Last week’s Photo Wednesday has been on my mind for a while. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as an integral part of s’mores? It’s pure madness, but it’s just so crazy it might work. It got me thinking about what other special ingredients people might like. I have always had a bit of a fascination with s’mores, leading back to when I was a child and my Uncle Mike took my brother and me on an adventure in rural western PA, where we played in the creek, had a picnic dinner and then made s’mores – something I had not encountered before in my seven or so years as a lad in Cleveland.
It was like magic. The paint box of my young life had been given a new palette of colors with which to color the world of tastes. Or something like that. That’s at least one mixed metaphor, I suppose.
Tori likes the idea of using Kit Kats, Take Five bars and Nutella, but probably not all in the same wee sandwich.
Barbara (not Babs unless you want to be in the doghouse) says she likes using cinnamon graham crackers.
Laura writes, “I tend to use what I have laying around rather than actually buying specific s’mores materials. Old peeps and Snickers bars make a fine substitute for marshmallows and Hershey bars when you are a grad student.”
Courtnay adds that she likes to spread peanut butter on the graham cracker before adding the other constituent bits. However, she doesn’t like just any peanut butter. She says her miracle ingredient is crunchy-creamy peanut butter, which I am not familiar with but she assures me really does exist.
Kristin (behind the desk) says she likes, “lots of marshmallow gooies.” I like the way she thinks.
I would like to suggest trying circus peanuts or Peeps in lieu of the traditional marshmallow. Everything is made more holy by circus peanuts.
What secret ingredients do you have for this campfire classic?
Double Dipped Sweets tweeted recently about something that made my ears perk up and made me go nuts for a couple minutes. No, it wasn’t Mary-Louise Parker or even circus peanuts, although those are good guesses. Look at that peanut butter chocolate caramel apple. I would say that it would be a good dessert but I suspect it might be an integral part of a meal if I had one and not just an add-on.
At $11, the price is a bit intimidating but when you get a great caramel apple it really is something special, so I am tempted to get one. Plus, this isn’t your average apple. According to the site, “Our apples weigh up to 1 1/2 pounds and serve 6-8 people!” So yeah, it’s $11 but if you split that 6-8 ways because you are sharing a dessert, it’s really not that much money.
The Double Dipped people look like they have some great stuff for sale. The one thing I couldn’t find, though, that would really round out their product offering, is a caramel apple hollowed out filled with circus peanuts. Of course, they would only need to make one of those, I suspect, as I would likely be the only customer.
When I saw this I just about stood up and hollered, it looked so good. Tortillas, peanut butter, chocolate chips and marshmallows. What could be better? Many thanks to iFood TV.
NCA has issued a press release on the recent and ongoing salmonella-contaminated peanut butter recall. Here is a brief snippet. You can read the full release here.
In response to an investigation into a recent outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium linked to peanut butter and peanut paste, the National Confectioners Association has developed a table for consumers to check the status of their favorite confectionery products. The contamination has been linked to the Peanut Corporation of America whose products are sold and used within a variety of industries. While some confectionery manufacturers, especially makers of health and nutrition bars, do purchase from the source, the majority of peanut, peanut butter and peanut paste containing candies are safe for consumption at this time.
The FDA is keeping a comprehensive list of the products recalled that are not safe for consumption on its Web site, while NCA’s table lists products containing peanut butter that are safe to eat. More than 90 percent of commercially available candy products using peanut butter as an ingredient are free from contamination.
It pays to read things like this so we can all be better-informed consumers. Know the food you buy and be aware of situations like this. As always, we will report any new findings on our site so everyone can stay up-to-date.
We have solicited information from our member companies and gotten a list together of official statements. Please refer to this list when considering eating your favorite peanut butter-containing confection. Note that this list will be updated as I receive more information, so check back often, and keep your eye also on the FDA’s page on the issue.
Also be aware that a company not listed on our site simply did not return any information to us. This may be for many reasons, including ongoing investigation or even lack of peanut butter as an ingredient. If you do not find a manufacturer’s name listed anywhere, please contact that company directly for information.
As always, be vigilant with your choices in what you consume. Read labels and use your best judgment.
For the latest information on product recalls, please reference the FDA’s official site for this issue. We are getting some information in about what’s safe, and will post that soon, but the FDA has the flip side – what has been recalled.
The story of peanut butter and salmonella is developing quickly, as you know, so expect this page to get updated often as things progress with ongoing investigations. Here is what we know so far:
PCA is not the only supplier of peanut butter and paste but is the only one we know of with this issue.
Peanut butter is a delicious ingredient in many candy products.
Given all this, we are soliciting and looking for information from candy companies that use peanut butter or paste in their products and will be posting a table of specific manufacturers’ information as soon as we can get it. Several of our members have already informed us they manufacture their own peanut butter or their peanut butter is sourced outside the factory but is completely safe. We will post a link here at CandyDishBlog.com as soon as we have more information. I know this is not very informative, but we wanted you to know that more information is on the way.
Last week’s Photo Wednesday has been on my mind for a while. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups as an integral part of s’mores? It’s pure madness, but it’s just so crazy it might work. It got me thinking about what other special ingredients people might like. I have always had a bit of a fascination with s’mores, leading back to when I was a child and my Uncle Mike took my brother and me on an adventure in rural western PA, where we played in the creek, had a picnic dinner and then made s’mores – something I had not encountered before in my seven or so years as a lad in Cleveland.
