peanut butter

Crispy Peanut Butter and Honey Granola

September 20, 2013 by Erica

Crispy Peanut Butter and Honey Granola // Coffee & Quinoa

We are on a biiiit of a granola kick lately. First there was my Quinoa Crunch Granola, then there were the MixMyOwn custom mixes I mentioned yesterday, and now this delicious Crispy Peanut Butter and Honey Granola. What can I say? When I find a breakfast that my non-breakfast-eating boyfriend adores, I will knock myself out trying new combinations.

My lovely mother had the pleasure of developing this recipe with me in her kitchen, where I am definitely not used to cooking. Is it just me, or is cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen always a recipe for disaster? Not knowing where everything is makes me so frazzled. We added, we mixed, we tasted, we added and mixed and tasted some more, and still weren’t quite happy with the results… and then I burned two batches. Whyyyy. Somehow 30 minutes seemed like a totally acceptable amount of time to bake the granola without checking on it. Hmm. As you can see by the 15-minute cooking time in the recipe below, that was definitely not the case.

Crispy Peanut Butter and Honey Granola // Coffee & Quinoa

Back at home in Salt Lake, my kitchen is still somewhat unfamiliar, too, as we have yet to spend a weekend in our new apartment. The counter space, small to begin with, is still covered with dishes I haven’t found a place for yet, and all my dry goods (ahem, everything used to make granola) are in bins on the floor. Sigh. I am determined to get my kitchen ship-shape this weekend!

So yes, even during a third trial of this recipe at home, I was feeling frazzled. Luckily I kept my wits about me enough to try the addition of Rice Krispies – the ingredient that ended up totally making the recipe! They lighten up what is otherwise a very dense granola – mostly peanut butter and oats – and add a great crunchy texture. I will say that I’m not usually a fan of Rice Krispies in granola… I feel like they’re just a filler that is cheating me out of the other good stuff in there! But here, because everything is coated in a layer of gooey peanut butter and honey, that is definitely not the case. The peanut butter-drenched Rice Krispies stay a little chewy even after they’re baked, making this into a cross between granola and puppy chow, texture-wise. And the taste – yum. Peanut butter and honey is one of my favorite combinations (I eat it on my oatmeal practically every day!), and it provides the perfect balance of salty and sweet for this granola. You have to try it! It is totally addicting for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert.

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Vegan Thai Pizza

September 18, 2013 by Erica

Vegan Thai Pizza from Coffee & Quinoa

Today I come to you with a very important question: How do you eat your leftover pizza?

This is one of those conversations we’ve had about a million times in the lunchroom at work. The reason is that one co-worker, a New Yorker and self-proclaimed pizza snob, refuses to microwave his leftover pizza. He claims it makes the crust soggy and ruins the pizza. Another former co-worker was dead-set against eating cold any food that was supposed to be eaten hot, and found it completely unacceptable not to microwave leftovers. And soooo this same topic was hashed out and re-hashed whenever anyone brought pizza for lunch.

Vegan Thai Pizza from Coffee & Quinoa

Me, I’m not against microwaving pizza. If I’m at home, I’ll use the toaster oven instead to crisp up the crust, but at work (or at home now that our toaster doesn’t seem to have survived the move) I’ll stick it in the microwave. I’d usually rather do that than eat cold food – eating a cold lunch in our over-air-conditioned office makes me sad. But I discovered that what I really like to do (and this goes for all leftovers, not just pizza) is to take one bite cold and then heat up the rest. I’m not sure why… maybe I’m just impatient? Or I like to take the opportunity to see what the dish tastes like cold, which I obviously didn’t have the night before when it was fresh? It’s a mystery, and it might be quirky, but that’s just what I like to do.

People have strong feelings about their pizza, clearly. I’m not too picky, other than my preferred reheating method – it all sounds good to me, and that’s probably the reason that I love the idea of this vegan Thai pizza. With neither tomatoes nor cheese, this is clearly not your typical New York- or Italian-style pizza. Instead, it’s made with a peanut butter sauce and veggies that roast to a crunchy perfection as it cooks. It’s actually kind of like the pizza version of my favorite noodle dish! I think it’s clear that we can add a peanut sauce to anything and I’m in love.

