Reese's Puffs Mallow Bars

I have a confession: if I could, I would eat cereal for every meal. Ah, so glad I got that off my chest. Kind of a shameful admission from a professed foodie, but it's the truth. I love cereal, it nearly never fails me.

For breakfast, I almost always have some variety of Special K cereal with milk, and during the summer I've been topping it off with fresh berries...

Alright, I'm hungry.

While I love starting off my day with cereal, I also love having a bowl for dessert after dinner. Weird? Whatever. I recently purchased a box of Reese's Puffs to have as my dessert cereal. Y'all, Reese's Puffs are addictive and dangerous. WATCH OUT. They are so good and even though they probably contain as much sugar as their Reese's cup counterparts, I somehow feel better eating them. Don't poke holes in my logic.

So, to add to this Chocolate Peanut Butter Week, I decided to spice up the traditional Rice Krispie Treat recipe with (drumroll please) REESE'S PUFFS! Wise decision, folks. These are just an upgraded version of Rice Krispie treats in my humble opinion. Marshmallowy, peanut buttery, chocolatey, good...y. Try them for yourself or switch the Reese's Puffs with your favorite "guilty pleasure" cereal!

Reese's Puffs Mallow Bars
Recipe adapted from Kellogg's Rice Krispies

• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 pkg. (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows OR 4 cups miniature marshmallows
• 6 cups Reese's Puffs cereal

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add Reese's Puffs cereal. Stir until all well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper, evenly press mixture into 13x9x2 inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

Reese's Cheesecake Brownies

Karly over at Buns in My Oven, one of my favorite blogs to follow, has declared this week to be Chocolate Peanut Butter Week on her blog! Since I love all her posts and recipes, I thought I'd join in on the fun.

I am not a huge chocolate fan (weird, I know), but give me anything with chocolate and peanut butter and I will straight up inhale it. I am a die-hard Reese's fan and have recently been enjoying Peanut Butter M&M's and Peanut Butter Snickers. NOM.

I find that this Chocolate Peanut Butter Week is fitting since it coincides with my birthday week, so I am a very content gal. I think y'all should participate and make some Chocolate and Peanut Butter treats!!

I've had these Reese's Cheesecake Brownies pinned for quite some time, so this week inspired me to make them. These are gooey, rich, and decadent. They are satisfying and filling and most of all LOADED with chocolate and peanut buttery goodness. Brownies, Reese's Pieces, melted chocolate, and Reese's Cups?!! I'm in, and you should be too. Enjoy!

Ingredient line-up (minus the chocolate chips and heavy cream) 

Brownie. Batter.

Fluffy Cream Cheese!!!

Oh my heavens. 

Nearly stuck my face in that little measuring cup.

In they go!

Ready for the oven!

Baked!

Yes please. 

#winning

Reese's Cheesecake Brownies
Recipe from Pip & Ebby

• 19.5 oz. box chocolate fudge brownie mix
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 12 oz. package Reese's Pieces candies
• 12 oz. bag milk chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp. whipping cream
• 12 large Reese's peanut butter cups, chopped 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.
2. Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions. Spread the brownie batter in the pan and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add the can of sweetened condensed milk and the 1/2 cup of peanut butter and beat until smooth. Stir in the Reese's Pieces candies.
4. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter and spread evenly.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on your oven) or until the cheesecake layer is set and the edges are golden brown. Cool for 30 minutes then refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Add the chocolate chips and whipping cream to a small, microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, or until the chips are melted. Stir until smooth then spread over the cheesecake layer.
7. Sprinkle the 12 chopped Reese's cups over the top. Store covered in refrigerator. 

The Ultimate Cookie Cup

After a busy week, I am finally back with a new recipe post! Phew!

On Fridays, after working all week, all I want to do is relax at home alllllll night with nothing to do. However, this past Friday the Olympics started (obviously - GO Team USA!) and I suddenly felt the urge to bake. Nothing like creating fattening treats to shovel down my throat while watching some of the most fit people waltz around my TV screen...HELP ME. 

I honestly wish I could be an Olympic athlete, but anyone who knows me realizes that this is clearly NOT possible. I have the coordination and athletic ability of a one-legged chicken. My parents even predicted my future athletic abilities at a young age...

3rd place...ugh.

While I may not ever participate in the Olympics (sigh), I will be spending every free moment I have until August 12th watching the games and I am THRILLED about this. This whole "once every four years" thing is such a tease...but makes it all the more exciting.

So I urge you all, as you too watch the Summer Olympics, to do it with one (or 5) of these Ultimate Cookie Cups in your hand. The recipe is insanely simple, all you need is pre-packaged cookie dough and peanut butter cups. You could opt to make your own dough if you like (1 tbsp. portions), but that may detract from your time spent staring at Ryan Lochte...

