Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Curious Peanut Clusters

Sometimes, a fun game for me to play is "Find a neat/obscure snack for 79¢ at the Grocery Outlet and make something yummy with it."

That's what I did on Sunday.



I took about 1/4 cup of honey & 1/4 of sugar and brought it to a boil for a few minutes (basically making a caramelly mixture that would adhere the "curlys" together. (BTW, The snack in question tastes very much like Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, but not as sweet. The texture is a little softer than the cereal, more like a cheese puff.)

Then I took the sugar honey off the heat and stirred in a few tablespoonfuls of peanut butter (the natural kind--but I am sure any kind could be used here).

Then I folded the mixture into the curlys (I had poured them out of the bag and into a medium bowl), then formed them into clusters to take shape on parchment paper.

For the chocolate drizzle, I took some more honey and some sugar free chocolate squares (the goal was not to make this recipe sugar free-- but lighter in sugar content than a normal candy). I melted the chocolate in the honey and then drizzled it over each cluster, filling in the gaps that the peanut butter caramel mix might have missed. The end goal was to get the curlys to hold a shape. Lastly, I rolled the bottoms in graham cracker crumbs and placed each treat in a cupcake liner.


One could use other tasty snacks in a variations of this candy. Cereals such as the aforementioned PB Crunch could be used--also Kix or Chex would be yummy.


Then on Monday, I brought my new invention over to share with all the other food bloggers at an ice cream social. We were all gathered to sample concoctions from the Los Angeles Creamery, Mashti Malone. Thanks for having us over, Elise! (Later this week I will be using those cherries you gave me in a fun new recipe!)

Brendon, the gluten-free biscotti you made was just as good as I had imagined! Other highlights of the social were getting to meet Andrea of Rookie Cookery, and seeing Fethiye and Fernanda. As always, Garrett brought a new cupcake to share. I am always curious to see what he will think of next. :)


It was a lovely day (albeit hot) and wonderful to see all my virtual pals again in the flesh.

5 comments:

Craig & Malinda said...

I like your game, I'll have to try it sometime. The treats defiitely look like winners!

Anonymous said...

The ice cream social sounds like fun..and a perfect day for it too!

Anonymous said...

The "invention" was indeed delightful. But you forgot to mention your outstanding meringues--they were divine! Oh, and I'm glad you liked the biscotti.

cakegrrl2007 said...

Hi B! Thanks for the kind words about the treats! So happy you enjoyed them. :)

Kim R. said...

I loved these curly peanut thingys! By the time I ate them, they had melted a little, so I ate them by pealing them apart piece by piece. The best part was the base, with the gooey graham cracker bottom sticking the curlys together. I also loved the texture of the curlys themselves -- they were like cheese puffs (one of my total junk food weaknesses), but with a sweet, gooey outside.