Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Holy AMAZING, Batman!

If you're looking for a simple dessert that is both sweet and salty, I've found your kryptonite.  Or your salvation.  I guess it depends on which comic we're reading because now I'm confused!  ;)

Ingredients:
2 C creamy peanut butter, divided
3/4 C butter, softened
2 C powdered sugar, divided
4 C broken pretzel twists, divided,
2 C semi sweet chocolate chips, divided
Directions:
1. Line a 9"x13" baking pan with foil and a little overlay.  Lightly spray with a non-stick cooking spray.
2. Beat 1 1/4 C peanut butter in and butter in a large bowl until creamy.  Gradually beat in 1 C powdered sugar.
3. Stir in remaining 1 C of powdered sugar, 3 C of pretzel pieces, and 1/2 C of chocolate chips.  Press evenly into prepared baking pan.

4. Microwave remaining 1 1/2 C chocolate chips and 3/4 C peanut butter on medium, uncovered, in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds.  Stir. If necessary, return for 10-15 second intervals until completely melted.
5. Spread chocolate peanut butter evenly over pb/pretzel/powdered sugar layer.
6. Top with remaining pretzel pieces, pressing down gently into the chocolate layer.
7. Refrigerate at least three hours, or until firm.  Lift out of pan and peel off foil, then cut and serve.

Fall Munch Mix

Cause, you know, for kids!!  I found a similar recipe on Pinterest, but when I went shopping, I just became inspired by all of my choices.  Turns out you can really throw most anything in here and it'll probably taste okay.  I made two ginormous cauldrons of this mix, but here is the recipe for just one large cauldron...

Ingredients:
1/2 box of Kellogg's Krave cereal
1/2 box of Cinnamon Life cereal
1 large bag of caramel corn
1 large bag of kettle corn
1/2 bag pretzel sticks
1/2 bag mini pretzel twists
2 bags of 'autumn mix' candy pumpkins and candy corns
1 box of chocolate Teddy Grahams
2 king sized bags of M&Ms (plain)
2 king sized bags of Reese's Pieces (optional, dependent on allergies)

Directions: Mix together and serve!

Everyone (adults and kids) adored this mix.  It was the right combo of salty and sweet, and it saved me from serving other kid-friendly desserts and sweets (even though I did mini cupcake it up, per usual).

PB Pretzels Dipped in Chocolate

Have you ever just found a recipe and knew (from the very instant you spotted it) that you need it?

Now?!!

That's how I felt about this one.

It has all the ingredients to fulfill my every snacking desire, and the recipe is so simple that you could do it every day.

But we won't.  We're stronger than that, right?

 Right??

Well, okay, maybe not, but this is definitely a great treat to try out.  It makes a lot (50?  100??  Depends on how big you want them to be), and as long as there are no peanut allergies, everyone really loves them.

I made them as an airplane snack for my husband, and left a ton in the work fridge for my assistants.  They all ferreted one out for themselves and then asked permission to try one.

Every single one looked guilty when I immediately asked them how the first one tasted.  No one is that slick, but these are that good.

Ingredients:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons softened butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
Pretzels (any shape, just relatively small) or Wheat Thins (more crunch, less salt)
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips


Directions:
1. Cream the butters.  Add the sugars.  Blend well.
2. Make a small ball of the PB mixture, place on one pretzel/WT.  Sandwich it with another pretzel/WT.
(I actually just scooped the mix onto one pretzel and adjusted it as necessary while sandwiching them together.  Whatever works).
3. Melt one bag of chocolate chips in the microwave (about 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds).

4. Dip PB sandwiches into the chocolate and set on parchment paper to solidify.  I suggest placing a full tray into the freezer for 5 minutes to get to snacking sooner.
5. These keep well in the fridge, but I also sent some in a bag on a plane and they made it out just fine!

Whole Wheat Pretzels

I can't decide if this is more "nailed it" or "failed it".  Yes, I made delicious whole wheat pretzels that I will happily make again.  However, I'm not entirely sure that they came out the way they were supposed to.

Here's the recipe, with FAR better pictures than what I have (sorry about that).  My dough didn't rise but a centimeter, if that.  It was a dry dough, even though I added some extra water throughout the process.

I didn't mind the dry dough so much, except for when trying to roll out the pretzels.

It was a bit crumbly, and hard to make on a consistently even roll, but it worked out.

But, like I said, I baked them for about 9 minutes, took them out, and they won my heart over.  I was only supposed to get about 6 or 7 pretzels from the batch, and I got 6, so I wasn't that far off.

