Family Fun Baking with Skippy Peanut Butter and Honey Maid Graham Crackers

 This Skippy Peanut Butter and Honey Maid Graham Cracker holiday shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions and experiences are mine alone. #PBandG #CollectiveBias

It is no secret that my family loves both peanut butter and graham crackers. I always keep both stocked in my pantry for snacking, treats or baking. With the holidays coming I am excited to share a variation of one of my all-time favorite recipes, Peanut Butter Triangle Delights, and a fun, kid-friendly way to decorate holiday houses using Honey Maid Graham Crackers and Skippy Peanut Butter. 

For Christmas I stocked up on a few more boxes and jars of both peanut butter and graham crackers. You can grab a coupon for Honey Maid and save $0.50 when you buy one box of Honey Maid Grahamas (12.2 oz. or larger).

This year I wanted to find new craft and treat ideas to make and enjoy with my children. They have a lot of time off for Winter break this year and I want to make that time together extra special. 

I started with a recipe. I shared my childhood favorite, Triangle Delights, 2 years ago.  But, what about changing the recipe up to include peanut butter instead of the coconut and cinnamon? My inspiration for these cookies is definitely my husband's love of peanut butter.

Start by covering a jelly roll pan with parchment and Honey Maid Graham Crackers.

Then cover with a single layer of mini marshmallows.

Then comes the chocolate chips and krispy rice cereal.

At this point I make the sauce to pour over the tray. I use butter, brown sugar and peanut butter. Get it all completely melted, stir in a little vanilla and then pour over the tray.

You don't need to create caramel for this. The butter and sugar will be absorbed by the graham crackers. Be careful not to boil the sugar and butter mixture, you don't want it to become to hard when the cookies cool.

Then I topped it with some honey roasted peanuts before popping in to bake for a few minutes.

It comes out all melty and gooey! I take this chance to cut 3" strips, and then triangles out of the sheet of cookies.

For this batch I created a simple peanut butter drizzle to decorate the top. It was just a little peanut butter, water and powdered sugar. 

Let these sit and set for at least an hour. You can chill them to make cutting easier. They are a messy cookie, but oh, so good! 

Peanut Butter Triangle Delights

You Will Need:

• Whole Graham Crackers, enough to cover the bottom of a jelly roll pan.
• 3 c. mini marshmallows
• 1 c. butter
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 c. Skippy Peanut Butter, creamy
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. krispy rice cereal
• 1 c. honey roasted peanuts
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 c. Skippy Peanut Butter, creamy
• 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 2-4 Tbsp. milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cover a jelly roll pan with parchment and then place graham crackers in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Cover with marshmallows, chocolate chips and krispy rice cereal.

In a small saucepan combine the butter, sugar and peanut butter. Melt over medium heat stirring to dissolve the sugar. Take off the heat and stir in vanilla. Pour the hot mixture over the marshmallows. Top with peanuts. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the top is golden brown and the marshmallows are melted. Allow the pan to cool and then use a pizza cutter to slice into 3" squares, then into triangles. 

In a small saucepan create the peanut butter drizzle. Whisk together the peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk over medium heat till dissolved. Add more milk as needed to make it pour-able. Drizzle over the cookie bars. 

Cool completely before serving. Enjoy! 

To go with our cookies and milk, we created this easy and cute little graham cracker holiday houses with Honey Maid Graham Crackers and Skippy Peanut Butter for decorating.

I have wanted to throw a gingerbread decorating party with friends but the kids haven't been old enough yet. This was a great introduction to decorating and a fabulous option for younger kids. 

When I was teaching English in Japan, I tried to create gingerbread houses from scratch with a class of Junior High School students. It was a very messy and slightly frustrating experience. I wish I had made them with graham crackers instead. These are much easier to build and decorate.

Here is an easy visual for how to cut your graham crackers to make the holiday houses. And if your graham cracker breaks, save it to make my Peanut Butter Triangle Delights. Those cookies don't require unbroken crackers.

After a little trial and error I think a serrated knife actually worked the best for me. It created the cleanest lines. Luckily, a thick batch of royal icing  (egg whites and powdered sugar) can successfully cover up a whole multitude of cosmetic imperfections. So don't worry about perfection.

I put my royal icing in a piping bag with a #4 Wilton tip. It hardens pretty fast, but I let these cure for several hours before the kids started decorating just to be sure. To keep it fun and the mess down to a minimum, I went ahead and did the piping for my 5 and 7 year old.

One of my biggest tips for cookie decorating or holiday house decorating is to set kids up with an ice cube tray filled with their candy, sprinkles or nonpareils. It is much easier when everyone has an assortment of decorating options within easy reach.

My kids take decorating very seriously. But they had fun, too.

I game my kids each a small bowl with their own peanut butter, a small spatula and toothpick for applying their peanut butter "glue".

This was a great weekend activity to enjoy with the kids. I think it is time spent together like this that creates the best holiday memories. Some of my kids favorite past experiences include making their own ornaments and placemats. These holiday houses though are something I think we can make every year together.

Do you have any plans for baking with Peanut Butter or baking with Graham Crackers this holiday season?

How do you create holiday memories with your family?