Peanut Butter Eggs

April 5, 2017 Plate Fete

I am very thankful that whoever is in charge of picking holidays decided that Easter would fall mid-April this year. Thank you for that, CEO of Undefined Holiday Date Decisions.

I am thankful, because this gap between the beginning of spring and the arrival of Easter actually gives me time to craft, decorate, and to share some holiday-inspired recipes with you.

While I enjoy planning ahead, I have a really challenging time getting my head into spring-mode in the grey and chilly days of early March. This is why I rarely have themed recipes. Inspiration tends to come to me in the moment, so if I’m not wearing flip-flops and ogling fresh produce I just cannot will myself to make a sparkling lemonade, or popsicles, or anything else that screams of springtime.

This year, I have had several weeks of flirtatiously warm days to get my head into this spring game and prepare some treats for your Easter celebrations. The banners have been hung, the sugar eggs decorated, and now it is time to make the most delicious of my family’s Easter traditions - peanut butter eggs.

Yes, you can buy these in yellow and orange packages at Target, but there is nothing so splendid as a homemade peanut butter egg. Especially if it was made by my mother.

There is a story that is retold each year around our family table about the year where my 4-year-old brother consumed an estimated eight of these eggs in one sitting. When my mother’s eyes were on her company, and everyone else’s on their dinner plates, he visited the dessert table.

Had I the excuse and charm of a 4-year-old, I might venture to do the same. There is just something about the union of peanut butter and chocolate. I like to think of it as the little black dress of the dessert world - it’s charm is undying.

Peanut butter eggs are one of those six ingredient, no-bake situations that we really have no excuse not to make.

Peanut butter, melted butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla are whipped together and molded into egg-like shapes. They are frozen until they are just cold enough to stand up to a bath of melted chocolate.

Ina Garten tells us that is okay to temper our chocolate via microwave and that is good enough for me.

While many would opt for semi-sweet chocolate because it has a higher melting temperature and is therefore less messy, I am a milk chocolate girl all the way when it comes to these treats. It’s worth the messy fingers to me, but you can choose your own adventure.

After the eggs are dipped, they are returned to the freezer just long enough to set the chocolate, then drizzled with white chocolate and maybe dusted with a little gold glitter sugar if you fancy it.

(I always fancy it.)

Now you can go to town. I like to eat mine on a paper towel with a spoon because I'm classy like that.

I know you still have some time before that joyous Sunday, but there’s no harm in making a “test-batch” for now, right?

Sincerely,

Pedantic Foodie

Peanut Butter Eggs

makes eight eggs

1 cup smooth peanut butter*

1 1/4 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of kosher salt

3 cups milk or semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup white chocolate chips

sprinkles or colored sugar, optional

Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine peanut butter and melted butter. Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, slowly incorporate the confectioner's sugar. Once the mixture is smooth, beat in vanilla extract and salt.

Use a 1-ounce spring-loaded ice cream scoop to portion out the eggs. Shape into eggs and lay the eggs out onto the prepared baking sheet. Freeze for 15 minutes, until very cold. While the eggs are chilling, prepare the chocolate.

Place the milk or semisweet chocolate chips in a small, microwave-safe bowl and microwave for thirty seconds. Stir the chocolate with a spatula and then return to the microwave for an additional thirty seconds. Repeat this process, stirring well each time, until the chocolate is smooth. Repeat with the white chocolate.

Use a fork to gently but quickly dip each egg into the melted milk or semisweet chocolate, shaking gently to remove the excess chocolate so that the eggs are evenly coated. Place the eggs in the freezer for 5 minutes, then drizzle with the white chocolate and dust with sprinkles or gold sugar.

Freeze for an additional ten minutes; until the chocolate has fully set. Enjoy straight from the pan, or cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve. Enjoy!

*You will want to avoid certain brands of natural peanut butter as they can tend to be very oily and grainy. We are looking for the ultra smooth peanut butter here - the kind your mom used to spread on your sandwiches. You can find brands of this Jiffy-like peanut butter that are still considered “natural” and that are free of unsavory additives.

Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa

January 7, 2017 Plate Fete

As I sit here on this very, very chilly Friday afternoon, the world around me crumbles to pieces.

It is quiet and peaceful here at my desk. My latte is steaming, my dishwasher gently humming, and my lamp casts a dim, warmish glow across my workspace. The coziness is all mine, for the rest of my charming and characteristically quiet city runs about like fretful squirrels axniously preparing for winter.

Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa {Pedantic Foodie}

Snow has covered this city faithfully for the past several years, but that does not alter the inevitable panic that arises when you tell a state of very content southern-wanna-bes that they must now tuck away their golf clubs and pick up their snow shovels.

