Tag: Apricot

Peanut Butter and Jelly Smores… and other PB&J Creations

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I feel like everyone I talk to had PB&J for lunch as a kid.  I had ham with cream cheese.  PB&J was not a staple in my household growing up.  I’m not even sure my mom kept peanut butter in the house, because she hates it.  Peanut butter is one of those super American things that my mom never got on board with.

But regardless, growing up here, I developed a love of Peanut Butter and Jelly.

To share in the love of Peanut Butter and Jelly, Peanut Butter and Co. sent me and some other bloggers some jars of Peanut Butter and preserves to make some awesome peanut butter and jelly creations.   My jars arrived…

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and I was excited to start!  I had such high hopes.  I started by taking a stab at Peanut Butter and Jelly Sticky Buns.

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Doesn’t that sound awesome?  It was! But the recipe turned out a bit dry (my first time ever making some sort of sticky bun/cinnamon type roll!).  So tweaks are needed.  And sadly, I used so much PB and Seriously Strawberry Jam (it’s seriously delicious), that I had none left to retry the recipe.

Instead of retrying (maybe I will in the future), I decided to try another idea that piqued by interest: Peanut Butter and Jelly Smores.

The ingredients are pretty simple, but this is really the perfect end of summer (early fall) recipe.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Smores

2 graham crackers

2 large marshmallows

2 heaping tsps Old Fashioned Crunchy Peanut Butter

2 heaping tsp Awesome Apricot Preserves (or other jam of choice) 

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Cut graham crackers in half (so you have 4 pieces total).  Spread 1 tsp of peanut butter on each of two of the graham cracker pieces and 1 tsp of apricot preserves on the remaining two cracker pieces.  Place marshmallow in the peanut butter.  Put under the broiler for a few minutes (about 3 or 4) or until the marshmallow is toasted to the right consistency.  Put the pieces together and enjoy the oozey, gooey deliciousness!

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I wasn’t sure that the PB + Apricot combo would work out well, but it was delicious!   I definitely recommend it!

Let’s be honest, you can’t go wrong with PB&J.  There are so many delicious ways to eat it, like in Pie form!

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What’s your favorite way to eat Peanut Butter and Jelly?  Are you a strict strawberry jam eater or do you branch out to other preserves?

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Molasses Ginger Apricot Cookies and The Coast-to-Coast Cookie Swap

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One of the best things about having a blog is making new friends.  There are the kind you meet in real life, that also happen to live down the road from you.  But then there are the online ones.  You have crazy obsession with cookies, doughnuts and the best combination of flavors for that new sandwich you want to try.

I mean who else is going to understand that it’s REALLY important that you try adding herbs to your lemon cookies?  Or how you absolutely NEED to recreate that recipe you tried at some restaurant you went to last weekend?

These things are important. And other food blogger friends can truly appreciate that.  Because sometimes I need to send cookies to people, I teamed up with some bloggers for our very first The Coast-to-Coast Cookie Swap.

Since I was sending cookies to bloggers, I knew they had to be good.  Because of that, I tried to recreate my favorite cookie

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We made cookies and sent them to each other.  It was pretty great!

Who Participated:

Allison from Sweet Potato Bites (aka my crossfit/running buddy) with her Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

Natalie from In Natalie’s Shoes with her Amazing Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Coco from Urban Chick’s Foodie Ventures with her Peach Cobbler Cookies <— LOVED

Jazzy with her Lemon Blueberry Cookies (Link to come!)

 

My contribution to the bunch:

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Molasses-Ginger Apricot Cookies

1 stick of butter + 2 tbsp (10 tbsp total)
1 cup sugar (plus extra for rolling)
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp mace
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (for rolling)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and 1 cup sugar using a stand or hand mixer.  Beat in molasses and egg until fluffy.  In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  Just before ingredients are combine, fold in apricot pieces.

Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in turbinado sugar (note: you can use any sugar, but turbinado sugar is thicker so it looks pretty!).  Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  Allow to cool  and serve!  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Clearly, I’m a big fan of ginger and molasses year round, not just for Fall/Winter.

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All the cookies were delicious!  It was cool to see what the other ladies chose to make, and also to make new friends.  And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love getting packages?

Thanks to Jazzy, Natalie, Coco and Allison for participating in the Coast to Coast Cookie Swap!  I can’t wait to do it again!

 

If you were making cookies for your favorite bloggers, what kind would you make?