Crunchy Peanut Bars

I love chocolate but sometimes you need a change. I can't tell you why I chose this recipe except that it seemed easy and I haven't done many from this particular cookbook, The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook from 1961. I'm still trying to get back into the baking habit and was just looking for something easy to make. Yep, I was not particularly excited. Just gotta bake.

Lots and lots of peanuts! The instructions look long but are actually very simple. One of the great things about this cookbook since it is a 'school' cookbook, the instructions are very detailed and easy to follow.

More peanuts than anything else. I think I need more colorful bowls especially when most of my ingredients are brown.

This creates a very stiff dough. I got a nice arm workout though!

I talked a little about my new and much smaller kitchen. Here's a glimpse at my limited counter space. It makes cooking a bit more interesting and forces me to get creative with my use of space.

 Dough in the pan! Not exactly the correct sized pan but it still works.

 Topped with a healthy layer of peanuts.

I wasn't certain if the peanuts on top would actually stick but most of them did! You must cut this when it is still slightly warm or you will end up with peanut crumbles and not peanut bars. 

 Very crunchy bars. My apartment smells like peanut butter....yum...

These are amazing! So much better than I even expected. I love the crunch and the simple peanut flavor. These also kept very well and stayed nice and crisp for several days.

My Rating: Keeper! These may make a return around the holidays.

Friends & Family Rating: "I love these!" Lots of people loved how crunchy they were and how simple.

Blueberry Butter Pastry Squares

I realized I hadn't done a blueberry recipe yet and I have bags of blueberries from my folk's garden in my freezer (right next to my collection of frozen bananas). This simple recipe comes from the 1961 version of The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook.

This is a 2 pager. Sorry for the weird picture colors. I thought they matched....

 There is not a lot of variety in baking ingredients. On the good side, once you purchase everything for one recipe you pretty much have everything for several more.

 There does not appear to be enough blueberries here...

 That was an easy pastry to throw together. I read the directions and I know what size pan to use but it still looks small.

 Looks so lovely! And my kitchen smells amazing.

 The recipe recommended a couple of different ways to serve the cake. I thought I would try the plain cake with a dusting of powdered sugar.

 Then I added the Orange Icing listed right under the pastry recipe.

Yum! This had the consistency of a pound cake with a light burst of blueberry. It is a dense cake. The cake bakes up with a nice light and crisp top that was delicious with just the powdered sugar! The icing moves it from a coffee cake-like breakfast cake to an after dinner cake. I would add more blueberries next time and flour them so they don't all sink to the bottom. My personal preference is the powdered sugar version but if I were making the icing, I would add orange zest. The icing was not very orange-y.

My Rating: Keeper! with a few adjustments.

Friends and Family Rating: "Amazing." "Could use more fruit."

Banana Nut Cake

Am I the only person that has a freezer full of frozen bananas? I can never finish the entire bunch by the time they start to get too brown so they end up in the freezer with all the others. I am not a big fan of banana bread or banana muffins (too boring) and have been looking for another way to use them. The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook from 1961 offered up this Banana Nut Cake.

 Pretty much the same ingredients as banana bread but it has icing!

 Another difference is the cake flour. But everything else...same old same old.

 It came together very easily...once I full defrosted the bananas.

 Looks like a cake! Smells delicious!!

 Instead of paying attention to the icing itself, I just followed the directions and ended up adding to much liquid. Way too much icing, not enough cake.

 My banana decorations would not stay put!

 Still looked pretty when cut! Yeah!!

I may not be a big fan of banana bread but I love the smell of it filling my apartment! I messed up the icing but that's okay. It tasted like banana bread but much lighter. The cake flour made a huge difference! I also loved the extra bit of moisture and sweetness that the icing added.

My Rating: Yum! I'd make it again for a brunch.