Bready or Not: Maple Nut Butter No-Bakes
When you need maple goodness whipped up quickly with no baking involved, here’s your go-to recipe: Maple Nut Butter No-Bakes.
I had PB & Co Mighty Maple Peanut Butter, so I went with that to add some maple oomph. You can use various nut butters here, but avoid the natural kind where the oil separates. That would make these too dry and probably make it turn out weird.
I made these because I needed to create goodies on a quick timeline, so I put them in the fridge straight away, chilled them for an hour and a half, then sliced them. The bars crumbled some, I think because I didn’t chill them long enough. They were still mostly intact, though, and tasted fabulous.
Therefore, I highly recommend these get to cool down at room temp and then have a few more hours in the fridge, just to solidify things and make the end result a little prettier.
The taste is what matters most, though. If you love maple, you must make these bars. It’s maple candy. Sweet, chewy, maple candy. With autumn nigh, these are perfect to whip out for any of the forthcoming holidays!
Modified from Maple Almond No-Bakes at Lovely Little Kitchen.
Bready or Not: Maple Nut Butter No-Bakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup almond butter or peanut butter; not natural, it's too dry
- 1/4 cup milk almond milk works
- 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
- 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
Instructions
- Prepare an 8x8 or 9x9-inch baking dish by lining it with foil or parchment paper then greasing it. Measure out the maple flavor and oats so they are ready to add quickly.
- In a medium pan, bring the butter, sugar, almond butter, and milk to a boil over medium high heat. Stir frequently. Bring the mix to a full boil for one minute, stirring constantly, and then removed from the heat and stir in maple extract. Immediately add the oats and stir thoroughly to coat everything.
- Glop the mixture into the baking dish. Cool at room temperature and then chill in fridge for several hours until it is firm.
- Use the foil or parchment to lift out the bars for easy cutting. Best served chilled.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Chocolate-Coffee Truffles
Start the day off right with breakfast truffles packed with coffee and cocoa!
Sure, they might not be the most photogenic of items, but they are delicious and they pack a caffeine wallop. These are also gluten-free with no added sugar.
The dates act as the source of sweetness and as the binding agent. Almonds are loaded with all kinds of healthy goodness. Everything about these screams “HEALTHY!”
Trust me. They might not look pretty, but they’re tasty.
Modified from Relish Magazine.
Bready or Not: Chocolate-Coffee Truffles
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped Medjool dates about 15 dates
- 1/2 cup almonds raw or roasted
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons ground coffee
- 1 Tablespoon chia seeds or wheat germ or flax seeds
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or high-powered blender. It might need to be blended in batches.
- Pulse until the almonds are in very small pieces. If the mixture isn't cohesive, add a teaspoon of water and blend again. Add more water if needed. The mash should hold together when pressed but not be wet.
- Use a spoon or scoop to form the mix into truffles. Makes about 9 tablespoon-sized.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Honey Roasted Chicken and Carrots
When bone-in chicken breasts go on sale, I’m really happy for the chance to make this family favorite: Honey Roasted Chicken with Carrots.
This is a fairly healthy recipe. It relies on the chicken skin and a touch of olive oil to keep the chicken tender and moist, with a little more butter added at the end. You can use however many baby carrots you want, though you might not be able to squeeze more than 12 ounces worth into a dish. The carrots end up tender and the slightest bit sweet and caramelized.
I have fresh oregano and rosemary handy, so I like to use one or both of those in this, but you can season this however you want. Dry herbs will rehydrate nicely.
One of the things I love most about this is that the breast pieces are meaty and we’re bound to have leftovers the next day. This tender chicken is delicious in salads, wraps, or sandwiches!
Modified from a recipe published in the Arizona Republic, October 4th 2007.
Bready or Not: Honey Roasted Chicken and Carrots
Ingredients
- 2 - 3 chicken breast halves with bone and skin
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 8 - 12 ounces baby carrots
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 2 - 3 Tablespoons fresh oregano or rosemary, or a few teaspoons dry herbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425-degrees. Set out a large casserole dish. Rub the chicken with enough oil to coat it on both sides, then season with salt and pepper. Place the breasts skin side down in the dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Turn the chicken over--watch out, it will sizzle and pop! Add as many carrots as desired to the pan.
- Bake for another 25 minutes. As the chicken bakes, in a bowl combine the butter, honey, and herbs.
- Turn the chicken over to be skin-side up again. Spoon the butter-honey mix over the chicken and carrots. Roll the carrots around in it for good measure. Roast for an additional 5 minutes.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Cookies and Cream Chocolate Pie
Here’s a no-bake, super-easy pudding pie that perfect for summer.
You can go hardcore with this and make your Oreo crust from scratch. Me? I’ve done that before, but honestly, I prefer the store version for both taste and ease of use.
The chocolate flavor here is great because it’s neither weak nor strong. If you want to amp it up, heck, that’s easy to do with more chocolate topping. When I made this for my folks, my brother thought it was even better with dulce de leche added to individual slices. It made it taste kinda like a Twix with that caramel-chocolate thing going.
I used mini Oreos for everything in this recipe. They chop up easily to throw in and I can often get them on sale for about a buck. Plus, my son loves eating the leftovers!
