In order to celebrate Peanut Butter Lovers month, I decided to share with you some of my favorite homemade peanut butter snacks to quench your cravings for the entire month of November—and the other 11 months too.
I’d like to start with one of my personal favorites, a healthy, yet tasty option—peanut butter energy balls. Not only are they filled with fiber and protein, but they’re also super scrumptious and filling when you need a little pick-me-up. They have the peanut butter taste that we, as peanut butter lovers, crave and are something you can feel a little bit better about eating since they aren’t quite as bad for you as other snacks. They’re super simple to make and a perfect snack to make with your friends in your dorm kitchen!
Here is the recipe for my favorite five-ingredient peanut butter energy balls:
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup creamy peanut butter (use even more for a richer, softer energy bite)
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup old fashioned oats (I would recommend using a bit less)
- ½ cup ground flax seeds
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Optional: protein powder
Directions
- Add all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir with a rubber spatula until evenly mixed. Don’t use a spoon because the mixture is very sticky!
- Line a baking sheet or Tupperware container with wax paper; with a cookie scoop or spoon, drop balls of batter onto the paper.
- Roll the batter drops into balls with your hands.
- After all of the balls are mixed, let them cool in the fridge for one hour, and then enjoy! This recipe can also be frozen for preservation and convenience!
Another one of my favorite peanut buttery snacks features a recipe for no-bake peanut butter bars. This is probably one of the richest snacks you’ll ever eat—just a few bites tastes like an entire pan’s worth of bars. Nonetheless, this quenches the cravings of peanut butter lovers everywhere yet somehow, we always come back for more. This recipe would be perfect for a dorm-living college student to bring to a Friendsgiving sometime this fall or simply to make on a cozy night in. Either way, this recipe is bound to have rave reviews and make you the best (no) baker in town.
Check out the recipe for my favorite no-bake peanut butter bars:
Ingredients: Bars
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 ½ cups peanut butter
Ingredients: Topping
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Directions
- Combine four ingredients in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
- Spread evenly in a 9×13 pan.
- Combine ingredients for the topping in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Melt in the microwave for 1 minute at a time. Remove from the microwave incrementally and stir until smooth. Spread on top of the peanut butter bars.
- Place the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the freezer and cut into individual bars. Makes 20-36 bars depending on the desired size.
This next recipe is my personal favorite. Every Christmas, my grandma makes a cookie platter filled with all of her best recipes. Out of all of the treats featured on the platter, my absolute favorite is her peanut butter fudge. This is my favorite type of fudge, and, no matter how many I try, hers is always my favorite. Nothing can top my Grandma Strohbehn’s fudge, which is why I’m excited to share this recipe with all of you today. Although it’s a bit more complex to make than the other recipes, this peanut butter fudge truly is a show-stopping dessert that will become one of your all-time favorites.
Here is the recipe for my Grandma Strohbehn’s famous peanut butter fudge, straight from her very own cookbook titled A Collection of Family Treasured Recipes: Compiled With Love for Generations to Come.
Ingredients
- 2 cups white sugar
- ⅔ cup milk
- 1 pint marshmallow creme
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
- Cook in a 3-quart saucepan. Combine sugar and milk in a saucepan and cook while stirring to a soft ball stage (234º). Remove from heat.
- In a warm mixing bowl, combine marshmallow creme, peanut butter and vanilla.
- Add cooked syrup and mix well.
- Pour into a buttered 9” square pan. Cut into 2” squares when almost cool. Makes approximately 24 pieces.
So, even if it’s not Christmas, you can still whip this up—my absolute favorite—and understand why it’s just as good on the other 364 days as it is during our yearly Christmas Eve family gathering. Either way, we can celebrate its delectable flavor for the entire month of November without shame because this has rightfully been crowned as our month, so we should honor it as such.
Finally, I’d like to share with you my favorite recipe for a timeless classic with a chocolatey twist, if you so desire. This final treat is one of my brother’s, a non-peanut butter lover’s favorites. In fact, he did not even know it was a peanut butter cookie until I shared this tidbit of information with him just months ago. All he knew was that it was dangerously good, and he couldn’t help but go back for more. The dessert I am describing is the acclaimed peanut butter blossom cookie. Not only does it contain the rich and savory flavor we desire, but as an added bonus, it contains chocolate, aka the next best flavor. I cranked out more than 100 of these delicious delicacies for my graduation party over the summer—peanut butter was just one of many flavors I featured—and you won’t be able to resist the urge to do the same once you have just a nibble of this cookie.
This recipe for peanut butter blossoms comes from Evelyn William’s submission to the 75th anniversary edition of the Gladbrook Corn Carnival Cookbook. Can you think of anything more Iowan?
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup butter or margarine
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- ¼ C. milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 ½ cups sifted flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 (10 oz.) packages of milk chocolate candies
Directions
- Cream together sugars, butter/margarine and peanut butter.
- Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Sift together flour, soda and salt. Stir into the egg mixture.
- Shape into balls and roll in additional sugar.
- Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in an oven preheated to 375º for 10-12 minutes.
- Immediately press a chocolate candy into each cookie. Makes about 7 dozen.
I hope after reading this, you’re dying for a taste of peanut butter and planning your online grocery order to pick up all of these ingredients as soon as possible.
Hopefully you’re excited to celebrate your inner peanut butter lover this month and express the sincere joy this iconic flavor brings about. Even if you don’t have the time to whip up any of these tasty treats—in my opinion—a dollop of peanut butter straight from the jar is always a justifiable snack. And remember—don’t be afraid to share your passion for peanut butter or your peanut butter treats with a friend!