Peanut Butter Topped Apple Rings

Easy and with endless options, peanut butter topped apple rings are perfect for breakfast or a late night snack. Here is what you'll need:

One apple
Peanut Butter
Nuts, coconut, chocolate chips/shavings/chunks, oats, and/or whatever else you can think of

 

Slice the apple horizontally. Either core it first or cut the core out of each piece afterwards. Spread peanut butter thick on top of each slice and sprinkle your preferred toppings. This is really all there is to it! As I didn't have nuts today I used shavings of baker's chocolate and coconut and it was delicious. Give it a try and enjoy!

Light Chocolate Peanut Butter Donuts

I've been looking for a donut pan for a while and finally found one the other day. No, donuts are not healthy, but when they're baked instead of fried, they're actually not that bad for you. I will be trying many different recipes but I wanted to experiment the first time.

This is what you'll need:
1 box white cake mix
Other ingredients as directed
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup baking cocoa
Icing sugar

The boxed cake mix called for 3 egg whites (for which I used whole eggs) and 2 tbsp oil (substituted 1/3 cup yogurt). Applesauce works as well as yogurt, but these substitutions just make the cake thicker and moister. To make these even heavier, add 1/2 cup peanut butter instead of 1/3, and 1/2 baking cocoa.

Note: the icing sugar is for later!

 

Mix ingredients as instructed and beat in room temperature peanut butter until fully mixed. Add the baking cocoa and pour into donut pan, just to halfway, so the center isn't covered, otherwise there will be no hole in your donuts! My pan was nonstick but a little non stick cooking spray never hurts. The oven should be preheated as directed on the cake mix; mine was 350 degrees F. Bake, again, as instructed, approx 20 minutes (whatever directions are given for muffins works best). Be careful not to overbake; I left the last batch in about 10-15 minutes too long while taking these pictures. 4 of the 6 were salvageable, but darker and firmer, which didn't make them nearly as tasty.

You can ice to your preference or try a homemade glaze, or even simply sprinkle plain white sugar on top, but sifting a generous amount of icing sugar atop each donut and serving them with a glass of milk was heavenly.

Note: This would have made about 5 batches of donuts but due to a lack of time for baking, I poured the remainder after 3 batches into muffin tins, only 1/3 of the way up. This way they didn't become cupcakes by rising over the sides, but were instead like mini cakes, the perfect serving size so grabbing one (or two) won't give you the same guilt complex as slicing up a piece of cake will. Give this a try and experiment yourself; instead of chocolate and peanut butter, try sugar and cinnamon, diced fruit and nuts, or whatever else you can think of.

Enjoy!