Peanut Butter Loaf (SRC)

It's Secret Recipe Club time again! Is it just me or does it seem like each month is going by faster and faster these days? For those counting there are only 4 more SRC reveals until Christmas!!

Anyway, for those who are new here, every month SRC members are assigned a blog in secret to choose a recipe from, then we all post on the same day. Today is reveal day for group C.

This month I was assigned Our Eating Habits by Jamie - a Disney-obsessed, Christmas-loving mother of 3 from Calgary. Jamie actually had my blog last month so it was extra fun looking through hers this month. Jamie also homeschools her kids which I find so fascinating because that's pretty rare here in Australia. She has also posted loads of restaurant reviews which I had a look through even though I am on the other side of the world!

Jamie has so many recipes to choose from that she has divided her recipe index into 2 categories - cooking and baking. I started making a list of possible recipes but it got a little out of hand so I will share just a few that caught my eye.

Firstly, my kids would go crazy for Spaghetti Tacos, this Sweet Shepherd's Pie is a great twist on a classic, I'm always looking for interesting vegetable side dishes and the Broccoli with Asian Garlic Sauce and Cumin Honey Carrots sound delicious, and lastly Kung Pao Chicken which I've never seen on a menu here but it always seems to feature on American TV shows for some reason.

I moved over to the baking section and bookmarked these Molasses Muffins. Then I noticed Jamie has not one, but two recipes for peanut butter loaf - Amish Peanut Butter Loaf and Peanut Butter Loaf. I've never heard of this before but we love our peanut butter around here so I had to give it a try!

Basically this is exactly what it sounds like, a loaf cake made with peanut butter. If you love peanuts and peanut butter, this loaf is for you!

I'm still doing my gluten-free experiment so I made it gluten free and swapped out the sugar for rice malt syrup as well. I also added a scattering of peanuts over the the top for some extra crunch.

This was a huge hit with my boys! Seriously, my husband missed out completely because it was completely devoured for afternoon tea before he got home. I used my own blend of gluten free flour and it made a moist, chewy loaf with a crispy crust. So delicious! I was imagining it would be amazing toasted but it didn't last long enough for me to find out! Guess I will just have to make it again.

We usually buy freshly ground natural peanut butter but we only had peanuts in the pantry so I made my own peanut butter for this recipe. I used the Thermomix but any high powered blender or food processor will work. If you are using regular peanut butter you might want to adjust the amount of sugar or salt you use in the loaf.

Homemade Peanut Butter

160g roasted natural peanuts
15g coconut oil

Place the peanuts into the Thermomix bowl and chop 15 seconds / SP 8. Scrape down the sides, add the coconut oil and process for 6 seconds / SP 6. Makes exactly 2/3 cup needed for this recipe.

Peanut Butter Loaf - Gluten, Dairy and Fructose Free
Adapted from here and here

2/3 cup natural peanut butter
110g rice malt syrup
1 cup rice milk
2 cups gluten free plain flour
1 tbs gluten free baking powder
1/4 ts sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 350 degrees F. Grease and line a standard loaf pan with baking paper and set aside.

Beat together the peanut butter, syrup and milk until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and fold through until well combined.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack before serving sliced with strawberry jam.

Thank you for a great recipe, Jamie - this one is a keeper!

An InLinkz Link-up

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

There are some flavour combinations that just work.

And peanut butter and banana is definitely one of the best!

While peanut butter gets a bad rap sometimes (and of course if you're allergic you should steer well clear), it's actually packed with protein, potassium, magnesium and good fat that will help keep you full.

My Mr 5 has lots of sensory issues to do with food but he has always loved peanut butter so it's a staple at our place. We buy tubs of freshly ground peanut butter from our local health store, that is made from 100% organic peanuts, nothing else added.

Staying away from commercial varieties which are full of added salt, sugar and vegetable oils is a good idea. Most supermarkets will have at least one brand of natural peanut butter so check the health food section and get reading those labels.

Apart from sandwiches we add peanut butter to smoothies, spread it on celery and top with sultanas to make ants on a log and serve with apple slices. And now we can add muffins to the list because these were delicious!

