PB & J Blondies - SKIPPY Peanut Butter and Jam Blondies #AD

On Saturday (2nd April 2022) it is officially National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day. Peanut butter and jelly (or jam) has been one of my favourite sandwich fillings for a very long time. I don't remember when or where I first enjoyed it, but it's a combination that I love. 

Jelly is generally made from fruit juices, whilst jam is made from real fruit, but here in the UK jelly is a completely different food, and I would not recommend using it in a pb & j sandwich!

For National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day 2022 I've decided to make some PB & J Blondies. if you're not familiar with blondies, they are similar, in the way that they're made, to brownies. They're relatively simple to make and, just like brownies, the key is to not over bake them, so they keep a soft and chewy texture.

I've used my go to blondie recipe, which can be adapted with different flavours and ingredients, and swirled creamy SKIPPY Peanut Butter and Bonne Maman jam through the batter, and scattered a few salted peanuts on the top.

SKIPPY® Peanut Butter: Extra Smooth and Extra Crunchy varieties are currently available in major supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Costco, Ocado and the International section of Tesco.

Take a look at my TikTok to see how I made these delicious blondies, and scroll down to see the full recipe.

@thecrazykitchen #ad SKIPPY peanut butter pb & j Blondies #ad #skippy #peanutbutter #blondies #baking #cakes #nationalpbjday #recipe #food ♬ For cooking and work videos. Marimba is an impressive song - Junya Ota

SKIPPY Peanut Butter & Jam [Jelly] Blondies

250g unsalted butter
350g caster Sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

300g plain flour

2 eggs

100g SKIPPY Extra Smooth Creamy Peanut Butter

75g Strawberry Jam / Conserve / Jelly

30g salted peanuts

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C / gas mark 3
• In a saucepan, melt the butter and bring it briefly to the boil and stir in the sugar
• Add the vanilla
• Remove from the heat
• Mix the flour & baking powder together
• Add the flour & baking powder to the saucepan, and mix well
• Beat the eggs
• Add the beaten eggs to the saucepan, and beat until smooth
• Pour into a baking tray lined with non stick baking paper, and smooth out
• Warm the SKIPPY Peanut Butter in the microwave for a few seconds to soften
• Drizzle the SKIPPY Peanut Butter over the batter, and swirl
• Spoon jam onto the batter, and swirl
• Sprinkle with salted peanuts
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, but check after 25 minutes. The tops of the blondies should be golden brown but the centre should still be soft.
• Be careful not to overcook - blondies need to retain their fudginess - it will firm up as it cools down
• Cool in the tray and cut into squares when cold

BLONDIES ARE LIKE A GIANT CHEWY COOKIE

Recipe commissioned by SKIPPY Peanut Butter

More delicious SKIPPY Peanut Butter recipes :

 

SPAM®️ Quiche Lorraine {& a GIVEAWAY} #AD

This coming week is an important event in the foodie calendar as it's the UK's official SPAM®️ Appreciation Week 2021 (8th - 14th March). I know that many readers of this blog love having the chance of winning a SPAM®️ Sizzle Pack, and this year I also have a special anniversary t-shirt to give away along with the pack. (scroll down to find out how you can win)

SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham are celebrating 80 years in the UK this year, and to celebrate this very important birthday, along with the giveaway, I have created a very important dish. During the 70's and 80's, no birthday party or special occasion was complete without a quiche of some description on the buffet table, and with that in mind I've given the classic Quiche Lorraine a Sizzle Pork And Mmm twist, and replaced the bacon with SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham - pure genius I hear you say!

A quiche is pretty straightforward to make, and you can add just about anything you like to the filling. The classic Quiche Lorraine is generally just bacon, cheese, eggs and cream. I usually make my own pastry, but if you're not a confident pastry maker, or don't have much time, then a ready made pastry crust can be a life saver, and is available in just about every supermarket - make sure you buy the savoury version and not the sweet one though!

Yon't need to pre-cook the SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham, especially if you're short on time, but I think it's nicer when the edges have a little crispiness to them, but it's personal preference really, and who doesn't love listening to the sizzle in the pan!

SPAM®️ Quiche Lorraine

1 tbsp oil

1 onion, finely chopped

200g can of SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham

1 pastry case

100g Gruyere cheese, grated

300ml double cream

3 eggs

• Preheat the oven to 170°c
• Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onions
• Fry until softened, and set aside
• Dice the SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham to approx 0.5cm and add to the pan
• Fry until browned on all sides
• Add the onions and all but one large spoonful of SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham to the base of the pastry case
• Sprinkle the grated Gruyere cheese over the top
• Whisk the cream and eggs together with a fork & pour into the pastry case - if you have too much mixture you can make mini crustless quiches in a muffin tin
• Sprinkle the remaining diced SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham onto the top
• Bake in the preheated oven for approx 25 minutes, until golden brown
• Serve warm or cold, with salad and new potatoes, or baked beans & chips - whatever floats your boat!

