Posted on: Wednesday, November 3, 2004
Bake with 'natural' peanut butter
By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor
These recipes are based on ones used by school cafeteria cooks. Use "natural" peanut butter — the kind without stabilizers. If the peanut butter has separated, stir before using.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser Choose a good cooking apple variety for this: Cortland, Criterion, Golden Delicious, Gravenstein, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Pippin, Rome Beauty. You also can substitute canned apple pie filling — 2 cans — for the apple, butter and cinnamon mixture described here. Adapted from a Hawaiian Electric Co. recipe.
Peanut butter apple crisp
Peel, core and slice apples as for pie. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat and add cinnamon, apples and 1/2 cup sugar. Cook, tossing lightly, until apples are coated and softened a little. The apples will give up some water and form a glaze.
Blend 1/2 cup sugar, flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut in butter and peanut butter until mixture is crumbly. Spoon apples out of glaze and into a small rectangular baking dish (7-by-11-inch or equivalent). Top with flour-peanut butter mixture.
Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve warm. (This really is best warm; when cold, the peanut butter flavor overpowers the apple. You can always warm a serving up in the microwave.)
Serves 8.
• Per serving: 260 calories, 7 g total fat (3 g saturated fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 130 mg sodium, 51 g total carbohydrate (3 g fiber, 38 g sugar), 2 g protein. This was adapted from a hand-transcribed recipe card found in the files of former food service employee Chieko Okamoto. It's a version of the classic Scottish shortbread, but it's made in an American style — that is, the butter and sugar are creamed together, and then the flour worked in. The British style is to blend dry ingredients and then work in butter with fingers.
Peanut butter shortbread
Cream butter, peanut butter and sugar together. Add vanilla. Work in flour with wooden spoon. Dough will be somewhat crumbly.
Press into buttered or oil-sprayed 9-inch round or square cake pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes, just until edges are brown. Cut into wedges or squares when cool.
Makes 12 wedges or squares.
• Per serving (1 wedge): 310 calories, 18 g total fat, 8 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 35 g total carbohydrate (2 g fiber, 14 g sugar), 5 g protein.
Peanut butter apple crisp tastes sort of like a peanut butter and apple sandwich — not at all a bad combination.
Peanut butter apple crisp, spooned up family-style, and wedges of peanut butter shortbread illustrate some of the more conventional ways cafeteria cooks use up surplus products while appealing to kids' tastes.
