Peanut Butter Better

Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter

Nearly everyone has a jar of peanut butter. Off the top of your head can you name ten recipes which are better with peanut butter? No? Well, how about five? Hmm. Three? I give up. How about I give you ten? Be ready to print at the end, or grab your recipe cards so you can edit!

Peanuts are a staple in many Asian, African and Caribbean cultures. Peanut butter is the instant solution to some recipes which are greatly enhanced by peanut flavor, even when you do not have fresh peanuts on hand.

1. Surprise Ending

Ice Cream ConesLove ice cream on a cone? Hate the dribbling from the hole in the cone? Coat the inside of your ice cream cone with peanut butter. The triple scoop of chocolate-mocha-chocolate-chip-fudge-supreme will not drip through the bottom of the cone, and the surprise at the bottom is still sweet!

2. Sweet Glaze

Broiled ham steaks are an easy entrée. Sweeten the pot by mixing three tablespoons of orange marmalade with two tablespoons of peanut butter and one tablespoon of water. Spread the glaze over the steaks and return to the broiler until lightly browned, about one minute.

3. That’s a wrap!

Put all of the following into a medium bowl:

1/2 C peanut butter
3 TBS olive oil
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 TBS fresh parsley, finely chopped

Smooth the peanut sauce. Construct your wrap with boneless, grilled chicken cut into strips and/or grilled shrimp; shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, diced onion, diced cucumber and/or avocado slivers; drizzle with peanut sauce. Other great toppings include shredded bok choy, capers, sliced olives, diced sweet peppers, matchstick mushrooms, bean sprouts, soy-sautéed tofu, raw broccoli florets, slivered carrots and/or shredded raw spinach.

4. Sneaky Secret Recipe Cookies

Everyone in your house loves chocolate chip cookies. Give them the slip by replacing half of the butter in your recipe with peanut butter. Let them beg for the peanut-butter-cup-cookie recipe. Never tell them where you got it.

5. The No Jelly PBJ

If you did not catch Valentine’s recipe for a peanut butter sandwich, you can try the one which came in a close second.

2 thick slices raisin bread
3 TBSP peanut butter
2 TBSP raisins
1 TBSP honey
butter

Spread peanut butter on one slice of raisin bread. Press raisins into peanut butter and drizzle with honey. Top with other slice of raisin bread. Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat. Grill sandwich on both sides until lightly browned.

Crunchy peanut butter is a good choice for this sandwich. If you have something against raisins, this recipe is just as scrumptious with any of these substitutions and/or additions:

  • Pumpernickel/sourdough marble bread
  • Pumpernickel or sourdough bread
  • Dried cranberries, blueberries and/or cherries
  • Chopped dates
  • Nutella®
  • Chopped walnuts or pecans
  • Slivered almonds
  • Two tablespoons cream cheese

6. Do Not Bake That

Want a peanut butter cookie without heating up the whole kitchen? Try no-bake cookies.

1 C sugar
1 C light corn or cane syrup
2 C peanut butter
4 C corn flakes

In a heavy skillet or deep sauce pan, bring sugar and syrup to a gentle boil. Boil for one minute. Stir in peanut butter until melted. Remove from heat and quickly stir in corn flakes. Spoon by rounded teaspoonful onto wax or parchment paper. Allow to cool until set.

To add richness, after peanut butter melts add one teaspoon vanilla. Another excellent addition: When stirring in cornflakes, toss in 1/2 cup butterscotch or white chocolate chips or morsels.

7. Kick Boxing Muffins

Banana nut muffins get boring after a while. Replace half the butter or shortening with peanut butter. After you put them in the paper cups, sprinkle the tops with shredded coconut. Bake as directed.

8. Nuttygrette

Have you gotten tired of the same old oil and vinegar on your salad? Whisk a creamy tablespoon of peanut butter into 1/2 cup of your vinaigrette for a thicker, tastier dressing on your salad.

9. Soup’s On

Add some exotic African or Caribbean flavor to your favorite potato or vegetable soup. Dip out a cup of broth and whisk in a few tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. Return broth to soup and stir to distribute.

10. Dip it!

How about some Asian flair for roasted or stir fried beef, pork, chicken or shrimp?

