Category Archives: peanut butter

Peanut Butter Caramel Corn

I’ve been holding out on you.

This recipe? These pictures? They’re from last summer! I did a bunch of work ahead so I could spend time with my family in New Mexico, which was a good idea, in theory. The trouble is, I forgot to write down the finished recipe, so I had to wait until I had a spare moment to re-test it…and that didn’t happen until about two weeks ago.

What can I say? I’m busy.

Please believe me when I tell you this one was worth the wait though. I mean, it’s Peanut Butter Caramel Corn. How could it possibly be anything but wonderful?!

Oh yes, all the crispy, crunchy, sweet and glossy deliciousness you love about traditional caramel corn is here, but with a big punch of peanut butter. Roasted peanuts optional, but recommended.

If you’re intimidated by the idea of making your own caramel corn, fear not! The caramel coating is made with my go-to no-stir method—just toss all the ingredients together and let them do their thing. Trust me!

When it’s ready, toss the peanut butter caramel with a whole bunch of plain popcorn (and peanuts!) and bake it low and slow until it’s super glossy and your kitchen smells amazing.

This recipe for Peanut Butter Caramel Corn makes a huge batch and keeps for two weeks, which is a good thing because you’re going to want to bring it everywhere. It’s a positively dreamy addition to just about any occasion. Family vacations, movie nights, picnics, beach days, cookouts, sitting around in your pajama—whatever you’ve got going on, this is *the* thing to bring. Just promise me you won’t wait a year to make it.

Peanut Butter Caramel Corn
makes about 12 cups

1 tablespoon neutral-flavored oil
3/4 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
1 1/2 cups peanuts (optional)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, sliced into 8 pieces
3 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup creamy-style peanut butter (not natural-style)

Pour oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot. Add 4-5 popcorn kernels. Heat over medium heat until kernels begin to pop. Add remaining kernels and cover with lid, leaving it a little bit ajar. Jostle constantly while popcorn pops, until pops are 2-3 seconds apart. Do not burn.

Remove pot from heat and pour popcorn into a bowl. Measure popcorn to ensure there are 12 cups. Set aside excess or pop more, as needed to meet the 12-cup requirement for this recipe. Add roasted peanuts, if using.

Preheat oven to 250F. Heavily grease two rimmed sheet pans, your largest mixing bowl, and 2 silicone spatulas with oil or non-stick spray. Put popped popcorn in the bowl. Set aside.

Without stirring or jostling, combine sugar, light corn syrup, honey, salt, butter and water in a 4-quart pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil 5 minutes. Do not stir. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda; be careful, mixture will bubble up violently. Whisk in peanut butter.

Pour peanut butter caramel over popcorn and use greased spatulas to toss together. Do not touch any coated pieces that fly out of the bowl—the molten sugar will burn you. Wait til they cool a bit before picking them up.

Divide coated popcorn among sheet pans. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Line a sheet pan or a surface with parchment. Pour baked popcorn on top. Let cool to room temperature. Serve.

Leftover Peanut Butter Caramel Corn will keep in a ziptop bag for up to 2 weeks. It may soften slightly on humid days.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies

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Back to school season always puts me in the mood for peanut butter and jelly. This classic sandwich combo was my favorite school lunch growing up, and is quickly becoming a favorite dessert flavor, hence today’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies!

These two-bite treats are for those of us who like a little jelly with our peanut butter. The cookies themselves are just miniature versions of my favorite soft peanut butter cookie recipe. It’s a quick no-mixer, no-chill recipe that bakes up in a flash. Truly, the most tedious part of the entire process is rolling the tiny cookie dough balls, and that’s really no trouble at all!

While the cookies are baking and cooling, whip up a small batch of sweet & salty peanut butter buttercream filling. This stuff is irresistible—light and smooth and about as peanut buttery as it is possible to be! I have big plans to use this recipe for future layer cakes, but today it’s going between two tiny peanut butter cookies with a little bit of jelly for maximum late-August nostalgia.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies are everything great about the classic psandwich, just smaller and for dessert! The cookies are peanut buttery and tender, and the filling—I mean, do I need to describe the majestic deliciousness of peanut butter buttercream?! A hint of jelly rounds it all out. Basically, they taste like nostalgia feels, but better. All the flavor and none of the studying.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies
makes about 3 dozen sandwich cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Filling:
Peanut Butter Buttercream (recipe below)
heaping 1/2 cup jelly of choice (I used strawberry)

Set oven racks in central positions. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.

In a small-medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Combine butter and peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted. This may also be done in a small pot on the stove over medium-low heat.

Transfer butter/peanut butter to a medium mixing bowl and whisk in brown sugar, followed by egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients in two installments, stirring until a combined.

Scoop dough in 1/2 tablespoon (1 1/2 teaspoons) increments, roll into balls and place 2-inches apart on prepared pans. Bake 8-9 minutes, until puffed and no longer raw looking. Let cool on the pans for 7-10 minutes before removing to a rack to cool completely. Let baking sheets return to room temperature before rolling and baking any remaining dough.

While cookies are cooling, make Peanut Butter Buttercream (recipe below). There are two options for filling:

1. To assemble a sandwich cookie by piping, apply filling by pipe a circle in the middle of the underside of one cookie, leaving about 1/4" around the edge. Top with 1/2 teaspoon jelly, then a second plain cookie with the underside filling-side-in. Repeat until all cookies have been used.

2. To assemble a sandwich cookie by spreading, use an offset frosting knife to spread 1/2-1 teaspoon on the underside of one cookie. Top with 1/2 teaspoon jelly, the a second plain cookie with the underside filling-side-in. Repeat until all cookies have been used.

You may serve cookies immediately, but for best structure (minimal filling escaping during bites) let cookies rest at room temperature for an hour.

