Salty, Sweet and Crunchy, Oh MY!!

Here is the recipe for the dessert treat I made on Father's Day. This recipe has several things going for it. First, it's a no-bake cookie bar/fudge kinda' thing, and it doesn't heat up the kitchen. Even though we've got a/c here in Central VA it can still get hot in the kitchen. Secondly, since it's sweet and salty, it hits all the things that my family loves to eat. And finally, it's easy to keep the ingredients on hand and make this whenever your little heart desires!

I get this from the Nestle's website:
Here
Gotta' give credit where credit is due, the folks at Nestle's have been baking with us home cooks for a long time!

No Bake Sweet & Salty Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars

Salty and Sweet, these Peanut Butter Pretzel Bars were the bomb!

Non stick cooking spray

2 cups creamy peanut butter, divided use

3/4 cup ( 1 & 1/2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar, divided use

4 cups (roughly 1/2" pieces) broken small pretzel pieces, divided use

2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi sweet chocolate chips

Line a 13X9" pan with foil leaving 2" overhanging on the 2 shorter sides. Spray foil w/cooking spray.

Beat 1 14 cups peanut butter and butter in a large bowl until creamy. Stir in remaining cup powdered sugar, 3 cups of the broken pretzels and 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Spread mixture evenly into he prepared pan. Smooth top to as even a layer as you can. (An offset spatula would work best but a regular one will do. It's kind of hard to do, mixture is very thick and lumpy!)

Microwave remaining chocolate chips and peanut butter in a large, heat proof dish or measuring cup. Start out at medium power for 1 minute. Check and stir if you can, and then heat again for 30 seconds on high. Continue at 15 second intervals, stirring between each one, until all the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy. Spread mixture evenly over the top of the bars in pan. Top with remaining broken pretzel pieces.

Put pan in the refrigerator and let sit for at least 3 hours or until bars are firm. Remove from pan by lifting the overhanging flaps of foil. Cut into 60 pieces. Store them in the frig, they are too gooey to sit out on the counter!

Cut the Peanut Butter Pretzel bars into bite sized peices, after they have chilled. Don't make them too big, they are RICH!

I scream, you scream...Homemade ICE CREAM!

Happy 4th of July, Everyone! What could be more All American than homemade ice cream? I've had this recipe for years, and used to make it often when my children were little. It made for a very exciting day -- ice cream churning away on the back deck, lots of little hands adding in ice and rock salt. Today, it churned away in a brand, new ice cream churn, right in our kitchen sink.

It turned out just as sweet, however!

This recipe came from a Southern Living Cookbook, circa 1985, the year my first son was born. The cookbook was a gift from my mom and I bet I've cooked more recipes from it than almost any other I own!

If there is a flavor combination better than Chocolate and Peanut butter, I can't immediately think of it. After all, if you are going to take the trouble to make from scratch ice cream and have the patience to wait for it to get ready, go for the really good stuff. And believe me, this recipe is the really good stuff!

Peanut Butter Ice Cream w/Butterfinger Candy Bits

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 T. creamy peanut butter

3 13 oz. can evaporated milk

3 cups whole milk

6 2.1 oz. Butterfinger candy bars, chopped into bite sized pieces

Beat eggs at high speed and add peanut butter and sugar. Continue to beat until well blended. Add in evaporated and whole milk and beat another minute. Stir in chopped candy bars. Chill mixture about 30 minutes. Freeze in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturers directions.