Peanut Butter Chocolate Squares

Every time I use the oven in our apartment it's as if I've called upon the heating power of the Sun. Now that it's averaging 85 outside, me making dishes like Mexican stuffed shells, Southwest Egg Rolls, and Hot Ham and Cheese buns is akin to baking myself with the food. And forget about cookies.

Dessert is a real issue because I have a ridiculous sweet tooth, strongly dislike store bought cookies and pastries, and certainly can't bake anything at the moment. What's a gal to do? Then I came across this Kraft recipe and heard the Hallelujah chorus singing the praises of a no-bake treat incorporating peanut butter and chocolate. So I had to try them.

Not only do these babies not use an oven, but you don't even need to use the stove! Just pop everything that needs melting (aka butter and chocolate) into the microwave. To make these SORT OF healthier, I used natural peanut butter consisting of peanuts and salt rather than a brand like Skippy, Kraft, or JIF filled with preservatives and sugar. If you keep yours in the fridge like I do, just microwave it for 10-15 seconds to soften.

One thing the recipe mentions is "precutting" or outlining squares in the melted chocolate before refrigerating. Me being an expert at cooking, I thought that was totally unnecessary and didn't follow directions so when it came time to cut them, the hardened chocolate caused a bunch of random breaks. Lesson learned.

How do they look?

Are you drooling yet? 

Yes, they taste as good as they look.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Squares

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup all-natural peanut butter
1-1/2 pkgs semi-sweet baking squares (12 squares total)

Line a 9x13 dish with foil, folding it over the sides.

Melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl on HIGH for 45 seconds. If there are still chunks, continue melting at 10-20 second intervals.

Add powdered sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and peanut butter. Mix well. Use your hands if you need to... I did ;) Lay out and press down in the dish then let chill for a several minutes while you prepare the chocolate.

Unwrap and break all the squares in half. Put them all in another microwave safe bowl and cook on HIGH for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Spread over peanut butter then precut squares in the soft chocolate. Refrigerate 1 hour then serve.

All Hail "The Sandwich"

There’s nothing better than a good sandwich. Okay so that might be an exaggeration but seriously, a good sandwich is priceless. The basic idea of sandwiches was GENIUS: use bread flavored with condiments to hold together meat, cheese, and (optional) vegetables. It’s easy to make, portable, and there are endless flavor combinations.

I didn’t always like sandwiches, though (gasp!). God love her, my mom made terrible sandwiches for school lunches, with the exception of peanut butter and jelly and tuna salad. I would thank my lucky stars for pizza nights because my parents would order enough to eat leftovers for lunch the next day!

For years, the sandwiches consisted of Miracle Whip, white bread, meat, and cheese. To me, any form of mayonnaise not disguised by a bunch of other ingredients is a sin: I still to this day NEVER use it as a condiment unless I’m making tuna sandwiches: my one exception. White bread—even from my uncle’s bakery—is not my first (or third or fifth) choice for bread: I’m a whole-wheat kinda gal.

So what’s wrong with meat and cheese? Well, nothing’s wrong with lunchmeat—I’m partial to ham and roast beef—and cheeses like Swiss and Provolone. However, my mom loved her olive loaf (yes that’s a real thing), pickle loaf (hated all things pickled until a couple years ago… and I’m still cautious around the “P” word), American cheese which is NOT cheese, and liver sausage: the worst food creation known to man. And if a sandwich consisting of white bread, a generous heap of mayo, and liver sausage wasn’t bad enough, my mom would slap on pickle relish—a condiment I have never and will never like. The Perfect Storm of nauseating sandwich horribleness.

Middle school hit and I demanded to make my own sandwiches, using mustard, ham or turkey, Swiss, and lettuce and tomato. There’s something about the crunch of fresh vegetables that make a sandwich delightful. My point? Good sandwiches are not easy. Some chefs claim it’s in the bread, others the ingredients, and others in the preparation (hot/cold/roasted/grilled)—I say it’s everything.

So what’s my favorite sandwich? Well, I could never decide on all the delicious restaurant options, but my favorite make-at-home amateur sandwich is Peanut Butter Honey and Banana on Wheat. Though I make a mean Panini and an even meaner grilled cheese, I could eat PBHB sandwiches pretty much every day. They’re sweet, salty, fruity: amazing.

How do you like your sandwiches? Are you as picky as I am? Do you hate them with every fiber of your being?