Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Tasty (Peanut Butter) Trail Balls

Every year, my family joins many other families for a weekend at the beach.  It is a trip that we all look forward to every year.  We've been doing this annually for almost 20 years!  I'm not really a beach girl, as I hate the sand, but I love this weekend at the beach because it's all about doing nothing but visiting with close friends and eating!  I do all the work ahead of time and get to sit and relax and do absolutely nothing for an entire weekend!  I can put up with sand for that!


We spend each entire day on the beach and share the good food we've all brought.  My sister shared this recipe with me years ago and it's a perfect snack for our trip.  My oldest son says if I bring Tasty Trail Balls and a certain sandwich to the beach (to be posted at a later time) he'll be totally happy.  They don't look like much, but they are peanut buttery, crunchy goodness and oh so easy to put together.


There are only 4 ingredients in this snack, the main one being peanut butter.  I always use my Pampered Chef Wonder Cup to measure my peanut butter because I can easily see that I have no air bubbles as I fill the cup.  The inside portion (yellow) gets slid down inside the clear tube to the exact measurement that is needed.  To fill it with peanut butter, I take my Pampered Chef Skinny Scraper and get some peanut butter from the jar, then I place it inside the measuring cup and press it firmly against the side as I lift out the spatula.  I can see that I'm not leaving any air bubbles, so I get an accurate measure.  I continue around the side of the cup and then fill in the middle, pressing as I go.  I make it even on the top with the edge of the cup.  The other nice thing about the Wonder Cup is that to remove the peanut butter, I turn it over and plunge the yellow part towards my bowl and the peanut butter goes directly into it and I just have to scrape a little off the yellow part.  So easy!


To the peanut butter, I add the Coffee-mate and brown sugar.  Do not use chunky peanut butter in this snack, as it gets plenty of crunch from the granola, which is added next.


I mix those ingredients together thoroughly.


Then I add the granola.  There are many types of granola out there with almonds and raisins, etc., but for this recipe, the plain granola is the best.  I find it easiest to get the first 3 ingredients mixed together thoroughly before adding the granola.


It should look stiffer than just peanut butter and the granola adds a texture that is different from chunky peanut butter.


The next step is to pour the rest of the Coffee-mate in a shallow bowl.  The mixture then gets rolled into 1-inch balls; I use my smallest Pampered Chef scoop to form the balls, which I then roll in the Coffee-mate.  Sorry, no picture.  That's it!  I then place them in Tupperware, using wax paper to separate the layers.  


These tasty little nuggets do not need to be refrigerated, they're ready to eat!  Enjoy!


Tasty Trail Balls

2 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter
2 cups Coffe-mate Original powdered creamer, divided
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups plain granola 

In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup of the creamer, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly.  Add granola and mix to combine.  Roll into 1-inch balls and roll in reserved creamer; shake off any excess creamer.  Store in an airtight container.

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