Showing posts with label peanut butter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peanut butter. Show all posts
One thing which I always try to keep in my freezer are flat breads of some sort. You can get rectangular ones (like you see here) or round ones. I also like Lebanese Pita breads and Indian Naan.
Not only do they come in handy to serve with meals, especially soups, stews and tagines, but they also make fabulous pizza bases!
Today I used a rectangular one to make a Peanut Chicken Flatbread Pizza. I am not sure if this would be considered fusion cooking or not, but I like to think that it combines something Italian with something Thai.
I adore pizza. I adore Peanut Chicken. The two together? Fantabulous!
You could of course make your own pizza base or flatbread from scratch and there are no end to the recipes available to do just that. It all depends on what you are looking for.
For ease and speed, I highly recommend a good store bought one. This one is Presidents Choice Original flatbread. It is plain and simple and just the right size to feed four.
From there I slathered it with a delicious homemade Thai peanut sauce, topped it with some mozzarella cheese and a scattering of chicken breast cubes I had marinated and cooked in a Thai marinade.
I baked it and then finished it off with a scattering of chopped roasted peanuts and spring onions and I have to say, it was very delicious! Not to mention, very quick and easy to make!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PEANUT CHICKEN FLATBREAD PIZZA
The ingredients for this are actually quite simple, and if you are like me and keep an assortment of oriental condiments, etc. in your store cupboard, it won't take a special trip to the shops, but if it does, trust me when I say it is worth it.
For the chicken:
- 1 large free range boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp liquid honey
- 1/2 tsp cornstarch
For the peanut sauce:
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 TBS sweet chili sauce
- 1 TBS hoisin sauce
- 1/3 cup (80ml) water
- 1 1/2 TBS smooth peanut butter
In a pinch you can sub powders for the fresh garlic and ginger. I would use 1/4 tsp each of powdered ginger and garlic powder (not salt).
Also if you don't have sweet chili sauce, then you can make a suitable substitute by subbing 1 TBS plum sauce whisked together with 1/2 TBS sriracha sauce. It is pretty hard to find a substitute for hoisin sauce. I would try equal parts of BBQ sauce, molasses and dark soy sauce.
You will also need:
- 1 4-serving sized prepared flat bread (you can also use 2 medium naan bread)
- 2 TBS light olive oil
- 8 ounces (225g) grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 spring onion, trimmed, washed and finely chopped
- 3 TBS chopped roasted peanuts
You could use chopped coriander instead of the spring onions. (Cilantro) I happen to think that spring onion works perfectly here. I think also you want the mild flavor of the mozzarella cheese rather than another cheese. It melts beautifully, quickly and won't take away from the flavors of the other ingredients.
HOW TO MAKE PEANUT CHICKEN FLATBREAD PIZZA
This goes together very quickly and simply once you get each element sorted. You will have more peanut sauce than you need, but trust me when I say that you can drizzle the leftover sauce over the cooked pizza as desired and nobody will be complaining.
I could eat that sauce with a spoon and be quite happy.
Begin by preparing your chicken. Cut it into cubes. This is best done if the chicken is semi-frozen. You can get nice clean cuts. I cut mine into a 1/2 inch dice.
Whisk together the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and pop the diced chicken into it. Leave to sit for about 10 minutes while you make the sauce.
To make the sauce, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger. Cook until quite fragrant.
Whisk in the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, and then simmer until it has thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown and cooked through.
Preheat your oven to 375*F. 190*C/ gas mark 5. Place your flat bread onto a baking sheet. Brush around the edges with the olive oil.
Spoon about 1/2 cup of the peanut sauce in the middle of the flat bread and spread it around up to the edges. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the peanut sauce. Scatter the cooked chicken pieces over top of the cheese.
Pop the baking tray into the preheated oven and bake until the cheese has melted, the crust is crisp and golden brown and the chicken is heated through.
While the pizza is baking chop your spring onions and peanuts for the topping.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let sit for a few minutes, then sprinkle the chopped peanuts and spring onions over top.
Cut into wedges to serve! Prepare yourself for praise and accolade, because you will surely receive them!! This is some good!!
Like I said, you can serve any additional peanut sauce for people to dip their pizza slices in, or you can drizzle it over top.
You could also cut it into smaller squares and serve it as appetizers or game night bites for your friends and family with sauce for dipping.
No matter how you decide to serve this one thing is for certain, everyone is going to love, Love, LOVE it!! I guarantee!!
Peanut Chicken Flatbread Pizza
Yield: 4
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 8 MinTotal time: 28 Min
Favorite Thai Peanut Chicken flavors on a flatbread pizza. This is incredibly deliciously moreish.
