We go through a lot of peanut butter in our household. From peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to cracking open a few roasted peanuts for a snack, we love eating peanuts!
Here are some fun peanut facts:
- It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
- By law, any product labeled “peanut butter” in the United States must be at least 90 percent peanuts.
- Peanuts account for two-thirds of all snack nuts consumed in the USA.
- The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before he/she graduates high school.
- Former President Bill Clinton confessed that one of his favorite sandwiches is peanut butter and banana; it’s also reported to have been the favorite of Elvis Presley.
- Sixty percent of consumers prefer creamy peanut butter over crunchy.
- In 1938, George Washington Carver spoke to the first National Peanut Festival held annually in Dothan, Ala. Dr. Carver introduced peanuts to the Wiregrass and they saved the area after boll weevils destroyed cotton crops.
- March 1 is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, so let’s celebrate by preparing one of the recipes in this issue.
Sources: National Peanut Board, KitchenDaily.com, National Peanut Festival
Submit your recipes here and check us out on Facebook for updates throughout the month.
Mary Tyler Spivey is a graduate of Huntingdon College
where she studied history and French but she also has a
passion for great food.
Contact her at [email protected].
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Cook of the month
Peanut Butter Pound Cake with Peanut Butter Glaze
Pound Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups butter
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a bundt pan with non-stick spray or grease and flour. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Cream in peanut butter until smooth and well incorporated. Add eggs one at a time. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk and vanilla to creamed mixture, beating after each addition until combined. Pour into bundt pan and bake 75-85 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes before removing and cool completely before frosting.
Frosting
Cream peanut butter, vanilla extract and corn syrup. Slowly add powdered sugar and add one tablespoon of heavy cream one at a time to mixer. Add more cream if necessary. Pour and spread over cooled cake. Frosting needs to be thick but spreadable.
Shari Lowery, Pioneer EC
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Peanut Butter Bon Bons
- 2 cups chunky peanut butter
- ½ cup margarine
- 1 box powdered sugar
- 3 cups Rice Krispies
- 1 package butterscotch morsels
- 1 bar paraffin
Mix Rice Krispies and powdered sugar together in a large bowl and set aside. Melt peanut butter and margarine together and mix well (can do on top of stove on medium heat or in microwave). Pour over cereal mixture and mix with hand. Roll into balls, stick a toothpick into each ball and refrigerate about an hour. In a double boiler, melt package of butterscotch morsels and one bar paraffin in top of double boiler, stirring well. Dip balls one at a time into butterscotch mixture until well coated and place on wax paper. When finished dipping all balls, remove toothpicks. These have become a family tradition every Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Nanette Stinson, Central Alabama EC
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Peanut Butter Candy
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1 box (16-ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 package (12-ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Blend butter and peanut butter in a large bowl. Work in the powdered sugar and cracker crumbs with a wooden spoon until combined thoroughly. Press into a 9×13 inch pan. Set aside. Melt chocolate pieces in microwave or double boiler, watching carefully to make sure the chocolate does not get too hot. Quickly spread melted chocolate over the top of the peanut butter mixture. Chill until firm, but not too cold. Tastes like Reese’s candy!
Elizabeth Davis, Tombigbee EC
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Peanut Butter Popcorn
- Popcorn
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup honey or corn syrup
- 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Kosher salt
Pop enough corn to make 2 quarts. Cook the sugar and honey (or corn syrup) to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over the popcorn, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt, stir and enjoy.
Lorena Wilson, Black Warrior EMC
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Peanut Butter Cream Dreams
Filling
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Crust
- 2 cups oatmeal
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/8 cup almonds (thinly sliced)
- 4 tablespoons butter (melted)
- 2 apples (blend to applesauce-like consistency)
Directions
For crust: Put 19 muffin cup liners in two muffin pans. With a fork, combine oatmeal, butter, brown sugar and almonds. Add the applesauce; mix well. Press crust into 19 muffin cups. For filling: Beat cream cheese well, then beat in peanut butter. Add eggs, vanilla, honey, and brown sugar; combining well. Add the milk and mix until creamy. With a spoon, place filling into muffin cups on top of crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. When done, let cool before removing from the pans. Garnish with sliced almonds if desired. Makes 19 cupcakes.
Carissa Pittman, Joe Wheeler EMC
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“Two” Easy 2-Minute Peanut Butter Fudge
- 1 container prepared cream cheese frosting mix
- 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
Remove top and wrapping from frosting mix; microwave for 1 minute. Stir frosting mix with peanut butter. Spread in wax paper-lined dish; chill until firm. It only takes two ingredients and two minutes.
Mary F. Haga, Arab Electric Coop
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Peanut Butter Fruit Dip
- 2 5.3-ounce containers vanilla Greek yogurt (or 1 slightly heaping cup)
- 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon honey, or to taste
Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk to blend until smooth. Serve with fruit (bananas, apples, raspberries or strawberries). Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.
Tracy Sutley, South Alabama EC
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Peanut Butter Squares
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup white Karo syrup
- 6 cups plain cornflakes
- 2 cups peanut butter
Put sugar and syrup in pan. Heat until sugar is melted, then add peanut butter; stir until well mixed. Do not over heat. Pour mixture over cornflakes while mixing well and smooth out on wax paper. Note: Have corn flakes in large bowl to mix up and a shallow baking pan 10×15-inches or larger covered in wax paper before starting.
William Ring Sr., Tallapoosa River EC
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Peanut Butter Cake
- 2 boxes Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden Cake Mix
- 6 large eggs
- 11/3 cups water
- 1 cup butter
- 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
- Baker’s Joy cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soften butter to room temperature. Spray four 9-inch cake pans with Baker’s Joy cooking spray. Blend dry cake mix, water, butter, eggs and mashed bananas in a large bowl at low speed until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. Pour batter into cake pans and bake immediately. Check for doneness after baking for 25 minutes. You will want your layers to be golden brown. Do not over bake your layers. Allow layers to cool before frosting.
Frosting:
- 2 boxes of powdered sugar
- 2 sticks of butter, room temperature
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups Jif creamy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Sift sugar. Add butter and cream cheese and mix well. Add peanut butter and vanilla and continue to mix. If too stiff, add a couple of drops of milk. Place frosting between layers and on sides of top of cake.
This recipe was originally created by my late mother-in-law, Mrs. Othel Herring. She created the recipe to enter in the National Peanut Festival. She never entered the recipe but it was a family favorite. It also was the cake that she would bake for me for my birthday. It is now the cake that I bake for my husband Phillip’s birthday.
Dianne Herring, Wiregrass EC
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Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie
- 2 pints heavy whipping cream
- 1 large container Cool Whip
- 1 large box instant chocolate pudding
- 1 bag miniature Reese’s cups
- 2 graham cracker pie shells
Whip heavy whipping cream with chocolate pudding mix (dry). It will stiffen, then fold in Cool Whip and whip until creamy. Crush up desired amount of Reese’s cups and fold into mixture. Spread into pie shells and sprinkle a few chopped Reese’s cups on top. Refrigerate one hour before serving.
Wanda Johns, Marshall-DeKalb EC
