Guest Contributor
This issue includes recipes for four mouth-watering holiday bakes from Andrea Nauta, one of ten finalists for Season 3 of The Great Canadian Baking Show. Andrea is a military spouse, currently posted to Comox, BC, with her husband and two young daughters.
She holds a huge passion for baking all things sweet and sparkly! Andrea first discovered her love of baking as a child, watching numerous baking shows and initially using box mixes to make her culinary creations. After getting married, she started making recipes from scratch as both an outlet and a way to handle the challenges of military family life. Cakes are some of Andrea’s favourite things to bake, so she shares a few of her personal favourites in this issue.
She describes her baking style as ‘rainbow sparkles’ and loves to get creative in the kitchen with lots of colour and whimsy. So please keep reading to learn how to make her famous Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls, Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake Holiday Swirl Bars, Mirror Glaze Gingerbread Swiss Roll and Holiday Shortbread Cookies (vegan & gluten-free).
Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls
This issue includes recipes for four mouth-watering holiday bakes from Andrea Nauta, one of ten finalists for Season 3 of The Great Canadian Baking Show. Andrea is a military spouse, currently posted to Comox, BC, with her husband and two young daughters.
She holds a huge passion for baking all things sweet and sparkly! Andrea first discovered her love of baking as a child, watching numerous baking shows and initially using box mixes to make her culinary creations. After getting married, she started making recipes from scratch as both an outlet and a way to handle the challenges of military family life. Cakes are some of Andrea’s favourite things to bake, so she shares a few of her personal favourites in this issue.
She describes her baking style as ‘rainbow sparkles’ and loves to get creative in the kitchen with lots of colour and whimsy. So please keep reading to learn how to make her famous Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls, her Peppermint White Chocolate Cheesecake Holiday Swirl Bars, her Mirror Glaze Gingerbread Swiss Roll and her Holiday Shortbread Cookies (vegan & gluten-free).
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen 1x
Ingredients
2 c smooth peanut butter
1 cup softened butter
3–4+ cups icing sugar
5–6+ cups Rice Krispies
4 cups Merkins Dark Chocolate Wafers
Sprinkles of your choice for decorating
Instructions
- Line 1-2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream together peanut butter and butter until smooth.
- Add in icing sugar one cup at a time until you reach a soft cookie dough-like texture.
- Begin to incorporate the Rice Krispies by the cup until your desired crunch is achieved. (I like a lot!) Once half is added, begin to use your hands to fully incorporate into the dough.
- Once you have reached the consistency you like, roll the peanut butter dough into 1″ balls and place on parchment paper-lined cookie trays. Chill in the fridge for at least one hour or up to 4 hours.
- When ready to dip, melt the chocolate wafers in a double boiler. To make a double boiler, place a couple of inches of water on the bottom of a pot and place a heat-safe glass bowl over the top. Bring water to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer.
- Pour wafers into a bowl and consistently stir with a rubber spatula until fully melted. Careful not to let any water or condensation enter the bowl as it will seize the chocolate.
- Once melted, remove the peanut butter balls from the fridge. Dip balls into chocolate one by one and place them back on the cookie sheet. Add a few sprinkles before they dry, if desired.
- Once all balls are decorated, chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Enjoy!!!
