Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mousse

I made this for dessert for our first girls’ night dinner. As you probably know by now, chocolate and peanut butter is my favorite flavor combination. Don’t get me wrong, I love it all. But when in doubt, I always go for some sort of peanut butter chocolate concoction and am never disappointed. And in a pinch – ya know, those times where you absolutely need dessert to cure whatever troubles you have but haven’t gone food shopping in weeks and can’t imagine moving more than the ten steps from your couch to your kitchen - a spoonful of peanut butter with a couple chocolate chips saves the day.

This dessert is a little more labor intensive than dipping a spoon in peanut butter and shoving it in your mouth but not by much. And it’s totally worth it. I whipped this up right before dinner so it would be nice and chilled by the time we were ready.

The mousse was a little hard to make because my apartment was SO HOT. I don’t think that the whipped cream got as light as it would have in an air conditioned venue. But I’m trying to conserve money and it’s more important for me to have cable so that I can watch TLC all night than it is for me to be cool.  Priorities, people.

For a mousse, this dessert is very rich and dense due to the cream cheese (again, also probably due to the sweltering heat of my kitchen suffocating the whipped cream). It tasted like a softer no-bake version of chocolate cheesecake. Minus all of the time and effort! If you wanted a lighter dessert, it would probably be delicious if you completely cut out the cream cheese and cut the sugar in half. You would obviously lose the cheesecake taste but it would be lighter… if that’s what you like.  I generally like my desserts so rich and sweet that a normal human being could only take one bite, while my sweet tooth and I can finish off a gigantic plate and look around for seconds.

I obviously chose to top the mousse with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Because… well, why not jump at the chance to pack a little extra peanut butter and sugar in there? And the crust is totally optional. I tend to like a little graham cracker for the texture and because it looks pretty at the bottom of individual portions. But feel free to leave it out if you’re not feelin’ it.

So give this rich and creamy mousse a try for yet another twist on the classic chocolate peanut butter combo! 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mousse (4 servings) from Saving Room For Dessert

• ·         4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• ·         1/3 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• ·         dash of salt
• ·         1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• ·         1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, melted
• ·         1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ·         1/2 cup whipping cream

Toppings:

• ·         4 Reese’s cups, chopped
• ·         1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped and sweetened with 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Graham Cracker Crust

·         2 tablespoons butter, melted

·         3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1. 1.      Mix together butter and graham cracker crumbs. Push to the bottom of parfait dishes, mason jars, wine glasses, etc.
2. 2.      In a medium mixing bowl beat the cream cheese, peanut butter, salt and vanilla together until smooth. Melt the chocolate chips and stir into the cream cheese-peanut butter mixture. Sift in the confectioners' sugar and blend well.  In a separate bowl beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.  With a rubber spatula, gently fold half the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture.  Then blend in the remaining whipped cream taking care not to over mix or beat the mixture.  
3. 3.      Spoon the mousse into 4 serving bowls and refrigerate for about an hour.  Top with additional sweetened whipped cream and chopped Reese’s if desired.  Serve and enjoy!

loving my mason jars :)

Chocolate Dipped Triple Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

I made these cookies on June 12th for National Peanut Butter Cookie Day! I officially proclaim this to be a national holiday in my life because I consider peanut butter to be one of my main food groups. So obviously I had to make something epic to celebrate. And the result was....

Happy Peanut Butter Cookie Day!

Ken enjoying a peanut butter cookie sandwich sundae. I do NOT mess around with sweets.

Also, it was a perfect excuse to FINALLY use the stand mixer that I got for Christmas! I've been dying to use it but didn't bring it to school. I knew that if my housemates touched it, I would likely commit homicide. Then I'd NEVER find a teaching job.

I've also named her. Her name is Mable. Able Mable will help me accomplish outstanding culinary wonders.

isn't she stunning?

As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. Considering it was PEANUT BUTTER cookie day, I didn't want to jumble up this dessert with too many other ingredients (I know... who am I?). And I wanted a peanut butter overload (that sounds more like the Kelsy you've come to know). How can you go wrong with a creamy peanut butter filling smushed between two crisp peanut butter cookies? It's covered with just enough chocolate to use to make some honey roasted peanut piece stick for a little extra crunch!