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Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

March 21, 2013 by Erica

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

Happy birthday to meeee!

I turn 26 today. Probably not the most exciting age, but still one I hope will bring good things.

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

25 was a great year. It wasn’t full of huge changes or excitement, but I’d like to think I started spending more time on things I enjoy over the past year. I’m definitely feeling happy at the end of 25, so I can only hope 26 brings more of the same!

No big celebrations planned for 26. In case you don’t know, I kind of dread being the center of attention, so I sometimes find my birthday a bit embarrassing. Weird, I know. Last year Nate threw me a surprise party, which was amazing – I was SO surprised! – but I asked him pleeeease not to do that this year, because I just can’t handle it! My last surprise party before that was my 16th birthday, so hopefully I have another 10 years or so before the next one. On the 9 birthdays in between, I prefer just a romantic dinner with my sweetie!

Something else I think I’ll want on my birthday for the next 9 years? These cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

Peanut butter cupcakes with a banana buttercream frosting. If that doesn’t make your heart skip a beat, I’m not sure what will.

I have been on a huuuuge peanut butter kick recently. Recently, like for the past year. Peanut butter dolloped on my oatmeal, spread on my fruit, melted over vanilla ice cream and a brownie (what?), and blended into my smoothies and salad dressings. And these cupcakes are pretty much my ultimate peanut butter lovin’ creation.

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

As they should be; it took me THREE batches of cupcakes and FOUR batches of icing to perfect this combination. (Well, one of the batches of cupcakes was because I managed to double everything except the flour… details.) These cupcakes aren’t fussy or anything, it’s just that I wanted to make sure I had the perfect cake+icing combo to celebrate my birthday. At one point I tried to use a peanut butter frosting with the peanut butter cupcakes. I thought it was delicious, but was informed by Nate that we might as well be eating peanut butter straight from the jar. I told him not to be silly… these are much healthier than straight PB! Kidding. But I’m glad I listened, because these cupcakes and this soft buttery banana icing are meant to be together.

And as a compromise, I snuck a little extra smear of peanut butter onto each cupcake before I iced them.

Heaven!

But OMG the frosting. Let’s not forget to talk about it. It is buttery, banana-y bliss. I wasn’t too sure how a banana would fare in a frosting, but it turns out the answer is VERY WELL. As long as you use a ripe, fresh banana. First I tried using an overripe banana I had defrosted from my freezer (cause those are delicious in smoothies and banana bread), but it turns out that was the wrong choice. (Remember how I had to make four different frostings?) But use a fresh banana here and I promise you’ll want to bathe in this frosting. For real.

Also, I should mention that it seems to keep well. I was a little nervous about it turning brown as bananas tend to do while the cupcakes sat in my fridge for a few days, but that wasn’t the case. Just as purdy as on day one!

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

Wishing I could reach into my computer and grab that little cupcake right now. It’s my birthday, so I can totally lick the frosting off, right?

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

5.0 from 1 reviews

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

Hands-on time

25 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

Author: Erica

Yields: 10-12 cupcakes

Ingredients

For the peanut butter cupcakes:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2/3 cup milk (I used plain unsweetened almond milk)

For the banana buttercream:

1 ripe banana, mashed (not overripe!)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
3 cups powdered sugar

To top (optional):

Peanut butter
Finely chopped toasted peanuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 and place liners in cupcake tins.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar for several minutes until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
In a separate medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the peanut butter mixture, alternating with the almond milk, beating well after each addition.
Spoon batter into lined cupcake tins, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out with moist crumbs, 18-20 minutes. Remove and cool completely before frosting.
While cupcakes cool, make frosting. With a hand mixer (or stand mixer if you have one!), cream together the banana, butter, lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Beat in the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, until you have a creamy and spreadable frosting.
Once cupcakes are completely cool, spread each with a thin layer of peanut butter, about a 1/2 teaspoon (optional). Spread or pipe with icing and sprinkle immediately with crushed peanuts, if using.
Enjoy!

Notes

Adapted from Eat, Live, Run and AllRecipes.com.

Peanut Butter Birthday Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream Frosting

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties)

February 8, 2013 by Erica

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) | coffeeandquinoa.com

You guyssss. It’s coming up on that time of year again. The time that we all look forward to, without wanting to admit we’re looking forward to it.

