Peanut Butter Fudge

Every now and again, I go through my posts and add them to a file so I can easily find what recipes I have posted so I don't repeat them (unless they have undergone dramatic changes). I discovered I forgot to share the Peanut Butter Fudge recipe. I made it the same day I made the chocolate fudge. I think this recipe is the family favorite. The chocolate was good but they have been devouring the peanut butter. We are peanut butter sort of people so it makes since (their favorite cookie is my gluten free peanut butter cookies).
I made it with homemade evaporated milk.
Just a note about next week - I will not be posting next week but I will be experimenting and will have lots to share after the holidays.

Peanut Butter Fudge
¾ cup evaporated milk
2 cups sugar
2 TB butter
1 1/8 cups peanut butter
1 7oz marshmallow cream
1 teas vanilla
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine milk, sugar and butter. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly and let boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, marshmallow cream and vanilla until well incorporated. Spread into greased 8x8 dish. Let cool completely before cutting into squares.

Peanut Butter Sauce

My friend over at Mrs. Undomestic was talking about making your own pancake syrup. I love making syrups and fun little sauces. It's an inexpensive way to add more pizzazz to pancakes, ice cream, whatever and it's fun to experiment. Many of the sauces/syrups I make last a long time in the fridge, however sauces like this one do have a tendency to crystalize if left too long. It's easy to fix - just heat up the sauce in the microwave until all the sugar melts but over time that too will alter the composition of the sauce. The real solution - use it up.

This recipe was given to me by a friend ages ago and really got me into making canned sauces and syrups. This sauce makes 1 jar so I don't go through the canning process since I just keep it in the fridge. If you want to save this on the shelf or give it as a gift, pour the hot sauce into a hot jar and top immediately. If you worry about the seal not taking - boil for 10-15 minutes.

Peanut Butter Sauce
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbs. butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup creamy peanut butter
Place 1st 3 ingredients in microwave safe bowl, microwave 3-4 minutes uncovered, checking periodically until bubbly. If overcooked will taste burnt. Add milk and peanut butter. Keep in glass jar in fridge.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe is an adaptation of yesterdays peanut butter cookie.
2 sticks nucoa
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 cups peanut butter (again I use a whole jar of 15-18oz peanut butter)
2 eggs
2 teas baking soda
1 teas vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
1-2 cups chocolate chips
Cream nucoa, sugars and peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mix thoroughly. Add baking soda and vanilla. I did all this in a mixer which made the batter really light.(if using remove bowl from mixer at this point and stir rest by hand). Mix in oatmeal. Add chocolate chips. I have made this with 1 cup chocolate chips and in thinking about it - it could really use more.
Drop by tablespoonful onto baking sheet (I always use a silpat). This is a really sticky dough so you may need to use the two spoon method (scoop dough with one spoon and push it onto baking sheet with other spoon). Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. These are really good cookies and have a more oatmeal feel to them than peanut butter. I am considering making them with dried cranberries and a little cinnamon next time to see how they come out.

Peanut Butter Cookies plus variations

I found a cookbook at the library that was something like 50 cookies from the same cookie dough. It got me thinking - is there a way I could make 50 different cookies from my peanut butter cookie recipe since it's a family favorite and a super easy gluten free cookie. I have played with a few ideas and made them yesterday.
The basic recipe is what I call the 2 peanut butter cookie (this is not original to me but I have made it for so long I can't tell you who originally made the cookie).
This particular recipe I found when I had a hospice client tell me her last helper would make her peanut butter cookies but they weren't like anyone else's. I found this recipe in a cooking for kids cookbook (something like One Bite Won't Kill You). She didn't think they were the right cookies but my family really liked them. So when the time came to make cookies for a family reunion - I offered to make these. My aunt complained that I wasn't going to make the right cookies so I ended up making 2 batches - these and the traditional peanut butter cookies. The traditional cookies were left practically uneaten.

Peanut Butter Cookies
2 cups peanut butter (I use an entire 16-18 oz jar because it's just over 2 cups)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teas baking soda
1 teas vanilla
Cream peanut butter and sugar together. Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Add baking soda and vanilla. Mix until everything is smooth and creamy. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Flatten on baking sheet - these spread so you want to keep a good inch or so all around them. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. I always bake my cookies on a silpat lined baking sheet. They will come out of the oven really soft so be careful to not over bake. Let cool on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing. If they absolutely fall apart while transferring then they need to be cooked a little longer (it's fine to put them back in the oven at this point so long as you didn't let them sit too long). They should be firm but crumbly.

This weekend I tried making them into thumbprint cookies. The cookies don't really hold their shape so they were not cute thumbprints but the raspberry jam was a great compliment to the peanut butter cookie. What I did was made an impression in each cookie prior to baking and filled it with about 1/2 teas jam. A full teaspoon might be fine since the cookies spread.
Another variation and one we use often is to mix in chocolate chips. This time I made the cookies as I would normally and pressed chocolate chips into the dough after laying it out on the cookie sheet.
This is the first 2 variations I made without changing the dough. I will post soon the oatmeal peanut butter cookies I created - so good.

Peanut Chicken

One of our staple sauces is peanut sauce on chicken. For me, this is a simple and tasty recipe. I don't put a lot of fuss into peanut sauce and it always turns out well.
Normally, I brown the chicken in a deep skillet. Add a can of coconut milk and a couple of dollops of peanut butter. I use a basic, cheap peanut butter. Sometimes I add a little sweet chili sauce for a bit of a kick.
Last night I put the chicken (usually boneless, skinless chicken breast but any chicken will do) in a 9x13 baking dish with any juices from the bag. I drizzled on sweet chili sauce and then dolloped the peanut butter here and there. About half way through I flipped over the chicken and stirred the peanut butter into the chicken juices. I had envisioned the peanut butter melting into everything making a sauce but it didn't until I stirred everything together. My father said it was the best peanut sauce he has ever had which just goes to show that simplicity is always better.
I serve this chicken over rice with a gluten free soy sauce.

For another twist you can add crushed pineapple to the coconut milk for the skillet chicken (and then make the peanut butter optional - for an island kick add a little rum).