This peanut butter cookie recipe yields a crispy peanut butter cookie that holds its shape. Though I also love soft peanut butter cookies, I think these thick crispy ones are better suited for the crunchy filling and the chocolate coating because they are more sturdy. The dough is a little crumbly so I found it easiest to gather about a tablespoon of dough, roll it in my hands to get it to stick together, and then press it flat with the prongs of a fork. I love the use of brown sugar in both the cookies and the filling. I really think it deepens the peanut butter flavor as well as sweetens it whereas granulated or powered sugar just sweetens the peanut butter. I am in absolute love with these.

These come together really easily. The most time consuming part of the process was dipping the final sandwich in the chocolate and covering them with peanuts. Melted chocolate and I have a love hate relationship. I hate working with it but love consuming it. I had quite a bit of the peanut butter filling left over. It didn't last long because I kept snacking on it with apples, crackers, and, of course, my fingers. Don't worry, the spreading of germs was not an issue because I had NO intentions of share my extra stock with anyone.

I'd say that making these is a must due to their ease and the fact that the final product looks very impressive. Also, they are a peanut butter fanatic's dream. I'm in heaven.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies (25-30 sandwich cookies) from Joy the Baker

For the Cookies:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Filling:

• 2 cups crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Optional Coating:

• 10 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips,
• 1 cup honey roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

1.       Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Spray with cooking spray.

2.       Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and peanut butter on medium speed until well combined.  Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

3.       Add the egg and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.

4.       In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and beat on low until just combined.  Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.

5.       Scoop up a little less than a tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. Place the dough balls on the cookie sheet about 1 1/2-inches apart.  Use the prongs of a fork to press the cookies flat (I pressed once vertically and once horizontally).  Bake for 7-8 minutes until the cookies are golden brown along the edges.

6.       For the filling:  Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to beat the butter, peanut butter and heavy cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

7.       Add the powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and beat on medium speed until combined.

9.       Spread generous amounts of the filling onto the flat bottom of a cookie.  Top with another cookie, ridge side up.  

10.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave (I melt it in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds). Dip one side of the sandwich in chocolate or spread the chocolate on one side with a knife. 

11.  Set a wire rack on top of a sheet of waxed paper.  Set the dipped cookies on the wire rack. Sprinkle the chocolate with chopped nuts immediately after dipping so they stick. Transfer the cookies to the fridge for 10 minutes for a quick drying time.

my standmixer making my life 1000 times easier!

the dough.

shaped and prebaked

baked cookies - pre-sandwich

frosting with powdered AND brown sugar

filling these babies!

soooooo many cookies!

finished and drying!

plated and ready to be enjoyed :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes

Happy Valentine's Day! I have a delicious dessert recipe and some thoughts/advice to share.

As mentioned in my last post, I'm newly single for the first time in forever so obviously Valentine's Day isn't the most fun this year. No flowers or chocolate or cards or dinner dates. Ok, so I've had some chocolate. That I gifted to myself.

Last night I was talking to my mom about being in sort of a weird spot in my life. I chose to go to grad school right after undergrad in order to get it out of the way and up my chances of finding a full-time teaching job asap. This has resulted in me living in a overpriced apartment by myself in a town where I don't know anyone while working close to full-time as a substitute teacher and taking 18 credits this semester. Sounds like a blast, right? Not always, but I try to make the best of it by keeping up with the blog and staying busy. Needless to say, it gets a little lonely sometimes. As for the breakup, it's left me feeling pretty exhausted, insecure, lost, bitter, and all kinds of angry. So as I was explaining this to my mom, she gave me some advice - all of it is great, some is warm and fuzzy, and some is just straight up tough love.

#1 - "Quit recycling ex-boyfriends. You broke up with them for a reason and you're not going to change them. Let it go and move on already. Until you stop making the same mistakes over and over, I'm not going to feel bad for you." I have a bad habit of doing this. I go back to what I know and expect that it will be better the second, third, or twentieth time. It never is. I also have a problem letting go. I over-analyze every single second of the relationship and try to figure out where things went wrong and what I should have done different. Life is not a math problem so I should probably stop treating it like one. And, as my mother so delicately pointed out, the analysis isn't working because I keep doing the same things over and over and over and over and expecting them to turn out differently. According to Einstein, that's the definition of insanity so I should probably change that. Starting today :)

#2 - "You can't expect a man to appreciate how hard you work toward your goals if they themselves are unmotivated." This might be the best advice that I have ever been given and I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. You can't expect someone to appreciate a quality that you have if they don't value that quality, in general. I've always wanted a guy that recognizes and appreciates how hard I work to obtain the things that I want. But if I keep choosing guys without a similar drive, they aren't going to care about how hard I work because they don't understand the situation. I don't want to have to request appreciation from someone. I have too much pride for that mess.

