Peanut Butter Heaven...

Here is a super easy, no cook recipe, that's great for holiday parties or a thursday...

 



Peanut Butter Balls:

6 c. rice krispies cereal
1c creamy peanut butter
1 jar marshmallow cream
1 12 oz pk semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1T. shortening ( optional, just makes the chocolate look shiny and beautiful )


In a large bowl, mix marshmallow cream and peanut butter, add cereal. Mix well but try not to crush the cereal too much. Form this mixture into 1" or so sized balls.
In a separate microwave safe bowl melt chocolate morsels and shortening together using 45 second intervals. Stir well every 45 seconds. Do this until chocolate is melted and creamy. DO NOT over cook, it will burn! Dip peanut butter balls into chocolate. Cool on a wax paper lined tray. I usually put mine in the fridge, they cool faster and taste really good cold!
Once the chocolate has hardened serve them up on your pretty holiday platters or just shove them in your mouth and enjoy all that creamy peanut butter goodness... either way ;)

Easiest fudge ever



Thought I would share with you guys the easiest and creamiest fudge recipe there is. You can make all sorts of variations to this recipe. Here are the basics. Just three ingredients!

• One 12 oz bag of nestle chocolate morsels. I personally use semi-sweet chocolate because I am not a fan of anything milk chocolate

• one 9oz bag of Nestle winter dark chocolate and mint morsels

• 1 can of sweetened condensed milk I use nestle brand

• 1Tbls of shortening (optional, just makes the fudge look shiny and adds a bit of creaminess)

STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS:
pour all ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan and heat over medium low heat STIRRING CONSTANTLY until the chocolate is completely smooth. about 5-10 minutes depending on your stove top. Caution: chocolate can scorch, keep your stove top at a low setting and keep stirring to keep your chocolate from burning. Once all the ingredients are melted and smooth pour into an 8x8 pan that is lined with wax paper. I also butter my wax paper just to make sure the fudge does not stick. Allow the chocolate to cool and harden, about 15 or so you can put it in the freezer to cool faster. Once the fudge has hardened remove it from the pan and wax paper, cut into 1" squares can be served immediately or stored in an airtight container.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:
Place all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 45 SECONDS. stir thoroughly. Microwave another 45 seconds and stir again. Repeat this process until chocolate is completely melted. The reason i use 45 second intervals is to be sure the chocolate does not scorch. It is really easy to burn chocolate in the microwave! follow instructions above for pouring into pan.

VARIATIONS:
You can change this recipe up many different ways, just remember you need a total of 22 oz of morsels. It could be white chocolate and peanut butter, you could even stir in one cup peanuts or pecans. Maybe some dried cranberries. The possibilities are endless my friends, have fun experimenting!

 ♥ from the farm

Oh, one of my faves is to use 22 oz of semisweet morsels and 1 cup of coarsely chopped pecans, it's really yummy!

Pecan Pie Cake

I thought I'd share one of my favorite holiday recipes today. Pecan pie cake! I discovered it a few years ago in a Southern Living mag. I make it at least once a year, in fact I just made it for Thanksgiving, it was awesome!

I'll give you guys a heads up, this cake is one of those you gotta put a lil time into. It's completly from scratch, but is so worth your effort!

Here's what you'll need:
Mixer
Three 9" cake pans ( I prefer the glass ones, but metal will work just fine)
large sauce pan
wax paper
cooling rack or other method to cool your cakes
Meauring cup and spoons


This recipe has two different part to it. First a recipe for the icing/filling, which I would make first because it has to have time to cool down
The next part is the cake and then at the very end is the instructions for putting it all together. It's much easier than it sounds.

Pecan Pie Cake filling:

• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Whisk together first 6 ingredients in a heavy 3-quart saucepan until smooth. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from heat; whisk in butter and vanilla extract. Place a sheet of wax paper directly on surface of mixture to prevent a film from forming, and chill 4 hours.
2. Note: To chill filling quickly, pour filling into a bowl. Place bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice. Whisk constantly until cool (about 15 minutes).

Pecan Pie Cake Mix:

• 3 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted and divided
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 1 recipe pecan pie cake filling

Preparation

1. Sprinkle 2 cups pecans evenly into 3 generously buttered 9-inch round cakepans; shake to coat bottoms and sides of pans.
2. Beat 1/2 cup butter and shortening at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
3. Add flour and baking soda to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in remaining 1 cup finely chopped pecans.
4. Beat egg whites at medium speed until stiff peaks form; fold one-third of egg whites into batter. Fold in remaining egg whites. (Do not overmix.) Pour batter into prepared pans.
5. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until done. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Invert layers onto wax paper-lined wire racks. Brush tops and sides of layers with corn syrup, and cool completely.
6. Spread half of Pecan Pie Filling on 1 layer, pecan side up. Place second layer, pecan side up, on filling; spread with remaining filling. Top with remaining layer, pecan side up.

That's it, I usually just garnish mine with a few pecan halves and a cherry, it looks really simple and pretty. Enjoy your cake! It's a favorite with my family and I'm sure it will be with yours too!

Welcome

Hi there everyone! Thanks for visiting! Field + Feathers is our family owned organic farmstead. We sell organic vegetables and eggs locally. I am an environmental activist, herbalist, and above all a mom to two wonderful boys. Here you'll find homestead recipes, photos, sustainability ideas, repurpose DIY's, and lots of talk about plants.