Facebook : OfficialSPAMUK

Twitter : OfficialSPAMUK

Instagram : officialspamuk

WIN a SIZZLE PACK and t-shirt(worth over £100)

To win your very own sizzle pack and t-shirt, including a SPAM®️ slicer, apron & spatula, you need to complete the Rafflecopter form by completing the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

More SPAMTASTIC meals and recipe ideas can be found on the SPAM®️ UK website

This is an ad for SPAM®️

Peanut Butter Magic Cookie Bars #AD

In my 2.5 years living in America some years ago, one of the great things I brought back with me (aside from 2 children) was a recipe for 7 layer magic cookie bars. It was a clipping that I'd saved from a Sunday newspaper, with a coupon for condensed milk. The coupons were always for the expensive brands so I rarely used them, but I kept the recipes all the same. In fact I returned home with a box full of recipe clippings and think I still have them somewhere, despite now being able to Google any recipe that I would ever need.

7 layer magic cookie bars were just that - 7 layers, with the magic being how easy they are to make. There's no mixing or rubbing in or blending involved, unless you include the crushing of the biscuits and chopping of nuts. They are pretty effortless though, and totally moreish, and perfect with an afternoon cuppa right before a lockdown afternoon nap.

As the recipe originates from America, the 'biscuits' (that's a TOTALLY different thing in America) were Graham crackers, which are generally substituted in UK recipes with digestive biscuits. The nuts used are generally walnuts or pecans, but as I'm using peanut butter I'm using peanuts. You could use unsalted, but I like a touch of saltiness to balance out all that sugar!

Look at all of those layers of sweet & salty peanutty goodness. Just perfect for National Peanut Butter Day 2021 on 24th January!

The best way to eat them is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and warm SKIPPY Peanut Butter poured over the top. SKIPPY Peanut Butter is packed full of sweet American peanuts (over 90% in fact), and the Smooth, Extra Creamy variety is so smooth that when it is warmed up it could be mistaken for a sauce, which is perfect poured over puddings in these cold winter months.

Take a look at my TikTok to see how I made them, and scroll down to see the full recipe.

@thecrazykitchen

#SKIPPY Peanut Butter Magic Cookie Bars #peanutbutter #foodtiktok #cooking #cookies #foodporn #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #nationalpeanutbutterday #AD

♬ Coffee for Your Head - Vinyll

Peanut Butter Magic Cookie Bars

75g butter
200g digestive biscuits, crushed
100g SKIPPY Creamy Peanut Butter
397g can of condensed milk
75g dark choc chips
100g salted peanuts
50g desiccated coconut

• Melt the butter and mix with the crushed biscuits
• Pour into a 13" x 9" baking tin or dish, spread out & flatten down a little
• Warm the SKIPPY Peanut Butter in the microwave for around 30-60 seconds and then mix with the condensed milk
• Pour evenly over the biscuits
• Scatter the chocolate chips, salted peanuts and coconut over the top
• Bake in a preheated 170 C oven for approx 25 minutes, or until golden brown
• Allow to cool in the tin before slicing into bars or squares

For an indulgent dessert, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of warm SKIPPY Creamy peanut butter

Recipe commissioned by SKIPPY Peanut Butter

SPAM & Pineapple Tacos #AD

Just as we thought we were getting back to some sort of normality, lockdown fever has set in again and the stockpilers are out in force buying up all the toilet rolls, pasta and tinned tomatoes. I'm pretty sure many of them have still got a cupboard full from earlier in the year, along with a year's supply of flour & yeast, but each to their own with their crazy behaviour. Thankfully this recipe doesn't include any of those ingredients, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding everything you need to make these tacos. They're easy enough to make, and quantities can be easily adjusted depending on how many people you're feeding. This recipe makes 6, which fits perfectly with the current "rule of 6", although you'll have to take the word of the husband and 11 year old that these taste great, as my eldest taste tester has gone off to uni, the middle one is now vegetarian (although she did have a vegetarian version & loved the flavours), and I'm experiencing altered & diminished taste following a bout of the dreaded Covid in March. It's not what you want when you're a food blogger, but it could be worse. Thankfully I have a family of willing volunteers when it comes to trying out new recipes, and it doesn't stop me eating, especially spicy food!

