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Real Food Recipes That Include Natural Peanut Butter

February 24, 2019 by Bethany Lotulelei 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Peanut butter is a great source of healthy fat and protein, but also, it just tastes delicious. Pair it with chocolate, and all we need is a glass of milk and a smile. Today we’ve got 40+ Real Food Recipes that Include Natural Peanut Butter. But first, let’s talk about making homemade peanut butter. It’s incredibly easy!

Real Food Recipes That Use Natural Peanut Butter

As my life has become more full (ha, I didn’t think that was even possible!) – I’ve stopped making every single food from scratch. I’m looking at you Homemade Ketchup and Homemade Hashbrowns. But Homemade Peanut Butter? I can’t not make it. The homemade version is just too incredible. So I take 5-pounds of peanuts and spend the time turning them all into peanut butter. One mess, 6ish jars of homemade peanut butter. Fast, easy, and WORTH IT.

Here are the tutorials for making peanut butter. Be amazed at how easy!

  • Peanut Butter (just peanuts!)
  • Peanut Butter (super creamy – like Skippy or Jif)

Now we’ll take that peanut butter and turn it into any of these 40+ recipes!

Real Food Recipes That Include Natural Peanut Butter

  • Easy Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cheesecake Balls
  • Easy Low Sugar Peanut Butter Brownies
  • 3-Ingredient Peanut Butter Honey Rice Krispie Treats
  • Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream
  • Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins
  • Easy Peanut Butter Honey Granola
  • Easy No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars (Low Sugar)
  • Apples and Peanut Butter
  • Super Moist Flourless Peanut Butter Brownies
  • Honey Sweetened Flourless Peanut Butter Bars
  • Simple Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
  • No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake
  • Easy Peanut Butter Pudding
  • Honey Sweetened Peanut Butter Cups
  • Peanut Butter Muffins (Naturally Gluten, Grain and Dairy Free!)
  • Peanut Butter Bread (Naturally Gluten, Grain and Dairy Free!)
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
  • 5-Minute Low Sugar Peanut Butter Ice Cream
  • Low-Sugar Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
  • Low-Sugar Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
  • Peanut Butter Captain Crunch
  • No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookie Bites
  • Low-Sugar Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
  • Low-Sugar Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting
  • No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake (Stevia Sweetened)
  • Chocolate Whipped Cream
  • Easy Peanut Butter Snack Bars
  • Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Balls
  • Easy Peanut Butter Fudge
  • Crock Pot Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cake
  • No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie
  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
  • Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Pancakes
  • Peanut Butter Apple Cookie Bars
  • Peanut Butter Brownie Cups
  • Gluten Free Peanut Butter Honey Balls
  • Peanut Butter Truffles
  • Peanut Butter Honey Fudge
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Star Treats
  • Peanut Butter Raisin Balls

See that recipe up there for Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch? Ha! I’d forgotten about that one! If I’m not taking the time to make ketchup or hashbrowns anymore, I’m certainly not taking the time to make Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. But you’ve gotta admit: It’s fun to see how it’s possible. And it is super delicious.

What are your favorite ways to use Peanut Butter?

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Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream

November 29, 2018 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream? Please pass me a spoon. Maybe two spoons: one for each hand.

If you have a high power blender like a Blendtec, you can make this jewel of a treat in about 30 seconds. Otherwise, you can use a hand mixer to blend ingredients and whip the mixture in about 5 minutes. Either way, your life just got better in a very short amount of time!

The possibilities of ways to serve this Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream are practically endless. If all else fails, you must truly eat this all by itself, in a bowl, with a spoon. No need to defend this choice. You simply can’t help yourself.

Other more elaborate Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream options include serving it alongside or atop:

  • a sliced banana
  • sliced strawberries
  • Low Sugar Brownies
  • High Sugar Brownies
  • Flourless Brownies
  • Homemade Graham Crackers
  • Homemade Vanilla Wafers
  • Coconut Flour Cupcakes
  • Waffles
  • Sunshine Cake

And truly, the list goes on and on. I’d love to hear your ideas too!

Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream

Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • ½ cup natural creamy peanut butter
  • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar or 20 drops liquid stevia
Instructions
  1. Blend all ingredients together in a high power blender until thick and smooth.
  2. Or blend ingredients together in a bowl with a hand mixer until thick and smooth.
3.5.3229

 

I like making homemade peanut butter to use in recipes like this:

  • Peanut Butter (just peanuts!)
  • Peanut Butter (super creamy – like Skippy or Jif)

This Peanut Butter Cup Whipped Cream will make a lovely holiday dessert or add on to your table of treats. Or if you’re like me, you might find yourself making some and eating it in the middle of August or March because there is no reason to hold back. :)

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The Most Amazing Peanut Butter Bread! (Naturally grain/gluten and dairy free, with ingredients you already have!)

January 22, 2017 by Laura 52 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Once upon a time I came across a recipe and thought, “Really? Could it be?” So I blended together peanut butter, honey, eggs, baking soda, and vinegar and made actual bread. It looked like bread and tasted like bread and I was amazed that indeed, it was bread. I was very, very happy. The end.

pb bread4

So what if I already took a bite out of this piece before I took the picture.
Can you blame me?

Be very, very shocked and amazed with me. We can make actual bread that has no grain, no gluten, and no dairy. The bread tastes delicious and had a wonderful texture! It’s as simple as this Whole Wheat Stir-and-Pour Bread because just like that recipe, we simply stir together the ingredients and pour them into a baking pan. It’s ridiculously easy.

Plus, we add vinegar and baking soda to the mixture, so we get to make a volcano. Who says baking isn’t fun?

I originally saw a recipe like this here. I was skeptical because, well, I’ve made a few grain-free recipes with strange ingredients like this, and while everything would look delicious, it seemed to always taste like a soggy banana. (I’m looking at you so called “Amazing Grain Free, Sugar Free Brownies.”)

I decided to take a chance on this bread recipe though, because of this: I wanted to spread butter on something I could eat. (Regular bread isn’t cooperating with me right now.) I also loved the idea of this bread being chuck full of protein. Peanut butter and eggs? Maybe, just maybe, I could fill the hollow places in my sons’ legs.

Indeed.

pb bread21

Worried that the taste of peanut butter will overpower the bread? It has a surprisingly mild flavor. In fact, we were all wishing it tasted more peanut-buttery. Either way, just imagine how good this is with butter, jelly, or honey. I prefer it toasted with lots of butter. This probably doesn’t surprise you.

pb bread12

The Most Amazing Peanut Butter Bread

4.3 from 3 reviews
The Most Amazing Peanut Butter Bread! (Naturally grain/gluten and dairy free!)
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 12-16 slices
Ingredients
  • 2 cups natural, unsalted peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • Pinch of sea salt (omit if your peanut butter is salted)
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 Tablespoons white vinegar
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together in a blender or with a hand mixer.
  2. Pour into a well-greased 9x5" loaf pan.
  3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean.
  4. Allow the bread to sit in the pan for about 10 minutes to cool.
  5. Remove bread from pan and cool on a rack.
3.4.3177

Here’s my homemade peanut butter recipe.

Grain Free, High Protein Peanut Butter Bread

After seeing the ingredient list, you might be thinking, “Isn’t this bread kind of expensive?” Sure. It costs more than wheat flour bread. But I think it’s actually saving me money because on mornings I serve it for breakfast, my sons don’t ask for meat. They are full after two slices. Did we ever think we’d see the day?

No matter your diet restrictions or lack thereof, I’d love to convince you to make this Peanut Butter Bread. What do you have to lose? Five minutes?

Ever tried a recipe with weird ingredients that turned out…weird? Do share. I promise this one will pleasantly surprise you!

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Low Sugar Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

May 11, 2016 by Laura 13 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Low Sugar Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies and my Mother’s Day flowers!

Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cookies

About the time I think I’ve cut the sugar in every recipe that would possibly work, I find another that works just as well.

Do you remember my Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies? One cup peanut butter, one cup sugar, one egg. They’re delicious. They’re naturally gluten free so I can make them for my GF friends. They’re incredibly easy. And they have a very high sugar content.

