Peanut Butter from a Juicer

While this is not a recipe to extend the life of anything, I just thought I'd let the blog world know that I do, in deed, make peanut butter with my juicer. (Read more about the juicer we own and operate and how much I love it here!)

As for making peanut butter in a juicer, you may find it's a bit of a chore and takes some patience, but you'll end up with natural peanut butter, that's simply delicious and costs only as much as a jar of peanuts (we were able to get ours for $2.50).

To make the peanut butter, use the mincing nozzle of your juicer (or whatever is recommended by your juicer model.) and run a small handful of peanut butter through your juicer chute at a time. You'll need to run the 'butter' through multiple times as the first few runs will give you a kind of powdery peanut mess. To speed up the process and create a slightly smoother peanut butter feel free to add Peanut Oil to the powdery peanut mix. Continue running the peanut 'butter' through the juicer until you reach your desired consistency - we went at it about 8-10 times.

Enjoy as you would any other peanut butter!

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

When you realize you have entirely too much peanut butter the week before moving across the world and have absolutely zero desire to purchase flour at the mart at the bottom of the hill, you give a few shouts of praise when you run across this recipe in Mary Brown's Grandma's Favorites - Over 30 Tasty Time-Honored Cookie Recipes that is a combination of 3 simple ingredients and will undoubtedly be a hit amongst friends.

Friends, you've never met an easier cookie recipe.

Described as a recipe developed out of necessity when times got hard, these are an absolutely fantastic option when funds are tight or your too lazy to go out for additional ingredients.

Directions/Ingredients:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large mixing bowl mix together 1 cup of quality Peanut Butter, 1 cup of Sugar and 1 Egg. Form dough into small balls, placed on an ungreased cookie sheet and use a fork to create the criss-cross marks essential to peanut butter cookies. Bake for 8-10 minutes until edges turn brown. Cool and enjoy the goodness of simple yet incredibly delicious peanut butter cookie!

If you're wanting to change things up, try a different nut butter!

Peanut Butter Brownies

We have a lot of peanut butter, much more than we can use before our grand departure, but that doesn't stop me from trying ^^

I made these to share with my co-workers as a "thank-you" gift for being my co-workers for the past year. They were quite thrilled with them and, I must say, I was not disappointed.

Ingredients/Directions:

From Circle of Friend Cookbook 25 Brownie and Bar Recipes

In a bowl, blend together 1/2 cup Peanut Butter, 1/4 cup Butter, 1 tsp. Vanilla and 1 cup Brown Sugar. Add 2 Eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 2/3 cup Flour. Spread batter in a well-greased 8x8 baking pan. Bake at 350 (177) for 20-30 minutes until golden and bake through (use the toothpick test). Cool and enjoy or add a peanut butter icing of 1 cup Peanut Butter blended with 1/3-1/2 cup Powdered Sugar.

Peanut Butter Beer Bread

I was so impressed with how the Banana Beer Bread turned out, I thought I'd try another variation: Peanut Butter Beer Bread.

The banana variation was better, but truth be told, both were delicious and so easy to throw together!

Ingredients/Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together 3 cups Flour, 1 tsp. Salt, 3 Tbsp. Sugar, and 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder.  You will need a total of 8-12oz Flat Beer, add about one cup to dry mixture as well as about 1/2-1 cup of Peanut Butter. Add additional beer as necessary to gain the proper consistency, thick and sticky, not too runny. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan, dollop 2 tbsp. of Butter on top of the raw loaf and bake at 375 F for 30-40 minutes.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Banana (n)Ice Cream Pie

Remember the Banana (n)Ice Cream sandwiches?

Well this is basically the same idea...but in Pie form.

Graham Cracker Crust - or Oreos or Nilla Wafers, anything would do.

Banana (n)Ice Cream with Peanut Butter blended in.

Banana (n)Ice Cream with Coco Powder blended in.

Crust, Peanut Butter Layer, Coco Layer = P.B. Chocolate Banana (n)Ice Cream Pie!

Keep in the freezer, let set at room temp about 20 minutes before serving for easy slicing and forking^^

Overnight Oats Variation: Banana, Peanut Butter and Honey

I bet you're thinking of a sandwich right now.

A peanut-buttery, sweet, sticky, honey and banana sandwich.

It'd be delicious. And so would this variation on Overnight Oats.

Overnight Oats + Fresh Bananas + Honey + Slightly melted Peanut Butter.
Sprinkle a little flaxseed on top.

Breakfast perfection.

Peanut Butter Spent Grain Cookies

When I made these chocolate-chip and pumpkin spent grain cookies, I considered that I would soon experiment with making them into an all peanut butter cookie using only spent grain rather than a mix of spent grain and oatmeal. 