The fresh pineapple salsa works really well with the SPAM Chopped Pork & Ham, which is coated in a spicy taco seasoning and sizzled in a pan. The soft mini tortilla's are the perfect size for taco's, and easy for little hands to hold, if you're feeding the family. They can be made up before serving, or let everyone put their own taco's together at the table. As an optional extra you could add a drizzle of sour cream or yogurt, and a sprinkling of grated cheese, but we think the creaminess of the avocado is enough here.

SPAM & Pineapple Tacos - makes 6

1 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Garlic granules 

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp Ground Coriander

1/2 tsp Chilli Powder

Pinch of salt

2 tbsp olive oil

340g SPAM Chopped Pork and Ham

4 tomatoes, chopped

1/4 red onion, chopped

1/4 fresh pineapple, chopped

handful coriander, finely chopped

6 mini tortilla wraps 

1 avocado, thinly sliced

• Make the taco seasoning by mixing together the dry spices and salt
• Chop the SPAM Chopped Pork and Ham into 1cm cubes and add to a bowl
• Toss the SPAM Chopped Pork and Ham cubes in the taco seasoning
• Heat the olive oil in a non stick frying pan
• Fry the coated SPAM Chopped Pork and Ham over a medium heat until browned and crispy
• Whilst the SPAM Chopped Pork and Ham is cooking, make the salsa by mixing together the tomatoes, red onion, pineapple and coriander
• Warm the tortilla wraps in the microwave for approx 20 seconds
• Load up the wraps with the salsa and spicy SPAM Chopped Pork and Ham, and add a couple of slices of avocado

For more Sizzle Pork and Mmm recipes head over to the official SPAM Brand website.

Facebook : OfficialSPAMUK

Twitter : OfficialSPAMUK

Instagram : officialspamuk

This is an ad for SPAM®️

Quick & Easy Breakfast - SKIPPY Peanut Butter Banana Wrap #AD

The school term is upon us once again, and for many it's the first time their children have been back in the classroom since March. My two school age children have been lucky, and were in the year groups that welcomed pupils back before the end of the summer. My youngest is starting high school and will be catching the bus just after 8am, which will be a bit of a shock to the system after weeks of late nights, lay ins and leisurely breakfasts. I'm pretty sure that after a few early nights he'll settle into his routine and once again be an early riser, but I'm not so sure about myself. Leisurely mornings have been lovely, and some days I take full advantage of not having to start work until midday.

Some days, when there's not enough time for a bowl of cereal or toast, we might just be in need of a grab & go breakfast. I absolutely love love love peanut butter, and so do my kids (the husband says he can't stand it but manages to eat my home made chocolate peanut butter ice cream without any trouble!), so peanut butter is a go-to quick breakfast or snack for us, whether it's on a cracker, sliced apple or with a banana (sometimes spooned straight from the jar into the mouth!). When we have a little more time we love peanut butter on toast or crumpets with sliced apple, banana or strawberries on top - I can see you turning your nose up at this, but you seriously have to try it! Check out my TikTok which will be sure to make your mouth water!

@thecrazykitchen

SKIPPY Peanut Butter on crumpets 3 ways ##AD ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage ##SKIPPYPeanutButter ##strawberry ##apple ##banana ##peanutbutter ##breakfast

♬ Level Up - Ciara

On those rushed mornings, we will sometimes have a SKIPPY Peanut Butter banana wrap, as they are so quick to make, taste great, and are also very portable, so great for grabbing to go, especially if you make them the night before and keep them tightly wrapped in the fridge. They are so simple that I feel a bit of a fraud calling this a recipe, but sometimes some of the simplest ideas are a revelation to others, so I'm going with it. In this recipe I've added strawberry jam, because that PB & J combo really is good, as is ground cinnamon instead of the jam.

SKIPPY Peanut Butter has been enjoyed by millions of Americans for more than 80 years, and as the Super Chunk and Smooth varieties can be now found in most major UK supermarkets the UK can go nuts about SKIPPY Peanut Butter too. SKIPPY Peanut Butter is made only with high quality sweeter peanuts from the USA, and is a really good source of protein, providing 22.1g per 100g.

