Peanut Butter M&M’s Cookie Bars

Friends, I’m sorry I teased so many of you this morning by posting a picture of a yummy treat and not the recipe! Secretly, it was my way of getting you back here to Three Months!

As I mentioned earlier today, I made Peanut Butter M&M’s Cookie Bars for a church BBQ and for a friend’s 4th of July party this past weekend.

My initial plan was to find red, white & blue M&M’s for a festive look. Unfortunately, I could not find them! Seriously, M&M’s celebrates every other holiday. I was rather upset, but these obviously still turned out to be delicious!

Into the oven they go!

I found a recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bars, and with a few adjustments, I present to you the recipe!

The finished product!

Adapted from: Apple A Day – Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

12 TBSP unsalted butter (slightly softened)

1 c. smooth peanut butter

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 c. M&M’s (+ more to sprinkle on top)

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan.  Alternately, line the pan with parchment or foil and spray with cooking spray.  (Recipe can also be halved and baked in an 8×8.)

2.  Whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon & baking powder. Set aside.

3.  Cream the butter and peanut butter together until smooth. Beat in the sugars until combined.

4.  Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

5.  Mix in the flour mixture. Once mostly combined, add the M&M’s and stir until combined.

6. Spread batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle desired amount of M&M’s on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes (for an 8×8 pan, bake for 30-32 minutes). Cool completely before cutting.

What’s Your Soup of the Day?

Good evening, bloggies. Hope your Tuesday been just fab. I’m so glad I have so many fellow Target-obsessed friends out there.

I’m very very excited to share with you the din din my husband and I enjoyed tonight. I feel like you deserve to know a little bit more about me in regards to this special dinner.

I heart soup. With all that I am. I was the girl growing up that asked at every restaurant my parents took me to, “what the soup of the day” was. Seriously.

Soup is such a comfort food – no matter what type it is. I am not biased.

So now that you understand that my love for soup runs deep, please don’t judge me when I tell you that we had soup for dinner tonight, albeit  it was 90+ degrees out. Whatev.

But friends, it wasn’t just any soup. It was Spicy African Peanut Stew.

:Cue the heavenly angels:

Mmm.

This recipe is courtesy of Peas and Thank You, and it was delicious!

Spicy African Peanut Stew – Peas and Thank You
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 sweet potato, cubed (about 1 c. total)
1 1/2 t. curry powder
1/2-3/4 t. garam masala (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 t. cumin
1 T. minced ginger
2 t. minced garlic
stevia to taste – I omitted this
dash of cinnamon
1 can fire roasted tomatoes, in juice
1 can light coconut milk
2 c. vegetable stock
2 T. natural peanut butter
1/2 c. uncooked quinoa

Throw everything into your slow cooker. Set on high for 1 hour, then switch to low for 4 hours. I needed to crank mine back up to high for the remaining hour, to fully cook the sweet potatoes.

We enjoyed our spicy stew with these bad boys from Trader Joe’s.

Garlic Naan – such a fabulous creation. Such fabulous ingredients: wheat flour, water, garlic, milk, yogurt, coriander leaves, sunflower oil, salt.

Oh, yes. We had soup for dinner on one of the hottest days of summer yet.

Do you eat soup during the summer? Or do you stray from hot dishes during these months?

P.S. Don’t worry, I’m ending this night on a cool note: vanilla soy ice cream.