Top 5 Recipes of 2011; Sun-butter Truffle Brownies

It's time for my top five recipes of 2011 and the first on the list is my Sun-butter  Truffle Brownies. This recipe is destined for greatness and I hope that it will become one of my requested specialties in the years to come. But I must caution you, it's incredibly rich making it a great dessert for your next special get together.

I found this recipe off of my wife's Pinterest and I'm so glad I made it. It's absolutely delicious and I will be making it again for our family Halloween party that's quickly becoming a family tradition. Halloween is one of my favorite holiday's and we decided that the best way to celebrate it with a newborn was to have a party at our house with dinner and snacks. Well when our daughter was diagnosed with a peanut allergy we quickly realized most Halloween candy was going to be off limits due to containing or possibly containing peanuts. Which means I can no longer enjoy the wonderful Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Well when I saw this recipe that combines chocolate and peanut butter, I knew I had to try making it and simply substituting Peanut Butter with Sunflower Butter. The end result was a treat so rich, delicious, and filling that I knew this is what Peanut Butter Cups dream of being. I highly suggest you try this recipe, you will be so happy you did.

Brownie Base
I used my brownie recipe or you can use any recipe as long as it will fill a 9x13 pan.

Filling
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup Sunbutter sunflower seed spread (Recipe originally called for peanut butter)
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Topping
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom only of 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray or shortening.

Prepare and cook brownies according to recipe and allow to cool completely, about 1 hour.

In a medium bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over brownie base.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave topping ingredients uncovered on High 30 to 60 seconds; stir until smooth. Cool 10 minutes; spread over filling. Refrigerate about 30 minutes or until set. For brownies, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Sunshine No Bake Cookies!

What child, or adult for that matter, does not have a love affair with the chocolate oatmeal no bake cookies? I mean it's practically a staple of memories for me as it's tied to some really fun times. The only problem is that most recipes call for the use of peanut butter, something that I must avoid in my kitchen at all costs. Thankfully though with the ever expanding market of alternatives, there our two good options for those who must avoid peanut butter. Currently on the shelves I have found Soy Butter and Sunflower Butter. The Soy Butter tastes very similar to Peanut Butter and has a very similar consistency. The Sunflower Butter is made with the meats of sunflower seeds, so it has a different flavor of course but it's consistency is similar to Peanut Butter. I took a recipe that my wife had from a long time ago, well it looks more like an ingredient list but I was able to decifer it well enough to make the cookies. The end result was delicious with a hint of the sunflower seeds, making this a very good replacement for those with Peanut allergies or those wanting to try a new spin on a classic.

My Mother-in-law has made these cookies using the Soy Butter and stated that they came out delicious as well.



Ingredients
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup Sunflower butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
Comine sugar milk, butter, and cocoa in a medium sauce pot. Bring to a boil and maintain for 2 minutes being sure to stir constantly. Remove pan from heat and add Sunflower Butter, oatmeal, and vanilla and mix well. Spoon the mixture onto waiting wax paper and allow to cool to set.