Guest Post *Peanut Butter Cocoa Crispy Treats*

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I'm always on the lookout for some yummy, festive treats for my kids and their teachers.  But with our dietary restrictions (a daughter who needs gluten-free and dairy-free options), it gets kind of tricky to say the least.

Well my fabulous, long-time friend, Leia from Eat It & Say Yum, came up with this amazing recipe that my daughter will actually be able to enjoy!  HALLELUJAH!!!

Make sure to check out Leia's amazing blog!  She has awesome recipes and her blog is absolutely beautiful.  I know you'll love it.  I sure do!

I'll add my minor adjustments to these Peanut Butter Cocoa Crispy Treats to make them dairy-free as well at the bottom of this post.  But for now, I'll turn the time over to the wonderful Leia...

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Hey there!  My name is Leia, and I blog over at Eat It & Say Yum. I am so excited to be doing a guest post here at All Things Delicious. Hannah and I have been friends for years.  It’s fun to see all the amazing things she does here on her blog.  She is so talented!

Today I am bringing you a sweet treat just in time for Valentine’s Day. My family has been loving these Peanut Butter Cocoa Crispy Treats this past week.  And I bet your family will love them as well!  As always the combination of peanut butter and chocolate is amazing!  Plus the Valentine’s M&M’s and sprinkles make them festive, and easy to adapt to any holiday. 

You can whip these up in a matter of minutes, so if you need something quick, this is it!  Just don’t over cook the marshmallows, and the treats will stay soft and chewy.  The marshmallows should be melted just enough to stay creamy, not runny. 

I love this Sally’s Cocoa Crackles cereal I got from Costco.  They stay crunchy even after being mixed with the marshmallows.  It’s so good.  Also, they are gluten-free!  Any brand of cocoa crispy cereal will work, I just love this kind. 

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy these treats, and have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Ingredients

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

46 large marshmallows

7 cups Cocoa Crispy Cereal (I recommend Sally’s Cocoa Crackles)

3 Tbs butter- cut into pieces

1 cup M&M’s

1 Tbs Sprinkles- optional

Directions:

1.        Grease a 9x13 pan, set aside.  In a large microwave safe bowl, heat the marshmallows, peanut butter, and butter for 1 minute.  Stir.  Microwave again for 20-30 seconds.  Do not cook too long.  The marshmallows should still be creamy, not liquidy. 

2.       Add the cocoa crispy cereal to the marshmallow peanut butter mixture and stir carefully.  You don’t want to crush all the cereal.  When almost fully mixed, add the M&M’s, and slowly add the sprinkles as you stir.  Scrape everything into the greased pan, and use a greased spatula to press the cereal into the pan.  Allow to cool.  

**To make dairy-free, use Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks and instead of M&M's, use larger heart-shaped or confetti sprinkles.

Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies

If you are one of All Things Delicious' Facebook fans, you may have seen my post about these cookies.  (Like the Facebook page HERE!)

As I mentioned on Facebook, we recently learned that one of my daughters has an intolerance to gluten and dairy.  It has been a major adjustment for us, but I'm slowing learning how to best help her have good food to eat.

When it comes to yummy treats that we usually make and enjoy on Sunday's, we usually turn to brownies, baked cookies, cakes, quick breads, and such...all things my daughter can no longer enjoy (well, at least for now).

But when one of my friends posted a picture of no-bake cookies on Facebook, I thought that would be something easy to adjust to fit our gluten-free and dairy-free needs as well as our cravings for something sweet.

They hit the spot.

This recipe is a cross between my mother-in-law's and my mom's recipes for no-bake cookies.  So simple and so delicious.

Here's what you'll need:

2 C. sugar

4 T. cocoa

1/2 C. margarine (or Earth's Best Vegan Buttery Sticks)

1/2 C. milk (or coconut milk or any other milk substitute)

1 C. peanut butter (creamy or chunky)

1 Tbsp. vanilla

3 C. oatmeal (old fashioned or quick cooking)

1 C. coconut (optional)

In a heavy saucepan, bring to a boil the sugar, cocoa, margarine, and milk.  Let boil for 2-3 minutes.

