Category Archives: no-bake

reese’s pieces popcorn

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In my ongoing quest to feed my (seemingly) endless desire for sweets without having to turn on an oven or stove, I came back around to popcorn.

Yes, popcorn.

Remember that tasty s’mores popcorn from a few weeks back?  Well, BF has been asking for it over and over again.  Me being the wonderful girlfriend that I am, instead of giving it to him, I made him something else!

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Something I was pretty sure that he would still love.  Filled with one of his favorite candies.  And I made it so that I could eat it too, by adding lots and lots of extra peanut butter.  I know that we’ve recently exchanged words about my sentiment toward Reese’s Pieces, but I do still love peanut butter, and I had another half bag of adorable mini Reese’s Pieces to use up.

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See that? Easy peasy!

Reese’s Pieces Popcorn

Makes about 10 cups popcorn

Printable Recipe

  • 1 3-ounce bag microwave popcorn, popped
  • generous sprinkle of salt, to taste
  • ½ cup white chocolate or vanilla chips
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • ½ cup mini Reeses Pieces

1.  Spread popped popcorn on a large rimmed baking sheet.

2.  Microwave peanut butter and vanilla chips in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so,  until melted.  Drizzle half of the peanut butter mixture over popcorn and sprinkle with a generous helping of salt.  Toss to coat.

3.  Sprinkle Reese’s Pieces over popcorn, and drizzle remaining peanut butter in a pretty, haphazard pattern.  Allow to cool completely.  This popcorn is best eaten the day it’s made, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days.

 

 

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cookies & cream krispies

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We are no strangers to rice krispy treats in this house, they are one of the BF’s favorite foods.  Especially when he gets to use cocoa krispies for them.

These bars were basically made for us, combining his love of rice krispy treats and my deep love of Oreos unite to create an amazing cookie-filled krispy treat.  BF made them all by himself (well, with the help of my owl apron), and they were delicious.

aaron cocoa krispy treats

I noticed that (possibly due to Oreo cookie magic?) they stay fresh way longer than regular krispy treats.  We kept eating them all week long.  After they were gone, I may or may not have sniffed the container.

They’re that good.

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Cookies & Cream Krispies

Printable Recipe

  • 1 (10.5 ounce) bag of mini marshmallows
  • 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 cups Cocoa Krispies (could use regular crisp rice cereal, if desired)
  • 3 cups Oreos, coarsely chopped

1.  Line a 9 x 13-inch pan with saran wrap, then grease with butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2.  Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.  Once melted, add the marshmallows and stir with a silicone spatula until melted.

*Alternatively, you can melt the butter in a large bowl in the microwave, then add marshmallows and microwave until melted, stirring every 30 seconds or so.

3.  Add cocoa krispies and chopped cookies to marshmallow mixtures and stir until well-mixed.  You are going to need all of your arm muscles for this, so I hope you’ve been working out!

4.  Press mixture into prepared 9 x 13-inch pan and set aside to cool and firm up, about an hour or two.  (Or about 30 minutes in the fridge).  Once cooled, cut into bars and enjoy!  They will keep for about a week in an airtight container at room temperature.

 

 

 

reeses pieces no-bake peanut butter pie

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It’s no secret that I love Reese’s.  If “Reese’s” was a real man, he would need a restraining order against me.

What is a lesser-known thing about me, is that I hate Reese’s pieces.  To me, they are the bastard child of the Reese’s corporation.  It’s weird, I know, because I love peanut butter so much (along with just about every other item that Reese’s makes), but these pieces… they just don’t do it for me.  I think it’s because they lack the flavor contrast provided by the chocolate, nor do they have the saltiness that gives peanut butter such a special place in my heart.

They’re just… bland.  Or something.

I don’t know what it is but I just don’t like them.  (Give me a bag of peanut butter M&Ms, however, and I will eat it until I’m sick to my stomach)

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But the BF, he loves Reese’s pieces.  With a passion.  They are pretty much his most favorite thing ever.  Clearly if the person I love could love something so much, it can’t be all bad, right?

So, I tried to make something that would satisfy both his love of Reese’s pieces, and my love of everything else that is peanut butter in the world.

Turns out that he’s onto something, because this pie is pretty awesome.