I thought surely cutting the sugar in that recipe would mess up the consistency and turn out weird cookies – if they even turned out cookies at all. I am so happy to say, “I was wrong.”

The only thing that didn’t work when I cut the sugar in this recipe is that the dough didn’t allow me to do the cute little criss-cross fork squish thing. The dough was too sticky. Thankfully, life goes on and we’re all grown up enough to eat our peanut butter cookies without fork-squishing them, right? Thank goodness.

Low Sugar Flourless Peanut Butter CookiesYum

Low Sugar Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 20ish
Ingredients
  • 2 cups natural peanut butter
  • ⅓ cup sucanat or brown sugar
  • 1 egg
Instructions
  1. Mix the ingredients together until smooth.
  2. Use a small or medium scoop to place dough balls on a cookie sheet, about two inches apart.
  3. Bake in a 350° oven for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned.
  4. Allow them to sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing them to cool on a rack.
3.4.3177

Get my Homemade Natural Peanut Butter Recipe here.

Low Sugar Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Matt and I are totally good with barely sweet treats. But the boys? Well, they’re a little more particular. Therefore, my kids are always the true testers for whether or not one of my Low Sugar Treats actually tastes good to other people.

I always hesitate to say these are low sugar, come try them because sometimes that makes the boys unsure from the get-go. But there I was, standing in the kitchen eating a peanut butter cookie. This made the boys suspicious. If Mom is eating it, it must be low sugar.

All that to say: These cookies smelled really good, which made my boys want some. Then they saw me eating them, which made them not so sure. I insisted they try a bite because I thought they were so good I could hardly stand it, and I knew they would like them once they tried.

What did they think?

Well, let’s just say that I had to stop them from finishing the entire batch in one sitting, and we all started shaking our heads once again at Betty Crocker for making us all think we needed eighty cups of sugar in cookie recipes just to make them taste good. C’mon, Betty.

You’ll want to look through all of our tried and true Low Sugar Recipes here. It is amazing how much sugar you can cut out of treats and still make them taste delicious! These Peanut Butter Cookies went from 2 cups down to 1/3 cup of sugar – and they are amazing.

Need more Low Sugar Cookie Recipes?

  • Easy {Low} Sugar Cookies
  • Low Sugar Lemon Melt-Away Cookies
  • Low Sugar Almond Melt-Away Cookies
  • Low Sugar Orange Melt-Away Cookies
  • Low Sugar Lime Melt-Away Cookies
  • Low Sugar Chocolate Fudge Cookies
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The Time I Made “Peanut Butter Captain Crunch” But Couldn’t Decide If It Was Worth It

February 23, 2016 by Laura 19 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

This is what Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch looks like:

Captain Crunch

I’m your friend that loves real food and home cooking but can’t stand it when a recipe is high maintenance. You’ve watched me pare down my “from scratch” cooking methods through the years.

  • Cutting in butter? I don’t think so.
  • Knead bread? Why – when I can do this?
  • 5-minute granola on the stove-top? Uh-huh.
  • Tedious side dishes? Pretty much never.
  • Freezer meals in minutes? Absolutely, yes.

So why I decided to attempt making Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, I do not know.

Wait. Yes, I do know. That was my very favorite cereal as a kid. Of course, we never had it in our house. We only had the “healthy” kinds of cereal like Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes, and Cheerios. But when I went to my cousin’s house? They always had Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch!! I decided I’d never tasted anything so amazing.

This is why, when I ran across this recipe yesterday, I got all giddy and excited. I determined to make it with the ingredients I had on hand and cut down the sugar and see what happened.

Well, I tell ya – it’s good. It’s obviously not the same as what you pour out of a box. It’s not nearly as sweet the way I made it – though lightly sweetened is good enough for me. The fact that there is real, natural peanut butter in these is nice for a punch of protein. And the little cereal bits really are crunchy – which means you can pour actual milk over them and eat them like actual cereal and pretend you are a kid at your cousin’s house again. (Thank you Uncle Howard and Aunt Ruth for providing this fun memory from childhood!)