 

Remove from the heat and add the peanut butter, vanilla, oatmeal, and coconut (if desired).

Using a medium cookie scoop, place cookies on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.

Let cool until firm, approximately 20 minutes. 

I doubled the recipe so that we can put the extras in the freezer for the next time my little girl has a craving for something chocolate-y and sweet.

Party, Party, PARTY!!

Holy SMOKIES!!  It's been a while.

I just have to say, we are LOVING summertime!!!  June was packed with birthdays in our little family.  The last three weeks of the month, we celebrated a birthday a week.

That was fun.

So, I apologize for the lack of posts, but for me...summer time is family time.

Here are the three fun cakes I made for my growing kiddos...

a Kit Kat cake, a bulldozer cake, and an ice cream cake.

I hope you're having a WONDERFUL summer!!!

How to Make an Owl Cake

Sorry I haven't posted this tutorial sooner; we've had a busy week!  We had four college students come and stay at our house for a week while they were in between semesters.  Talk about fun!  They made me feel young again, though 31 really isn't that old.  

I think it may be the five kids that make me feel old.

Oh well, I still wouldn't trade my kids for anything.  I wouldn't be showing you how to make this fun cake if it weren't for them anyway.   : )

                              

Here's what you'll need:

1 or 2 cake mixes, any flavor you'd like (I made two cake mixes because I wanted to try lots of different sizes)

Chocolate frosting

White frosting

Any color food gel or food coloring (I went with blue for my little boy)

Large chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate)

Candy Corn (I used a caramel flavored candy corn that had only two colors)

Hershey's Kisses

Using my large oven-safe Pampered Chef Batter Bowl, I poured an entire chocolate cake mix into it, after it was sprayed with baking spray, placed it onto a baking sheet, and baked it 25 degrees less than the box instructs for right around an hour.  I used a wooden skewer to test if it was done.

The other cake mix, I divided between lots of other oven-safe Pampered Chef bowls.  Do not bake the larger bowls with the smaller bowls since the baking time will be much different.  These smaller bowls can be baked at the temperature listed on the box.  Keep an eye on them, however, as baking times will vary.

Once the cakes have baked and cooled, place them on your desired serving tray or cake stand.  Frost completely with chocolate frosting.

Using a large circle tip in a pastry bag, squeeze dots (that look like Hershey's Kisses) around the base of your cake, leaving space for the front "feathers" and eyes.

With a small offset spatula, press the spatula into the dot and pull straight up.  Continue until the first row is done.

Repeat for subsequent rows.

Keep going all the way to the top.

Here's a picture of the space I left for the front "feathers" and eyes.

When the chocolate frosting is done, repeat the same process with your colored frosting, leaving a space for the eyes.

Pipe white frosting in large circles for the eyes.  Add the large chocolate chips and the candy corn for the beak.

Finish with the Hershey's Kisses for the ears.

I continued on and made more...

...many more.  Isn't that the cutest little owl family?!

We used one of the small owl cakes as my son's smash cake.  Perfect size!

Chocolate Chip Caramel Cookie Bars

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment.  It was with a new doctor and a new (to me) method of testing using electric pulses running through my body (none of which I could feel) giving readings of hundreds of systems in my body.  It was absolutely fascinating.

One of the results of this test showed that I have a high level of yeast in my body.  The doctor said that this can cause cravings for sweet things, which I most certainly do.  But I've always thought this was what you'd call a "sweet tooth."

He says that it's fixable.  I say, we'll see.

So in honor of my well-beloved "sweet tooth," today I'm posting an incredible recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod, of which I've slightly adapted.