SKIPPY Peanut Butter Banana Wrap

1 Tortilla wrap

SKIPPY Peanut Butter - extra smooth or extra crunchy

Strawberry jam or cinnamon (optional)

Banana

• Lay the wrap on a plate or chopping board
• Spread generously with your chosen SKIPPY Peanut Butter
• Spread with strawberry jam or sprinkle with cinnamon, if using
• Lay your banana across the middle of the wrap - you may have to straighten it out a little
• Roll up tightly around the banana, using the SKIPPY Peanut Butter as glue to hold the wrap in place
• Slice in half at an angle 
• Warm up in the microwave for approx 20 seconds if you want the peanut butter to ooze out
• Drizzle with warmed peanut butter & EAT!

You can find more great SKIPPY Peanut Butter recipes on their website here.

Recipe commissioned by SKIPPY Peanut Butter

Cheese, Tomato & Spring Onion Quiche - with a bread crust

Well, 2020 is turning out to be a pretty bizarre year isn't it - how are we already in August, but at the same time it feels like the year is dragging. So much has happened, but also so little. Never again will we complain about the length of the 6 week summer holiday when many of us have survived the kids being off school for the equivalent of 4 summer holidays back to back, without even a an actual summer holiday to break it up. At least the weather has been pretty good, mostly, other than the torrential rain, multiple storms and floods that have happened recently. On the good days many of us are grateful that we can now venture further than our back gardens, and can once again enjoy parks, beaches and countryside.

Picnic time

Picnics are a great option for lunches at this time of the year, whether it's to enjoy in your garden, on a beach, park bench or even your living room floor if the weather is bad. Whilst sandwiches are a safe bet they can sometimes be a little boring. Pies, pasties, sausage rolls and quiche are great go to picnic essentials, but if you want to go for an impromptu picnic and you don't have the time or inclination to to make pastry, or you don't have any ready made in your fridge, then this quiche recipe can be the perfect solution, as it uses sliced bread for the crust.

Crispy crust

Yes, believe it or not, that crispy crust is made using sliced bread! Vogel's No Bits Seeded White loaf is ideal for those who want their children to have the benefits of milled grains and seeds in a seeded loaf but have children that won't entertain anything other than white bread. Not only does this sliced bread have all the nutrition and taste of seeded bread, but it has the soft texture of a white loaf, which children love.

Healthier option

Not only is this crust convenient, but it is also a much healthier option than using pastry, which has a high fat content (around 30% fat in your average shortcut pastry versus less than 3% fat in Vogel's No Bits Seeded White), and lower fibre content (around 1% fibre in shortcrust pastry versus 4% in Vogel's No Bits Seeded White). Some of the egg mixture soaks into the bread, but this is minimised by brushing the bread with a layer of egg mixture before 'blind baking' for around 10 minutes.

Get the kids involved

Making this quiche is a great activity to do with children of all ages. It's a simple enough recipe for older children to prepare on their own, as there are no tricky skills required, and younger children can help with grating cheese, cracking and beating eggs, and buttering bread, depending on their age and ability. They can also choose fillings for themselves - try adding a choice of fillings to small bowls and let children choose what they like, for example chopped ham, sweetcorn, cooked broccoli, cooked bacon, mushrooms and cooked leeks.

Looking good!

How good does that quiche look! Great for lunches, picnics or dinner, and when the kids are back at school you could pop a wedge into their lunchbox, or try making individual quiches in a muffin pan using a slice of bread for each quiche. Here's how to make a deep filled quiche, approximately 15cm x 20cm in size.

Cheese, Tomato & Spring Onion Quiche - with a bread crust

6 slices of Vogel's No Bits Seeded White bread

40g butter, softened

6 large eggs, beaten

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

half a pepper (I used 1/4 of an orange pepper & 1/4 of a yellow one), thinly sliced

75g mature cheddar cheese, grated

50ml milk

Salt & black pepper

4 or 5 baby plum tomatoes, halved

• Preheat the oven to 170°c
• Cut the curved top crusts off 4 slices of bread and cut the other 2 slices in half - you will need the halves with the straight crustUse a rolling pin to flatten the bread out a little
• Spread the softened butter onto the bread 
• Arrange the slices of bread, buttered side down, in the 15x20cm rectangular dish with 2 slices on each side, and the half slices on the ends, overlapping slightly. Use offcuts of bread to patch up any gaps or holes in the bread.
• Beat the eggs and brush a layer onto the bread
• Bake for approx 10 minutes until the bread is starting to crisp up
• Lay half of the sliced spring onions, half of the sliced peppers and half of the cheese onto the bread crust
• Beat the milk into the eggs & season with salt & pepper
• Pour the egg mixture into the crust, and top with the remaining onions, peppers, cheese & tomato halves
• Bake for approx 30 minutes, until the filling is just firm to the touch
• Enjoy warm or cold

Not only does Vogel's No Bits Seeded White make great quiche, but it makes pretty awesome toast too! Available to buy from Waitrose.

