crispy peanut butter cups // toasted coconut

Peanut Butter Cups are one of Justin's most favorite candies. He can polish off a bag without thinking twice. Peanut Butter Cups are super easy to make, for an added twist I included some of his favorite chocolate crisp cereal and toasted coconut.

I was able to enjoy a total of one peanut butter cup - the rest were gone within 2 days of making this batch.

The perfect little sweet treat for New Years Eve.

chocolate peanut butter protein bars

Justin and I have made a stronger effort these past couple of month's to be a little more aware of what we are putting into our bodies. It is easy to get lazy and shrug off exercise or to rely on vegan convenience foods for lunch and dinner. We know what healthy choices we should be making but we don't always. It was time for us to drag ourselves out of our current routine and create a new one. We have started to become more active each day, Justin set up a pretty awesome home workout area for us in the basement and I have made a more concerted effort to avoid as many vegan convenience foods as possible - circling back to a more whole foods plant based approached.

We also have abstained from drinking - Justin for over a month as a bit of a reset and myself, I am still sticking with it- just an occasional drink on a special occasion (I mean come on, I couldn't miss out on my amazing Sangria for book club!). These little changes and tweaks have given both of us more energy, better nights sleep and overall in a better mood.

banana cacao nib smoothie // pb + chia

Hands down this is one of my favorite smoothies- simple ingredients that taste like dessert. Over the years I have found myself craving ingredients that I once turned my nose up on or just generally disliked. I remember the very first time I made Vegan Mac n' Cheese (before we even became vegan) with nooch and ended up throwing the entire batch away // we thought it was the worst thing ever. Now I put nooch in or on just about everything. The first time I tried Cacao Nibs I legit spit them out and Chia seeds looked too weird when re hydrated for me to even try them.

Now, I love them all // I actually crave them. 

So morale of the story, don't ever give up on an ingredient, you never know when that moment might be when you fall in love with a long hated ingredient for the first time.

peanut butter cheesecake // chocolate drizzle

Can we just stop and take a moment to drool over this cheesecake- is it not gorgeous or what!

Dessert is suppose to be showstopping, that is part of the fun of making dessert- that and tasting delicious.

Peanut Butter + Chocolate // enough said.

peanut butter banana oatmeal

I never tire of breakfast, it is the one meal that I get totally excited over. I love the ritual of our lazy Sunday morning breakfast, the predictability of breakfast during the work week + the quietness of Saturday mornings with just the pup, kitty + a crossword with a bottomless pot of tea.

Saturday is also the day of branching out; a new oatmeal, vegan eggs bene or whatever was found at the Farmer's market that morning.

maple peanut butter apple tarts

Apple Picking is forever a battle in our house- to simply put it Justin is not a fan of Apple Picking and I totally am, however he was totally into these tarts which is a rarity as he is not big on apples.

Lucky for me, my Girlfriend has a weird boyfriend that doesn't like apple pie or any cooked apples matter of fact, but likes apple picking so she had a ton of apples for the taking. I was totally all over her offer when she told me she had some to spare!

pb coco banana smoothie

Justin and I recently completed a three day Juice Cleanse designed by Jus by Julie- there was a pretty awesome deal on Groupon so I snapped it up in a hurry. I have done juice fasts in the past but have always gone the homemade route. Honestly, having the juices shipped to me and ready to go was pretty amazing and a total time saver. Many of the Juices can be easily recreated at home- two of my favorites were Peanut Butter Banana & Island Coconut. This is my version of the Peanut Butter Banana- let me tell you, it is totally addicting!

peanut butter donuts // chocolate pb frosted

 

I cannot begin to tell you the heartache associated with these donuts ; much like the brownie fiasco of 2013 this recipe took multiple times to get just right...like so many times that Justin sighed and grumbled every time he asked me "whatcha baking" and I replied "...donuts". Now don't get me wrong, he loved the first two times I whipped up a batch, however I probably have made at least 6 batches of donuts within the past 2 months. Let me share with you what I have learned on this doughnut making adventure.

farina // hot cereal 3 ways

It wasn't until I met Justin that I learned to love hot cereals- I am pretty certain I had only had oatmeal from a packet once in my life prior to my early twenties.  We were a cold cereal, doughnut & the "big" breakfast type family with the occasional cinnamon toast or peanut butter English muffin thrown in for good measure. Growing up, hot cereal was a staple for Justin's family; creamy oatmeal and chocolaty farina were favorites.

peanut butter + jelly birthday cake

For my sister's birthday I decided to bake her a birthday cake- a birthday cake to top all birthday cakes. You know when you have an amazing idea in your head and you think it will be as easy as 1,2,3? All four cakes turned out beautiful, the type of cake that bakes up beautifully and slides out of the pan effortlessly. Needless to say half the cake remained beautiful and well, the lower tiers look as if they survived the Texas chain saw massacre. I had this brilliant idea to square off the sides of the cake, instead it turned into a hack job - I should have left it alone, the attempt at squaring off was a total fail. 

dark chocolate chip PB cookies

Justin doesn't ask for much when it comes to baking and cooking- so when he makes a special request I am more than happy to make it happen. Last week while I was testing out a raw chocolate cream pie recipe Justin had mentioned he hoped I was making cookies. Not one to say no to a cookie , a few day's later I was home bound, thanks to a Spring Snow Storm and got straight to work making cookies. 

These cookies are a combination of Justin's 2 favorite cookies -

 the peanut butter cookie & chocolate chip cookie.

As you all know peanut butter and chocolate are a match made in heaven, like Justin and I they are simply meant for one another - the perfect pairing.

peanut butter kisses

When asked "what Christmas cookie do you like the best" Justin will respond with one of two answers - the little round sugar coated ones (noel nut rounds) or the peanut butter cookies with the Hersey kisses. I had to break the  news to him that Hersey kisses are not vegan - he responded with     " you could totally make your own!" - yeah okay, keep dreaming - Cara from Fork & Beans whipped up a batch of Kisses in February and made it look pretty simple, but I was feeling lazy plus she is pretty amazing so I opted to go with chocolate pieces. Which for the record works just as well and well, it's probably surprise but tasted exactly the same as a Hersey kiss!

peanut butter bundt // dark chocolate frosted + Leibster!

 

peanut butter & chocolate, is there any better combination?

everything about this cake i love- the pure peanut butter cake, dark cocoa frosting and the chopped peanuts

I'm telling you, this is a cake you will want to eat for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

a cake that is perfect for an after school snack, a potluck or your next book club get together

my book club peeps were quite lucky last week - i made them this cake. 2 days later i made another one, that is how incredibly tasty this cake is; totally worthy of baking twice in one week!

cinnnamon raisin peanut butter cookies

i write allot about peanut butter - my love for pb has yet to fade

classic peanut butter cookies with a little twist - cinnamon & raisins

certainly if you prefer not to stray away from the classic, regular peanut butter can be used

go on be daring, climb out on a limb, take a chance- go for the little twist