No Oven Peanut Butter Squares

No Oven Peanut Butter Squares (from Kraft Recipes, Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, Servings: 48 squares)

Ingredients

·         ½ cup butter or margarine

·         2 cups powdered sugar

·         1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

·         1 cup creamy Peanut Butter

·         3 pkg. (4 oz. each) Semi-Sweet Chocolate, broken into pieces

Directions

1.      Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan.

2.      Place chocolate pieces into a microwave-safe bowl.  Put in microwave for 30 seconds, then stir.  Repeat until chocolate is melted.

3.      Melt butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 45 sec. Add next 3 ingredients; mix well. Spread into prepared pan; cover with chocolate.

4.      Cut partially through dessert to mark 48 squares. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Use foil handles to remove dessert from pan; cut into squares.

Another dessert that I made for the Progressive Dinner in the neighborhood.  When I first tried it, I thought it was OK – maybe a little too dry with the graham crackers.  But after eating it a little bit more, I like it.  I think that I will add more peanut butter next time, to help with the dry texture.  I like the chocolate coating, but definitely do NOT skip the first part of step 4.  I did and the chocolate cracked into all types of weird angles.  Not pretty!  Next time, in addition to using more PB, I will make a thicker batch by using a 9x9 or 8x8 pan.  These went over really well with the neighbors – they were gone in less than 30 minutes, even with the large selection of desserts!  

Berried Delight

Berried Delight (slightly adapted from Kraft Foods, Servings: 20, Total Time: 4 hours)

Ingredients

·         1-1/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers
·         6 Tbsp. margarine, melted
·         1 pkg.  (8 oz.) low-fat or fat-free Cream Cheese, softened
·         2 Tbsp. cold milk
·         1 tub (8 oz.) low-fat or fat-free whipped topping, thawed, divided
·         4 cups fresh strawberries, halved
·         2 small pkg. fat-free, sugar-free Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
·         3-1/2 cups  cold milk

Directions

1.)    Mix graham crack crumbs and margarine; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2.)    Beat cream cheese and 2 Tbsp. milk in large bowl with whisk until blended. Stir in half the whipped topping; spread over crust.
3.)    Top with berries.
4.)    Beat pudding mixes and 3-1/2 cups milk with whisk 2 min.; pour over berries.
5.)    Refrigerate 4 hours (or freeze for 1 hour). Spread with remaining whipped topping just before serving, if desired

When I started making this recipe, I did not read it the whole way through and thought that I was making a different dish with pudding and strawberries(one that I love and have had a few times).  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this until I'd already started and it was too late to turn back.  I guess I should also be clear that I do not like cheesecake, so when I realized my mistake, I was sorely disappointed.  However, I decided to buck up and make the recipe – it’s always good to try new things.

So, the end result definitely does not look like the picture on the Kraft website.  I had a lot of excess liquid that went to the bottom of the pan and made the graham cracker crust all mushy.  I did try the cream cheese portion of the dessert, but did not like it.  For leftovers, I have scraped this portion out and the dessert tastes just fine!  My husband liked the whole thing, so maybe you should follow his feedback if you are OK with or like cheesecake (no judging from me).

The recipe is simple and easy to follow.  I used the freezer method and it cut OK – although, they didn’t do a great job at maintaining a bar form.  Even after keeping them in the refrigerator for leftovers, they fall apart.  That’s OK though – messy desserts make me smile!