#3 - "The people who matter and love you think you're wonderful so who cares what anyone else thinks?" Typical mom advice but it's true. My family and close friends are very supportive and proud of my accomplishments. And that means the world to me.

#4 - "Stop complaining and do something about it. No one is going to approach you if you're mean and angry. You're too young to be this bitter." Tough love. Honestly, if I were a guy, I would not come within 100 yards of me. I'm super angry and I have a habit of taking that anger out on anyone that is of the male gender. I guess I can't expect to receive good things with a bad attitude. One of my New Year's resolutions was to be more positive and I've been doing a pretty good job in terms of work, school, and daily life but I'm having a hard time transferring it over to my love life. I'll work on it. No one wants to be friends with, and definitely not date, an angry biotch.

#5 - "The fact that you're letting a man determine your self-worth is stupid." Blunt and to the point. Especially considering the fact that it's a person that is no long a part of my life. So eff that, I'm awesome. You have to believe that yourself before anyone else can see it.

So there's my two cents for the day. Now you know you know everything that's running through my head right this very second.  Except....

CUPCAKES! Now I can share these!  They were absolutely wonderful. As you know, chocolate and peanut butter is, hands down, my favorite flavor combination. And this is a chocolate cupcake stuffed with a peanut butter filling and topped with a peanut butter frosting.  Heaven.

I chose to use boxed chocolate cake. I scooped the majority of the cupcake out in order to make room for the filling anyway so who cares? Not I. I try not to make life harder for myself. The filling is very rich and makes the cupcakes feel like they weigh a pound. I love the crunch that the pretzels add to the filling. Next time I might even use chunky peanut butter for more texture.

The frosting is a fluffy peanut butter frosting. It's light and has a very subtle peanut butter flavor so it's not overwhelming with everything else that's going on in this dessert. I dyed the frosting pink in anticipation of using this recipe as a Valentine's Day post :)

I topped the cupcake with a super cute and easy chocolate peanut butter pretzel garnish.  You just lay some pretzels on a baking sheet and put a Hershey's hug/kiss on each one. Pop them in the oven at 350 for about a minute (I left mine in for about two minutes which is why they look a little melty-er than they should). Then take them out and put an M&M in the middle of the melty chocolate. For this I used, traditional pretzels, Hershey's hugs, and Valentine's Day peanut Butter M&Ms. I put one on each cupcake and put the rest in a container for people to snack on.  These, in and of themselves, are a great sweet treat and can be thrown together really quickly but still have a very nice presentation.

You should make these. Make them for the people you love. Whether that's your boyfriend, your family, your friends, or just yourself.  Or bake them to show your exes that, in addition to all of your other endearing qualities that make you a total catch, you're a whiz in the kitchen. And they can have fun eating the Little Debbie snacks that their mommies buy them :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cupcakes (makes 18 cupcakes)

For the cupcakes

·         your favorite chocolate cake mix

For the filling

·         1 cup peanut butter

·         1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         2 cups confectioner’s sugar

·         2 large chocolate covered pretzels, crushed, enough for a 1/2 cup of crushed pretzel

For the frosting

·         1/2 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
• 1 ½ - 2 cups confectioners' sugar

For the pretzel garnish

·         18 pretzels

·         18 Hersey’s hugs

·         18 peanut butter M&Ms (I used about 36… one for the pretzels, one for my mouth…)

1. Bake the cupcakes as directed on the box.  Allow the cupcakes to cool completely.
2. As the cupcakes are cooling, make the filling.  Melt the peanut butter and butter in a sausage pan, stirring constantly. Remove the peanut butter mixture from heat and mix in the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract. Add the pretzels and mix together until it becomes an even mixture.
3. When the cupcakes are completely cooled, use a knife to hollow out the middle of the cupcakes (I cut a pretty big hole because the recipe makes a lot of filling and I looooooooove peanut butter). Save the cake in a separate bowl.
4. Fill the cupcakes with the peanut butter pretzel filling. Cover the top of the filling with a small amount of the reserved cake.
5. For the frosting: Place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.
6. Frost the cupcakes (generously!).
7. For the garnish: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay out 18 pretzels on a baking sheet. Place one unwrapped Hershey’s hug on each pretzel. Put in the oven for about 1 minute (or until starting to melt). Take out of the oven and immediately put one peanut butter M&M in the center of each Hershey’s hug.
8. Place one pretzel garnish on each cupcake. 

best. frosting. ever.

finished product :)

I made my mom's boyfriend stop eating mid-cupcake to take a picture of the filling.