Recipe commissioned by Vogel's Bread

The Crazy Kitchen Baking Mixes

The Crazy Kitchen Baking Mixes came about during Covid-19 when it became increasingly difficult to shop for baking ingredients, particularly flour. I initially provided baking boxes at cost for my local community, which included flour, butter, sugar and eggs. Over the space of 2 days I packed and delivered around 60 boxes to residents of our village. Shortly afterwards I decided to source baking mixes that I could package in single batch quantities, with full instructions and only the need for water. These mixes are perfectly convenient, time saving and a great way to introduce younger children to baking or give older children the independence to bake alone.

There are currently 10 different baking mixes available : Chocolate brownie, chocolate cookie, plain cookie, chocolate muffins, plain muffins, flapjack, wholemeal bread, white bread, pizza base and chocolate mug cakes.

Additional ingredients can be added to the mix if you want to pimp them up a little - for example you could add chocolate chips or nuts to the brownies, berries to the muffins, and flavours to the bread - or you could even make cinnamon buns or chocolate swirls!

To order any of the baking mixes please email me, send me a facebook message, or purchase here. 

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

FLAPJACKS

CHOCOLATE CHIP BUNS

 CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

 CHOCOLATE COOKIES

 FRUIT & NUT FLAPJACKS

 PIZZA & DOUGHBALLS

 PLAIN COOKIES

 CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

 WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

 CINNAMON RAISIN COOKIES

 MUG CAKES

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

for full list of ingredients in the baking mixes click here

Breakfast SPAM®️ Burger {& a GIVEAWAY} #AD

Next week marks one of the most important events in every foodie's calendar - the UK's official SPAM®️ Appreciation Week 2020 (2nd - 8th March), and once again I'm giving away a SPAM®️ Sizzle Pack to one lucky reader of this blog (read on to find out how you can win). I'm also sharing a delicious  recipe for an everyday breakfast (ok maybe not EVERY day, just on the weekend), that incorporates SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham.

This year SPAM®️ Appreciation Week is inviting fans of SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham to show your appreciation by sizzling up some SPAM®️ product to create a prize winning recipe. There are 3 categories to choose from (America, Asia & Europe) to base your recipe on, and the winner of each category will go into a grand Sizzle-Off where they could be presented with the SPAM®️ Sizzle-Off trophy and £1000 travel or shopping vouchers! There will also be 10 winners from each category who will be picked at random to win a Sizzle Kit. Follow #SPAMsizzle on social media and head over to www.spam-uk.com for further details.

Facebook : OfficialSPAMUK

Twitter : OfficialSPAMUK

Instagram : officialspamuk

I based my recipe on the USA region, where burgers are big business, to come up with my #SPAMsizzle recipe. My Breakfast SPAM®️ Burger is piled high with all the breakfast favourites - avocado, bacon, egg, potato waffle and a thick slice of fried SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham, all served in a sweet & soft toasted brioche bun. The beauty of breakfast burgers is that you can cook everything in advance and serve it all on a large board to let everyone build their own burgers, with all of their favourite breakfast ingredients - or why not go all out and include everything!

Breakfast SPAM®️ Burger - serves 2

1/2 tbsp oil
200g tub of Easy Open SPAM®️ Chopped Pork and Ham
1 ripe Avocado
1/2 large Beef Tomato
2 Potato Waffles
4 Rashers of streaky bacon
2 Free range eggs

2 Brioche buns

Small handful of rocket leaves

• Heat the oil in a non stick frying pan over a med-high heat
• Slice the SPAM®️ into thick slices ( you will get 3 or 4 slices out of this tub) & add  2 slices to the pan
• Fry until lightly browned on both sides
• In the meantime prepare the other burger ingredients - mash the avocado, thickly slice the tomato, cook the waffles and bacon and poach the eggs
• Serve everything on a large serving board, alongside sliced brioche buns and fresh rocket leaves and allow everyone to build their own breakfast burger - eggs are best served on top to allow that runny yolk to drip down over the other ingredients!

WIN a SIZZLE PACK (worth over £100)

To win your very own sizzle pack, including a SPAM®️ slicer, apron & spatula, you need to complete the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

More SPAMTASTIC meals and recipe ideas can be found on the SPAM®️ UK website, and for additional chances to win a Sizzle Pack follow SPAM®️ on Twitter and Instagram, and follow the #SPAMsizzle hashtag.

This is an ad for SPAM®️