Here's what you'll need:

4 1/4 C. flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3 cubes (1 1/2 C.) butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

2 C. brown sugar, packed

1 C. granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

4 tsp. vanilla

4 C. chocolate chips

20 oz. caramel candy squares, unwrapped (approx. 78 caramels)

6 Tbsp. heavy cream

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the melted and cooled butter and sugars together until combined.

Add the eggs, yolks, and vanilla and mix until smooth. 

Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low, just until combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the caramels and heavy cream.  Microwave on High until caramels are melted, stirring every 30 seconds.  This takes about 2 minutes, depending on your microwave.

Divide the cookie dough in half.  Press half of the cookie dough into a large, high rimmed pan that's been sprayed with baking spray that has flour in it.

*The first time I made these I used my regular half-sheet pan which has 1-inch sides.  From now on I will make these in my half-sheet pan that has 2-inch sides.*

Pour hot caramel over the cookie dough.

 Crumble remaining cookie dough over the caramel and lightly press.

Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until the top of the bars are a light golden brown.  Cool bars on a wire rack to room temperature.  

As you can see, the caramel oozes out over the sides using a pan with 1-inch sides.

Kind of messy in the oven.

But they're PERFECT in a pan with 2-inch sides!

Cut off the edges then cut bars into squares and serve.

You can half this recipe and make them in a 7"x11" or a 9"x13" pan.  But for every occasion I've made these for, a high-rimmed half-sheet pan (13"x18"), is finished off in no time at all.

Key Lime Tarts

Here's a fresh, quick and easy dessert, perfect for Spring!  This recipe comes from the ladies at Our Best Bites.  I did adjust it slightly.  I didn't have any limes, but I did have some bottled key lime juice, so that's what I used.  

It was interesting to see that the recipe on the bottle of juice was almost identical to the one from Our Best Bites.  The only difference was that the recipe on the bottle called for less egg yolks.  So I put them to the test.  I made one batch using the recipe from Our Best Bites and another batch using the recipe on the key lime juice bottle.

Guess what we found...there was hardly any difference at all.  So if you don't have 5 egg yolks to work with, have no fear, 3 egg yolks work just as well!

Here's what you'll need:

14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

3-5 egg yolks

1/3-1/2 C. Key lime juice (or regular lime juice)

12 mini graham cracker pie crusts (found by the graham cracker pie crusts on the baking isle)

Place mini graham cracker crusts on a large baking sheet.  Combine the sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks, and lime juice in a medium sized bowl.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into pie crusts. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.  Then refrigerate until ready to use.  Serve chilled with sweetened whipped cream.

*You can make this as a full-sized pie.  Just use a prepared 9-inch graham cracker crust and bake for 15-16 minutes.*

To make sweetened whipped cream (also from Our Best Bites):

1 C. whipping cream

1/3 C. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients into a chilled metal bowl.  Beat on High with an electric mixer until soft peaks form (has the desired stiffness you'd like).  Serve immediately.

Crunchy Krispie Treats

I love to use today's recipe for seasonal occasions.  I've made them for Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Christmas.  You can made these glorified rice krispie treats fun for anytime using the special holiday themed M&M's.  Or just use the regular colored M&M's to make them any other time of the year.

These treats are so easy to make, but are extra special with Frosted Flakes (or Corn Flakes), peanuts, and M&M's.

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 cubes (3/4 C.) margarine

1 (16 oz.) package of mini marshmallows

6 C. Rice Krispies

4 C. Frosted Flakes (or Corn Flakes)

1 (12 oz.) bottle roasted peanuts (1 1/2 C.)

1 (8 oz.) package M&M's

Melt the margarine in a large pot over Medium-Low heat.  Add the marshmallows and keep stirring until smooth and melted.

 

Remove from the heat and add the Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, and peanuts, stirring until evenly coated.  

Lightly grease a large rimmed cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.  Gently fold in the M&M's.  

Spread onto the cookie sheet.  Lightly grease your hands and press the treats evenly throughout the pan.  

Allow to cool.  Cover to keep moist.