My beautiful little sister. Eating her second cupcake. She's the best. 

Oh and this is me. Making myself a personal Valentine's Day treat. SANGRIA!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles

I'm going to get real for a minute so bare with me.

Do you ever have one of those days? You know, the ones where you just don't want to get out of bed? Or like you just don't feel like anything you do is worthwhile?

Yeah, me too.  Sometimes I feel like I'm constantly working toward my fairytale future, which never seems to get any closer.  It seems like every time I think I'm making progress, I meet another obstacle... that whole "one step forward, two steps back" game. Because I'm always thinking about the future, sometimes I forget to live in the present.  In order to get what I want, I've had to make choices and sacrifices that have left me feeling less than satisfied. Examples: living in an overpriced room in a town where I don't know anyone to go to school, having no social life because I work and go to school full-time, sabotaging all prospects for potential relationships because it's the last thing on my list of priorities, and basically kissing my "fun" early 20s goodbye. 

I'm usually pretty good at ignoring my feelings and plugging along. But sometimes I just get in a funk.  So I do what any normal girl does in this situation.  I turn on some trashy pop music, dance around in my sweatpants, and bake my heart out. 

That's where this recipe comes in.  Chocolate and peanut butter. Sweet and salty. These bite-sized treats are the perfect remedy to the "OMGMYLIFEISAMESSWAHHHHHH" bad moods. In fact, I have made them three times and keep small sandwich baggies of them in the freezer for emergencies. No, I'm not kidding.

Here's the bad mood cure: Put on some trashy reality tv or a marathon of your favorite show. Pop these truffles in your mouth with your left hand while you online shop with your right hand. You'll feel better in no time.  This might not be the healthiest option but it's better than throwing a tantrum like a toddler or alcoholism.

Sorry that these pictures are horrific. As mentioned, I was in a pretty foul mood when I made them and did not feel like being a photographer. And by the time I felt better, they were gone. So just trust me, and make them.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Truffles (50 truffles) from The Sweets Life

-4 tbsp butter, at room temperature
-1 cup powdered sugar
-1 cup smooth peanut butter
-heaping 1/2 cup peanut M&Ms, coarsely chopped or crushed, plus additional for decorating
-1 cup chopped, crushed pretzel sticks
-dipping chocolate melts

1. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until evenly combined. Mix in peanut butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the peanut M&Ms and pretzel sticks with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
2. Place dough in freezer for 15 minutes to chill slightly. Remove and form 1-inch balls (approximately) of the mixture, placing on a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Freeze for 15-20 minutes, until firm.
3. Melt chocolate candy melts. Remove peanut butter balls from freezer and, using a fork, dip each one in the melted chocolate, rolling to coat completely. Immediately garnish with chopped M&M pieces or garnish of choice. Lay covered balls on lined baking sheets and continue until all balls have been dipped.
4.  Store in freezer in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Who cares what they look like? They'll be gone before you know it.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

This isn't a recipe, just something you should do.  Like right now.

I love peanut butter. It's kind of a problem. I could sit down and eat a whole container with a spoon in one sitting. If I'm really starving while I'm cooking lunch or dinner, I'll eat a couple spoonfuls to tide myself over. I would venture to say that it's my snack of choice. 

Do you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Do you like grilled sandwiches, like paninis or grilled cheese?  Yes?  Then you'll love this.

It's a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Make your sandwich with your favorite peanut butter and jelly (I threw a little fluff in there because I had it laying around), butter the other sides of the bread, and then put it in a skillet on the stove on medium high for about 5 minutes on each side or until the bread is golden brown.  Delicious.

I plan on making a bunch of different combinations. One with sliced bananas. Raisins. Honey. Nutella. Chocolate chips. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.  Put your own personal twist on this grilled version of a childhood favorite.