My boys absolutely devoured these - they couldn't get enough and ate 3 each for afternoon tea (and yes still ate dinner afterwards).

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/3 cup coconut sugar
pinch salt
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 eggs
1 ts vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 160 degrees fan-forced. Line a 12 cup muffin tray with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar.

In a medium bowl, mash the bananas and peanut butter together until smooth. Add the eggs and beat until well combined. Add the oil, milk and vanilla and mix to combine.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together with a fork until only just combined.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and the top springs back when you press lightly.

Leave in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Serve with a big glass of milk and watch kids and big kids smile!

Makes 12.

Are you a peanut butter fan?

Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies (SRC)

 

The last month has been really busy around here. We're 2 weeks into the term and still feel a bit all over the place and not back into our usual routine. My recipe choice for this month's Secret Recipe Club is perhaps indicative of my state of mind at the moment. Here Spring has arrived with a vengeance - the weather has warmed up and the jacarandas are in full bloom - but I'm still making soups and stews and feeling like hibernating. I think it's the stress and busy-ness of moving house that has finally caught up with me!

So when I was assigned Palatable Pastime by Sue for SRC this month it wasn't her amazing array of salads like Apple-Fennel Salad with Almonds that I was drawn to, it was heartier fare like Corned Beef Hash and Rustic Tortellini Soup. As usual though I needed an idea for an after school snack so I started looking for something sweet and ended up making 2 related recipes.

Pumpkin really hasn't caught on here in Australia as an ingredient for sweet dishes. You will never find canned pumpkin or pumpkin pie spice on the shelves. I decided to finally remedy that and make my first batch of pumpkin pie spice to enjoy whenever I like.

Pumpkin Pie Spice
Recipe from Palatable Pastime

1/2 cup cinnamon
5 tbs ginger
1 tbs nutmeg
2 ts allspice
2 ts ground cloves

Makes 1 cup (I plan on using lots of this over the coming months but Sue's post also gives instructions for smaller quantities as well).

And what to make with this fabulous blend of spices? I couldn't go past Sue's Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies (yep I definitely have a bit of a peanut butter obsession but lucky my kids do too!)

Whether you have access to canned pumpkin puree or not, it is so, so easy to make your own. Simple steam or bake some pumpkin, throw it in a blender or food process and puree until smooth. That's it!

Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Palatable Pastime

60g softened butter
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups white spelt flour
1/2 ts sea salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line 2 trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the egg and beat well.

Add the pumpkin puree, peanut butter, salt and spice and mix until well combined.

Next fold through the flour to form a thick and sticky dough.

Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place on the prepared trays.

Dip a fork into some extra coconut sugar and press the cookies flat with a criss-cross pattern.

Bake for approximately 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on the tray for a few minutes then place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 cookies.

Thanks for 2 great recipes Sue! My kids and I LOVED these crispy edged-chewy middle cookies and I am such a fan of the pumpkin pie spice.

An InLinkz Link-up

Banana Brownies with Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze (SRC)

Secret Recipe Club reveal day seems to have come around very quickly this month, which is a bit of a worry because that means it is exactly 3 weeks today until we move and there is SO much still to do!

Luckily Lynn from my assigned blog for this month Turnips 2 Tangerines has provided lots of inspiration for snacks to keep us going amidst all the boxes and associated clutter.

I was excited to learn that Lynn is from Wisconsin as that is where I spent a very happy semester finishing my law degree at Marquette University in Milwaukee. I have so many great food memories from my time there including buttery chargrilled corn at Summerfest, visiting Bella's Fat Cat for frozen custard and enjoying brats on the grill at a 4th of July picnic (oh and the brats MUST be cooked in beer first before being grilled for best results).

I spent ages on Lynn's blog and lots of recipes caught my eye. Lynn's Chicago Style Hot Dog looked just like what I remember but unfortunately we can't get any of those authentic ingredients here in Australia. I also drooled over her Popcorn and Peanut Mix which my boys would love and these Gingerbread Scones with Maple Syrup Glaze sound amazing and very Christmassy.