Sandwich cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Layer them with parchment or wax paper when storing.

Peanut Butter Buttercream
makes enough for 1 batch of sandwich cookies 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter 
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 
3/4 cup confectioners sugar 
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream (or milk)

In a medium mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and peanuts butter until light and fluffy (about two minutes). Mix in confectioner's sugar and salt, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add in vanilla, followed by heavy cream (or milk). Beat on high for 1-2 minutes, until very fluffy.

Friday Favorites: Peanut Butter Cookies

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I have a couple of new peanut butter recipes coming up in the next few weeks, so I thought I’d do a peanut butter round-up today. That is, until I then I went through my recipe index and realized that I have written a lot of peanut butter recipes. Like…a lot. I just really like peanut butter, I guess. So, instead of doing an endless round-up, I’m sticking to peanut butter cookies today.

I mean, what’s better than a homemade peanut butter cookie?! From soft to crunchy to vegan & gluten-free to loaded with oats and candy, there’s no wrong way to get your peanut butter cookie on this weekend! Here is some inspiration from my archives.

Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies

If you’re looking for a dreamy soft & chewy peanut butter cookie recipe, this is it. You won’t need a mixer or to budget time for a chill, and you can swap in any mix-ins you like (or leave them out entirely). If you’re the kind of person who likes peanut butter with their peanut butter though, I highly recommend getting your hands on some Reese’s Pieces.

Crispy, Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies

The polar opposite of my Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies, this old-fashioned recipe was inspired by the cookies at my family’s favorite road trip stop. Made with simple ingredients, crosshatched with a fork and baked until crunchy, these are a classic.

Peanut Butter Cookies {Vegan, Grain-Free}

Peanut butter’s texture, protein, and fat content mean it works extremely well in gluten- and grain-free baking. These cookies have a short ingredient list and include a vegan egg substitute that you likely already have: aquafaba! And that’s to say nothing of that glossy chocolate drizzle.

One Big Peanut Butter Cookie, Two Ways

Here are not one, but two more vegan, gluten-free peanut butter cookie recipes! Either way you bake this recipe, you’ll end up with a single cookie big enough for just one or two people. If you’re the sort of person who doesn’t share your peanut butter, these are for you.

Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies are a peanut butter cookie classic! Made with oats, chocolate chips and M&Ms, they’re chewy, sweet and salty—so good.

What’s your favorite way to make peanut butter cookies? Let me know in the comments or on social media!

Homemade Peanut Butter Shell

One Big Peanut Butter Cookie, Two Ways

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This is my fifth single-serving cookie recipe. Or fifth and sixth, if you want to get technical.

You see, when I set out to make One Big Peanut Butter Cookie, I had just planned to make it one way: the classic cross-hatched way. But then I realized that at least a few of you would ask “can I put chocolate chips in it?” so I got real wild and made a second version, and then I put them together in this one lone post. You’re welcome, super-small-batch cookie bakers of the internet.

This is yet another twist on the classic three ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe that has been around since long before it ever occurred to me that baking might scratch all my creative itches. You’d think a three ingredient recipe (1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 large egg) would be pretty difficult to manipulate more than once or twice, but I’ve managed it many times. This is my fifth (?) vegan variation, and as none contains any flour, they’re all gluten-free too.

The method here is simple. Use a fork to whisk together two tablespoons each of peanut butter and packed brown sugar. Add some cornstarch and water to bind, some salt for balance, and a teensy bit of baking soda for lift. Though baking soda cannot be replaced in most recipes, here you can swap baking powder in as the leavener with the only major difference being that your cookie will be a touch lighter in color.

This is where things get exciting (as far as cookie baking goes). You can either roll this dough into a ball, coat it in granulated sugar and crosshatch it with a fork, or you can mix in chocolate chips and flatten it slightly with the heel of your hand. You could even nix the sugar coating or use M&Ms as your mix-in! Do whatever makes your little dessert-for-one heart sing. However you choose to proceed, your cookie will need to bake for about 12 minutes in a 350F oven.

Once it’s cool enough to handle, your minimal effort will be rewarded with one of *the* peanut butteriest peanut butter cookies you’ve ever had. Sweet, salty, rich & thick, studded with chocolate or not, this is one hell of a dessert for one. Or…two…hells?

Who’s writing this thing?

Have a great weekend, y’all. Make yourself a cookie (or two).

One Big Peanut Butter Cookie, Two Ways
makes 1 large cookie, about 1-2 servings

2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (not natural-style)
2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar, packed
1/8 teaspoon baking soda*
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon water

If making a classic peanut butter cookie:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for rolling (optional)

If making a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie:
2 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips + more for topping (use dairy-free for a vegan cookie)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.

In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together peanut butter and brown sugar. Add baking soda, salt, cornstarch and water, and whisk to combine. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to make sure your dough is fully combined.

If making a classic peanut butter cookie, place granulated sugar in a shallow dish. Use your hands to form dough into a ball, then gently roll the ball in the sugar to coat. Place on the prepared pan.

If making a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie, use your silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in chocolate chips. Use your hands to form dough into a ball and place on prepared pan. Dot the top with more chocolate chips (for aesthetic purposes), if desired. Use the heel of your hand to press down gently on the dough, just so that the dough is a 1-inch thick puck.

For both cookie variations, bake for 12-13 minutes or until puffed and no longer raw-looking.

Let cookie cool on the pan for at least 10 minutes before using a spatula to remove it to a plate. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Note:

An equal volume of baking powder will work in place of baking soda. The cookie it produces will be a bit paler, but still delicious. I do not recommend swapping baking soda and baking powder in any other recipes.

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sweets & sass from a baking brooklynite.