Girl Scout cookie time!!!!

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) | coffeeandquinoa.com

Except this year I couldn’t wait.

And that’s how I made this dangerous discovery: That you can have homemade Girl Scout cookies year round.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) | coffeeandquinoa.com

I blame this on my friend Jacquey.

Jacquey brought these over a few weeks ago when we were watching The Bachelor. I assume she was doing the same thing I do when I bring treats into work – getting them out of her house so she wouldn’t eat them all. Maybe not. Jacquey is fabulous, has lots of self control, and would probably never eat a cookie with her breakfast just because it was there.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) | coffeeandquinoa.com

Anyway, it worked. I ate them all instead. Then I made several more batches, and ate those too. Thanks a lot, Jacquelyn.

These are like crack to me. They are just like tagalongs/peanut butter patties, but better. Better because they are bigger… they basically have twice as much of everything in one cookie.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) } coffeeandquinoa.com

Side note: Did you call these tagalongs or peanut butter patties growing up? They were definitely peanut butter patties in New England, but I’m now smack in the middle of tagalong country. That was pretty weird for me last year when I went to buy Girl Scout cookies here for the first time, but I think I’m OK with it now. A rose by any other name…

Well, whatever you call these, they have always been my faaaavorite Girl Scout cookie. Sure, I like thin mints. I might even make some of those soon. But the peanut butter patty, despite its unsexy name, just can’t be beat for me. Thinking back to my childhood Girl Scout cookie obsession, the only bummer was that there were so few peanut butter patties in a box. Remember that?! Thin mints came in sleeves of like 18, with multiple sleeves per box, and I’m pretty sure that each box of peanut butter patties only contained 12. Same price. So unfair. The thin mint was definitely the best bang for your buck.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) } coffeeandquinoa.com

Once again… enter the homemade peanut butter patty. No more feeling like you should have bought thin mints so you could get 3x as many cookies. Now you just need an extra jar of peanut butter and you are good. to. go.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) } coffeeandquinoa.com

These cookies, believe it or not, are super easy to make, and have only 3 ingredients (plus an optional garnish). But it’s worth saying a few words about the ingredients you use here:

Think like you were Brownie age again, instead of the incredible health-conscious home chef you are today. That means no homemade gluten-free crackers, no all-natural peanut butter, no high-quality dark chocolate. Straight up Ritz crackers, Skippy, and chocolate bark.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) } coffeeandquinoa.com

Embrace it. They are better this way, trust me.

I made two other versions of these, one with milk chocolate chips and one with dark chocolate. They didn’t even come close to the chocolate bark version. Chocolate bark doesn’t taste great when it’s melted (it’s very sweet), but once it’s hardened, it’s really what makes these taste like Girl Scout Cookies and not just chocolate peanut butter Ritz crackers.

If you’ve never heard of chocolate bark before (umm, I hadn’t), it is just a big chocolate slab that you can probably find in the baking aisle at your grocery store for $1.99. As far as I can tell, it’s just melted-down scraps from other chocolates. It also seems to have a pretty high fat content, because it stays nice and melty while you’re dipping these peanut butter Ritz sandwiches in it, which I found was not the case with chocolate chips. But if you’d rather use chocolate chips, dark chocolate, etc., I might suggest adding a bit of butter or coconut oil to it if you have trouble with the dipping.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) | coffeeandquinoa.com

Just look at that little tin of heaven… I really can’t emphasize enough how good these are. I thought I liked Girl Scout cookies… until I had these. I may never spend $4 on 12 peanut butter patties again.

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) | coffeeandquinoa.com

Last but not least, I need to give a birthday shout-out to my little sister Alban, who is 19 today! Happy birthday sister! Hope you are having a wonderful start to your birthday, and that it includes real-life sweets :)

That’s all for today, folks! Happy Friday – have a great weekend!

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties) | coffeeandquinoa.com

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties)

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

4o Ritz crackers

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Skippy)

8 oz. chocolate bark

sprinkles, sea salt, chopped roasted peanuts, etc. for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

First, make peanut butter and Ritz sandwiches, using almost 2 tsp of peanut butter in each sandwich.

Melt chocolate bark in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each.