But if you have spent any time here you will know we love bananas and peanut butter so when I came across Lynn's Banana Brownies with Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze the search was over.

Now I was in Wisconsin during summer and it was gorgeous but in her post for these brownies Lynn mentions the high for the day was going to be -5. That's -20 degrees Celsius and so cold I can't even imagine it! Where I live it is considered freezing if the maximum doesn't go above about 15.

You really can't go wrong with a combination of chocolate, banana and peanut butter and these brownies don't disappoint. Moist and sweet and completely moreish, my boys devoured these and they were all gone in a day.  Perfect for afternoon tea with a big glass of milk.

We only had medium peanut butter so my glaze wasn't smooth but the little bit of extra crunch just added to the deliciousness.

Banana Brownies with Chocolate Peanut Butter Glaze
Adapted from Turnips 2 Tangerines

For the brownies:
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup coconut sugar
3 tbs raw cacao
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 ts vanilla extract
1/2 cup gluten free flour
1 ts baking powder
1/4 t salt (I used salted butter so left this out)
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (I used 2 small bananas)
1/2 cup 85% dark chocolate roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 11 x 7 baking pan and set aside.

In large bowl combine the flour, sugar, cacao, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, eggs, mashed banana and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and fold through. Stir in the chocolate.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake.

Once cooled, pour over the glaze. 

For the glaze:
1/2 cup 70% dark chocolate roughly choppped
2 tbs natural peanut butter
1 tbs rice malt syrup
pinch salt

In a small pan over low heat, combine the chocolate, syrup and peanut butter. Stir until smooth and immediately pour over the brownies and smooth the top.

Thanks for a great recipe Lynn, it has become a family favourite!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Healthy Peanut Butter Slice

 

One of my all time favourite things is peanut butter and chocolate. For many years I've made Nigella's Peanut Butter Squares every Christmas and I always get requests for it. But seeing we're nowhere near Christmas and I'm baking a little healthier these days I thought it was time I tweaked the recipe and came up with my own peanut butter slice.

I had all of these ingredients in the pantry and it took probably 10 minutes to whip up which I love. It is gluten-free, dairy-free and refined sugar free but certainly not flavour free and be warned, it is VERY rich so a little goes a long way!

Healthy Peanut Butter Slice

Crust:
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup dried pitted dates
2 tbs raw cacao
2 tbs coconut oil (solid)
pinch salt

Filling:
200g natural peanut butter
1 tbs coconut oil
2 tbs rice malt syrup
pinch salt

Topping:
1/3 cup raw cacao
1/4 cup coconut oil
3 tbs rice malt syrup

Grease and line an 8 inch square brownie pan and set aside.

Place all crust ingredients in your food processor and blitz until sticky and well combined. Press into the base of the prepared tin and place in the fridge.

Wipe out the bowl then add all filling ingredients and blitz until smooth. Taste and add another pinch of salt if desired. Pour mixture over the top of the chilled base and smooth with a spatula. Place back in the fridge.

Place the topping ingredients in a small saucepan over low-medium heat and stir until smooth and well combined (TMX 3 mins/50 degrees/SP 2). Pour over the peanut butter filling and smooth with a spatula.

Place in the freezer until set. Delicious frozen but for best results remove from the freezer about 10 minutes for slicing into squares and serving.

Makes 16 pieces (or more if cut smaller squares!)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (SRC)

 
It's Secret Recipe Club time! Every month SRC members are assigned a blog in secret to peruse and choose a recipe, then we all post on the same day. This month I was assigned Life on Food by Emily.

Emily is a self-proclaimed foodie who has been blogging since 2009. She and her husband Jordan are expecting their first baby next month (how exciting!) and she had the most gorgeous baby shower with a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. My kids all love that book and we read it constantly.

