Homemade Butterfinger Bars with Only Three Ingredients

A friend told me about this recipe, so of course I looked it up online and it's all over the web. In case you haven't seen this yet, here's how to make your own Butterfinger Bars with only three ingredients.

This recipe is so good it literally got a round of applause at work.

Homemade Butterfinger Bars

Ingredients:
1 lb. bag of candy corn (about 2-1/2 cups)
1 small jar (16 oz.) of peanut butter
about 12 oz. of chocolate for melting (I used 12 1-oz. squares of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, but you could also use chocolate chips or Wilton candy melts)

Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper or waxed paper. (You can also use a 9 x 9 pan; your pieces will just end up thinner.)

In a medium-sized bowl, microwave the candy corn for one minute on high. Stir. Microwave another 30 seconds and stir again. Continue microwaving and stirring at 30 second intervals until thoroughly melted. (This should take a total of 2-3 minutes.)
Immediately add the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Turn into prepared pan and press smooth with rubber spatula. (Do this quickly because it hardens fairly fast. Do not be tempted to lick the bowl--it's hot!)
Let cool for an hour or two. Remove from pan and set on cutting board. Cut into small pieces.

In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate until melted. Use the same technique as you used for the candy corn (one minute on high; stir; 30 seconds; stir). Use a fork to dip the candy corn/peanut butter pieces into the melted chocolate.
Let harden on sheet lined with parchment paper or waxed paper. Once chocolate cools and hardens, store in airtight container.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Squared Cookies

These cookies have twice the chocolate and twice the peanut butter, so some friends and I decided we should call them Chocolate Peanut Butter² Cookies. (I couldn't get the number 2 in superscript in the title.)

This recipe is adapted from the September issue of the King Arthur's Flour catalog. I added a bit more water than they called for, and substituted both peanut butter chips and chocolate chip for the mini peanut butter cups in the original recipe. I also used salted butter instead of unsalted.

Chocolate Peanut Butter² Cookies

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2-1/2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 375. Grease cookie sheets.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

In a mixer bowl, beat together the sugars, butter and peanut butter. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and water. At a slow speed, gradually add in the dry ingredients until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in both kinds of chips.

Scoop onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 7-8 minutes. You should be able to smell the chocolate. Cool for one minute before removing to wire racks.

Yields: about 50 cookies

No-Bake Cookies: Chocolate Peanut Butter Drops

The weather is starting to cool off here a little, but it still felt a little too warm yesterday afternoon to turn on the oven. That's why I decided to try a "no-bake" cookie. The cooking part is done on the stove top, so your kitchen doesn't get so hot. These were pretty fast and easy to make, and they disappeared just as quickly.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Drops

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash of salt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup butterscotch chips (optional)

In a saucepan, mix the sugar, cocoa, and milk. Add the butter and cook over medium heat until butter melts and mixture begins to boil. Stir occasionally. Boil for one minute.

Remove from heat and add vanilla, salt, peanut butter, and oats.

Use a small cookie scooper to drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto waxed. Press a few butterscotch chips into cookies, if desired. Cool for at least an hour.

Yields: about 40 cookies.

How to Make an Easy Ice Cream Cake

I got this idea from a co-worker and turned it into a treat for a friend who was expecting a baby (hence, the baby-themed candles on top).

This ice cream cake is easy to make and super sweet so be sure to share with friends. :)

Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:
9 ice cream sandwiches
hot fudge sauce
Cool Whip, thawed
Peanut Butter Frosting (2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons peanut butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 2-3 tablespoons milk)

On a large sheet of aluminum foil lay down two ice cream sandwiches side-by-side. Take a third sandwich and cut it in half. Place the two halves down so that the first layer is the length and width of a loaf pan.


Make the peanut butter frosting (originally posted in the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake post. (Basically, you mix the ingredients listed above.) Spread a layer of the frosting over the ice cream sandwiches.


Then spread a thin layer of hot fudge sauce over the peanut butter frosting.
Repeat those three layers (sandwiches, peanut butter, fudge sauce). Finish with one last layer of ice cream sandwiches.

Wrap the cake with the aluminum foil and freeze for a couple hours. When you're reading to serve, frost with Cool Whip.

The cake has some pretty cool layers when you cut into it.

Serves about 10.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Heart Cookies

Looking for a last minute cookie to make for someone you love this Valentine's Day? Grab a heart-shaped cookie cutter (I got mine at Target) and have some fun!

The idea for this cookie came from a friend of mine who's been asking me to make them for ages. He didn't have a recipe for me to follow, just a description for a cookie that someone else used to make for him: a peanut-butter heart-shaped cookie half dipped in chocolate.

I couldn't find anything like this online so I made up my own recipe. When I gave him some to try, he said I got it right--yippee!

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Heart Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate

Beat together the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture one cup at a time and beat again. The dough should be pretty thick.

(I put the dough in the refrigerator for an hour before rolling it out, but I don't know if that was really necessary.)

Roll out half the dough at a time. If it crumbles, you may need to kneed it in your hand for thirty seconds first. When the dough is rolled out to 1/8 inch, use heart-shaped cookie cutters to cut them out. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 9 minutes. Remove immediately to cooling racks.

When cookies have cooled completely, melt three of the chocolate squares in the microwave. (Follow package directions) Dip half the cookie into the melted chocolate and let dry on waxed paper. When you've run out of chocolate, melt the three remaining squares and continue dipping the cookies.

My cookie cutter set came with four different sizes. I used the smallest two and ended up with about 40 cookies.