This is the perfect pie for a potluck or to stash in the fridge to slice up and cool off on a hot summer day.
Modified from Inside Bru Crew Life.
Bready or Not: Cookies and Cream Chocolate Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Oreo pie shell store bought or homemade
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened; half a box
- 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3 cups Cool Whip divided
- 2/3 cup Oreo cookie chunks
- 3.9 ounce instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
- 1 cup chocolate milk
- 10 - 15 mini Oreo cookies
- hot fudge squirt bottle or dulce de leche topping, optional
Instructions
- Set out the Oreo crumb pie shell so it is ready to be filled.
- Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar together and fold in about 1/2 cup of Cool Whip. Stir in the Oreo chunks. Spread everything in the bottom of the crust.
- Using the same bowl or a new one, whisk together the pudding mix and chocolate milk. Fold in 1 cup of Cool Whip. Spread this as your second layer.
- Top off the pie with the remaining Cool Whip. Add mini Oreos around the edge or even crumble some for the top, if you wish. If you have squirt bottles of chocolate or dulce de leche, add some swirls or cross-hatching to the top.
- Chill pie at least two hours before serving. Keep refrigerated thereafter.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Oatmeal Fig Bars (aka Homemade Fig Newtons)
These are like Fig Newtons, but better. They are thicker. Fresher. The top has the slightest crunch.
This recipe is what happened after I thought I was buying dates to use for my breakfast truffles. It took me a few weeks to notice I really had figs in my cupboard. Whoops?
An awesome kind of whoops!
I doubled the original recipe so I could use as many figs as I could. My immersion blender pulsed the fruit on the stovetop. Everything came together fast and easy. I used the double sided parchment-aluminum foil for easy clean up, too.
These bake up with golden, crispy tops while the rest of the bar is dense and chewy. These things are hearty. They’d make for a good breakfast or snack for kids or adults, and I imagine they would even freeze well.
I’m not sure how well they keep beyond a day, though. My husband took them to work and they kinda vanished. All that remained were crumbs and rave reviews.
Recipe doubled and adapted from Alida’s Kitchen.
Bready or Not: Oatmeal Fig Bars (aka Homemade Fig Newtons)
Ingredients
For fig filling
- 2 cups dried figs about 16 ounces, chopped, stems removed
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
For dough
- 3 cups oats old fashioned or quick oats, or a mix
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar packed
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, melted
- 2 eggs room temperature
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, bring figs, water, and lemon juice to a boil. Simmer for several minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and let it cool for ten minutes or so.
- Use a food processor or an immersion blender to process the fruit unless smooth. Be very careful--hot fruit splatter is not fun! Set it aside to cool as you ready everything else.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 casserole pan with parchment paper and apply nonstick spray. Melt the butter and let it cool a few minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and eggs and stir until just combined.
- Press half of the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish. [Handy tip: use a sheet of wax paper and a heavy glass to compress the layer.] Evenly spread the fig mixture to the edges.
- Use your hands to compress the remaining dough into small discs and pieces, and set this on top as evenly as you can. Gently compress it again.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned at edges. Completely cool on wire rack.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Biscoff Oreo Blondies (Redux)
This week, as I dash off to WorldCon, I share a re-do of a Biscoff Oreo Blondies recipe I first featured on my LiveJournal back in 2013. I modified it from the original Peanut Butter Oreo Blondies at Crepes of Wrath.
But this time when I made it, I modified it more. MORE OREOS. MORE CHOCOLATE CHIPS. MORE HAPPINESS.
I love Biscoff spread (also known as Speculoos at Trader Joe’s). It’s crack in a jar. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s cookie butter: yes, really, the consistency of a nut butter, but made of cookies.
Yeah. This is not health food. It ain’t gluten-free, either.
If it’s paleo, I want to join that tribe.
If you don’t like Biscoff (BLASPHEMER! BEGONE!) or can’t find it (though it’s at a lot of Wal-marts, Targets, and World Markets), you can substitute nut butter for this recipe, too. Not the natural type, though. You want it moister.
Oh yeah. I used Double-Stuf Oreos, too. Because those are the best kind.
The end result is a luscious, thick, chewy bar that’s like a cookie on steroids. Cookie butter does that to baked goods. It’s magic.
Mix up the add-ins if you want. Use dark chocolate. Use different kinds of Oreos or different cookies all together.
Live dangerously. And scrape clean that Biscoff jar when it’s empty.
Bready or Not: Biscoff Oreo Blondies (Redux)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, melted
- 2/3 cup Biscoff spread or other cookie butter brand
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups Oreos roughly crushed
- 1 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350-degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil or parchment and apply nonstick spray.
- Whisk together your flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the sugars and melted butter. Add cookie butter and mix to combine. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, then the vanilla extract. Gradually add in the flour mixture, mixing until just moistened. The dough will be very thick. Fold in most of the Oreos and chocolate chips; save some to make the top pretty, if you want.
- Press the thick dough into the pan as evenly as possible. Press in the remaining Oreos and chips.
- Bake for 24-30 minutes, until the blondies are lightly golden and set.
- Allow them to cool completely before cutting into bars and serving. These will keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, if they last that long.
- OM NOM NOM!
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