My father has always been somewhat of a daredevil in the eyes of this city, venturing out through the perilous blizzards (about 4 inches of snowfall), to pick up more mittens and canister after canister of cocoa mix.

You see, we do not drive in snow. If it is on the road, we are not. That is just how it is in this fair city and we like it that way.

I myself am not ambitious to learn the tricks of my father's daring trade, but am more than happy to be a passenger. Especially if there are sledding hills and warm drinks on the other side.

This year, however, I am more than content to stay in the warmth of Norwyk Manor (our humble apartment's not-so-humble title), and enjoy the wintery world in all of its snow-covered glory.

My pantry is stocked with cookie supplies - an obligatory endeavor on snow days - and the refrigerator loaded with whipped cream for the most necessary of snow day treats.

Hot cocoa.

Even in its simplest form it remains a masterpiece.

This year, however, I have ignored classicism and taken my chocolate down alternative paths of warm, chocolatey delight.

See Coconut Cream Hot Cocoa.

So, when the snow warnings arrived this morning, I knew exactly what needed to be done.

As a child, I claimed to hate peanut butter and chocolate. Thank goodness I woke up from that nightmare and entered into the land of all that is wonderful.

Creamy peanut butter is whisked into steaming milk that has been scented with nutmeg.

Chopped milk chocolate is tossed into the fragrant pot and finished with vanilla extract.

Of course, cocoa would not be cocoa without whipped cream, and a marshmallow or two wouldn't go amiss.

It can snow until I run out of chocolate, but then I might need to call in a ride from Dad.

May your weekend be cozy, and your cocoa rich.

Sincerely,

Pedantic Foodie

Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa

serves 6

- 1 quart whole milk

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar

- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

- 1 cup creamy peanut butter

- 8.5 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- whipped cream, optional, but not really optional at all

In a 3-quart saucepan, combine milk and sugar. Place over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is steaming.

Remove from heat and whisk in nutmeg and peanut butter. If the peanut butter does not appear to be melting, return the pot to the burner and stir over low heat until smooth.

Stir in chopped chocolate and vanilla extract.

Serve immediately with whipped cream (1 cup cream whipped with 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar). Enjoy!

Peanut Butter & Jam Baked S'mores

August 20, 2016 Plate Fete

Up until several year ago I had always hated peanut butter and jelly.

Like, I vehemently refused to sit next to my friends while they were eating their sandwiches because I couldn't stand the combined smell of pureed peanuts and thick, sugary fruit.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Baked S'mores {Pedantic Foodie}

I loved peanut butter and would frequently eat it by the spoonful. I loved jelly smothered onto biscuits. But the combination of the two was in my mind, deplorable.

That is, until about four years ago when some comatose part of me finally awoke and I realized the true wonder of the celebrated pairing.

As I recall, it began with an almond butter and cherry jam sandwich made by a kind friend. Since then, I have ventured deep into the realm of peanut butter and raspberry, or even strawberry jams. I cannot do the grape thing yet...

This week needed some childlike comfort in the way of a s'more. A no-fuss, oven-baked s'more that we can enjoy on the rainiest and hardest of summer afternoons.

Remember that chocolate peanut butter spread we made last week for our cookie s'mores?

A layer of that peanut buttery chocolate is spread thickly onto one graham cracker, while the jam and marshmallows are stacked atop the other.

Rather than toasting these marshmallows with my kitchen torch, I wrapped these individual s'mores up in tin foil and place them under my oven broiler for several minutes to get warm and melty.

Just like the classic sandwich, these s'mores have a wonderful balance of salty peanuts and sweet jam, with an added bonus of rich, milk chocolate and gooey marshmallows.

It's gearing up to be another hot, August Saturday, let's try to find a balance between chores and treats.

Sincerely,

Pedantic Foodie

Peanut Butter & Jam Baked S’mores

makes one s’more, can easily be multiplied

for the chocolate peanut butter spread

makes about one cup

- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

- 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

In a small glass bowl, combine peanut butter and chocolate. Microwave for thirty second increments, stirring after each, until the mixture is smooth. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, until it has thickened slightly.

for the s'mores

- 2 marshmallows

- 2 teaspoons strawberry jam

- 2 teaspoons peanut butter

- 1 1/2 tablespoons chocolate peanut butter spread

- 1 full graham cracker, halved

Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the chocolate peanut butter mixture unto one graham cracker half.

Spread jam atop the second half of the graham cracker and stack the marshmallows on top. Cover with peanut butter. Press the two halves against each other and wrap the s’more in foil.

Set your oven to the broiler setting and bake the s’more for five minutes, until the marshmallows are soft and partially melted.

Enjoy!