A New Take on Take 5

There's no argument here...Take 5 is the best candy bar around. Snickers and Twix don't stand a chance in the fight against the perfect combination of chocolate, peanut butter, pretzels, peanuts and caramel; Take 5 is the epitome of a successful salty sweet treat. The only downside is that Take 5 bars are actually pretty hard to come by these days! Despite my pleadings to every grocery store in New York, nobody seems to have them in stock. In fact, tracking them down has become a treasure hunt of sorts for me and my co-workers. Once we find 'em, we stock up. I could reveal my hiding spots, but I'm sure my co-workers would immediately raid my desk (that's not where I hide them, just so you know!) Are Take 5 bars hard to find where you live, too? I've created these easy homemade Take 5 bars to satiate your need when there's no candy bar in sight. Find your own stash spot for these bars, because they're that good. 

Take 5 Bars

makes 12 bars

INGREDIENTS
3 cups mini pretzels
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 heaping cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
Sea salt flakes or crushed pretzels for topping

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8" pan with parchment paper. In a food processor, pulse the pretzels, peanut butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar until the pretzels are crushed into small bits and the mixture clumps together. Press firmly into the pan and bake for 10 minutes.

2. In a saucepan over medium hear, stir remaining 1 cup of sugar and water until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and boil sugar for about 5 minutes, or until the color begins to darken. Swirl caramelized sugar to mix and continue to cook until it's a medium amber color. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the heavy cream (it will bubble violently, so stir carefully!) and vanilla. Set aside to cool.

3. Pour caramel over the pretzel crust, then top with chopped peanuts. Lastly, cover all the peanuts with the chocolate chips and bake for 10 minutes.

4. Use an offset spatula or knife to smooth out the chocolate chips while they're still warm and top with sea salt or crushed pretzels. Let cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours, or until chocolate hardens. Slice into bars and serve!

Caramel is really simple to make, but you can buy it pre-made if you're short on time.

Get the recipe card here!

Almost Healthy Granola Bars!

People often ask me how I manage to stay relatively thin considering the sheer volume of sweets I consume. The honest truth is I have good genes (thanks, Mom). The other truth is that I run. I would hardly consider myself a "runner", but I like to tell myself that running permits me to eat an extra serving of cookie dough. In 2 weeks, I will earn the right to eat the entire bowl of cookie dough, as I'm running my first half-marathon, the Brooklyn Half. Over the past couple of months, I've been training and considering what foods are best eaten before a long run. My conclusion is that granola bars reign supreme, so I've decided to go ahead and make some of my own. My research also led me to the extremely popular chia seed, which apparently is a superfood, filled with Omega-3's and plenty of energy. They also add a nice crunch. "Chia" is actually the Mayan word for strength. I also happen to love Chia Pets (not sure if there is any relation, here) but needless to say, my granola bars will include cha-cha-cha chia seeds. So now we can call these bars healthy, but in true Pixel Whisk fashion, I've added a few ingredients here and there to satisfy your sweet tooth! The best thing about these is that you cannot go wrong with ingredients. Nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, a pinch of cinnamon...throw it all in there. I'll see you at the finish line, hopefully feeling like this. 

Almost Healthy Granola Bars
makes 12 bars

INGREDIENTS

2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup coconut flakes

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine oats, chia seeds, nuts, cranberries and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Melt the honey and peanut butter together over low heat, then pour over oat mix. Stir until fully incorporated and mixture clumps together. If the granola is too dry, add more melted honey and peanut butter by the tablespoon until you get desired consistency. Line a 9x9" baking dish with foil and firmly press granola mix into the dish. Top with coconut and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until coconut is golden and toasted. Cool, then remove the foil from the baking dish and cut into squares.

Tried and True Cookbooks

Today is my day to brag about my most coveted cookbook!

My grandmother gave me this 1946 copy of the Toll House Tried and True Recipes signed by Ruth Graves Wakefield herself! This book means so much to me not only because it was given to me from my Nana, but because I love vintage cookbooks. There's actually a great story behind those Toll House Semisweet Morsels that adorn your chocolate chip cookies. It all started in Massachusetts at the home (and former toll house) of Ruth Wakefield. She accidentally stumbled on the chocolate chip cookie while writing her cookbook. You can read the full story on the NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE website. 

All this cookie reading inspired me to make some chocolate chip cookies myself! I decided against making the Toll House recipe and instead worked on perfecting my peanut butter chocolate chip cookie recipe. These cookies are seriously delicious and one of the major tweaks I have made is to swap out the semi-sweet chocolate chips for some good old milk chocolate chips.

