Peanut Butter…*Sigh*

One of my favorite things.  When my cravings are out of control and I can make any snack or dessert I want, it will always include peanut butter.  Give me anything with this glorious spread mixed with chocolate and/or jelly and I’m in heaven.  I hate to admit this, but I think if I knew there were no consequences, I could sit in front of the T.V. with a jar of peanut butter, a spoon…and since we’re dreaming why not throw in a jar of strawberry preserves and chocolate syrup :)…and finish the whole thing.  That’s how much I love it!

This past Friday I had plans in the early evening to meet up with a few teachers I worked with in my early years in the profession.  I was excited because, after taking the past two years off from the teaching profession to be home with T.J., I hadn’t seen most of these teachers for quite some time.  Some of them are retired and others still teach within the same district.  Since there has been quite a few changes in our district, many of the teachers now teach in different buildings from each other, so we try to get together when we can at someones house to catch up.  This usually involves  wine, beer, yummy snacks, and lots and lots of laughs.

Looking forward to this day, I knew I wanted to make something yummy that would not only please all my friends, but would hopefully satisfy the sweet tooth I had been fighting all week…I think its the once again subzero temperatures that we are trying to live with here in Iowa that have brought about these severe cravings…even though it’s now March…will this winter ever end????

When thinking about what to make, my mind immediately went to peanut butter.  I thought, why not make a snack mix that involves two of my favorite things…peanut butter and jelly!  A few years ago, I had the same idea and came up with a PB & J Cake that I’ve made for T.J. and Mike’s birthdays ever since…it was just so good! Afterall, you can’t really go wrong when combining these two flavors.

As would be expected, I already had strawberry preserves and peanut butter in the house so I was set.  I was a little concerned about using strawberry preserves to coat a snack mix but I figured it was worth a try.  This time my friends would be my taste testers and knowing these ladies, I knew they would not hide their opinions.

Well, lets just say this snack mix was a MAJOR SUCCESS!  It had all the flavors I hoped for and more. Unfortunately, I think I may have gained about 10 lbs that night…especially because I took the few leftovers we had home…they didn’t stand a chance!  I especially liked how some the strawberries in the preserves stayed in their own clumps which fit perfectly into the flavors of the snack mix.

This may be a new favorite of mine and I’m very pleased with how it turned out.  Give it a try!  I hope you enjoy it as much as we all did!

Here is what you’ll need on your grocery list:

**This recipe makes enough to serve a crowd**

4 cups Rice Chex Mix

4 cups Chocolate Chex Mix

3 cups Pretzels (I used the medium-sized ones)

1 cup Cocktail Peanuts

6 tbsp Butter

3 tbsp Corn Syrup

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup Peanut Butter

3/4 cup Strawberry Preserves

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

In a large roasting pan, melt butter over medium-high heat.

Add corn syrup, baking soda, brown sugar, peanut butter, and preserves.  Stir constantly over medium-high heat until mixture is smooth and comes to a slight boil.  You will still have a few pieces of strawberry that will not combine completely into the mixture.  This is good!  I think this is what makes the mix so unique and tasty!

Reduce heat to low and add cereal, pretzels, and peanuts.  Stir to combine until all mixture from pan coats the cereal, pretzels, and peanuts well.  You’ll have to make sure you really stir them to get all of the mixture from the bottom to coat the mix.

Spray large baking pan with cooking spray and spread mixture evenly across pan.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring mixture every 15 minutes.

When done baking, spread mix flat across wax paper and let cool.

As you take your first bite, be prepared for angels to sing…it is glorious and let me warn you, addicting!

Enjoy and try to save a little for everyone else, if you can 🙂