Super Bowl Snackage: Broncos Popcorn and Seahawks Cheesecakes

Maybe it's just me, but when you say "Super Bowl," I don't think, "Oh yeah, that's a good game of football right there. Man, can't wait to talk about all those missed passing opportunities and first downs and TDs and missed kickoff returns. Yessir, that'll be one good game. When you combine the Broncos offense with Seahawks defense, wow, that'll be a great game to watch because the passing yardage is so much and the tackling will happen so often." (that's my imitation of every football buff ever.)

I think more along the lines of: "Yay, the Super Bowl, it'll be so much fun to sit around with my family and eat yummy snack foods while critiquing commercials and watching some football." And then I'll brainstorm for about half an hour about all the different foods I'll have the excuse to make. And honestly, I don't think I'm alone in that ;)

Dark Chocolate Avocado Brownies with Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt Frosting

Hear me out. Don't close your browser. I promise these are worth your time. I mean I hope you can trust my brownie judgement, I am a brownie connoisseur. Should I remind you of the PB&J Pretzel Swirl Brownies? Or those Mound Bar Brownies I made? And remember how good Peppermint Hot Chocolate Brownies were? And how mouth-watering-ly good those Marzipan Brownies were?

Do you really think I would lead you astray? I am insulted. Unless you're still reading and are ready to believe what I tell you, no matter how strange. In which case, I am flattered.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Bread

I realized the other day that it is the middle of fall, and pumpkin season would be over soon. I haven't baked half-a-season's worth of pumpkin goodies yet. So I got on it ASAP.

Peanut Butter/Apple Butter Whoopie Pies

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Audrey recently told you about her childhood obsession with peanut butter/apple butter sandwiches (as they were referred to in our household)**. It's funny because neither of us have ever baked with apple butter before, but we both came up with ideas for apple butter recipes independently at almost the same time. It's almost...spooky. Maybe there's some ghosty halloween vibes in the air? Either that or it's just sisterly ESP. Or something.

Either way, I was inspired by Audrey's favorite kindergarten lunch when I brainstormed the idea for this recipe. I was never obsessed with them the way she was, but there's something about the pairing of salty-sweet peanut butter and the spiced sweetness of apple butter that just...works. I would probably have to agree with Audrey (putting words in her mouth here, but I'm pretty confident she would say them so it's okay) in arguing that peanut butter/apple butter sandwiches are actually superior to peanut butter and jelly.

Are you gasping at my audacity? Have I spouted off peanut butter blasphemy? If we were IRL right now, I'd stuff a peanut butter/apple butter whoopie pie right into your open mouth, not to shut you up (well okay, a little bit to shut you up) but just so you'd know what I'm talking about. Since we're not IRL, you'll have to endure my babbling instead until you're convinced.

**Fun fact: Audrey was SO OBSESSED with peanut butter/apple butter sandwiches as kid that one year for her birthday dinner she requested that we have peanut butter/apple butter sandwiches. So my mom made a platter of them. For the whole family. Because on her birthday, the birthday girl reigns as queen and her (eccentric) wish is our command. It is known.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

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This is not a cake for beginners. I don't mean beginning bakers; it's a pretty straightforward recipe and should give you no trouble. I mean inexperienced cake-eaters. 

See, I consider myself something of a cake-eating champ. (On one infamous occasion Audrey and I once each consumed sizable pieces of three different cakes in one sitting...but that's a story for another time.) If there were a cake-eaters athletic league I would be starting line varsity. I'm the cake-eating quarterback. MVP and team captain. But in this cake, I have met my match. It knocked me down, laid me out, put me on the bench. If I am a cake-eating heavyweight, this cake is a sumo.

Have you had enough of the weird sports-themed analogies? Yeah, me too. Let's change the subject to something more interesting. Namely: peanut butter, chocolate, and cookie dough. All happening at once in this 18-gold-medal-winning cake (sorry, I did just imply that this is the Michael Phelps of cakes; this was the last one for real I promise). It's no wonder this was almost too much for me to handle.