I was definitely spoilt for choice when it came to picking a recipe. I wanted something sweet and easy this month and a few things caught my eye straight away. I have bookmarked the Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Bread to try when we have some spare zucchinis and I was so tempted by the Brownies with Cookie Dough Frosting (OMG) but continuing on a cookie dough theme I ended up choosing Emily's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls. I made a double batch because I knew they would be good and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. These were SO good!!!

We gobbled up 3 each as soon as they were made and I stashed the rest in the freezer just to make them last longer. They have been brilliant to grab as a quick snack for the boys before or after school and kindy and I can see many, many batches of these being made in the future!

I made a few small changes to the recipe to fit in with our dietary requirements, such as using natural peanut butter, rice malt syrup and dextrose instead of regular sugar and ground almonds instead of flour. I'm thinking next time I might add some vanilla protein powder and some chia seeds to boost the protein content and make them an even more substantial snack.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
Adapted from Life on Food

6 tbs natural peanut butter
4 tbs butter, softened
1/4 rice malt syrup or honey
2 tbs dextrose (or granulated sugar)
2 ts vanilla
1/4 ts salt
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup quick oats
6 tbs chocolate chunks

In a mixer, beat together the butter, peanut butter, rice malt syrup and dextrose until fluffy. Add the vanilla and beat again. Add in the remaining ingredients except the chocolate and mix until combined. Fold through the chocolate chunks.

Roll into balls (makes approx 16) and freeze or refrigerate until needed. Try not to eat them all at once.

Thanks for an amazing recipe Emily!

An InLinkz Link-up

5 Ingredient Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies (Secret Recipe Club)

It's Secret Recipe Club time! Each month SRC members are assigned another member's blog in secret to peruse and choose a recipe to make, photograph and blog about. Reveal day is seriously one of my favourite days!

This month I was assigned Shockingly Delicious by Dorothy and let me tell you I spent many happy hours perusing her blog (when I should have been studying!). Dorothy has 25 years of food writing and recipe development experience and it really shows. Her blog is full of scrumptious 'scary good' food and is beautifully written. I thought I had a lot of cookbooks but Dorothy has more than 400!

There were quite a few recipes which caught my eye. I will definitely be surprising my kids with her Strawberry-Citrus Frappe after school one day soon, and I can't wait to try the Breakfast Banana Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with Leftover Panettone after Christmas (it might take me until then to perfect a dairy-free version of that one!).

But after all that I really couldn't go past these peanut butter cookies. I already have 2 recipes for peanut butter cookies here but neither of them are as simple as this one, and that's exactly what I'm after these days. With only 5 ingredients and no flour or dairy these fit the bill perfectly. I've made 2 batches this month, one with peanut butter and one with almond butter and both were gobbled up in record time.

I used natural peanut butter so added 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the batter.

5 Ingredient Gluten Free Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Adapted from Shockingly Delicious

1 egg
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar (I used dextrose)
1 ts vanilla extract
1/2 ts bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

In a food processor or large bowl with electric beater, beat all ingredients together until smooth, about 1 minute.Scoop out teaspoons of mixture, roll into balls and place on prepared trays. Flatten with a a fork.

Bake for 10-11 minutes. They will be just golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the trays for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Try to stop at just one. 

Dorothy got 32 from this recipe but I got just 22.

An InLinkz Link-up

Peanut Butter Granola (Secret Recipe Club)

Secret Recipe Club time! This month I was assigned Curious Cuisiniere by cute couple Sarah and Tim! Their love of food really comes across on their blog and I had a great time exploring their site and bookmarking lots of recipes.

When I came time to choose I actually couldn't decide and ended up making two and funny thing is, both recipes contain peanut butter. Sarah mentions eating peanut butter straight from the jar and while I haven't done that (yet) I do love my peanut butter!

The first recipe I made was the African Sweet Potato Peanut Soup. Smooth soups always go down better at our place so I added extra stock and blended it. It was absolutely delicious and a real winner but unfortunately I didn't get a decent photo.

The second recipe I chose was the Peanut Butter Granola and it was awesome. I've been making homemade granola for ages and I've done chocolate, gluten free and ginger-spiced granolas among others, but it never occurred to me to use peanut butter.

