Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars

If you’re looking for a quick, easy recipe that’s toddler friendly, then look no further. With just three ingredients, and no baking required, you can almost make these Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars blindfolded.

Okay, blindfolded may be a bad example; you’ve got to measure the ingredients right! Lol. But seriously, they are super easy. This would be a great “first” recipe for your toddler to HELP you make if they are into cooking with you. 🙂

For those without kids, bring out the inner-kid in you, and feel free to whip these up for yourself. Who says you have to be a kid to eat Cheerios and peanut butter? Any age can enjoy these!

peanut butter cheerio bars

Enjoy.

Peanut Butter Cheerio Bars

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

Serves: 12 bars

Ingredients

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Jif)
1/2 cup honey (I used Nature Nates from McKinney, TX)
3 cups Honey Nut Cheerios

Instructions

Heat peanut butter and honey in a sauce pan over medium-low heat until combined.
Stir in Cheerios.
Press into greased 8-inch square pan lined with foil. Refrigerate for an hour, then cut into bars.

No Bake Lactation Bites

no bake lactation bites

Just like I said with my milk makin’ cookies recipe, you don’t have to be the mother of a newborn to enjoy these. Those lactation cookies and these no bake snack bites just have wholesome ingredients which promote lactation. Trust me, these won’t turn you into a milk producing cow! lol.

There’s actually a special word for these kinds of foods and it’s called galactagogues. “Galacta-what?” Galactagogues are substances that naturally promote breast milk production. They generally include herbs or foods that increase a mother’s supply. While you can take them as supplements or teas, you can also consume them as delicious cookies or snack bites!

So, what foods are considered to be galactagogues?

*whole grains, especially oats/oatmeal
dark leafy greens (kale, spinach, broccoli)
fennel
garlic
chickpeas
*nuts and seeds, especially almonds
ginger
papaya
spices like cumin seeds, anise seeds, fennel seeds, and turmeric
*brewer’s yeast

The foods listed above with an asterisk * are included in these yummy snack bites.

I actually have an almost identical snack bite recipe from a few years back, but they don’t have brewer’s yeast and there’s a little less honey. I like this recipe better. The extra bit of honey make the bites easy to roll into balls, and add a natural sweetness without refined sugar.

Enjoy!

no bake lactation bites

No Bake Lactation Bites

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 24

Ingredients

1 cup oats
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup golden ground flaxseed
1 Tbsp. brewer’s yeast
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together and roll into 1 inch balls.
Store in the refrigerator.

No-Bake Peanut Butter-Chocolate Icebox Cookies

No baking involved with these fast and easy icebox cookies. I actually made these a few months ago from The Meatball Shop Cookbook by Daniel Holzman & Michael Chernow.

Matt even liked these, but who wouldn’t with an ingredient list with peanut butter, chocolate, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and graham crackers.

For an additional twist, try melting white chocolate in additional to semisweet chocolate. You can drizzle the white chocolate on top of the semisweet or make half the batch with a semisweet chocolate layer, and a second batch with a white chocolate layer. Yum!

Cream the butter, peanut butter and confectioners’s sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in crushed graham cracker crumbs.

Dump the dough onto prepared wax paper and roll out to less than 1/4-inch thick.

Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler.

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Rounds — Spread melted chocolate over sheet of cookie dough.

No-Bake Peanut Butter-Chocolate Icebox Cookies

Source: The Meatball Shop Cookbook by Daniel Holzman & Michael Chernow

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 (13.5 oz) box graham cracker crumbs
1 (12 oz) bag semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Using a stand mixer, cream the butter, peanut butter, and 1/2 cup of the confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy about 3 minutes. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs and mix until a stiff, crumbly dough forms.
Lay out two 24-inch lengths of wax paper, overlapping them to produce a large square.
Dust the waxed paper with 1/2 cup of the remaining confectioners’ sugar. Dump the dough onto the prepared surface, patting the dough together into a large, flat sheet. Dust with remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and roll out with a rolling pin to slightly less than 1/4 inch thick.
Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler over medium heat. Spread the melted chocolate over the sheet of cookie dough with a flat metal spatula until evenly coated. Transfer the dough to the refrigerator for 10 minutes. The chocolate should cool and become semi-hardened.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and cut out cookies with a 2 1/2-inch round cutter. Place the cookies on three wax paper-lined 12 x 17-inch baking sheets and refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 2 hours. The cookies must be completely chilled before serving.
NOTE: the cookies will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These are probably some of the best peanut butter cookies out there…at least, that’s what I’ve seemed to glean from the people who ate them.