Well dear readers, I have made a Spent Grain Peanut Butter Cookie and it was fantastic! (If not entirely overloaded with fiber ^.~)

As should be expected, I'm loving these grains and the way they are motivating me to continue creating and experimenting in the kitchen, especially in the baking department. There is something entirely satisfying about creating your own cookie recipe, empowering really, but maybe that's just me...

Ingredients/Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit (177 Celsius) Combine 2 sticks butter, 1 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cups white sugar until fluffy.  Add 3/4 - 1 cup peanut butter depending on flavor preference, 2 eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla and beat until combined. Add 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, shake of cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg (if you so desire). Stir in 3 cups of Spent Grains (drained of moisture to the best of your ability. Also note, I used 4 cups because that's the amount I have frozen per bag, that just requires me to use more flour to gain the consistency necessary). If the dough is too wet and sticky at this point (because generally spent grains hold a bit of moisture) add some flour and mix until you acquire a dough that can hold it's shape and isn't too wet. If you wish, you can stir in some chocolate chips or nuts or whatever your heart desires and finally plop dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown and beautiful.

For me, these cookies were incredibly delecate and remained soft the entire week or two we had them within our reach. 

No Bake Cookies

(Apologies for such a lame picture...I was so anxious to get these suckers made and devoured that I forgot to take a photo!)

In an attempt to further win over my winter camp students and increase my chances at an early release through subtle bribing, I whipped these no-bake cookies up which always impress my Korean co-workers and friends who are quite unfamiliar with the wide-world of baking and cookies.

Ingredients/Directions:

Bring to boil 1/2 cup of butter, 1/2 cup milk , 1 3/4 cups White Sugar, and 4 Tbsp. Cocoa in a sauce pan or pot.  Boil for about a minute, remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup Peanut Butter followed by 1 tsp Vanilla and 3 cups Oats. Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets (or cardboard covered w/ wax paper) and place in the fridge or on your Korean verandah in the winter and let set a couple of hours before serving!

Choco-Peanut Butter Popcorn

Thank you Pinterest. This was easy and delicious.

Pop popcorn - microwave or stovetop, your choice. Personally, stovetop popcorn makes me giddy like a little girl, so it's my preference.

Melt a few handfuls of chocolate (or about a cup) and a few large spoonfuls of peanutbutter (to taste) on the stovetop (or microwave...but, why?)

Pour choco-peanut butter over popcorn, place in the fridge (unless it smells like Kimchi, then put it on the 'verandah' if it's winter) for 30 minutes until choco-peanut butter hardens a bit.

Enjoy with friends and crafting supplies!

Spent Grain Lady Treats (a.k.a. Dog Treats)

With Mike's brewing continuing in full force, 519 Kitchen has been blessed with an abundance of spent grain (that's the grain such as pilsner, wheat, caramunich, etc. that's used to give beers their unique flavors and characters).  This grain is generally thrown out by brewers or used for composting projects, but of course, in the Harrington household there is greater joy to be found in discovering ways to use it up.  You may have seen that I failed at making granola with this first batch of spent grain, luckily, my second experiment: dog treats, was a huge success (as evidenced by Lady's eagerness to chow down on these morsels). Best thing about this recipe...it's so easy.

In a large bowl mix 4 cups of spent grain, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of peanut butter and 2 eggs - it's one heck of a thick dough, but use your muscles and you'll get through it.

Next, cut into shapes or just press into a cookie sheet.  If you press into cookie sheet, use a butter knife to separate the biscuits into bit-size/treat-size pieces for your dog and cook at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Remove from oven and break apart the biscuits (unless you already cut them into shapes).

Return to oven, reduce heat to 250 and bake for a couple of hours until they are completely dried out.

If you're feeling spunky, go ahead and test out a biscuit prior to completely drying it out - not to bad for a dog treat!

She's one lucky Lady!

PB&J French Toast Sandwich

Stuffed French Toast. A new obsession. Apparently.

Peanut Butter.

Jelly.

Bananas.

French-toasted.

Topped with Honey and Bananas.

Perfection.

Once again.

FAB Peanut Butter noodles

The best summer dinners, in my opinion, are those you can make ahead, include fresh veggies and are adequately filling, this dish meets the criteria and is worth the small bit of effort required. I discovered this recipe at this hip little blogspot  (courtesy of Pinterest) and hope you'll give it a go!

Ingredients/Directions:

Prepare 8 oz. of noodles, udon, egg, wheat spaghetti/linguine anything really, although udon or soba are recommended.

In a food processor mix together: 1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter, 1/2 cup Warm Water, 1/4 cup Soy Sauce, 1 Tbsp. minced Ginger, 4 Garlic Cloves, 1 Tbsp. Honey and a dash of Rice Vinegar.

