A day of fun and baking!!! (plus recipes for peanut butter balls and no bake oatmeal cookies)

So as you can see we had a lot of fun today, plus I got to cook in somebody else's kitchen!!! My new found sister and I met at my moms house for a day of being goofy and some yummy holiday baking. Let me tell you all right now, in that top pic of me, those are not my glasses...those are my dads...they were just laying there, and I couldn't help myself!!! (oh and I still don't have the date fixed on my new camera yet, hoping to get that figured out soon)

This was the first time I had made peanut butter balls, and that was quite an experience. It was fun, and tasty. I'd made no bake oatmeal cookies before. They are a favorite of mine, even if they are a bit rich.

That lovely doggy in the picture is my mom's 9 year old dog, Maggie. She has a lot of health problems that came with age, but she's a big sweetheart of a dog.  She was our helper today...after all you cant properly cook with out a helper underfoot!!!

I'm going to start with the Peanut Butter Balls recipe

What you need

1/2 cup creamy pb
3 tbsp salted butter
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz semi sweet choc (we used chocolate chips)

What you do

Mix pb and butter together in a mixing bowl, until well blended. Gradually stir in powdered sugar a little at a time until mix holds together in a large ball. Cover and let sit in fridge for 15 min to firm up.

Shape into 1 inch balls, and place on a baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 min. Allow to firm up. Dough balls should hold shape before dipping into the melted chocolate.

Melt the chocolate according to the directions on back of package. Then, dip one ball at a time, and allow the excess to drip off.

Place on waxed paper and refrigerate until chocolate hardens.

No Bake Oatmeal  Cookies

What you need
2 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup crunchy PB
1/2 tbsp vanilla
3 cups oatmeal

What you do
Bring the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk to a boil. Boil for 1 min, then add the PB, Vanilla, and oatmeal. Mix well. Drop mixture by tsp on waxed paper. Then let sit until cool and hard. (It helps to put them in the fridge for the cooling process.

Now that you've had your chocolate fix for the day from me, hope you all enjoy the pictures, and are keeping warm in this cold winter weather!!!!