It’s been a busy month. This blog(and cooking anything without a microwave in general) have taken a bit of a back seat. Hopefully someday soon I’ll have a more regular schedule and school off my shoulders but right now sporadic will have to do.

Thankfully you can make some pretty great things with a microwave and 5 minutes. I forgot about this recipe for almost a year and just thought of it again when I made a run to a mini-mart to stock up on chocolate and Reese’s cups. They’re probably much cheaper and more delicious than Reese’s cups. So far they’ve made a great study snack and given me something to stress eat at 2am.

This recipe is the same as the original post. I tried making it with cane sugar instead of powdered sugar because that’s what I had and—while still delicious—I think the powdered sugar has a much better texture to it. I would also try adding chopped salted peanuts on top of the chocolate if you like a little crunch.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars(adapted from Oh Baby Bars)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 24 servings):

• 3/4 cup peanut butter, runny or no-stir
• 7 Tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 10oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. In a large bowl, melt 6 tablespoons of butter along with the peanut butter until completely liquid.
2. Add the powdered sugar into the peanut butter and butter mixture and beat until completely incorporated. Press the peanut butter mixture into a loaf pan or a 9 x 9 pan for smaller portions.
3. Melt the chocolate chips and remaining tablespoon of butter together and mix. Pour this over the peanut butter layer.
4. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set. Cut at room temperature into 1 x 1 square servings.

A jar of Nutella never lasts very long in our kitchen. One of my favorite snacks is to take a spoon and just dig in. That’s probably reason enough to stop keeping a jar of Nutella around all the time.

I’ve seen cheesecake-stuffed strawberries online for years now and never tried them before these. I think they’re originally a Paula Dean invention. It’s incredibly convenient if you’re looking for a gluten-free dessert because the strawberries take care of the crust for you; besides, you can convince yourself that a little bit of fruit makes it all healthier.

Filling these can be frustrating; a lot of the first ones came out lopsided and a couple of them even got thrown away. But don’t worry! It’s an easy skill to pick up as you do more and more.

Nutella Cheesecake Strawberries

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 24 servings):

• 1lb strawberries
• 3/4 cup Nutella
• 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted

Method:

1. In a large bowl, beat together the Nutella, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until smooth. Move the filling to a pastry bag or Ziploc with a corner cut off.
2. Using a sharp knife, slice each strawberry twice perpendicularly along the tip almost all the way through, leaving a little bit uncut.
3. Separate the 4 tips of the strawberry and gently push the filling in until it reaches the top.
4. Repeat with all of the strawberries.
5. Store in a refrigerator until ready to serve; leave at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating.

If you’re scared off by filling them or get too frustrated you can always cut up the strawberries and serve the filling as a dip. That was how I used up the leftover filling and it was just as good.

I love that every season there seems to be new gluten-free products on the shelves. I thought I was done with oat bran years ago since gluten-free oats are hard enough on their own to find, but wouldn’t you know Bob’s Red Mill now makes those, too? I was excited to bake with them because oat bran has a finer texture in baked goods not to mention a higher fiber and nutrient content.

These cookies are just like oatmeal raisin cookies except using oat bran for a different crunch. They aren’t your soft, pillowy oatmeal cookies; since this recipe uses oil and has very little moisture in it, the cookies come out crunchy and chewy. They’re perfect for a dunk in milk or almond milk.

If you don’t have oat bran on hand, you can make oat flour instead by pulsing rolled oats in a food processor or blender. The nutrient contest isn’t quite the same but the textures are very similar. You can add in chocolate chips or any other type of mix-in but make sure not to add too many since they can make it difficult for the dough to stick together.

Oat Bran Raisin Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 18 cookies):

• 1 cup oat-bran
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour(I used gluten-free all-purpose flour)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup raisins

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oat bran, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
3. Beat in the egg and oil until the mixture forms a sticky dough.
4. Add in the raisins and fold until they’re incorporated.
5. Roll the dough into roughly 1-inch balls and place them on a non-stick baking tray flattening them slightly.
6. Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges turn golden. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for 10-15 minutes before moving to prevent them from crumbling.
7. Store at room temperature in a sealed container when not eating.