No Bake Peanut Butter Squares

These are delicious!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup + 4 tablespoons peanut butter
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar, and 1 cup peanut butter until well blended. Press evenly into the bottom of an ungreased 9x9 pan.

In the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the peanut butter, stirring every 60 seconds until melted until smooth. Spread over the peanut butter layer.

Refrigerate for at least one hour before cutting into squares.

Yummy!

Cinnamon Buns to share

I found this recipe idea via Pioneer Woman; it's an easy recipe and a great way to share a sweet treat with friends, family or a neighbour! It makes enough for 7 tins of 5-6 buns a tin and they freeze well also. If you are making them in advance - then at the time you need an impromptu thank you or other, then you can simply pull it from the freezer and give to that special someone.
You could also find heart shaped tins and give these away at Valentine's or make a special label, add a cute ribbon etc. There are all kinds of creative ways to give this sweet treat to someone you love!
We had some family in helping us paint our home, so it was a perfect opportunity to give some of these away to them and have them at the house for snacks while they worked.




Ingredients:

1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon





MAPLE FROSTING:

1 bag Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Melted Butter
1/4 cup Brewed Coffee
1/8 teaspoon Salt




Directions:

Mix together the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute.

Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).

When you are ready to prepare the rolls, sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape.

Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.




For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.
Enjoy!

Pancakes

This is a great pancake recipe that I found on Justjennrecipes. It's very versatile in that you can spice it up or leave it traditional. I made them on Valentine's Day and added some melted chocolate to some of them, just a little piece of heaven inside! :)




Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups milk
Nutella or melted chocolate chips (you can use white chocolate, Reese’s chips etc. for a twist)


Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add an egg and the milk, stir until the mixture is just combined.

Make pancakes as you normally would, then place a dollop of nutella or melted chocolate in the center, top this with a little more batter to form a pocket.
Once the bubbles start to pop and the bottom is browned, carefully flip the pancake over and ta da!

A great Valentine ’s Day treat for breakfast – I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to shape these.

You can also place some strawberries, or blueberries in the middle in lieu of the chocolate mixtures.
Enjoy!