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 large free range boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp liquid honey
- 1/2 tsp cornstarch
For the peanut sauce:
- 1 tsp cooking oil
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 1/2 TBS sweet chili sauce
- 1 TBS hoisin sauce
- 1/3 cup (80ml) water
- 1 1/2 TBS smooth peanut butter
You will also need:
- 1 4-serving sized prepared flat bread (you can also use 2 medium naan bread)
- 2 TBS light olive oil
- 8 ounces (225g) grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 spring onion, trimmed, washed and finely chopped
- 3 TBS chopped roasted peanuts
Instructions
- First prepare and marinate your chicken. Whisk the soy sauce, honey and cornstarch together in a bowl. Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes. Add to the marinade in the bowl and leave to sit on the counter for about 10 minutes.
- To make the peanut sauce, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add the garlic and ginger. Cook until very fragrant. Add the sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, water and peanut butter. Whisk together until smooth. Simmer until thickened.
- Preheat your oven to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5.
- Heat a small skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken. Sauté the chicken pieces until cooked through and golden brown. Set aside.
- Place the flat bread (naans) onto a baking sheet. Brush the edges with the olive oil. Spread about 1/2 cup of the peanut sauce over top of the bread evenly.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the peanut sauce. Scatter the cooked chicken over top of the cheese.
- Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven until the cheese has melted, everything is heated through, and the crust is golden brown around the edges.
- Remove from the oven. Scatter the spring onion and chopped peanuts over top. Cut into wedges to serve. Serve hot with or without additional peanut sauce for dipping if desired.
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I confess to holding a certain fondness for peanut butter in any way shape or form. It has ever been so. I have been known to eat it from the jar with a spoon.
I especially enjoy it in baked goods. Cakes, cookies, bars, etc. This recipe which I am sharing with you today had been adapted from the book, Snacking Cakes by Yossi Arefi, and it is a particularly good snacking cake!
I really love snack cakes. Especially now that there is only one of me in my house. Most snack cakes are of a manageable size, and even so I do give half of them away to friends and family.
I shared two third of this lovely cake with two separate neighbors with a double thumbs up from each household! No complaints were forthcoming!
And I am not surprised. It is a particularly lovely cake. Nice and moist with a beautiful crumb due to the buttermilk in the cake batter.
Flavored beautifully with peanut butter and brown sugar. The brown sugar also adds to the moist crumb of this cake.
That beautiful salted caramel frosting on the top is its crowning glory. It is very similar to the old school Penuche frosting.
It is fudgy and rich and if a fabulous match for this sweet and salty cake! You can sprinkle the top with some sea salt flakes. I was able to bring a large tub of Malden Sea Salt over with me last year, and it was beautiful sprinkled on top of this cake.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BUTTER SNACK CAKE
Simple store cupboard ingredients put together in a most delicious way.
For the cake:
- soft light brown sugar (you could also use light muscovado brown sugar)
- large eggs (I only use free range)
- smooth peanut butter (I used Kraft, but Skippy would also be great!)
- buttermilk (well shaken)
- canola oil
- vanilla (I use pure vanilla extract)
- salt
- all purpose plain flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
For the frosting:
- butter (unsalted is specified in the recipe, but I used plain salted)
- soft light brown sugar (again you could use light muscovado)
- heavy cream
- water
- salt
- icing sugar (also known as confectioners or powdered)
- flaky salt to finish (optional)
And that icing on top, well, perfection. Pure and utter perfection. Rich and fudgy.
Yossi does specifically tell you not to use natural peanut butter. She recommends only commercial peanut butters, such as Skippy or Kraft.
Apparently natural peanut butters make the cake too oily. I used Kraft because that is what I have here where I live. I can no longer get Skippy. I love Skippy peanut butter most of all.
HOW TO MAKE SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BUTTER SNACK CAKE
Snack cakes are some of the easiest cakes to make. You begin by prepping your pan and preheating the oven. I buttered the cake tin (an 8 inch square tin) and then lined it with a piece of baking paper.
I used an 8-inch wide strip, lining two opposite sides only, leaving two sides bare. If your pan is well buttered this is okay. You want to leave an overhang of paper so that you can easily lift the cake out when done.
Its best to have your cake pans ready to go when you are making a batter with buttermilk. Buttermilk reacts almost instantly with baking soda, giving you lift and the heat from the oven also adds to the chemical reaction which takes place.
Its best to have buttermilk batters into the pan and in the oven as quickly as possible so that you can take full advantage of that process, so having your pan ready to go first is ideal.