The pretzels were on the small side.

I rolled each one out to 15", but the finished product is only about palm sized.

That was a lot of time to spend on only six pretzels.

Thank goodness they were good!  The original recipe suggested a dip for them, but I loved them as is.

Pizza Pretzels!

Trolling the internets, as I'm wont to do as of late, has turned up a recipe for Pizza Stuffed Pretzels, which is actually a slightly harder recipe than the one it's based off of from Rachel Ray.

Seriously?  Why make it more difficult.

Ultimately, here's what I did...

Ingredients:
Pre-made whole wheat pizza dough ball
Bag of Mozzarella Cheese
4 oz. of Asiago Cheese
Pepperoni
Olive Oil
Dash of Italian Seasoning
Pizza Sauce (pre-made) for dipping

Thomas stretched out dough until it was the size of a cookie sheet.  I cut it (the long way) into four equal strips.


Then, I added mozzarella cheese, a layer of pepperoni, then sprinkled Asiago cheese.


From there, I rolled it into a log shape, and finally into the pretzel shape.


I placed each pretzel onto a greased cookie sheet.  With a basting brush, I lightly brushed each one with olive oil, then sprinkled a combo of the cheeses on top, as well as a dash of Italian Seasoning.




Finally, I baked them at 400 for 15-20 minutes (I love when the cheese is crisp).  I warmed up the pizza sauce in the microwave, and served the pretzels with the sauce on the side to dip.


Pretty simple for a Friday night, and absolutely delicious.  It's a nice change from the standard homemade pizza, and if you're feeling adventurous, then play around with the fillings.  Make a chicken, pineapple, and (pre-cooked) peppers with a BBQ sauce dipper.  Who knows, but the possibilities are only limited to your imagination.

It may seem childish, but it was darn sure delicious!!

This is an all cheese one I made for myself - plus I only bought enough pepperoni for three of the four pretzels!

Because everyone is doing it!

So, about a month and a half ago, towards the end of August, I was planning my appetizer/dessert menu for my October wine social at work. I know that's ahead of the game, but I wanted time to find recipes, practice (as necessary), and revise at will. The menu is pretty extensive, but one thing I've been super excited for, are these...mini caramel apples! The looked amazing, sounded easy enough to make (for 50+ people) and I figured they'd get the point across without being obnoxious, right?

Cue my first problem - I couldn't find the correct caramel.  I did find some dip and some wraps.  The website said wraps should work if cut down to size, so no problems there.

I started with one apple, not to be to anxious, and before you know it, I was ballin' out of control.  It was super easy, and I loved eating the leftover apple pieces.  I could get 7-8 of the "big balls" giggles out of each apple, and three teensy ones.

The dip was a long shot.  You can see my first attept on the top of this picture.  The dip was too runny for my purposes, although it did taste amazing.

The wrap was another bust.  The air/apples were too moist and the wrap wouldn't stick to the apple itself.  What little bit did stick, didn't do so for long.  Certainly not long enough to sit on a two hour buffet.

Gross.

The, I decided to wrap from the top down.  In this manner, I could only cut each wrap into four pieces, and then I would sit there and cajole the living caramel out of each wrap until it coated the apple.  With this method, I had the issue of the flat (peel) side being on the bottom, and it was way too labor intensive to make 150+ of these. 

So, I got my office slave assistant to make some phone calls.  She found the Kraft Caramel Squares at the local Walmart.  I beat some granny who was trying to buy her Halloween candy early to get them!

I melted the caramels with the tennsiest bit of water and dipped the apples right in.

Success!!  They looked (and tasted) exactly the way I wanted them too.  Now, the recipe said if humidity is high, (and when isn't it when you're next to the ocean?!) try freezing the apples for a couple of minutes to help solidify the caramel.  I figured if this worked, I could easily just take a few out at a time for my work buffet.

Alas, after ten minutes, they looked melted and gross - and the caramel stuck more to my non-stick pan than to my apples! 

Super bummed.  I'd be interested to see these work, though, because I've since read two different magazines that are featuring them for October, and they say nothing about humidity or issues with the caramel sliding off the apples.

Regardless, this recipe has been scratched from my menu, leaving me with only pumpkin cheesecake and dark chocolate pots de creme for dessert.  I might find a new recipe, but something tells me it's going to come in bulk from Costco!

Keep the faith, my work party is Thursday, so I will start sharing my fall/Halloween recipes as soon as I have pictures of them all.