This cake conquered me, but I loved every single minute minute of my defeat. Even the verge-of-comatose sugar OD it caused. (Expect it. Embrace it. Worth it.)

Childhood Sandwich Supreme Cupcakes

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Do you ever get writer's block? I'm pretty sure everyone above the age of 12 has experienced writer's block at some point. (Because by that time you've had to write a school paper or two.) Recently, I was facing a very similar dilemma in the world of baking: I wanted to bake. But I had no clue what to bake. My whole kitchen stretched out before me, my pantry bursting with ingredients, but my mind was racing to come up with a recipe but couldn't think of anything out of the ordinary. Peanut butter? Delicious. But done before. Caramel? Used a lot. And stressful. Pumpkin? Too early.

So I enlisted Molly's help in coming up with a recipe. We came up with a plan: any time either of us has baker's block, we give the other a prompt of sorts- two (or more) ingredients that we somehow have to incorporate into a recipe. Molly gave me marshmallows and sprinkles (used in some form other than decoration.)

Brownie Doctor: PB&J Pretzel Swirl Brownies

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I made these brownies for a fourth of July party, and really, it was more fitting than I even intended at the the time. (At the time, my only thought process was: "I need a way to spice up these box brownies. What sounds good? Oh, peanut butter. Duh.) I mean, peanut butter and jelly and pretzels are about as all-American as you can get when it comes to snack foods, right? Well I can't speak for you, but in my America they certainly are. 

Reese's Cupcakes

I hope you guys aren't getting bored of peanut butter and chocolate baked goods. I hope you never do. Because they constitute about 35% of what we bake and post about on this blog

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes

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The story behind these is simple: I was in the mood for Reese's (nothing new), and saw these on FoodGawker, and whenever I thought about baking, my mind kept wandering back to them. When you're in the mood for cupcakes and Reese's, (I can't imagine when you wouldn't be...) these are perfect.

Peanut Butter "Waffles"

Warning: this post contains a heart-wrenching tale of woe and hardship, to be overcome by a brilliant, tough and hard-working, problem-solving protagonist. If you easily get emotional during stories, I recommend grabbing a box of tissues right now.

PB&J Ice Cream Sandwiches

So we've been having amazing weather recently- it's been sunny-and-blue-skies and like 40-50 degree weather. It's been fantastic, but all our snow melted and it's making me feel like winter's over :(. So maybe it was this bout of spring weather (and my Mom's clever thinking) that made me think of strawberry ice cream (something I think of as a sort of spring-y-summer-y flavor.)

But also, PB&J is a delicious combination, so you could probably convince me to eat strawberry ice cream in between two peanut butter cookies any time of year. I wouldn't complain.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

These cookies are infused with generous quantities of peanut butter, butter, sugar, and tradition. We've made them by the Christmas cookie tin-ful ever since I can remember. They're classic, like the flavor combo they create. Forget the tree, the Christmas season doesn't really start until we've made our first batch of peanut butter blossoms.

These are the quintessential epitome of the Christmas season, even if the peanut butter chocolate combo isn't exactly super seasonal. But it is made seasonal by these cookies. Also peanut butter chocolate is ALWAYS seasonal.

Duh.

Nutella Swirled Peanut Butter Banana Bread

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So I think we all have had the experience of having too many bananas in the house... And too little time to eat them. If you have not had this experience, eat  more bananas! They are good for your colon I bet! 

This is exactly what you should do with these excess bananas that no one wants to eat because they are all brown and awkward and no one wants to eat a brown banana! They are supposed to be yellow! And if normal banana bread has never really been your thing, just forget about it. Forget any bad experiences involving banana bread you may have had in the past.

The Brownie Doctor: Peanut Butter M&M Ganache Brownies

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If you stick around here long enough, it will soon become clear that there are two flavors I simply cannot resist: pumpkin, and chocolate peanut butter.

Also, brownies. Do they count as a flavor? Because I'm obsessed. If I had to choose a last meal, brownies would be on the menu. (Along with creamy pesto chicken pasta, caesar salad, and a broccoli/brussel sprouts/caramelized onion sauté, in case you were wondering.)