Dip each peanut butter Ritz sandwich in chocolate, coating completely. I like to use a fork to turn the sandwich over a few times and make sure it’s totally covered in chocolate before removing it.

Set chocolate-covered cookies on a baking sheet. (Unlined is fine.) If desired, garnish with sprinkles, sea salt, or crushed peanuts.

Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up. Once firm, store in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also keep them in the fridge, but bring to room temperature before serving. Will keep for several days.

Time:

30 minutes

Weekend + Gingery Peanut Soba Noodles

November 12, 2012 by Erica

Good morning. How was your weekend?

Mine was SNOWY.

We got over a foot of snow here in Salt Lake, and about 4 feet up in the mountains! That means skiing next weekend for sure. Hooray!

Friday night Nate and I braved the storm to go out for dinner at Sage’s Cafe, our favorite vegan restaurant (slash only vegan restaurant we’ve tried) in Salt Lake.

We ate so much food! We split the bruschetta to start. This is my entree, the picadillo vegetariano. It was delicious and full of spices – I will definitely be recreating it at home sometime soon. Nate got a pasta ragout special that was also yummy. And then we had dessert – brownie and ice cream with peanut sauce for me, chocolate raspberry cake for Nate. We should have split a dessert… mine put me over the edge!

It snowed pretty much the rest of the weekend, so I holed up inside and cooked and baked up a storm. So much fun! And also very tiring. But it means I have plenty of food to share with you this week! Luckily I did bundle up and make it to yoga and the gym, although it was still probably not enough activity to offset all the sampling I did while cooking :)

Speaking of cooking, let’s get to the recipe part of this post.

These noodles actually weren’t part of my weekend cooking extravaganza; I made them last Thursday night. Healthy, tasty, and ready in 20 minutes flat – if that’s not a recipe for weeknight success, I don’t know what is! They are my favorite thing to whip up when I get home in the dark after work and yoga and we have no leftovers and I am HUNGRY. And the best part is that while I’m at it, I get to use up any extra vegetables that are lurking in my crisper causing guilt.

There’s really no wrong way to make this dish. I usually aim to have about equal parts noodles and vegetables. You can throw any veggies you like in here, and even better if they are ones that often appear in Asian dishes (I happened to have broccoli, carrots, a red pepper, and some frozen edamame this week). You can also add cubed tofu in for protein, which I usually do but forgot this week. Roasted peanuts and green onions on top are also yummy if you have those lying around. But what reallllly makes this dish is the sauce! I love love love peanut sauce and could eat it on pretty much anything. Thank goodness Nate feels the same way!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Gingery Peanut Soba Noodles

Hands-on time

15 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

20 mins

This perfect weeknight meal is healthy, tasty and ready in 20 minutes flat.

Author: Erica

Yields: 4

Ingredients

5 oz soba noodles
8 oz extra-firm tofu, cubed (optional)
Chopped vegetables - I used:
1 red bell pepper
2 carrots
2 crowns broccoli
1 cup frozen edamame
1 Tbsp reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Sauce:
1 knob ginger, chopped or grated (about 2 Tbsp)
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp rice wine
1/3 cup reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
chopped fresh cilantro for sprinkling

Instructions

First, prep the vegetables, ginger and optional tofu. (If I don't do this first, I tend to let the noodles cook too long.)
Next, heat water for the soba noodles. Once boiling, add noodles and remove from heat. Let soak for several minutes, until tender but not mushy. This really takes almost no time at all, so keep a close eye on them! Strain and rinse in cold water, then set aside.
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add vegetables and saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in tamari, sesame oil, and optional tofu and continue sauteing a few more minutes until tofu is heated through and veggies are slightly softened.
While vegetables are sauteing, mix the peanut sauce. Add all sauce ingredients (ginger through red pepper flakes) to a small bowl and (ideally) blend with an immersion blender. Whisking will also work fine - just make sure to chop the ginger as finely as possible beforehand.
To serve, divide soba noodles among individual bowls. Add vegetables and top with peanut sauce and cilantro. Enjoy with a big mug of green tea!

Notes

Peanut sauce from Eat, Live, Run http://www.eatliverun.com/peanut-soba-noodle-bowls/

Have a good start to your week!

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