Usually, I rarely use milk chocolate while baking. In this case, the peanut butter needs a smooth and subtle companion and the milk chocolate is perfect! I also decided on a 50/50 butter and shortening combo. I struggle with using shortening in baking often. Butter certainly tastes better, but shortening gives cookies a light & fluffy texture. Butter melts at around 90 degrees, while shortening melts at a much higher temperature (around 117 degrees). This means that a cookie dough with all butter will bake flatter and crispier than a sturdier dough made with shortening. To be fair, I usually do half butter, half Crisco. This way I get the best of both worlds! (On a side note: NEVER substitute shortening for butter when making a cake or frostings..ick!)  
Cookie recipe below...

Peanut Butter Chip Cookies (makes around 30 cookies)
INGREDIENTS
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter (or crunchy if your feeling really adventurous)
1 cup milk chocolate (chop a couple milk chocolate bars up or use chips)
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs in one at a time, then add the peanut butter and vanilla until just incorporated. 
3. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in a little at a time, mixing until incorporated. 
4. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of your bowl, then fold in the chocolate chips. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour. 
5. Use this time to line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 
6. Scoop the dough with a mini-ice cream scooper or by rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheet (at least 2 inches apart). 
7. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until the edges and tops of the cookies begin to brown. Rotating the pan halfway through makes for a more consistently baked batch. 
8, Cool, then place in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Enjoy! 

Here's a shot of a few of my vintage cookbooks. It resembles a cake I recently made for a husband surprising his wife for her 30th birthday! She loves books and even co-authored the book featured on top. 






This one is the cake, in case you couldn't tell:)  

"It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Peanut Butter Jelly Time!"

This past weekend, I entered my newly conceived "Lunch Box" pie into the Stone Barns Harvest Fest Annual Pie Contest. Check out the amazing winners! While I went home a big fat loser, the event (and weather) couldn't have been more perfect. This pie was created as an ode to the last days of concord grapes being in season, and the official start to lunch box season (back to school). The name of the pie came naturally when I realized just how much this grape pie with flaky peanut butter crust and peanut crumble tasted like a PB&J. Here is the recipe...enjoy!

Lunch Box Pie

INGREDIENTS

PIE CRUST

All-purpose flour, for work surface 

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1/3 cup chilled butter, cubed

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup ice water

1 large egg 

CRUMBLE TOPPING

1 cup flour

1/4 cup chilled butter, cubed

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

FILLING

6 cups Concord grapes, removed from vine and rinsed

1/2 cup sugar 

1/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 tsp. grated lemon zest

4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
1. To make the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse flour, salt and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal and butter is at small pea sized chunks. Add peanut butter and pulse 5 more times. Sprinkle with ice water, and pulse until just incorporated. Add more water and pulse again until mixture holds together when squeezed. Be careful not to overwork. Turn mixture out onto a sheet of wax paper and form into a rounded disk. Fold up wax paper tight and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Rinse out food processor bowl to re-use for crumble.


2. To make the crumble: Combine flour, light brown sugar, salt, butter and chunky peanut butter in bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chunks are the size of large peas. Do not over-mix, or crumble will be too loose. Set aside while preparing the filling. 

3. To make the filling: Pinch the ends of each grape, removing the skins. Reserve both the pulp and skins in separate bowls and discard any accumulated liquid. 

4. Place the skinless grapes in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until the seeds separate from the pulp and the grapes lose their shape, about 5 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve into the bowl with the reserved skins and throw away the seeds. Let cool to room temperature and then chill for 1 hour. 

5. On a lightly floured work surface, roll chilled piecrust dough into a 15-inch round. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing it into the edges. Trim to a 1-inch overhang all around. Crimp edge as desired. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Roll out extra dough and cut out a shape of a sandwich with a sharp knife. Using a grape leaf cookie cutter, cut out 3 leaves from dough. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill. (Note: Be creative with your decorations! If you don’t have a grape leaf cutter, cut out circles to make a bunch of grapes)

6. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove grape mixture from refrigerator. Stir in sugars, lemon zest and cornstarch. Pour into prepared pie shell. Beat egg with 1 tsp. water. Brush edge of pie shell with egg mixture, reserving the remaining mixture. Sprinkle crumble on top of filling, making sure to evenly cover the entire filling. Place decorative elements on top of the crumble and carefully brush with remaining egg wash. Transfer pie to oven; bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and continue baking until the crumble and crust turn a dark golden brown, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool overnight. Enjoy!


Oh, and just in case the title of this post means nothing to you, this is the incredible origin.