Salty & Sweet Caramel & Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

These yummy, crunchy treats are reminiscent of Twix bars.  They have a caramel & peanut butter filling between layers of buttery, salty crackers, and are totally enrobed in milk chocolate and sprinkled with toffee pieces.  Yummy!

Ingredients:

Buttery crackers, 1 box (I used Club crackers)
12 T butter
1/2 c whole milk
3/4 c granulated sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1/3 c creamy peanut butter
1 3/4 c graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 - 3 c milk chocolate chips
2 T Crisco
Toffee pieces

Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray.  Line with wax paper and lightly spray again.  Put down 1 layer of crackers.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan place butter, milk, sugars & peanut butter; stir until butter & peanut butter are melted. Bring to a boil over medium low heat and whisk in the graham cracker crumbs.  Boil for 5 minutes, watching carefully and whisking every few minutes.  Mixture will darken.  Take care not to burn.  Remove from heat and pour half over the crackers in the pan.  Spread evenly with an offset spatula. Place another layer of crackers on top and pour the remaining mixture over those, spreading evenly.  Add one last layer of crackers and press down gently.  Let set up at room temperature for at least 2 hours.

Once layers are firm, turn out onto a cutting board.  With a large, sharp knife cut between the crackers to separate them into bars.  Place parchment paper or wax paper on a baking sheet; set aside. Prepare the chocolate.  In a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water (or top of double boiler), melt together chocolate chips & Crisco.  Heat only until chocolate chips become shiny and then stir until well blended and smooth.

Situate the baking sheet next to the melted chocolate.  With 2 forks, dip each bar into the chocolate until completed covered. Let excess drip back into the pot and place bar onto the baking sheet.  Repeat for all bars.  Sprinkle toffee piece on top and allow to set up before serving.

This recipe adapted from Michael Symon's recipe on The Chew.

Stuffed Ranger Round-Ups Cookies

Quick, easy, simple, delicious stuffed cookie.  Prep takes no time at all.  Most ingredients are right in your cupboard.  So if you're craving something sweet, and don't want the hassle of making a complicated dessert, these cookies will do the job.  Very satisfying with little effort.

Ingredients:

1/4 c creamy peanut butter
1/4 c butter, softened
6 T brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c plus 1 T flour
1 c quick-cooking oats
1/2 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c puffed rice cereal
14 mini Snickers candy bars, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together peanut butter, butter, brown sugar and sugar until well blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy.

In a small bowl, stir together baking soda, salt, flour and oats. Add to peanut butter mixture, blending until just combined. Stir in butterscotch chips and cereal. For each cookie, drop by level measuring tablespoonful on prepared baking sheet.  Set a candy bar horizontally on top and press gently. Place another level tablespoon dough on top of candy and press edges together to seal. Bake for 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks.

Makes 14 cookies.

Slow Cooker Peanut Butter Fudge Dessert

It's so easy to throw together a meal in your slow cooker, and lately, slow cooker desserts have become very popular.  I've thrown a few ingredients into a bowl, mixed them up and dumped all into my slow cooker.  The house smelled wonderful while this dessert was cooking, and it it only took 2 hours.  The larger the slow cooker, the shorter the cook time.

Ingredients:

1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c peanut butter, creamy or chunky
1/2 c milk
2 T butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c unsweetened cocoa
1 c boiling water

1. In a medium-sized bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the peanut butter, milk, butter and vanilla. Stir until all ingredients are incorporated.  Batter will be thick like cookie dough.

2. Grease the bottom and sides of a 4-quart slow cooker. Dump in the batter and spread evenly.

3. In the same bowl, stir together the topping ingredients and pour over the cake batter.  DO NOT STIR.

4. Place lid on cooker and cook on high 2-3 hours or until a tester in the center comes out clean. This dessert makes its own fudge topping.  So when you check it after 2 hours and the chocolate you poured in disappea

red and all you see is cake, have no fear, it's all on the bottom!

5. Serve warm from the cooker with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Yield: 8 servings.

This recipe featured on The King Arthur Flour website.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

24 Oreo cookies, crushed fine
5 T butter, melted

5 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
3 T flour
1-3/4 C sugar
5 large eggs
1/3 C heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 C peanut butter chips, melted
2/3 C semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Preheat oven to 500.
Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of a 10" springform pan. Wrap the pan well with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Set aside.

For the crust, in the bowl of a food processor, process the cookies into small crumbs. In a medium bowl, add the processed cookie crumbs and the melted butter.  Stir until well combined. Pat into the bottom of springform pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and flour until creamy.  Slowly add sugar, alternating with an egg, mixing until well combined. Continue until you've added all the sugar and all 5 eggs.  Beat in heavy cream and vanilla.

Divide batter evenly into 2 bowls. Melt the peanut butter chips for 30 seconds in the microwave.  Stir and continue to microwave up to 60 seconds total. Stir the chips until there are no lumps.  Whisk into half the cheesecake batter in one bowl.  Do the same for the chocolate chips and add to the second bowl.

Carefully place the springform pan into a baking pan about the same height as the springform pan.  Place on center rack in oven, and fill halfway up the sides with hot water.

Bake for 10 minutes; lower heat to 325 and continue baking for 1 hour or until center of cheesecake is slightly wobbly.  Turn off oven and with the door closed, let cheesecake sit in oven for an hour.  Crack oven door and leave cheesecake for another hour.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Remove from springform pan and place on serving platter.  If desired, decorate with mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

Say Cheese...cake!

Chocolate Nutter Butter Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 C butter, softened
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1-1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C semisweet chocolate morsels
1 16 oz. pkg. Nutter Butter sandwich cookies
1 family size box (for 13x9 pan) brownie mix, prepared according to directions on box. Leave batter in bowl. DO NOT bake. Set aside
Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 13x9 baking dish with aluminum foil, allowing edges overhang sides of pan. These will be used as handles to remove baked brownies from pan.  Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugars and vanilla at medium speed until fluffy. Add egg, beating until combined. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until combined. Add chocolate morsels, beating until combined.

3. Using floured hands, press dough into prepared pan. Place cookies in a single layer over dough (3 across), pressing down gently. Spoon Brownie batter over cookies.  Drop Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl by tablespoonfuls over Brown Layer.  Using a knife, swirl batters together.

4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Using the foil handles, lift from pan to cut.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirl

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/4 C sugar
1 large egg
3 T creamy peanut butter

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Add egg, beating until combined. Add peanut butter, beating until smooth.

Yield: 2 dozen

Adapted from recipe in Holiday Baking 2013 magazine.