3 TBSP peanut butter
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP peanut, safflower, rapeseed or vegetable oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil

Blend all ingredients together until very smooth. Dip skewered meat into sauce; drizzle over stir fry; or pour over shishkabobs.

BONUS

When you fry onion rings, fish, French fries or batter-dipped anything, does your house smell like a greasy spoon for a week? The moment you are finished frying, turn off heat and drop a spoonful of peanut butter in the skillet. It will neutralize the odor from the burning flour or corn meal.

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Have you ever tried one of these recipes? Do you have a secret peanut butter recipe? Other than mousetraps, what is another use for peanut butter? Thank you for reading M3’s 350th post.

(c) Ann Marie Dwyer 2012
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41 Comments

  1. Wow, Red, these are very cool recipes! Have you ever made total peanut /vegetable soup? Happy 350th, and many more! “:))

    Reply
  2. Yep, I’ve got peanut butter in the cupboard too. For the grandkids.This is an interesting collection.

    Going to send to my son-in-law. He does the cooking and baking upstairs. I’m sure he’ll love this too. Thanks.

    Reply
    • It is one of my favorite “mystery ingredients”. For those who are peanut intolerant, I may have to write a post about the other nuts in the family 😉

      Reply
  3. Some of these sound really good. I’m definitely going to try adding the peanut butter to the chocolate chip cookies….thanks Red! 🙂

    Reply
  4. I can’t tell you my uses for peanut butter. Too mindblowing.
    Here you go again though. I love ham, so I can’t wait to get some and try the glaze. When is the cookbook coming out?

    Reply
    • LOL! I never thought of a cookbook. I have some cool ones…on the shelf. I never…never…never read in them unless I have had a brain fart and cannot remember how big a handful to toss in something. When I write recipes, I often have to make the dish, just so I can measure the stuff. I am so an eyeballer.

      Reply
  5. I’m baking cookies this weekend and will try substituting half the butter for PB the way you suggest. I love peanut butter, have since I was a kid.

    Reply
  6. We have a 113- year-old cookbook called ” Our Chef’s best Receipts” , Seriously. Google it. Copyright 1899, Rand-McNally & Co.
    ON a ‘blank note’ page, somebody entered a hand-written recipe for “peanut butter bread” . hehehehe….almost as good as cookies…”:)

    Reply
    • Yum. I love it. That is one like some of the other chain letter breads. But then again, I am a peanut butter fiend.

      Reply
  7. Great, yummy post! My favourite (that’s how we spell it in Canada folks, get used to it!) sandwich growing up was peanut butter and brown sugar!

    Reply
    • I am good with the peanut butter sans the bread 😉

      Reply
      • Me too! i love eating it by the spoonful (the luvin’ spoonful!) – especiually Kraft extra chunky!

        Reply
        • Not sure I have ever had Kraft. We have been a Jif household for a long time, when I do not make it from scratch…which I prefer. The problem is the fresh never lasts long.

          Reply
  8. Edible play dough for the kids (that’s what my mom used to do!). My dog loves peanut butter on nearly anything – celery, carrots or a spoon. Also, did you know peanut butter will take bubble gum out of hair (spoken as an adult who had many chunks of gum removed from very long, thick hair as a child!)

    Reply
    • Yes, I had long hair as a child, but the gum was always in my sisters hair. All dogs love peanut butter…at least the ones I had did.

      Reply
  9. Tracy is a Jif person. Ewww! That stuff has too much added yuck and refuses to pass John’s lips. Now good old organic, you have to stir it and keep it in the fridge, is my idea of good food. Trick with natural peanut butter is to leave the jar upside down on the kitchen counter for a day or so before you stir it up. Spoon it out of the jar and lick the spoon (I wash the spoon between licks). PB on bread all by it’s own self. Love good PB.

    John

    Reply
    • I like it fresh. I have learned the recipe for not enough to feed an army. I like it on pretzels 😉

      Reply
      • Take some peanut butter, spread it on one side of a little pretzel and press a few m&m’s into the PB. Redefines the meaning of health food. LOL

        John

        Reply
  10. Some interesting ideas. My all time favourite peanut butter thing is still the good old Peanut Butter & Jam (jelly) sandwich. Just can’t beat it.

    Reply

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