Use a gloved hand to mix the noodles with sauce and your choice of fresh veg - I went with cucumber, red bell and tomato and was more than satisfied. Sprinkle some black and/or white sesame seeds on top and you've got the perfect summer snack or light dinner!

Peanut Butter and Oreo Crumb Cookies

Take your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe, add 1 cup of Peanut Butter Oreo crumbs. Bake as per directions, enjoy with a glass of milk and/or good friends!

Peanut Butter Microwave Cake

Remember the ease and deliciousness of the Nutella Mug Cake which was also discovered on Pinterest, these Peanut Butter Microwave Cakes were just the thing after dining with the hubs.

The lovely thing(s) about these microwave treats is how quickly they come together and how simple the ingredient list is. The dangerous thing about these treats is how quicly they come together and how easy they make calorie consumption ^.^

Ingredients/Directions:

From Back to her Roots

In a small bowl, whisk together one egg,  1 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 2 Tbsp peanut butter and 1 heaping Tbsp. of flour. Pour batter into a greased ramekin. Microwave for 30 seconds.

While the cake is microwaving, stir together 1 tsp. milk and 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar, adding more powdered sugar if necessary to thicken frosting. Remove cake from ramekin (or don’t), pour frosting over top. Devour!

Peanut Butter and Jelly -- Nothing Special

It's just a short post to remind myself in the future that the best way to make a PB&J for a day at an amusement park where there's all kinds of fried foods screaming your name is to use an out of the ordinary bread (croissant), a home-made jam/jelly from home (crab-apple butter) and throw in something unexpected (craisins). Just makes it a little more exciting to pull out of the lunch bag - don't you think?

Choco-P.B. Rolls

Just after punching the dough from Jamie Oliver's Basic Bread Recipe - roll out the dough and stuff with whatever you darn well please! Who said cinnamon and sugar are the only things that liked to be wrapped up in deliciously warm and airy bread?

These were divine. I spread on some P.B. sprinkled on some diced chocolate - rolled, sliced, waited for the 2nd rise, baked for about 20 minutes and devoured along side a glass of iced chai.

Who wouldn't want some of that in their day?

Sun-dried Tomato and Rosemary Butter Spread

I meant to throw some sun-dried tomatoes and fresh rosemary into a loaf of bread I was baking.

Needless to say, I forgot.

Fortunately, a food processor, a stick of butter and those same tomatoes and rosemary work well together to create a DELICIOUS spread for that 'plain' loaf of bread I'd made.

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

Would I have been enjoying this soup at Sweet Melissa's in Laramie, life would have been quite grand, however, I had the great joy of recreatin Sweet Melissa's soup using this recipe and slurpping down the results with one heck-uva-good-lookin' man!

Ingredients/Directions:



In a saucepan heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.  Saute 1 large onion, chopped for about 10 minutes, add in 2 cloves garlic, minced , 2 teaspoons minced fresh root ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 pinch ground cloves. Stir in 3 medium tomatoes, chopped, 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped, and 1 carrot, peeled and chopped continue to cook and stir about 5 minutes.

Pour 1 litre water into the saucepan, season with salt and bring to boil and reduce to simmer for about 30 minutes.
Remove soup from heat and begin the blending process (blender, food processor or immersion blender are all fine options) add to the soup mix 40g chopped, unsalted peanuts before blending. Season with 1 pinch cayenne pepper and return to saucepan and medium-low heat. Stir in 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter, heat through. Garnish with 1 bunch chopped fresh coriander. For a real treat, enjoy with corn bread!

Peanut Butter and Almond No Bake Cookies

A continuation of (well, in actuality, the first of three cookie experiements) a night of cookie experimentation yielded a more traditional sort of no-bake cookie with only a few substitutes.

Ingredients/Directions:
In a saucepan bring to boil: 1/3 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup Peanut Butter, 1 handful of chopped Almonds, 1 Tbsp. Coco Powder and (roughly) 2 Tbsp. Milk chocolate pieces. Boil for about one minute and remove from heat. Add to sauce 3 cups of Oatmeal or combination of Oatmeal and Corn Flakes depending on availability. Add enough grains to soak up the majority of the sauce as to prevent a particularly sticky no-bake cookie.

Ants on a Log

Extended Life for: Celery and Grapes/Raisins On the 12th of March we hosted a CouchSurfing potluck and CouchSurfers - added bonus! They came from a community that specialized in nut butters and rope sandals. They shared some peanut butter with us as their potluck contribution. I was simply inspired. So, with travel sandwich digesting and the fires burning, I whipped up some good ole Ants on a Log: celery, peanut butter and raisins - scrumptious!