The draw back? Well, this is not a quick stir-pour-bake recipe. I’m not sure it’s really worth it for me to stand in the kitchen for over an hour making one box worth of cereal that we consume in one meal. I probably won’t make this very often – but if I ever get a hankering for Peanut Butter Captain Crunch, the recipe is here. Sometimes it’s worth going to the trouble.

Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch

adapted from this recipe

5.0 from 1 reviews
"Peanut Butter Captain Crunch"
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 8-10 cups
Ingredients
  • 1⅔ cup natural peanut butter
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
  • ½ cup brown sugar or sucanat
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 3-4 cups flour (+ -) any combination of oat, wheat, or corn flour
Instructions
  1. Melt peanut butter, butter, and coconut oil together on the stovetop.
  2. Measure sugar or sucanat into a large bowl.
  3. Pour melted peanut butter mixture over the sugar and stir.
  4. Add milk, salt, vanilla, and baking soda, stirring well.
  5. Slowly stir in flour until dough becomes stiff enough to roll out.
  6. Press or roll dough into a cookie sheet until it is about ¼-inch.
  7. Use a butter knife to cut thin strips about ¼-inch wide.
  8. Turn dough and cut strips again the same size to form tiny squares.
  9. Separate the pieces so they will bake more evenly.
  10. Bake in a 325° oven for 15-20 minutes, stirring half-way through.
  11. Pieces will become crispier once they come out of the oven.
3.4.3177

capn1capn2capn3Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch

You’ll definitely want to check out my homemade peanut butter, which makes everything better (unless you’re allergic to peanuts).

What do you think? Do you love Peanut Butter Captain Crunch enough to think this is worth the effort? It IS yummy! It’s even hearty and great for a snack.

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Coconut Fudge Bars

August 27, 2014 by Laura 17 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Whether it’s because I’m getting older or getting healthier, my body no longer handles sugar well. This is a great problem to have, obviously. I’m really quite grateful, as I used to eat wayyyyyyyy too much sugar. But what is a chocolate lover to do when she has a chocolate craving? Suck on a bar of unsweetened chocolate? Mmmm, no.

Chocolate Whipped Cream on Strawberries to the rescue. Also, last week I played with my Chewy Granola Bars recipe. I used to make them with chocolate chips – but that obviously adds extra sugar. This time, I came up with a dark chocolate variety that is only lightly sweet, super coconuty, and oh so chocolaty rich.

Coconut Fudge BarsYum

5.0 from 2 reviews
Coconut Fudge Bars
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
  • ½ cup peanut butter or sunbutter
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup coconut oil (or another oil of your choice)
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 1½ cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
  1. In a medium sized saucepan, melt together peanut butter, honey, coconut oil, and cocoa.
  2. Remove from heat and stir in oats and coconut flakes.
  3. Spread mixture into a 9x9 inch pan.
  4. Chill for 2 hours before serving.
  5. Makes 8-16 bars, depending on how big/small you cut them.
3.4.3177

Coconut Fudge Bars

These store best in the fridge, otherwise they are melty and will get chocolate all over your hands and face. If this is not a problem for you, by all means, store them on the countertop. If you want to pack these in a lunch, I recommend wrapping them individually, freezing them, and sending a spoon or fork along to make them less messy for the consumer. If having chocolate all over your child’s hands and face at school is not a problem for you, by all means, send them without a utensil.

These are super rich and only barely sweet. Feel free to add more honey if you prefer.

So tell me:  Are you a dark chocolate fan?

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Super Creamy Peanut Butter – Step Aside Skippy!

February 4, 2014 by Laura 86 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

For everyone who can’t get their kids to break away from Skippy or Jif. To all who can’t get used to the taste of plain, natural peanut butter. To each person who doesn’t want to struggle to spread homemade creamy peanut butter onto a piece of toast. This recipe is for you! (And for me, because while I love homemade, natural peanut butter – I can’t get enough of this new recipe!)

You’ve read the ingredients in Skippy and Jif, right? Unreal. Literally.  It does have some peanuts in there somewhere, but it mostly has hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. Poor Peter Pan. I doubt he wanted his good name tarnished like this.

