Traders Joe's Mini Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

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I don't know about you but I just can't get enough of the deliciousness of a chocolate peanut butter combo. Just like when I used to buy Reese's Pieces all the time and I had to stop because they were extremely addictive. For some reason, I was really never into buying peanut butter cups, maybe because I like having a plethora of tiny morsels to munch away on all day. I'm glad to report that problem is now solved! I ran into these mini morsels of peanut butter cup awesomeness on my recent excursion into Trader Joe territory.

How did they fare? Better than I could of ever imagined! Just like those addicting Reese Pieces of my past, I might have to tear myself away from this addiction sooner or later. That's because I can definitely see myself returning to Trader Joe's again and again for my fix of these. I probably don't need to explain to you why they are so addicting, all you have to do is look at the description on the package and be instantly hooked. In other words, they were exactly as described. Once popped into my mouth, they were tiny morsels of creamy chocolate and peanut butter that just explodes with said flavor in a eager mouth. If you're lucky enough to have a Trader's Joe's nearby and get a chance to try these, you'll see that once you have one, just one teeny morsel, you'll be popping them left and right so that's fair warning to you! 

Chocolate Covered "Chewy" Peanut Butter Cookies

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I've always loved chewy peanut butter cookies, it's one of my favorite guilty sweet pleasures. I guess there's just something about peanut butter because just eating it out of the jar is good by itself. However, for some reason when you mix it with chocolate, it becomes a sweet lovers dream come true. Take for instance, the chocolate covered peanut butter popcorn I made awhile back. It was perfection in a bowl! Seriously, words can't tell you delicious that was but I digress. I wish I could tell you how good these chocolate covered chewy peanut butter cookies are but you're just going to have to try them for yourself.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

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Popcorn is good by itself but even better when it's turned into gourmet heaven. That's exactly what I did to a batch of fresh made on the stove popcorn the other night. Afterwards, the night was complete because what else is there after eating popcorn that's part milk chocolate and part chunky peanut butter? On second thought there could be a good movie to go with it but that's besides the point.

Ingredients:

• 12 cups of popped popcorn (stove top is recommended, I used a hand crank popcorn pot)
• 2 tablespoons of Kernel Season's Kettle Corn mix 
• 8 ounces of milk chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup of light corn syrup
• 2 cups of brown sugar 
• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups of chunky peanut butter
• dash of salt 

Pop about 12 cups of popped popcorn but before it pops add about 2 tablespoons of Kernel Season's Kettle Corn mix to give the popcorn an extra coating so it holds up better.

In a large pot combine 2 cups of brown sugar, 3/4 cups of corn syrup, and 2 sticks of unsalted butter.

Bring the brown sugar, light corn syrup, and sticks of butter to a boil for about 3 minutes (above) and when it's about 2 minutes into boiling add 8 ounces of milk chocolate chips  (below).

The chocolate chips are enveloped into a sweet gooey vortex of goodness.

Stir the mix a little when the chocolate chips are almost completely melted.

After the mix has boiled for about 3 minutes in all, take it off the heat and stir until smooth.

In a large pyrex bowl or dish pour the boiled chocolate mix onto the popcorn. This process takes a little time but it's important to toss until all the popcorn kernels are evenly coated with the chocolate and bake in the oven at 300 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes. Afterwards, add a dash of salt to the mix for taste. You're now baked chocolate popcorn mix should look like the image above after all this. Let this mix cool for about 30 minutes.

Melt 1 1/2 cups of chunky peanut butter the microwave until it's smooth and able to be poured.

Pour the chunky peanut butter over the popcorn and repeat the whole tossing process until the peanut butter evenly coats all the popcorn just like you did with the chocolate. Let it sit for over an hour in the refrigerator to ensure maximum goodness.

When you're finally able to taste your chocolate peanut butter popcorn creation you'll know that the time you put into it was well worth it. Worth it because this popcorn is just as good as any popcorn you could get at a gourmet popcorn shop. Trust me, I love frequenting those places and would do so over and over but I'm thankful that I'm able to create gourmet popcorn at home that is comparable.

Although, don't take my word it. Try this chocolate recipe at home and it's safe to say that you'll find yourself enjoying the caramelized taste of the chocolate, combined with the smoothness of the peanut butter, mixed with the nuttiness of the chunky, and the crunchy of the popcorn.

Cheesecake Factory's Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake

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I know this looks unbelievable, that's because it is, unbelievably good that is. You have no idea how good but you can kind of get a visual taste just by looking at it. Visual tastes are not good enough though in this particular case. That's because this is the end all of all cheesecakes. That's right, the big kahuna, the ultimate, the best cheesecake I've eaten in my life. I'm betting that at least 99% of you that had the fortune of trying this cheesecake would agree.

It's very hard to put into words how this chocolate cake cheesecake tastes. It is just about the perfect combination of ingredients ever put into a dessert. It's not too rich but rich enough, fused with the most delicious flavor of Reese Peanut Butter Cup chunks. Topping that off, the peanut butter is not too overwhelming where you can't taste the smoothness of the delicate fudge cake mixed with sweet caramel.

By all means, you're going to want to stop by the Cheesecake Factory, if you're lucky enough to be near one and either get this to go or enjoy it over a cappuccino while dining in. I did the latter and I already can't wait until I have another opportunity to make myself miserable by eating way more of this heavenly creation than I should. By the way, its been an hour since I polished off this dessert and I'm just now starting to recover while writing this post but it was so worth it.

Must you ask how I rank this, I think you know that I cannot help but give it the highest ranking that The Choco-Aholic can give out which is to say that this here chocolate cheesecake is worth it's weight in gold which equals a perfect 10.