Using an electric whisk beat the eggs and sugar together until light and foamy. This helps to melt the sugar somewhat. You then beat in the buttermilk, oil, vanilla and salt. Beat to emulsify the ingredients completely.
I like to sift my flour, soda and baking powder together so that the soda and BP are evenly mixed into the flour. This mixture then gets whisked into the wet ingredients until you have a smooth, evenly mixed batter.
Pour the batter into your prepped cake tin and tap it lightly on the counter top a few times to help release any air bubbles that may be trapped.
You don't want bit holes in your cake. Once you have done that, pop it into the oven and bake. The recipe says to bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Mine was done closer to 30 minutes, so do check. You don't want to over bake the cake and dry it out.
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before you lift it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. You can then make the frosting, which is really easy to do.
Combine all of the frosting ingredients, with the exception of the icing sugar, in a sauce pan and allow them to melt and come to a full rolling boil. Boil for three minutes and then remove from the heat.
Let cool for three minutes, stirring once or twice and then stir in the icing sugar until smooth and thickened somewhat. Spread over top of the cooled cake and sprinkle some flaked sea salt on top, if using.
This is a really fabulous cake. Rich and delicious. Moist. Nice and peanut-buttery.
That frosting is delicious and both together are amazing. Perfect with a hot cuppa or an ice cold glass of milk. You could even serve squares of this cake with a scoop of ice cream on top. Yummy!!
This cake can also be baked in a 9 inch round tin (35 to 45 minutes), or in a loaf tin (50 to 60 minutes.)
Some other peanut butter cakes which I really enjoy are Glazed Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake, Peanut Butter and Banana Cake, and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie Torte.
When I lived in Canada I used to love watching the cooking shows on Saturday afternoons . . . well, anytime really. It was my guilty pleasure. I used to watch Julia Child, and The Frugal Gourmet, Cooking from Quilt Country, Lidia's Italian Kitchen, and Martha Stewart of course (to name a few). Another show I enjoyed was one starring Caprial Pence. I can't remember what it was called. I've always been a fan of cooking television. It started with Take Thirty when I was still a teen at home and Madame Benoit, Wok with Yan and the Galloping Gourmet.
Nothing has changed, except at the start the cooking hosts were older and I was younger and now I am old and the cooking hosts are young! How did that happen??? Somehow it did it without me noticing!
I actually don't want a lot of food television these days really . . . I like the GBBO, and on Netflix those shows like Chef's Table and Chef's Table. My guilty pleasure is the Pioneer Woman, but I have to watch that when Todd's not home. He can't stand her voice. He says she sounds like a Duck quacking when she talks. He has a point . . .
So what does any of this have to do with peanut butter cookies??? Nothing really except that this recipe I am sharing is adapted from one I found in a cookbook I own by Caprial Pence.
I picked it up when I was working at the Manor. I always needed good desserts to cook for the dinner parties and luncheons. I could justify buying cookbooks as a working expense. 😏 Not so much now. Now they are just an addiction passion.
Actually I don't buy as many as I used to . . . there really is such a thing as having too many, and with the resources available on line that we have today, there is no need to own as many. I don't buy cooking magazines much anymore either. I only buy books that I know are filled with recipes I think I am going to want to cook and it is the same with magazines. Yes, I am that annoying person who reads through cooking magazines before I buy them.
Anyways, this is a cookie recipe I have had flagged in Caprial's book for some 14 1/2 years now. The book is filled with lovely dessert recipes from just about every dessert genre, but also adaptations for variations on the original theme.
I like that really . . . variations. That is the way I like to cook . . . switching up and changing bits here and there. Its more fun and works well.
The original recipe was for Mother's Peanut Butter Cookies, with this variation for Peanut Butter Everything Cookies.
The variation includes the addition of oats, orange zest, chocolate chips and shredded coconut . . . all things that I love.
I actually cut the recipe in half as there are only two of us . . . and I didn't want that much temptation hanging around my kitchen.
Smart move on my part because these are very incredibly MOREISH!!!!
They are delicious. If you bake them for the longer time you get crisper cookies. Just saying. If crisp is your thing . . . do bake for a tad bit longer. I baked some at the shorter time and some at the longer time. Both were very good, but I thought the crisper ones the best!