And now, to replace that popular grocery store item, I bring you this completely real food, non-hydrogenated, nothing scary, all natural, wonderful, spreadable, smooth, creamy, delicious peanut butter.

The first day I made this, I licked so many spoonfuls I lost track of trips back and forth to the kitchen. After one such trip to the kitchen, once I finished what was on my spoon, I actually found myself sucking the life out of the spoon, apparently in hopes that more of the deliciousness would secrete out of the metal? Then I realized what I was doing and went back to the kitchen for another spoonful. Someone just bring me the jar!

Super Creamy Peanut Butter

I was not alone. Matt and the kids acted like this was candy. Maybe we’ll make it into a sandwich someday, but for now, we’re getting our protein fix one spoonful at a time. Ah-mazing. Here is the recipe already:

Super Creamy Peanut ButterYum

5.0 from 1 reviews
Super Creamy Peanut Butter - Step Aside Skippy!
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • 1 cup natural peanut butter (tutorial link below)
  • 4 Tablespoons palm shortening
  • 1 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons real maple syrup
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, melt and stir together all four ingredients until smooth and creamy.
  2. You can make this more or less sweet by adding more or less maple syrup.
  3. Pour mixture into a pint sized jar.
  4. Chill until thickened (about 2 hours).
  5. Spread on a sandwich, eat with a spoon, eat with a spoon, eat with a spoon, or eat with a spoon.
3.4.3177

Make Your Own Natural Peanut Butter!

Wondering where to get Palm Shortening?  My favorite source is Tropical Traditions. Spectrum brand Organic Vegetable Shortening (which is made with 100% palm oil) is also good, and can be found at Amazon, or health food stores. Just do not use regular vegetable shortening (like Crisco) – otherwise you’re right back at the not-so-good-for-you peanut butter.

Over the weekend, I made about 8 cups of this peanut butter. I figured my food processor was already messy, my palm shortening was already out, so why not make this effort worth my while? I now have 4 pint sized jars of this peanut butter in my fridge. Well, 4 pints minus several dozen spoonfuls.

Alright – what do you think? Will your family love this?? (The answer is yes.)  What kind of peanut butter do you like at your house?

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Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

June 20, 2013 by Laura 38 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

flourless_cookie_2

What’s great about having a recipe that is flourless? If you have run out of flour, you can still make this cookie.

Profound.

But there’s more.  Because these don’t have flour in them, they turn out super moist and chewy. Trust me when I say that there is much yum in one of these cookies. (Or in three or more of these cookies if you just can’t control yourself.)

And…if you’re someone who eats gluten free or you’re baking for someone who eats gluten free, these cookies fit the bill. I have no idea what the phrase “fit the bill” means. Are we talking about a dollar bill, or the bill of a hat? Or maybe we’re talking about a duck? I went to school with a boy named Bill. As far as I know, he can eat flour. But I’m guessing he would still really like these cookies.

Anyway, I should look up the phrase “fit the bill” someday when I have spare time, which will be never, since I typically spend my free time rambling about ducks, hats, and my classmates who like cookies. Come to think of it, I don’t remember Bill ever wearing a hat.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip CookiesYum

1 cup natural peanut butter (I use homemade)
1 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Cream together peanut butter, sucanat, egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Fold in chocolate chips.

Place 1 1/2 inch balls of dough about two inches apart on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake in a 350° oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cookies will firm up as they cool, so do not overbake. Allow the cookies to sit on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Makes about 18 cookies.

flourless_cookie_1
You will love how easy these cookies are to make. If you need to, you can prepare this dough up to five days in advance, pulling out the dough and baking as needed. How very handy. You can also mix up the dough, shape it into balls, and freeze them unbaked. Then, when you need a cookie fix or you need to quickly bake cookies for an event, all you have to do is put them on a pan and bake them as directed.

I’m telling you, if you’re looking for an easy, delicious cookie, these really hit the nail on the head (because I just hate to use the phrase “fit the bill” twice in one post).

And for the record, I couldn’t resist. I took the time to look up where the phrase “fit the bill” comes from. Turns out, “Fit the bill” is a British, American and Australian idiom which means to have the qualities or experience which are needed. Thank you online search engine. I already understood what it meant. I just didn’t understand its origin.

