Peanut Butter Balls

Best snack ever.

Thanks, once again, to Alida's Kitchen.

The girls adore them (although someone under the age of 3 has a tendency to pick out the chocolate and discard the rest). 

I love them.

They can be vegan (swap out the 1 TB honey for another TB of pure maple syrup).

They take a lot of peanut butter, but are totally worth it.

Peanut Butter Balls
From Alida's Kitchen

1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 TB honey
1 TB pure maple syrup
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons sweetened flaked coconut
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

 Heat peanut butter, honey, syrup in the microwave until easily mixed, about 15 seconds.  Stir until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix oats, wheat germ and coconut.

Add peanut butter mixture to oat mixture and stir until incorporated.

Add in chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop, create 1" balls.

Refrigerate.

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100% Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers

I've ventured into the world of making my own crackers before with Alton Brown's seeded crackers. They are my kind of cracker, with a big crunch and big sesame flavor.

This time I wanted to try a cracker that would be more kid friendly. And there is nothing Kitty likes better than when we visit friends who will feed her Ritz crackers. I was pleased to find a Ritz cracker recipe from Cupcake Project that looked quick and relatively easy.

For my crackers, I swapped out all the all-purpose flour for white wheat flour. The crackers still had a great flavor and texture, even with the use of 100% whole wheat. But then I'm used to whole wheat and like the wheaty-flavor. If you're not used to that yet, you may want to start with 50% whole wheat and work up to it.

I also used aluminum-free baking powder. Alton Brown says you are likely to get a metallic taste to your crackers if you use regular baking powder (and who wants that?). Aluminum free baking powder is easy to find in any grocery store in the baking aisle (it's not much more expensive) or I've listed a substitution below the instructions.

Since I still had my tiny heart cookie cutter out from Valentines, I used that to cut out the crackers. So they were mini-Ritz, and darn cute. And I found this dough much easier to roll and cut than the seeded crackers.

I was worried that brushing them with the salty butter at the end would make them too greasy, but that was not the case. If anything I think it could have used a bit more salt.

The kid verdict was positive: both girls gobbled up the crackers as if they were store-bought. I was also pleased with the results. A tasty, 100% whole wheat cracker without the preservatives of store-bought, using basic ingredients, and quick and easy to make.

100% Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers
Adapted from Cupcake Project

2 cups white wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder, aluminum-free*
1 TB sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 TB cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
2 TB vegetable oil
2/3 cup water (or a little less)

Butter topping:
3 TB unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1/2 tsp of salt in a food processor.

Add cold butter and pulse a few times.

Add vegetable oil and pulse.

With the food processor running, slowly pour in the water. Stop adding water as the dough comes together to form a ball.

Split the dough in half and roll out the first half thin, about an 1/8" thick (or use a pasta roller if you have one handy).

Cut out the dough with a cookie cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Poke a few holes in each cracker so the cracker will bake properly. (I used a wooden skewer, a fork would work too).

Roll out remaining dough and continue to cut out crackers and poke with holes.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The crackers should just be golden brown.

While the crackers are baking, mix the melted butter and salt for the topping.

Brush the crackers with the melted butter and salt as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cool the crackers on the pan and enjoy!

Yield: About 200 mini crackers.

*If you don't have aluminum free baking powder, use this substitution: 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar + 1/4 tsp cornstarch = 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder*

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Seeded Crackers

Over the past two years, I've worked on eliminating processed/packaged foods from my family's everyday consumption. It's been a good thing for us. But I really miss having a box of crackers to grab for snacks when we're in a hurry and on our way out the door.

So I'm headed down the road of making my own crackers.

These seeded crackers from Alton Brown were my first try. They're not terribly time consuming, although rolling out the dough is far from my favorite thing to do. I want to invest in a pasta roller.

PS: Alton says it's very important to use aluminum free baking powder. If you don't have any, I've included a substitution idea in the recipe.

Next up: goldfish crackers.

*Spice tip: Penzey's Spice sells bags of poppy seeds and sesame seeds in bulk for a very reasonable price.*

Seeded Crackers
From Alton Brown

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder**
3 TB olive oil
3/4 cup plus 1 TB water

**If you don't have aluminum free baking powder, use 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp cream of tartar.**

Whisk together white and wheat flour, poppy and sesame seeds, salt, baking powder.

Mix in oil.

Add water and stir until just combined.

Turn dough out onto a floured board. Knead a few times, to ensure dough is evenly mixed and smooth. Cut into 8 pieces and cover with a towel 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Flatten one dough ball and pass through a pasta roller at the widest setting. Reduce the pasta roller and continue rolling through and tightening down until dough is about 1/8" thick. (OR, roll thin with a rolling pin. It gets the job done).

Place dough sheet on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using pizza cutter, cut sheets into 2x2" squares.

Bake 8-12 minutes or until browned and crisp. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.

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Kettle Corn

We are a kettle corn family. You won't find any microwave buttered popcorn around these parts. We spent a small fortune every month on microwave kettle corn.

Until I realized you can make just about anything as long as you have google. A few small tweaks to a basic recipe and we had a winner. It's everything you could want: it's quick to make, uses basic ingredients, and it's a relatively healthy snack or movie night treat.

Kettle Corn

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup corn kernels
3 TB brown sugar
2 TB granulated sugar
1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt

Add oil and three corn kernels to a large pot (at least 5 quarts). Put on the lid and heat on medium high until the three kernels have popped.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the 1/2 cup corn kernels. Give them a good stir to coat them in oil.

Add the sugar and stir really well, scraping the bottom of the pan.

Place the lid back on the pot and turn the heat back up to medium-high (if you find your popcorn is burning, try popping at medium heat).

Give the pot two or three shakes every five seconds as the corn pops.

When the popping slows, remove the pot from the heat and dump immediately into a large bowl.

Sprinkle the salt over the popcorn and give it a good stir.

Makes about 16 cups of popped corn.

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It's irresistible!

Granola Bars

I've needed a good granola bar recipe for some time. Since we've given up processed food, I've been on my own for quick, on-the-go snacks for the girls. I've tried a few baked granola bar recipes, but they all seemed to end in a dry, crumbly mess.

So when I ran across this no-bake recipe from Judicial Peach, I was hopeful. And it turned out great. I used my own granola recipe, and adjusted the gluey mixture until I found one I liked...more pb, less honey.

The ratio to remember is about 3 cups of dry ingredients to 1 cup gluey ingredients. I tried the peanut butter/honey combo for glue initially and it is quite tasty. But I'm now addicted to almond butter/honey. I'm in some serious love with almond butter.

Granola Bars

4 cups granola (without the dried fruit added at the end)
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/4 cups natural almond butter (or peanut butter)**
3/4 cup honey

Put the chocolate chips in the freezer for a few minutes. (This will prevent melting later...although they certainly aren't bad with the chocolate melted throughout).

Mix the granola, raisins and salt together in a large bowl.

Mix the almond butter and honey together in a small pan over low heat until melted and smooth. This doesn't take long, 3-4 minutes. Don't burn it. It does not smell nice and it's not fun to clean the pan.

Add the honey mixture to the granola mixture and mix thoroughly.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Line a 9"x13" pan with plastic wrap, and press the granola mixture into the pan.

Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Lift the granola bars out by the plastic wrap and cut into squares or rectangles.

Enjoy, and keep refrigerated in an airtight container.

**NOTE: I use all natural peanut butter and almond butter, meaning all it contains is mashed nuts and salt. Peanut butters such as Jiffy or Skippy have added oil, which may affect the way the granola bars hold together. It may be okay, but I haven't tried it.

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