This pie makes up for everything those poor pieces lack on their own, like chocolate.  The pieces even help the pie out a bit, too, by offering a nice crunch to complement the otherwise creamy texture.  In fact, I think that without the pieces, the pie might even be a little too creamy… if that’s really a thing?

I mean, you don’t want your mouth to get bored when you’re eating dessert.  “Too creamy” will do that.  Bore your mouth.

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A little salty, a little sweet, a little creamy and a little crunch.  Yeah, this pie has pretty much the best of everything… no boredom here.

And, if you’re not too fancy for a store-bought Oreo crust, you don’t even need to turn on the oven!  Which is going to be a popular thing around here this month, since we are battling an excruciating heat wave.

It was 119 over the weekend.

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So yeah… I’m not trying to turn the oven on anytime soon.

In fact, it’s been so hot that I’ve been thinking about testing that whole “baking cookies in your car” thing to see if it really works.  I mean, if it works, what better place to test it?  Put the cookies in my car on my lunch break, let them bake in the sun, get into a car that smells like fresh-baked cookies after work… I don’t see any way that this could possibly go wrong.

I’ve made this dessert in another way, once upon a time ago.  I’m pretty sure all the pictures were taken with my old-school cell phone a million years ago.  But this, this is a faster, easier version.  If you want to make it the hard way, feel free to make every ounce of it from scratch following the directions here.

But since it’s summer, and it’s hot, and this is all about takin’ it easy, I recommend you follow this one below:

Reese’s Pieces No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie

Printable Recipe

Makes 1 9-inch pie

  • 1 9-inch Oreo pie crust (homemade or store bought)

  • 1 cup chopped Reese’s Pieces, I chopped mine, but I’m sure that’s not really necessary

  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • 2 cups whipped topping (like Cool Whip), thawed (freshly-whipped cream works, but ya know, we’re being lazy)

  • ½ cup powdered sugar

  • 6 ounces cream cheese, room temp

  • 1 cup peanut butter (I always use Jif Creamy)

  • 2 Tbsp whole milk (I used 2% and the world did not collapse)

  • ½ cup heavy cream

  • 4 oz bittersweet (I used leftover semisweet mini chips) chocolate, chopped

1.  Toss chopped Reese’s Pieces, mini chocolate chips, and salt in a small bowl; set aside.

2.  In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese with powdered sugar. Start slow, once incorporated mix at medium speed until cream cheese is smooth. Beat in peanut butter, milk, and ¼ cup of the “crunch”.

3. Stir in ¼ of the whipped cream to lighten the mixture.  Once incorporated, stir in the rest of the “crunch” mixture (I left some aside to sprinkle on top). Then gently fold in the remaining whipped cream, being sure to scrape the bottom.

4. Pour peanut butter mixture into the crust and smooth the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Cover with plastic wrap once the mousse firms.

5. To finish, heat heavy cream in the microwave until almost boiling (about 2 – 3 minutes).  Add the chopped chocolate (I used leftover mini chocolate chips) and stir vigorously with a fork until it’s smooth and shiny. Pour the “ganache” over the pie, and smooth (or tilt the pie) to cover the top. Sprinkle with reserved crunch (if you saved some) and place the pie back in the refrigerator to set for at least 20 minutes.

s’more popcorn

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Summer has arrived in Arizona, with our highs consistently in the upper 90s and 100s I know that no-burn days a right around the corner.  No burn days are these horrible things that were invented to prevent humans  from enjoying delicious s’mores.  They SAY it’s for air quality, but I’m pretty sure they just hate happiness.

And s’mores.

So every summer these terrible days stand between me and a delicious s’more… and trust me, you DO NOT want to be between me and my dessert.  That is not a safe place for anyone to be.

So what can I do?  Plan ahead.

A good contingency plan can be the difference between life and death, people.  LIFE AND DEATH.

So how will I feed my s’more addiction when I can’t roast marshmallows?  HOW!?

BF came to the rescue on this one, when he sent me this post from Buzzfeed.  I was not surprised to see that I had all of the necessary ingredients on hand.

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Thus I discovered what is one of the easiest and most delicious snacks of all time.  The only thing that would have made it better is if I had Golden Grahams in the pantry.  I think they would’ve actually worked better than just the crushed graham crackers, but then maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to make this again.

