College Dorm Brownies

College Dorm Brownies

When did I start baking? I can trace it back to my junior year of college.

I’ll get into why in a minute, but I was pretty much hooked from the start. What could be more amazing than dreaming of a dessert and then creating it? Sure, back then I needed recipes (I was very reliant on them), but it was still a lot of fun to cook in my crappy dorm kitchen.

These brownies are the first ones I ever baked from scratch, and the first baked good I ever added my own spin to. I used to call them “candy bar brownies” because they are very much like that. Rich, fudgy brownies are filled with peanut butter and milk chocolate chips, with a thick layer of the same on top. They’re crazy addictive!

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Peanut Butter Cup Banana Cake

Peanut Butter Cup Banana Cake

Does the world need more dessert with peanut butter cups? Duh.

I’ve been on a banana kick this summer, and it’s probably just me making up for lost time. I barely posted any banana recipes in the first two years of the blog, so this summer it’s just bananas all the time. Plus, I don’t like to keep them on the counter in the summer. The bugs, they will come.

Plus, this feels like the right time to write about this cake. There’s a slice of it on my desk in my new office, and I’m looking out at the tree by my window and contemplating happy thoughts. Why not add a moist banana cake filled with both peanut butter cups and peanut butter chips to the mix? A gluten-free one, might I add?

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Peanut Butter Caramel Brownie Cake

Peanut Butter Caramel Brownie Cake

You’ve heard of cookie cake, but brownie cake? Yeah, it’s a thing.

And it’s even more a thing when it’s smothered in peanut butter caramel and sprinkled with sea salt. If you’re looking for me, I’m hiding in a closet with a giant wedge of this and a martini. Come find me sometime next week.

Oh, and did I mention there are peanut butter chips inside the brownie? This is one of those times when you run toward making this. No walking!

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Chocolate PB Chip Muffins (GF)

Chocolate PB Chip Muffins (GF)

The weekend is almost here! Time for breakfast fun. That’s right, sister. Throw down that smoothie bowl and grab a muffin!

Confession: I don’t really do smoothies much. As someone who rushes out the door to work in the dead of night (okay, well, 5:30 in the morning), I don’t want to be turning blenders on and waking up the sleeping monsters…oops, children. I’m more of a protein bar kind of girl.

But when there are muffins around, I’ll grab one of those instead. These are gluten-free and they even have protein in them (yay, Greek yogurt!), so they do the trick, And they’re peanut butter and chocolate. You are so welcome.

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Reese’s Popcorn

Reese’s Popcorn

Nothing is better than tricked-out popcorn.

I used to take regular pilgrimages to NYC before the kids came along, and back then, there was a Popcorn, Indiana store in Times Square. I’d go there and order popcorn slathered in chocolate, have them pack it up in a big bag, and eat it on the train ride home.

Like all great stores, that one closed down, but I learned my lesson: always dress up your popcorn as much as you can. This one is covered in chocolate, mixed with Reese’s minis, and finished off with dollops of melted Reese’s chips. No trip to New York necessary for all of this madness!

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The Very Peanut Butteriest Ice Cream (No-Churn!)

The Very Peanut Butteriest Ice Cream (No-Churn!)

I had to, everyone. It’s the end of the week. I’ve been baking with fruit all week. Now it’s time for peanut butter and chocolate to make a comeback!

You know that I can’t go more than a week or so without doing something PB-related. It’s the ABCs of me, baby, and I’ve embraced it. Just like I’ve embraced the role of sugar in my life. More on that in a bit.

If you get frustrated because your peanut butter ice cream isn’t peanut buttery enough, or because it doesn’t include enough mix-ins, look no further. This no-churn option will satisfy all of your frozen peanut butter dreams!

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Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

We all love chocolate chip cookies. Can we get on board with peanut butter chip cookies?

If people’s reaction to them so far is any indication, then absolutely. I had these on my desk at work wrapped in foil, and someone actually opened the foil (they can see my baked goods coming a mile away) and ate a few. Then others joined in making happy noises. To me, that’s success.

I mean, there are other ways to be successful. But few ways are more rewarding than a chewy chocolate cookie with peanut butter chips inside!

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Peanut Butter S’more Magic Bars

Peanut Butter S’more Magic Bars

The world only needed one thing more, and now we’re good.

Okay, maybe that’s a tad hyperbolic. But honestly, s’mores need peanut butter like Kanye needs Twitter. Magic bars are already over the top gooey and chewy, so why not have a little mouth party up in here? The week is going to be so much more pleasant with some sugar.

These are a riff on the standard magic bar, which comes together quickly and (of course) magically with fairly few ingredients and a can of sweetened condensed milk. SCM (as we bakers like to call it) is stuff of the gods and should not be put in a corner. Nobody puts Baby in a corner.

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Peanut Butter Blondie Muffins

Peanut Butter Blondie Muffins

You all know how much peanut butter blondies rock, right? What if they were in muffin form? What then?

If you are getting excited, join me. I’m pretty psyched about these. You see, I’ve never been much of a muffin girl. To me, a muffin is a cupcake without frosting. Yes, I know that’s technically wrong, but whatever.

When a muffin gets to emulate one of my favorite dessert bars, though, I’m down. These are the best dang muffins I’ve had in many a day.

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PB & J Banana Bread

PB & J Banana Bread

You may have noticed (or not, it’s cool) that I haven’t posted that many banana bread recipes on this site. Ready for my shameful secret? Please don’t hate me.

Cue stage whisper: I’m not that into banana.

Don’t go screaming now. I can’t handle that. It’s not that I hate it or anything, but in the world of baked goods, anything with banana ranks low. So take it as a sign of how much I love you all that from time to time, I produce a banana-based dessert. That is some selflessness. Of course, I did add a wee bit of peanut butter (and peanut butter chips, too) to make this more of a Mir-style dessert. And there’s strawberry jelly in there. You know, because this is totally healthy. Uh huh.

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