Peanut Butter Lover's Day

Peanut Butter Lovers Day is  Saturday, March 1^st!

This is definitely a day to celebrate! I love peanut butter! Reese’s peanut butter cups are my absolute favorite candy!

So I’m going to share my favorite ways to eat peanut butter. First is my favorite dessert centered around the delicious staple.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Trifle

I think the name says it all. This is the most delectable dessert dish I have ever made. It combines peanut butter, brownies, whipped cream and pudding. You really can’t get any better than that. But, boy is it rich. Just a small serving and you feel like you've eaten a whole carton of ice cream or something.

The first time I made this for a family function everyone went crazy for it! I made it for our July 4^th party and have been asked to make it every year since. There is rarely anything left by the end of the night.

I am going to share with you all, this delicious, heavenly recipe!

                                                                                                                                               

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Trifle

                                                            

1 Fudge Brownie mix (13x9 pan size)

1 pkg. (10 oz.) Peanut Butter Chips

2 pkgs (13 oz. each) Miniature peanut butter cups

4 cups cold 2% milk

2 pkgs (5.1 oz. each) instant vanilla pudding

1 cup creamy peanut butter

4 tsp vanilla extract

3 cartons (8 oz. each) frozen whipped topping, thawed.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare brownie batter according to package directions; stir in peanut butter chips. Bake in greased 13x9 baking pan 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out with moist crumbs (do not over bake). Cool on wire rack; cut into ¾ inch pieces.

Cut peanut butter cups in half; set aside 1/3 cup for garnish. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes (mixture will be thick). Add peanut butter and vanilla, mix well. Fold in 1-1/2 cartons of whipped topping.

Place 1/3 of brownies on bottom of a 5qt glass trifle dish, top with 1/3 remaining peanut butter cups. Spoon 1/3 pudding mixture over the top. Repeat layers twice. Cover with remaining whipped topping and; garnish with reserved peanut butter cups. Refrigerate until chilled.

                                                                                                                                               

Next up are my top 5 snack ideas using Peanut Butter.

              
         *Warning: Many of these would not be considered “healthy” snacks, but more of a treat to be eaten occasionally!

1              Peanut butter/chocolate chip dip: Just take a spoonful (or two) of peanut butter and put it in a bowl with a handful of chocolate chips. Then heat in the microwave until the peanut butter is melted but the chips are still semi solid (30-40 sec.). This can be eaten with just about anything, Apples (I like the green apples for a sweet and sour effect), Graham Crackers, Strawberries, etc. My daughter loves it when she sees me mixing this up.

2              Celery and Peanut Butter. This is an all-time favorite. My daughter and husband love these. Super easy to just spread some peanut butter on the celery and snack away. Great for a kids after school snack or I like to serve them when I make chicken salad sandwiches since I usually have some celery left over.

3              Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches. My husband made fun of me the first time I made these. He had never heard of anyone making a sandwich out of just those two ingredients. But guess what? Now he is hooked! And since my daughter doesn’t like any jelly or jam, she requests this instead of PB&J. Peanut butter and honey make an awesome combination. You could even throw in bananas to make it a bit healthier!

4              Peanut butter on waffles/pancakes! Peanut butter tastes so good on pancakes and waffles. Especially if you make chocolate chip pancakes! This is our favorite breakfast!

5              Just a plain old spoonful of peanut butter! Who seriously has not done this? I have eaten just plain peanut butter off a spoon since I was a kid, and my daughter loves it, too. She often asks for a spoonful of peanut butter to snack on.

Well those are my favorite peanut butter recipes and snacks. They may not all be super healthy, but it’s nice to have a treat every once in a while. We are definitely going to have at least one of these to celebrate this awesome day!

What are your favorite recipes/snacks using peanut butter, healthy or indulgent?