Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bite

     Well I've been home alone for the day and I've got nothing better to do than cook and sew. And as you can see by the picture I of course had to make something sweet to nibble on in between my sewing escapades.

     These goodies are similar to the famous Peanut Butter Balls that some of us know and love. These have a little bit of a twist though. They have crushed pretzels in them. It gives them a nice crunch, a little more body. One doesn't feel as if they are eating a spoonful of peanut butter when you eat these (but it's real close).

     I started out trying to figure out what I could do with this bag of pretzels that I had in the cupboard. Now it seems that my family is not big on eating plain pretzels. Not even if they have a beverage (if you know what I mean). These pretzels are even low fat and they taste good. So I looked through a few recipes and what do you know, I found a recipe that uses pretzels in it.

     These are fairly simple to make. However, they are a bit messy when rolling the peanut butter mixture into balls and let's not forget the dunking in chocolate. They are good though and require very few ingredients. Hope you enjoy them.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites
1C creamy peanut butter
10 T powdered sugar
2 T room temperature butter
2 C crushed pretzels
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, and butter. Add crushed pretzels and mix together.
Roll into 1inch balls or smaller and put them on a tray. Freeze for 1 hour.
Melt chocolate chips in microwave. (Microwave on high 1 minute. Take out an stir. Then microwave about 10-15 seconds stirring each time until melted).
Dip balls into chocolate and then put onto a parchment lined tray. Refrigerate until set. Keep refrigerated when storing.

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

    

S'More bites

S'More Bites

After watching the Shark Tank Friday night I was challenged to create a bite size s'more that tasted like a s'more. I was up for the challenge. I know that one can google a ton of recipes for this delightful treat and so I set out to make a bite size s'more.

I just couldn't stand watching my nephew's wife, who has never cooked a day in her life, pitch her line to the sharks about how she created this recipe for her "Smuffins" and how she and her husband have always dreamed of owning a s'more shop. Gag me! Only in LA would this line of crap go over as real.

So after listening to her and watching the sharks slam her idea as ridiculous and telling her it didn't even taste like a s'more I just knew I could make a treat that was good, but of course no way would I ever think of charging $10 for a treat. Obviously people in LA don't cook very much if they are willing to pay an outrageous price for a mini s'more dipped in chocolate.

Now I know that she sells different flavors of smuffins, but one can also find different varieties with the aid of google. I did and it didn't take much time or energy. Maybe next time I'll try peanut butter or dark chocolate. The possibilities are endless.

So try the recipe below and I'm sure this recipe will have you saying "I've gotta have s'more and there is smuffin to it!"

S'More Bites
7 whole graham crackers
1/4 C powdered sugar
6 T butter, melted
4 Hershey Milk Chocolate bars
12 Large marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 350. Place graham crackers into a large resealable plastic bag. Finely crush into crumbs using a rolling pin. Combine graham crackers crumbs, powdered sugar and butter in a small bowl. Using a small scoop place a scant scoop of crumb mixture in each cup of a mini-muffin pan. Press crumbs to form a shallow cup. Bake 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, break two of the candy bars into rectangles. Remove pan from oven; place one rectangle into each cup.
2. Cut marshmallows in half crosswise using kitchen shears dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven 1-2 minutes or until marshmallow is slightly softened. Remove pan from oven and cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan. Cool completely.
3. Bread remaining candy bars and place in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high 1-1 1/2 minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds. Dip the top of each marshmallow in melted chocolate. Turn top-side up and let stand 40 minutes-1 hour or until set.

Reindeer Mix

The past few weeks have just been a whirl wind! I just don't know where these past two weeks have gone. I was so looking forward to Christmas and having some time off, just hanging with the family and poof! Christmas is done! Everyone, but me, is back to work.

I'm feeling a little bored today because of it. I said good bye to my son as he headed back to his place in Mankato. He had to work the day after Christmas. Seems he just got here and he had to leave. He won't be back until I'm already back at work.

My husband had to get up this morning and work. He'll be working the rest of the week. I'm not use to that. He use to get off at this time of year, but now with the place he works this is not the case.

My daughter is getting ready to go in to work here in a bit. She, however, is almost done working until she comes back from her study abroad for school.

Well I decided that I'll have to keep myself busy with some quilting and some cooking. I'm trying to finish up a quilt I've been working on for some time now and I'm trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

I did want to share with everyone my recipe for Reindeer mix. This snack mix you could really eat anytime of year. We just always choose to make it at Christmas time. In fact it was one of those things that my son was really looking forward to us having when he came home for the holidays.

I originally got the recipe from the Taste of Home, but I have changed it slightly to fit the tastes of my family members. So it has evolved over the years. I would suggest just doubling the batch, because it will go quickly. We always double it and I always have to make another double batch.

Reindeer Mix

Reindeer Mix
2 C Fritos
2 C Cheese Flavored snack crackers
2 C Pretzel sticks
2 C Corn Chex
2 C Bite size Shredded Wheat
1 C Pecan halves

1/2 C Butter, melted
1 T Maple syrup
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
3/4 t Cajun seasoning
1/4 t cayenne pepper 

In a large bowl, combine the  first six ingredients. In another bowl, combine the butter, syrup, Worcestershire sauce, Cajun seasoning and cayenne; pour over cereal mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to an ungreased roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 250 for 1 hour; stirring every 15 minutes.