The seasonal candies are always my favorite part of the holidays. I’ll usually wait until the day after each holiday to go to the store and buy it all half-off, but why wait when you can make your own? I’ve made my own peanut butter cups before and it’s never been a hassle. Pumpkins seemed like a bit more of a challenge but oh so worth it.

This recipe is also my entry in a Smart Balance recipe contest that starts today. They’ve asked 20 contestants to make a recipe using one or more of their products and put them on their Facebook page for fans to vote for. I love the Smart Balance peanut butter because of its rich, amber flavor. It has added plant-based omega-3s which are always good for a vegetarian diet.

Besides peanut butter, this recipe is super simple and uses only 4 other ingredients you probably already have: buttery spread(or butter), powdered sugar, and chocolate chips. The process doesn’t take much time at all even though there are quite a few steps. Just make sure to have room in your freezer to cool these quickly so you can move from one step to the next without waiting too long.

I found the pumpkin cookie cutter on Amazon and got it along with some other shapes; they also probably sell them in most craft stores around this time, too. You can use different cookie cutters for different holidays and keep the recipe year round. The basic steps will always be the same.

Homemade Peanut Butter Pumpkins

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 16 pumpkins*):

• 1 cup Smart Balance creamy peanut butter
• 1 Smart Balance buttery stick(1/2 cup), melted
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• Pumpkin shaped cookie cutter
• Wax paper

*The yield will vary based on the size of your cookie cutters. I used a pretty standard 3-inch cookie cutter and got 16 pumpkins.

Method:

1. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter and melted buttery stick until it’s homogenous.
2. Sift in the powdered sugar stirring it in until it’s completely mixed in.
3. Get out 2 sheets of parchment paper and place the peanut butter dough between the two. Press down until the dough is about 3/8-inch thick.
4. Cut out as many pumpkins in the dough as you can. Put the dough into a freezer for 10-15 minutes until the dough is stiff.
5. While the dough is in the freezer, melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler until it’s smooth.
6. Take the dough out of the freezer and remove the pumpkins from the extra trim.
7. On a separate piece of parchment paper, spoon tablespoons of melted chocolate about 3 inches from one another.
8. Take each pumpkin and place them on top of the melted chocolate, pressing down and moving them around to cover the bottom. Repeat with all the pumpkins.
9. If you desire, decorate the pumpkins by making faces or lines with a toothpick.
10. Place the pumpkins back in the freezer until the chocolate is hardened. Take off the parchment paper and keep these in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
11. Keep repeating this process with the extra dough and melted chocolate until it’s entirely used up.

The peanut butter parts holds its shape but stays pretty soft so you can bite straight through it into the thin chocolate. I handed these out to friends last week and even though it was still September it definitely stirred some Halloween excitement. These would definitely be a hit at any party this time of year. If you like the recipe, too, don’t forget to vote!

Reese’s have always been my favorite candy for as long as I can remember. They were always the hottest items on Halloween. Their new minis unrwapped peanut butter cups seemed like the perfect candies to bake with—the perfect size and no fussy wrappers.

Obviously a peanut butter and chocolate candy deserves a peanut butter cookie. These cookies are my favorite simple recipe to whip together; you can memorize it and take it wherever you go. You can drizzle these with extra chocolate or making them into ice cream sandwich cookies; and of course they’re gluten-free.

If you can’t find mini Reese’s you can always buy the regular sized candies and chop them up, or swap in a different candy altogether.

Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 14 cookies):

• 1 cup no-stir peanut butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 King size Reese’s peanut butter cups mini unwrapped

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine in a large bowl the peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla and mix.
3. Add and fold in the mini Reese’s.
4. Roll the dough into balls about an inch in diameter in between your hands and place them on a non-stick baking tray.
5. Press down lightly on the dough in a criss-cross pattern with a fork.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before moving them or otherwise they will break apart.

I don’t think bark should be a holiday food. It’s chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit—what’s holiday-like about that?! That sounds like anytime food to me. So feel free to make this whenever you feel like.

This is an actually an old recipe from my archives. Last time I made it I wasn’t happy with the photos so I thought I’d give it another post, not that I need much convincing when chocolate’s involved. I love white chocolate but don’t buy it very often. It’s much better at pairing with other flavors than just on its own.

The tart cherries and unsweet almonds help to curb the sweetness of the white chocolate, and the dark chocolate on the bottom adds a bit of bitterness to the mix. Altogether it’s a winning combination.

You can use sliced, crushed, or slivered almonds—whatever you have. Also feel free to swap in cherry flavored craisins if you get to the store and realize you don’t feel like paying more for dried cherries; you’d be in good company.

White Chocolate Cherry Almond Bark

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound white chocolate
• 1/2 pound semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup sweetened or unsweetened dried cherries
• 1/2 cup shaved almonds

Method:

1. Start by melting either the white or dark chocolate—whichever you want to be the base of the bark(I started with the white)—in a microwave or over a double boiler. Melt until completely smooth.
2. Lay the chocolate out in a thin layer on a non-stick surface like wax paper.
3. Melt the other chocolate and carefully spread it on top of the first layer, gently swirling the two together with a utensil.
4. Sprinkle on the cherries and the almonds all over the chocolate and press them in lightly with your hand.
5. Freeze the chocolate for about 20 minutes until it has completely hardened.
6. With a sharp knife, cut the chocolate into unequal pieces. Store for up to 2 weeks.