Family Favorite Peanut Butter Pie

Are you busy?

Me too. Most of my cooking and baking as of late seems to be quick, easy, and cheap. On top of that, I am trying to become more educated and accomplished at egg-free cooking.

Want a yummy, quick, egg-free desert that your family will request over and over again? Try this peanut butter pie. (I found this recipe online a couple years back, and unfortunately didn't write down the source.)

The ingredient list is simple, I almost always have everything in my pantry or freezer.

Are you ready?

Peanut Butter Pie

1 graham cracker crust (I use chocolate)
1/2 cup peanut butter (usually I use crunchy, this time I used creamy so the twins could have some)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 block of cream cheese (4 ounces), softened
1 8 ounce tub of whipped topping (like Cool-Whip), thawed
handful of crushed chocolate chips (optional, I run mine through the food processor)


Combine peanut butter, powdered sugar, and cream cheese. Beat until creamy and well combined. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into crust. Top with crushed chocolate chips. Freeze for at least 12 hours. Slice up and serve.

I will not judge if you refrain from letting your family know what's in the freezer....

Linking up here.

Egg-Free Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Hubby has been asking for oatmeal raisin cookies, with peanut butter.

Lets make hubby his cookies, and go one step further- and make them egg-free for the boys. Keep in mind that egg-free is not my area of expertise yet, I'm still learning.

Here's the concoction (with my verdict following):

Egg-Free Peanut Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1/2 cup butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil (this is the egg substitute)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (or more if you'd like)
1 1/2 cup peanut butter, smooth or crunchy (if for littles use smooth)
1 1/2 cup flour
4 cups oatmeal
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix together butter and sugar.
Add vegetable oil and vanilla.
Mix in baking soda, salt, cinnamon, peanut butter, and flour.
Stir in oatmeal.
Incorporate raisins.
Scoop out on ungreased cookie sheet. Smoosh with a fork (not necessary, but I love it!)Bake for 10-15 minutes. Until edges are golden.

Verdict: This is not a chewy cookie. I was expecting a chewy oatmeal raisin type of cookie. They were soft with good flavor; unless let in the oven too long. They crumbled. Pull these babies out as soon as the edges start to turn gold. Overall, these are pretty good (especially if you have egg allergies). I will be trying different substitutions; I would like to cut back the oil necessary.

*I am not a chef, baker, or professional recipe writer- just a mama who won't let allergies tie us down. If there are any mistakes in the recipe, please let me know so I can fix them.

Two Ingredient Cake Tips

As you may have read (or not) my boys' birthday was this weekend. One of them is severely allergic to eggs. So I went in search for the perfect birthday cake for them to smash. I found the two-ingredient cake.

It tastes fantastic! I had plans to make two huge cupcakes, one for each boy, and regular-sized cupcakes for the party-attendants. First I made a big cupcake using my mold. When I tried to pop it out, the cake fell apart and turned into a mess! Oh well, onto take two. I made a 13 x 9 cake. I let it cool all night (mainly because we were up until 12:30 making cakes). The morning of the party I popped the cake into the freezer for a half an hour or so. Then tried to pop it out of the cake pan and... same results.

My husband walked in at this time, while I was spitting and sputtering to myself (or maybe anybody who could hear). He offered make a power run to buy a cake. But remember? Egg allergy.

I had to walk away for a moment. When I came to and decided to frost the cupcakes, I absently started to arrange them on the (handmade) cake boards. I can do this.

I arranged 7 cupcakes to resemble a 1. Then I took broken cake chunks and stuffed in all the holes. Next I generously frosted. The outcome....

Not too bad. Although the boys did not dig in the way I had anticipated...

They honestly only got this dirty because they got help, clearly the enthusiasm is lacking...



My tips? Two-ingredient cake is moist, really moist. It will not hold well for a decorated cake, or a mold (unless I was doing something drastically wrong). My second piece of wisdom- this cake makes a wonderful truffle (I think that's what my concoction may be called. I layered the broken cake (smashed it up a little more), vanilla pudding, and peanut butter buttercream frosting left over from the cupcakes in a bowl. It went fast! This stuff is amazing!

Have you tried two-ingredient cake yet?

Kool-Aid Cupcakes

Doesn't she look beautiful? Let me tell ya, she was tasty!

I love to bake, cook, mix, combine, and concoct. I have enjoyed it since I was a wee girl who had to pull the chair up to the counter in order to see in the mixing bowl. Once I learned to read, my mom, dad, and great grandma taught me to read and follow recipes. Back then I was a machine! Cakes, cookies, breads, dinners, you name it- I tried it (usually successfully).

Lately, I like making treats. I like making simple treats. You know, because you can only fit so much in during nap time. The only problem is that we are not really a sweet treat family. Don't get me wrong, we all love our sweets- but one or two for each one of us is usually plenty.

I hate wasting food. So cupcakes, muffins, and cookies have been my go-to lately. They are easy to pack and disperse. I make the full recipe. I leave enough here for the family. I also pack a plate for the neighbors. The rest gets distributed to friends and family, or just anybody that may be needing a treat.

I found this post for orange creamsicle cupcakes at Bear Rabbit Crafts. These sound delightful, and look so easy. So I gave it a try.

A box of white cake mix (and the ingredients needed to make the cake), and a packet of orange kool-aid.

That's it. Mix it together, bake according to the directions on the box, let cool, and frost.

For the frosting add a little kool-aid to white frosting and mix. It is important not to add too much kool-aid, or else the frosting will be bitter.

The verdict: These are absolutely wonderful! They were extremely simple, yet tasted like there was a lot of work involved. Perfect for this season of my life. I think next time I will try something different with  the frosting. I think I may use orange flavoring, (extract, whatever you call it) and a few drops of food coloring.

Let me know if you try different flavor concoctions.

Two Ingredient CHOCOLATE cupcakes

We just found out that one of our boys is severly allergic to eggs. This revelation brought forth a slight panic. You see, we are about two months away from their first birthday. What is a first birthday without cake smeared all over the face(s), tangled through the hair, mashed in fingers, and everywhere else possible?

I knew I saw a two-ingredient cake in linky land somewhere, where was it? I turned to trusty Pinterest and started searching, in less than 60 seconds I found the post I was looking for. Stephanie at ladywiththeredrocker.com made a delightfully yummy looking strawberry cake.

Well, I had a box of Devils Food Cake mix, and a can of Diet Coke. I'm gonna try this...

Here's how it went down:

I mixed the TWO ingredients.
Filled lined cupcake pans 2/3 full.
Baked at 325 for 18 minutes.
Cooled, then frosted using this frosting recipe.

The verdict: The cupcake was good, moist and fluffy. Next time I will bake one or two minutes less. The frosting was runny, and a little strong on the mint flavor. It also does not make very much, I had to double the recipe. Next time I want mint frosting I will make a buttercream frosting and add a little mint extract.

I do think the two-ingredient cakes may work for the boys' first birthday.

Let me know if you try this concoction or another variation, I'd love to hear about the other combinations.