I used  this “simply salted” popcorn which has just a hint of salt, leaving it like a blank canvas on which to paint my flavor brush.  Sure popping popcorn isn’t rocket science, but when it means one less pan to clean, how can I resist?

I can’t.

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S’more Popcorn

Makes about 10 cups s’more popcorn

Printable Recipe

  • 1 3-oz. bag microwave popcorn, popped (or 10 cups popped popcorn)
  • 4 Tbsp. butter
  • One 10-oz. bag mini marshmallows, divided
  • 1 sleeve graham crackers (9 crackers) or a generous sprinkling of Golden Grahams cereal
  • ½ cup mini chocolate chips
  • Salt to taste

1. Pop popcorn according to package directions – 2 minutes and 25 seconds is the magic time in case you were wondering.  At least for our microwave it seems to be.  You could also pop popcorn on the stovetop if you wanna be all old-fashioned-like.  Spread popcorn on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with crumbled graham crackers.

2. Heat butter, half of the chocolate chips, and half of the marshmallows in the microwave until the butter is melted, stir to combine.

3. Drizzle marshmallow mixture evenly over the popcorn and toss to combine.

4. Once the popcorn is well-coated with the marshmallow mixture, add the unmelted marshmallows and chocolate chips and toss everything together.  Sprinkle with additional salt to taste.

5. Let cool completely then transfer to a paper bag for storage (in the unlikely event that you have any left)

 

[ Adapted from BuzzFeed ]

no bake cookies

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no bake oatmeal cookies

//Flashback attack….

Once upon a time ago, neighbors talked to each other. They helped each other out with yardwork or simple home repairs, they watched each others’ kids, and would invite each other over for dinner. New families would be welcomed to the neighborhood with a plate of cookies, and if you ran out of sugar you could simply run next door for a whole cup of it…

Does anyone remember these days? Did they really exist? Yes, well back then… or as they say, “BACK IN MY DAY” (because apparently I’m 100) there were these things called “block parties.”

Block parties were huge potlucks where the entire neighborhood would gather with various dishes and recipes in tow, and somehow these magical bite-size treats were always there. Probably because they are so incredibly simple to make.

I don’t know if block parties exist anymore… and I’m not saying neighborly love is a thing of the past, but I don’t even know my neighbors names… and I’m fairly certain that if I took a new neighbor a plate of cookies they would look at me like I was a crazy person. I’m not sure if it’s just something that has changed over time or just a regional thing (maybe the heat makes Arizona people less friendly than their mid-western counterparts?).

However, if you want to be brave and bridge that gap between your home and your neighbor’s, these cookies should do the trick. There is no oven required, which makes this a relatively kid-friendly recipe. I don’t recommend leaving your children in the kitchen unattended, but I managed to make these a number of times in my youth without burning the house down. In fact, the hardest part about making these cookies is waiting for them to set before you try to eat them.

Note: If it’s too humid or too warm, these cookies won’t set properly, which means you might find yourself attempting to scoop spoonfulls of peanut buttery, chocolatey goop into your mouth (and probably making a mess in the process). You could just put them in the fridge to set… but who has time for that?

No-Bake Cookies

[ Printable Recipe ]

  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • ½ cup milk
  • 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • ½ cup peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups quick-cooking oats* (see note for gluten-free option)

1. Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Whisk or stir in sugar, milk, and cocoa powder.

2. Increase heat and bring to a rolling boil, let boil for 1 minute 30 seconds.

3. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.

4. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto wax paper-lined baking sheets. (*see note)

5. Wait very patiently while they cool and harden. Store in an airtight container 3 days at room temperature or a week in the fridge. (They probably would keep for longer, but I’ve never had them last long enough to find out).

*These will set into whatever shape you drop them in. If you want them to be pretty, go ahead and make a perfect circle. Sometimes it’s fun to make little shapes out of them (heart-shaped cookies, anyone?), but they are equally delicious as an amorphous blob as they are in a perfect circle.

*If it’s too humid or too warm, these cookies won’t set properly, which means you might find yourself scooping spoonfulls of peanut buttery, chocolatey goop into your mouth (and running down your arms, probably a smear or two on your face). Or, if you can just put them in the fridge to set… but who has time for that?

*These can be made gluten-free by using gluten-free oats