Last Sunday we had small groups at church and of course, I signed up to bring dessert. Lucky for me (and my guests), I was able to try a new peanut butter cookie recipe that my sister recommended, from Ina Garten’s cookbook – Barefoot Contessa Parties!

For those you who don’t know, Ina Garten (also known as Barefoot Contessa) is one of my favorite chefs on Food Network. Some of my favorite recipes come from her cookbooks since they are simple, delicious, and slightly fancy. I also like Ina because she seems so motherly & sweet, and reminds me of my aunt Jolene who is kind, caring, generous, and also a wonderful cook.

These peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies are Ina’s favorite variation of the old Barefoot Contessa chocolate chunk cookie recipe. They have the combination of flavors in a Reese’s Peanut Buttter Cup…yum! They are moist on the inside while slightly crisp on the outside, and the larger chocolate chunk pieces seem to just melt in your mouth.

All my friends at church seemed to love these, especially the guys who were eating anywhere between 3 and 5 cookies. On Monday, I took the remaining cookies to work where my coworkers also raved how delicious they were. The next day upon returning to work, the cookies were gone!

Look’s like I’ll be making this recipe sometime in the near future. Enjoy.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup good smooth peanut butter
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 pound (16 ounces) good semisweet chocolate chunks

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one a a time. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the batter, mixing only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
4. Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using either a 1 3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands, flatten the dough lightly, then press the tines of a wet fork in both directions.
5. Bake for exactly 17 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Do not over bake. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Yield: 36-40 cookies
Recipe from: Barefoot Contessa Parties!

Homemade Granola Bars

Earlier this week, my sister made these healthy homemade granola bars for her and her fiancé. I have not had the chance to bake these bars yet, but I have full intentions of doing so this weekend.

My sister said these granola bars were delicious. The rolled oats, whole wheat flour, and wheat germ make them healthy, while the brown sugar, honey, and chocolate & peanut butter chips make them sweet. What an excellent snack I look forward to eating soon!

Homemade Granola Bars

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips (can substitute dried fruits for the chocolate and peanut butter chips)

1/2 cup peanut butter chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup wheat germ

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix well (it’s easiest to just use your hands). Pat the mixture out into the foil-lined pan.

3. Bake for about 15-20 minutes if you want chewy granola bars or for 20-25 minutes for crunchy granola bars. When the edges start to brown, remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Use a pizza roller to slice bars. Finish cooling completely before removing from the pan or they will break apart.

Recipe from Buns in My Oven

No-Bake Energy Bites

I love Pinterest, and recently discovered a recipe for these no-bake energy bites that I just had to try! Loaded with protein (from the peanut butter), Omega-3 fatty acids (from the ground flaxseed), whole grains (from the oats), and energy & immunity boosting benefits (from honey), these no-bake energy bites are the perfect “pick-me-up” afternoon snack!

I am a huge fan of granola bars as snacks, but with all the processed ingredients, preservatives, and sugar, they probably aren’t as healthy as they seem! They good thing about these energy bites is that they are all-natural, contain ingredients you should have in your pantry, and can be customized to your liking. If you want to leave out the chocolate chips, substitute dried fruit instead. If you like almond butter, substitute it for peanut butter. Want more of a “crunch”? Add pecans, almonds, or walnuts.

Let me know your thoughts. Enjoy!

This recipe is so easy, so I only have a few pictures! Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll into balls and eat!

No-Bake Energy Bites
Ingredients
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1/3 cup honey
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used half butterscotch chips and half white chocolate chips)
1 tsp vanilla

Directions
1. Mix everything above in a medium bowl until thoroughly incorporated. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.
2. Once chilled, roll into balls and enjoy! Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Yield: 18-20 bites
Recipe from: Smashed Peas & Carrots

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie

If you love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, then you MUST try this pie! With 5 ingredients and only 10 minutes of prep time, what is your excuse for not making this? Instant chocolate pudding mix, cold milk, whipped topping, and chopped Reese’s makes up the pie filling, and a pre-made Oreo crust tastes just as good as a homemade one.

When I was in Houston this past weekend for Memorial Day, my aunt Jolene and I made this pie for our family. It was halfway gone within a matter of minutes, and was voted the favorite dessert of the night (it beat the 4-layer Hershey’s chocolate cake filled with whipped cream and strawberries and covered in a chocolate buttercream frosting that we also made that night.)

Feel free to substitute different chocolate candy bars such as Butterfingers, Milky Ways, or Snicker’s if you are not a fan of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Enjoy!!!

Question for my readers: What is your favorite candy bar?