Well, I guess we’ll never know. Maybe I should just ask Bill. He was, after all, our class Valedictorian.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola

May 8, 2013 by Laura 13 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

pb_choc_granola_3

I’m guessing that many of the greatest recipe “inventions” have happened by accident. Asa (our 15 year old) really didn’t mean to create this wonderful Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola. His real intent was to make No-Bake Cookies for a mission trip fund-raising meal last Sunday. But somehow the liquid ingredients got slightly overcooked, the oats made the mixture way too dry, and no way no how was a cookie going to be formed once it was all said and done. I told him to press his mixture into a 9×13 inch pan and that we’d try cutting them into bars later. While that was a brilliant idea, it didn’t work any better than forming the mixture into cookies. We ended up with peanut butter chocolate oat crumbles instead. Peanut butter chocolate oat crumbles that tasted really, really good. :)

And so – we all just grabbed a bowl and a spoon and had at it. (While planning a different dessert to take to the fund-raising meal.)

I’m calling this “granola” because that’s what it looks and feels like. But I do have a hard time calling this a healthy breakfast or snack. While it is made with real food ingredients, it is still more dessert-like, for sure. In an effort to make this a little less sugary, and a bit more diverse for “stir-in” options, I’ve tweaked the ingredients from the original cookie recipe Asa used. I’m pretty sure it will still taste awesome with less sugar than originally called for in the cookie recipe!

By the way – depending on how you make this, it can be completely dairy free if you wish. :)

Peanut Butter Chocolate GranolaYum

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup milk or coconut milk
1/2 cup natural peanut butter (we use homemade peanut butter)
1 cup sucanat or 1/2 cup honey
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut flakes (optional)

Put butter, milk, peanut butter, sucanat, and cocoa into a medium sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Allow the mixture to boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Add vanila, oats, and coconut flakes. If the mixture is too liquidy add a few more oats or coconut flakes until you reach desired consistency.

pb_choc_granola_2

Or shucks. If you “mess up” this recipe and the mixture turns out to be nice and smooth instead of crumbly – go ahead and spoon it onto wax paper and make No-Bake Cookies. ;)

 UPDATE:  If you do find your mixture too wet:  Add a few extra oats to soak up the liquid. Then put it on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and baked it at 250° for one hour, stirring occasionally. The granola should get nice and crispy!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

March 19, 2013 by Laura 32 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

 This recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins looked too good to pass up – and it was super easy to makeover with healthier ingredients. We all loved the results. (Except for Malachi, who didn’t try them because he doesn’t like peanut butter. He’s missing out!)

Yum

Have a recipe you’d like me to try and make over?
Submit your recipes on this Real Food Recipe Makeover Submission Page.

It probably goes without saying that these muffins taste awesome with a glass of milk. They are easy to make ahead of time and serve the following day. (Although they really do taste best right out of the oven. Doesn’t everything?!)  These muffins freeze well. They make a great snack. I love recipes like this! It doesn’t get any easier!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
 
Save Print
Author: Laura
Ingredients
  • 6 Tablespoons butter, melted
  • ½ cup natural peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2¼ cups whole wheat flour
  • ⅔ cup sucanat
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¾ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan, melt together the butter and the peanut butter.
  2. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and sucanat.
  3. Add melted butter and peanut butter, eggs, and milk.
  4. Stir until well combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Scoop batter into 18-24 paper lined muffin cups.
  6. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.
3.4.3177

Notes:

  • I use homemade peanut butter. It is amazing, so if you haven’t tried your hand at making peanut butter, learn soon! You’ll love it and it’s much easier than you think!
  • I use freshly ground flour made from hard or soft white wheat. Soft wheat works best as it is lighter and fluffier (more like white flour – except still nourishing).
  • Make these muffins even more moist by subbing 1/2 cup of milk for 1/2 cup of sour cream.
  • Make these muffins ahead of time, freezing the batter like this. You’ll love this time-saving trick!
peanut_butter_cc_muffins_2

Are you a chocolate/peanut butter fan?

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