Banana-Peanut Bars

I am often careful to avoid recipes with peanuts for family events. But when those with peanut allergies are away at college, I thought I would give this recipe a try for Andrew's second birthday. These bars were a hit, which is not surprising because peanut butter is popular in my family. A good time was had by all and the Banana-Peanut bars disappeared.

These bars taste like banana bread with a strong peanut flavor. The recipe calls for crunchy peanut butter, but I only had creamy peanut butter on hand, so that is what I used. And, for the streusel topping, I used more peanut butter instead of peanuts. I also think that these bars would be good with chocolate chips added to the batter.

Banana-Peanut Bars 

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/2 cup mashed banana

Streusel topping

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Beat egg; blend in milk, vanilla, and oil. Add brown sugar, peanut butter, and mashed banana. Mix thoroughly. Add in flour mixture; beat until smooth. Spread in greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with streusel topping. Continue to bake for 15 to 20 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool. Cut into bars.

Make the Streusel topping by combining flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until small lumps form. Add in chopped peanuts and stir.

Hamburger-Rice One Pan Meal

This recipe is so easy and delicious. Using just one pan, everything gets thrown in together and simmers for a bit to finish on its own. The preparation and clean up could not be easier. The recipe includes a step of topping the dish with cheese and broiling the pan to melt the cheese, but I skipped that step due to a non-cheese eater. But I did add a bit are grated parmesan cheese on my plate for a nice flavor.

When I made this recipe, I used homemade tomato sauce that I had made with my garden tomatoes. My homemade tomato sauce is the chunky variety because I use the entire tomato including the skin and seeds. I used red onion because that is what I had on hand but other varieties of onion could be used. I used one pound of ground beef rather than the one-half pound called for in the recipe to make this simple recipe more hearty.

Hamburger-Rice One Pan Meal 

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• dash pepper
• 2 oz. cheese, optional

Brown the beef, rice, and onion. If there is excess fat, drain off. Add water, tomato sauce, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Optional: top with cheese and broil until cheese melts and browns slightly. Enjoy!

Blueberry Pie Bar

This recipe is not a family recipe but reminded me of the Apple Slices recipe. It is a version of pie but in bar form. I happened to have a can a blueberry pie filling, so I gave this recipe a try. One warning is that the bars should be refrigerated and served cold, otherwise, the bars get gooey and fall apart. These bars are delicious and a worthwhile addition to the dessert rotation, especially if you like fruit pies.

When making these bars, you could easily use any type of fruit filing instead of blueberry. Or, you could also use homemade pie filling instead of canned. I also think the recipe could work using preserves. The crust is similar to a shortbread cookie and compliment the fruit well.

Blueberry Pie Bars 

• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 21 ounces blueberry pis filling
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1-2 Tbsp. milk

Preheat over to 350. Spray a 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter one tablespoon at a time and press to form crumbs. Add the egg. Press 2/3 of the dough into the pan. Bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Dollop pie filling and spread evenly. Crumble the remaining dough over the pie filling. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool. Mix powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk. Drizzle glaze over bars. Refrigerate for an hour. Cut and serve. Enjoy!