Peanut Butter Banana Bread

From Cooking Light



Ingredients:
Bread:
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Cooking spray
Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.

3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.

4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.

Comments:
Ridiculously easy, turned out great. I tried to be artistic with the glaze, but you can see how well that went. Bah. I'm not a fan of bananas. At all. And it was kind of hard to mash the things up and put them in the batter. The smell... ugh. But once it was baked it wasn't so bad. And the peanut butter glaze definitely helps cut the "banana" in the "banana bread." Adam says he doesn't like the banana/pb combo, but he hasn't tried it yet so I hope he's reserving his opinion.

Peanut Butter Browne Trifle

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1 fudge brownie mix (13-inch x 9-inch pan size)
1 package (10 ounces) Peanut Butter Baking Chips
2 packages (13 ounces each) miniature peanut butter cups
4 cups cold 2% milk
2 packages (5.1 ounces each) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cartons (8 ounces each) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:
Prepare brownie batter according to package directions; stir in peanut butter chips. Bake in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack; cut into 3/4-in. pieces.

Cut peanut butter cups in half; set aside 1/3 cup for garnish. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Add peanut butter and vanilla; mix well. Fold in 1-1/2 cartons whipped topping.

Place a third of the brownies in a 5-qt. glass bowl; top with a third of the remaining peanut butter cups. Spoon a third of the pudding mixture over the top. Repeat layers twice. Cover with remaining whipped topping; garnish with reserved peanut butter cups. Refrigerate until chilled.

Comments:
Trifles are the perfect fake-out. They look impressive, but they're totally easy. I took this to our bell party and everyone oohed and aahed and wanted the recipe. It's really good. Trust me on this one. And now they make these tiny peanut butter cups perfect for this dish!

Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

From Everyday with Rachael Ray



Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, chopped
6 cups miniature pretzels, chopped

Directions:
1. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°. In a bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and peanut butter on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, beating until just combined; stir in the peanuts.

3. Place the pretzels in a bowl. Using a 1 1/2-inch-diameter cookie scoop and working in batches, drop a few balls of dough in the bowl and toss to coat. Place the cookies on the prepared pans. Bake, rotating the pans after 10 minutes, until golden but still soft to the touch, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before transferring to racks to cool.

Comments:
These were easy to make but I'm not sure I'd repeat them. The first batch I made as written - rolling the dough in the pretzels. The bottoms burned. The second batch I just sprinkled some pretzels on the top of the cookies and that worked a little better. They all still turned out kind of dry. If I'd try a peanut butter-pretzel mash-up again I might stick with my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe and add some pretzels to the dough.

Scallops with Thai Sauce

From Taste of Home



Ingredients:
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) vegetable broth
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 to 2 tablespoons Thai chili sauce
1 pound sea scallops
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 small onion, sliced
1 large sweet red pepper, julienned
1/2 cup salted cashews
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 can (8-3/4 ounces) whole baby corn, drained
Hot cooked angel hair pasta, optional

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, broth, peanut butter and chili sauce until smooth; set aside.

In a large skillet, saute scallops in 1 tablespoon oil for 2-3 minutes on each side or until opaque. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. In the same pan, saute the onion, red pepper, cashews and garlic in remaining oil for 3-5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Stir peanut butter mixture and add to pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Add the scallops and corn; heat through. Serve over pasta if desired.

Comments:
Also good with chicken!


Adam obviously picked this recipe out. I omitted the peppers at his request and skipped the pasta. As I was testing the corn to make sure it was cooked, I tasted the sauce and thought it would go well with chicken. Since I hadn't decided what to have for dinner myself yet, I cooked up a chicken breast and some potatoes. It worked well. It's a very versatile sauce, with no one flavor overwhelming the others. I didn't dig the cashews, but I guess they add something texture-wise.

Peanut-Butter-Cup Brownies

From the February 2009 issue of Cosmo - recipe from Katie Lee Joel



Ingredients:
1 box brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker)
16 peanut butter cups (I only used 9)

Directions:
Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Pour half of the batter into a 9x9 baking dish. (I used 8x8, hence the reduction of peanut butter cups.) Top with peanut butter cups. Spread the remaining batter evenly over the peanut butter cups. Bake according to package directions. Cool completely and then cut into squares.

Comments:
Yum. Peanut butter and chocolate are meant for each other. I admit I didn't exactly wait for them to cool completely before I cut them, so they were still ooey gooey and warm. Such a good idea! The other recipes on the page look good too. Keep an eye out for them since I'll probably be making them at some point.