Peanut Butter Everything Cookies
Yield: Makes about 48 cookies
Moreish peanut butter cookies that are stogged full of chocolate chips, oats and orange zest. An unbeatable combination! Crisp and buttery!
ingredients:
- 240g cold unsalted butter, diced (1 cup)
- 190g granulated sugar (1 cup)
- 200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup, firmly packed)
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 180g peanut butter (1 cup) (you can use either smooth or crunchy)
- 245g flour (1 3/4 cups)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 120g old fashioned oats (1 1/2 cups)
- 180g bittersweet chocolate chopped (1 cup)
- the finely grated zest of one orange
- 75g shredded sweetened coconut (1 cup)
instructions:
How to cook Peanut Butter Everything Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a couple of baking sheets with some baking paper. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and both sugars in a bowl of a mixer and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides. Beat in the eggs, orange zest and vanilla. Add the peanut butter, mixing it in well. Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Stir into the creamed mixture until smooth. Stir in the oats, chocolate and coconut.
- Shape TBS into 1/2 inch balls and place on the baking sheets leaving plenty of space in between for spreading. Press down lightly with a fork.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown on the edges and set. Let sit on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat until all the batter has been used.
- Store in an airtight container.
These fabulous cookies are like a combination of all your favourite cookies in one . . . oatmeal and coconut cookies, chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies. You can't go wrong. Do use the orange zest. It really adds a wonderful layer of additional flavour!
This is a recipe that I have had my eye on for a long time. I adore peanut butter in any way shape or form.
I do like the creamy style slightly more than the crunchy, but if it's peanut butter I am all for it! I have never met a peanut butter anything I didn't like!
The original recipe comes from a baking book I have had for a while, entitled Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook, by Kathleen King.
I have had it since before we moved back here to Chester and I am ashamed to say this is the first time I have used it!
As a part of my efforts to downsize around here I have been going through all of my cookery books and trying to decide which ones to keep and which ones not to keep.
If they are books I have used a lot, they stay . . . . naturally.
But if they are not books which I have used, I am having to do some serious thinking as to whether it is worth keeping them or not.
I want to have at least 10 recipes per book, if not more, that I have cooked or am interested in cooking.
This one looks somewhat promising, especially after baking this loaf and seeing how lovely it turned out.
A simple quick bread with lovely rich peanut butter flavours. Easy to make. It did take me sightly longer to bake, but I am not sure if that is because of where I live, or because my oven isn't working properly. (Yes, still!)
This can happen often when baking things. All ovens are not alike and altitude, environment can also come into play when baking. We must be prepared to adjust things as we need to.
She recommended serving it toasted and spread with jam. I decided to try it first as little sandwiches . . . one with strawberry jam, and another with a sugar free chocolate spread I have here in the house.
I love sandwiches. Almost as much as I love peanut butter.
Both of the sandwiches I made looked very good. I can't tell you which one I loved more.
Nutella? Yum!! Jam? Yum! Both? Yum yum yum!
I also cut a thin slice and toasted it in the toaster . . . until the edges were crisp and golden. Nobody can ever accuse me of not doing what I need to in order to present you with the very best! 😉😉😉
The toasted slice I spread lightly with salted butter. Lightly is a personal decision. One man's idea of lightly is not the same as another man's lightly.
Just saying . . . don't quote me on this!
I actually sat down with a finger of each and a cup of Peanut Hottie Hot Chocolate to try them out inividually. One small finger of each of the nutella sandwich, and one of the jam, and one of the toasted slice.
I am incredibly thorough when I do these things. I wouldn't want to share anything with you that wasn't amazingly tasty would I?
I know . . . its a tough job, but somebody has to do it! All I can say is Yum, Double Yum, Triple YUM YUM YUM!!
Peanut Butter Bread
Yield: 1 9-inch loaf
Lovely loaf with a rich peanut butter flavour. Eat it plain, toasted, as little jam or nutella sandwiches or for dessert with ice cream and chocolate sauce!
ingredients:
- 280g plain flour (2 cups)
- 1 TBS Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 65g butter softened (1/4 cup)
- 95g granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 50g soft dark brown sugar (1/4 cup, firmly packed)
- 180g smooth peanut butter (1 cup)
- 1 large free range egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 240ml milk (1 cup milk)
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 X 5 X 3 inch loaf tin. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and both sugars together until combined. Add the peanut butter and mix well together. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, making three dry and two wet additions. Spoon into the prepared loaf tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. The top should spring back when lightly touched.
- Cool in the tin for 10 minutes prior to tipping out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Store in an airtight container.
The results were . . . I liked the toasted one, but it was not my favourite . . . the sugar free chocolate spread was very good. My very favourite however . . . . was the one with strawberry jam! Yes, you can take the North American out of North America, but you can't take the North America out of the North American. My veins flow with peanut butter and jam! Yummity yummity yum yum yum!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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