilantro, and jalapeno in a medium bowl. Season with lime juice and salt, to taste.
Serve the cauliflower over rice with the salsa on top.
Comments: Moderation is key, but tricky. Something about the crispy texture of the panko coating joined with the spicy sweetness of the barbecue sauce turns this into dangerous stuff. The mango salsa does a perfect job cooling things down, which in turn makes that moderation advice even harder to listen to. You’ve been warned. This was majorly amazing. Sorry for the superlatives. It is all Joanne’s fault.
Here I am to share another recipe that tasted wonderful but would not be invited to participate in a Beauty Contest. Meatloaf is not easy on the eyes but this one in particular was a showstopper for the taste buds. Lower in carbs than most versions, because it relies on almond flour instead of breadcrumbs. Quite loaded with veggies. We both gave enthusiastic thumbs up, so ignore the looks. They are skin-deep, after all…
1 pound ground turkey 1/2 cup almond flour 1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 large carrots) 1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach (not baby spinach) 1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled 1/4 cup ketchup 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1 egg 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper, ground
for glaze: 1/4 cup ketchup 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Add all the ingredients into a large bowl (minus the ingredients for the glaze). Using a fork or clean hands, mix until everything is fully incorporated.
Mix ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl and reserve.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and pour meat onto pan. Use your hands to form into a loaf shape, trying to keep it level so it cooks evenly. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove and brush glaze all over. Place back in the oven for another 25 to 30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Comments: What do tomatoes and avocados have to do with the meatloaf? They were the side dish, and I absolutely must share the picture because the tomatoes came from our own backyard, thanks to the gardening efforts of the husband… Aren’t they gorgeous?
The meatloaf has a very delicate texture, and cooked perfectly in our small Breville oven, so there was no need to even heat the kitchen up. Leftovers were around for a couple of days and tasted as good if not better than the first time. I made it again the following week, and you know how it goes: for a food blogger, repeating a recipe right away is a huge endorsement. It goes to our regular rotation, a nice change from our default turkey burgers.
Not too long ago I shared a series of brownie cupcakes with a light milk glaze that you can take in many different directions depending on what you use to flavor the milk. In this post the same simple cupcakes were topped with fondant textured with a silicone mat. You will need a very small amount of buttercream spread on the top to serve as a glue for the fondant. I had some leftover from macarons, but you need so little that I would not mind if you grabbed a store-bought version. Perhaps a Wilton cream cheese frosting, which is not too sweet. It won’t be as good as home-made, but you will barely taste it in this case. Recipe for the cupcakes found here.
HEARTS AND GOLD BROWNIE CUPCAKE
Maybe my favorite of the trio, made using this mini-fondant mat. I used Sugarprism red to paint the hearts, and Egyptian gold luster + everclear to highlight the details. A little shower with Champagne glitter dust from TheSugarArt sealed the deal for me.
SPRINGTIME BROWNIE CUPCAKE
For this cupcake, I used one of my favorite little mats, which I bought a couple of years ago. You can find it here. After it dried a little bit, I painted using vodka + luster powder yellow, green, pink and the center of the flower with Egyptian gold. I could not help but finish them with some White Diamond Dust, again from TheSugarArt.
PINK SWIRLS BROWNIE CUPCAKE
For this cupcake I used this large silicone mat, and selected the region I wanted to top the cupcake by placing the round cookie cutter over it. Once the fondant dried for a few minutes, I brushed the surface with a glaze made with TrueColor Air-brush Shine Pink. The small detail in the center of the flower was added with Sugarprism red.
These are the three mats used in this set of brownie cupcakes…
Fondant mats are great little tools to play with, and work equally well with marzipan and even modeling chocolate. Some mats work better than others, and it does take some trial and error to get the impression perfect in the whole extension. With fondant, a bit of cornstarch helps. The advantage of cupcakes is their small area, a lot more forgiving to get it right.
Speaking of marzipan…
In these lemon cupcakes made a couple of years ago and for some reason never blogged (!!!!). The same white mat of the picture was used with rolled marzipan and dusted with dry luster powder in yellow and pink. Amazing what I find in forgotten folders in my computer. Sad thing is that I don’t even remember which recipe I used for them… I might have to re-visit this important issue!
Bewitching Kitchen 