Tuesday, September 7, 2010

TWD: Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

For this week's assignment, Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine chose the Peanut Butter Crisscrosses from page 78 of BFMHTY.






I made these last night in advance for my Bible study meeting tonight and they are so good!  I love a peanut butter cookie!  I'm trying to stay away from them now b/c I ate too many warm out of the oven (how could i not?) last night.



I hope the girls enjoy these tonight, and be sure to check out Jasmine's blog for the recipe, and the TWD leave your link post to see who baked along this week!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

peanut butter tart

A few days ago I was browsing the blogs and ran across an amazingly simple and delicious looking peanut butter tart on Joy the Baker's blog.  I knew immediately that I would be making it for my first Bible study meeting with my new group!
Seriously, it only takes a few minutes to whip up--and no baking at all!  Gotta love that on a hot summer day!  I made this one in my rectangle tart pan and had nice square slices for everyone. 

The girls loved it!  Everyone gobbled up a good-sized piece, and then Butch enjoyed licking up the crumbs :)  (she also loved licking the bowls while I was making it)

Thanks to Joy for inspiring me to make this super easy delicious tart!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Tart
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes one 9-inch round tart
Print this Recipe!
For the Crust:
12 double graham crackers (the kind that measure about 5 x 2 1/2-inches)
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
pinch of salt
For the Filling:
1 3/4 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup natural peanut butter
3/4  (6 ounces) cup cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
Crust the graham crackers in a food processor, in a plastic back with a rolling pin or with your hands in a bowl.  Make sure they are very well crumbled with no large chunks remaining.  Add the melted butter and stir thoroughly, making sure all of the crumbs receive some butter love.  Pour the graham cracker and butter mixture into a 9-inch tart shell with a removable bottom.  Press the mixture along the sides of the tart pan and along the bottom until evenly coated.  Carefully place the tart pan in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
To make the filling combine the peanut butter, softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk in the bowl of an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment.  You can also use the food processor if you’d like.
Blend the three ingredients until thoroughly incorporated, but don’t over blend or some liquids will separate.
In a separate bowl, whip 3/4 cup of heavy cream to soft peaks.  Add the whipped cream to the peanut butter mixture and fold together until well incorporated.
Remove the tart pan from the freezer and spoon in the peanut butter filling.  Spread evenly.
Whip up the remaining cup of heavy cream to stiff peaks and add to the top of the peanut butter filling.  Refrigerate for at least two hours, or overnight.  Top with salted mixed nuts and serve in giant slices.  Seriously.

TWD: chocolate espresso shortbread cookies

For this week's TWD assignment Donna of Life's too Short not to Eat Dessert First chose the espresso chocolate shortbread from page 125 of Baking from My Home to Yours.

I am not a coffee person.  I just don't like it.  But for some reason I decided to make this recipe as is rather than making the variation of oatmeal spice shortbread.  Maybe b/c I have some friends who like coffee...maybe b/c I've been running so hard lately that I can't think! 

I do keep some instant coffee on hand for baking and such, so I used that rather than espresso, but the coffee flavor was still too strong for me.  I LOVE Dorie's method for rolling out the dough though--stick it in a plastic bag, roll it out and then cut the bag off and you get nice little squares!  Mine had some wrinkles from the bag and don't look perfect, but that's fine w/me!  The new bible study girls seemed to enjoy these alright, but I think I'm gonna send the rest to my parent's house b/c my mom loves shortbread :).

Check out Donna's blog for the recipe!