I give credit to the other half of my baking brain (Mariza) for this post. She dug into the freezer in our break room and pulled out these bite-size balls of goodness. I was hooked. It was like eating a PB&J cookie dough. Now, I have to state that I am one a very few that do not like peanut butter and chocolate together – I know, I know – I am crazy for thinking this apparently. I like my peanut butter with jelly or celery. So these were perfect for me (although they do have white chocolate chips – but my school of thought is that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate at all, so I am good!)
I had to have this recipe! I G-chatted her immediately to ask for it. I love that we both know to wait for the, “but I did this to it” statement before actually looking at the recipe. We are baking soul mates. She is my go to for “what can I substitute” and “do you think this would taste good” or my favorite – “Oh my god! This is amazing and you have to try it.” True to Mariza fashion she told me her edits, and I loved that this was a one bowl and her version only had 7 ingredients ( I omitted the vanilla) – all of which I had in my kitchen at home – AND DID I MENTION THESE ARE NO BAKE!
These little bites are perfect for a quick snack or on-the-go treat and will please even the fussiest eater. This is also a great recipe for the kiddos to help with! It’s easy and gooey, and fun to mix up. Sometimes life can be messy, but this is the good kind of messy! Let them mix away and lick their fingers afterward. Life’s too short not to lick the spoon – or your fingers – every once in a while!
I call this altered recipe PB&J Bites (you can find the original here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/239969/no-bake-energy-bites/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results.) I choose to spilt my batch into two bowls before adding in the dried fruit – this way I could make some with dried cranberries and some with freeze dried strawberries. ENJOY!
Ingredients:
2 cup rolled oats
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup honey (good quality)
3/4 cups dried fruit
Directions:
Place all ingredients into a large bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon (or large spatula). Once combined scoop out bite-sized portions and roll into ball. Place on parchment or foil lined baking sheet and stick in the freezer to set (about 1 hour). Once set you can try not to eat them all by placing them into a Ziploc bag. If you are not eating these right away keep them in a sealed container or bag in the freezer and take out when needed. Even frozen these can still be bitten into so they make a great last minute go-to snack or party treat!
I have found two types of people – people who go gaga over cookie spread and those who look at you with a blank stare because they have never heard of it (I know what you’re thinking … how can someone not know what it is!?!). Regardless of which category you fall into it, I have found a recipe to feed your addiction or to start one!
Sometimes you just need to have a quick and easy, but extremely delicious and addictive, dish to bring somewhere – like to the couch when you are binge watching Netflix in your jammies.
When thinking about making popcorn for the top I immediately thought of mini marshmallows. I bought a bag and went to work. I took each one and cut the top in a cross hair pattern about a 1/4 to 1/2 way down, which made them look like molars!! Not exactly what I needed for this cake, but who knows what I might need in the future!
I pinched the bottom where it wasn’t cut and twisted which made them puff slightly where it was cut. On some I pulled the cut ends a little more apart to give variation to each “kernel.” Grab a marshmallow, cut, pinch, pull, repeat. Once I had enough to create the illusion of a mound of popcorn, I added a layer of fresh buttercream to the top of the cake to ensure the pieces would stick to the cake. To give it some color I took some yellow gel food coloring and put some in a dish with a touch of water to make it easier to paint onto the marshmallows. I did try the liquid food coloring first, and even with water, it looked more orange than yellow. I randomly picked pieces to color, and the end result was amazing!
Have Sweets, Will Share. 