I made a few minor changes to the recipe like swapping the honey for rice malt syrup to make it fructose free. I also left out the whole peanuts to make it child-friendly and then used crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth to give some extra crunchy texture.

3 of the 4 of us absolutely loved it but weirdly, my PB obsessed 3 year old didn't like it. Kids!

My only complaint is that it didn't make enough so next time I will definitely be making a double batch.

Great recipe, thanks Sarah and Tim!

Peanut Butter Granola
Adapted from Curious Cuisiniere

2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup natural crunchy peanut butter
3 tbs rice malt syrup
2 tbs water
1/8 ts salt

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C / 325 degrees F. Line a baking tray with baking paper and set aside.

Place the oats in a large bowl. Place the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth and well combined. Pour over the oats and mix well. Tip the mixture into the prepared pan and press down (this will give you lovely clumpy granola which you can break up later).

Bake for 20 minutes then remove from the oven to break up the clumps. Bake for a further 20 minutes breaking up the clumps once during that time.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

An InLinkz Link-up

Choc Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie

We love our breakfast smoothies around here. In fact if the boys are being a bit naughty at bedtime the thought of maybe not getting a smoothie the next morning is usually enough to settle them down!

As I am still off dairy I usually make a smoothie just for me while the boys will have the same as my husband. After trying lots of different milk alternatives I am thrilled to say that my tummy is loving rice milk. I really like the Vitasoy one that is enriched with chickpeas and very high in protein. It is quite sweet (although unsweetened) and a perfect base for a smoothie.

This smoothie is rich and sweet but packed with goodness and is a great start to the day. You won't be hungry for a while after drinking this for breakfast.

Have a great weekend!

Choc Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie
Recipe by me

1 cup rice milk

1 small banana
1 ts raw cacao
1/2 ts vanilla extract
1 tbs chia seeds
1 tbs smooth natural peanut butter
handful of ice

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Makes 1 (big) serve.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I blogged a few days ago about the amazing Aztec "Hot" Chocolate Ice Cream I made for our Father's Day dinner. Well I also made a more kid-friendly ice cream. Both my boys love peanut butter so when I saw this recipe it was perfect. It's also such an easy recipe with no cooking involved at all that older kids would be able to make it themselves!

If you love peanut butter you will LOVE this ice cream. I served it with hundreds and thousands but I think having it in a sundae with hot chocolate fudge sauce and a scattering of roasted salted peanuts would be divine. Yum!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz p50

180g smooth peanut butter
180g sugar
330ml full cream milk
330ml pure cream
Pinch of salt
1/2 ts vanilla extract

Puree all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Chill thoroughly in the fridge then churn in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes approx 1 litre.

Peanut Butter Cookies

In the midst of a flu-ridden and miserable week the urge for peanut butter cookies struck. These went from bowl to belly in 20 minutes flat...

Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 24

1 cup natural peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup wholemeal flour

1/2 ts salt

1 ts vanilla extract

1 egg

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees fan-forced). Line 2 trays with baking paper and set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl then add the egg, vanilla and peanut butter. Mix well. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on the prepared trays. Flatten each ball slightly then bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through.

Remove trays from the oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before turning the cookies out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Devour.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Choc Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

This week Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine chose Dorie's Peanut Butter Crisscrosses. I've made these before actually (funnily enough when I was pregnant last time) so for yet another week I made the variation.

Unfortunately, something went a little awry and these were nothing like what they were supposed to be. Dorie's photo (and my last attempt) were these big, chewy cookies you could really sink your teeth into. My choc version made flat, soft and cakey cookie pancakes.

Admittedly I left out the peanuts which would have given them some more substance but the cookie mix itself was sooooo soft. I chilled the dough before baking but it didn't seem to help.

They still tasted pretty good and there aren't many left. But I can't work out whether that's because they were nice or because at 30 weeks pregnant I am gimme! gimme! gimme! when it comes to any sort of bakery product and therefore not a good judge.

So make sure you check out Jasmine's blog for the recipe and the other TWD bakers here. I'm sure they had much more success than I did!