Mine would actually have to be the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. When I went trick-or-treating as a little kid, I would get so excited to see that bright orange wrapper in my Halloween basket. Unfortunately I received hundreds of hard candy pieces and only about 4 or 5 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups each year. I would eat my Reese’s as slowly as I possibly could just so that I could savor each and every bite I had!

Unwrap the Reese’s candy and chop into small chunks.

Whisk together the pudding mix and milk. Let stand for 2 minutes. Fold in 1 cup of chopped Reese’s and whipped topping.

Spoon into crust. Freeze for 6 hours or overnight.

Remove from freezer 15-20 minutes before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and…

more chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Enjoy.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Pie
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 package (3.4 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped Reeses peanut butter cups, divided
1 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 chocolate crumb crust (8- or 9-inches)

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set. Fold in 1 cup chopped peanut butter cups. Fold in whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Cover and freeze for 6 hours or overnight.
2. Remove from the freezer 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Garnish with the remaining peanut butter cups.

Yield: 6-8 servings
Taste of Home: Pies

Peanut Butter Oat Chippers

Here’s another cookie recipe we stumbled across called Peanut Butter Oat Chippers. As you know, my family and I LOVE cookies, and we LOVE trying new cookie recipes. If you like peanut butter and chocolate, these “golf ball” sized cookies will be a wonderful treat for you to try. My sister and I both made these this week. She gave hers to the Oklahoma State cross country team after their race, and they devoured them. I took mine to work and they had “disappeared” by 11:00 am!

This recipe comes from Linda J. Amendt’s “400 Sensational Cookies” cookbook. Enjoy!!

Cream together butter, peanut butter, and sugars, until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Then beat in vanilla.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

On low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture.

Gradually stir in oats.

By hand, fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.

Using a cookie scoop, drop tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 12 minutes, or until edges start to turn lightly golden. Slide parchment paper on cooling rack to cool. After 5 minutes, transfer cookies from parchment paper to cooing rack and cool completely.

Serve with a glass of cold milk.

Peanut Butter Oat Chippers
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chopped semisweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups peanut butter chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt until well combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down sides of bowl. On low speed or using wooden spoon, gradually add flour mixture, beating until just blended. Gradually stir in oats. By hand, fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips.
4. Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls (15 mL) of dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until edges start to turn lightly golden.
5. Immediately slide parchment paper onto a wire cooling rack. Cool cookies for 5 minutes, then transfer from parchment paper to cooking rack and cool completely.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies

Peanut Butter Cookies

Everyone that has tried these cookies have said they are wonderful and have a unique flavor. I can’t place the flavor, but the cookies are great. They are from David Lebovitz’s cookbook, “Ready for Dessert”. Enjoy!

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat together the butter, sugars, and peanut butter in an electric mixer until smooth.

Beat in the egg.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough just comes together.

Chill and cover dough for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Remove dough from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in sugar and place on parchment-lined baking sheet.

Flatten and make a crosshatch pattern for each cookie by using the back of a fork.

Bake cookies for 9-10 minutes at 350 degrees or until edges begin to brown, but the center still looks soft.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups (175 g) all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder (make sure it is aluminum free)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar, plus more for coating the cookies
1/2 cup (120 g) packed light brown sugar
1 cup (260 g) creamy peanut butter (not natural-style)
1 large egg, at room temperature

Directions
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter, granulated and brown sugars, and the peanut butter on medium speed just until smooth. Beat in the egg. Add the flour mixture and mix just until the dough comes together. If necessary, knead the dough with your hands until smooth.
3. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. (The rest gives the ingredients time to meld so the cookies bake up especially softy and chewy.)
4. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour some granulated sugar into a small bowl.
6. Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the granulated sugar and place them 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Flatten and make a crosshatch pattern on each cookie by pressing down on the ball with the back of the tines of a fork.
7. Bake until the cookies begin to brown around the edges but the centers still look somewhat uncooked, 9 to 10 minutes. (Remove them from the oven before they look done so they’ll stay chewy once cooled.)
8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.

Yield: 30 cookies

Tastes Like the Inside of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie

This recipe fulfills its name and they are incredibly easy to make. They were my first peanut butter cookie recipe to make and I would say its a keeper. The recipe comes from The Pioneer Woman’s ‘Tasty Kitchen’.

Tastes Like the Inside of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookie

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky-I used smooth)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients until incorporated.
3. Drop by tablespoonfuls or cookie scoops onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a fork to flatten dough because they don’t spread much.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes. They will not look done, but they are.
5. Let cool 5 minutes before taking them off the cookie sheet and placing them on a cooling rack.