Enjoy these cookie cups and the 2012 Summer Olympics! Yahoo!

The Ultimate Cookie Cup (makes 24 cookie cups)

Recipe from Cookies and Cups

• 1 package Ready to Bake Sugar Cookie Dough (makes 24 cookies), room temperature
• 1 package Ready to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (makes 24 cookies), room temperature
• 24 full-sized peanut butter cups

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Let your cookie dough sit out of the refrigerator for approximately 30 minutes. If it is room temperature, it will be easier to spread around your peanut butter cup.
3. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
4. Place one portion of your sugar cookie dough on the bottom of the peanut butter cup, spreading completely over the bottom. Place one portion of your chocolate chip cookie dough on top of the peanut butter cup, spreading to cover top of the peanut butter cup. Make sure that the entire peanut butter cup is covered.
5. Place in liners and bake for 13-15 minutes.
6. Let cool in muffin pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack to continue cooling.

So easy - love it!

Try to avoid eating all of these before baking. It ain't easy...

Now cover the whole peanut butter cup!!

It's tempting to eat all 24 raw...believe me!!!

DEVOUR.

Miniature Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

Look at that Reese's poking through! Yum!

Although Father's Day just passed, I'd like to share with you all some of the treats I made for the occasion!

The boys I babysit decided they wanted to do something special for their dad. Aside from making cards and pencil holders, we decided to bake their father a special treat! The boys mentioned their dad loves cheesecake and he loves peanut butter. My first thought: find a recipe to combine the two!

We found this recipe for Miniature Peanut Butter Cheesecakes and knew it would be the perfect combo (although we knew we wanted to double it). All three of us put in effort to make these delicious bite-sized cheesecakes. It couldn't have been easier, and it's a fun recipe for kids! 

These were magnificent. For me, though, cheesecake and a Reese's could never yield a negative result, but I think you will all agree that these are delicious as well as a fun and different take on dessert! The Reese's in the middle is a nice "surprise" and I love how cute and adorable these mini treats are.

Naturally, I forgot to bring my camera to take pictures of these delicious goodies. Sorry if the iPhone photos just don't do this dessert justice.

Miniature Peanut Butter Cheesecakes

Recipe form Taste of Home

     Crust:

• 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 5 teaspoons butter, melted

     Cheesecake Filling:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons beaten egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 miniature peanut butter cups

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press onto the bottom of six paper-lined muffin cups; set aside.
2. In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until smooth. Add egg and vanilla; beat on low speed until just combined. 
3. Place a peanut butter cup in the center of each muffin cup. Then, fill the muffin cups with the cream cheese mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until center is set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Yields 6 servings.

Reeses Chocolate Chip Brownies

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Perfection

Today, my mom and I enjoyed a full day of errands around Charlotte. Shockingly enough, shopping is not one of my favorite activities, but we did wind up finding some great pieces and more importantly some great steals (it should be known that I am an EXTREME bargain hunter - TJ Maxx all the way!). We had shopped till we dropped, so to reward ourselves I decided to whip up a batch of brownies...naturally.

Now, I must admit that at the ripe age of 19, I have never made homemade brownies. I guess it's true that my generation really does like instant gratification. So, when I reached for my favorite brownie mix, Ghirardelli Double Chocolate, I wanted to spice it up a bit. That's when I noticed the bag of miniature Reeses sitting in our candy jar.

Now, I don't know about y'all, but my self-control is in the negative region at this point in my life, so needless to say I was shocked that my parents still had Reeses from Easter! It really amazed me that a person could have a bag of such chocolatey peanut butter goodness on hand for a month and not eat every last morsel. Reeses are my greatest weakness, and I would eat them on nearly everything if I could.

So, being as resourceful (and addicted) as I am, I decided it was only proper that I chop up these Reeses and pour them in the brownie mix, which itself is filled with chocolate chips. You can never have too much chocolate and you can definitely never have too many Reeses. These brownies were beyond easy to make and so ooey-gooey right out of the oven. I plopped a scoop of ice cream on one while it was hot and ate my heart out. It was a wonderful reward for my day of hard work at the mall.

Reeses Chocolate Chip Brownies

• 1 brownie box mix, prepared (I used Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix)
• 1 bag miniature Reeses, unwrapped 
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• Ice cream to top it out (I used Breyer's Smooth and Dreamy Vanilla)

Directions

1. After preparing the brownie mix according to the box's directions, chop the bag of Reeses.
2. Simply fold the Reeses into the mix until well combined.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Bake to perfection!
5. Cut,  top with your favorite flavor of ice cream, and indulge!

Hard not to eat all of these...

...but somehow I managed (yum).