Pep Up Your Picnic

ManiLife Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

160 grams all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of sea salt

55g unsalted butter

100g ManiLife Original Roast Smooth peanut butter

50g sugar

100g muscovado sugar

1 large eggs

170g chocolate, chopped up (dark or milk chocolate – both work brilliantly!)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 180c. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Measure out both the sugars in a bowl.

Melt the butter either by microwaving it or in a pan and whilst still nice and hot stir in the peanut butter, until it’s all combined. Add in the sugar and combine fully.

Add the egg to the peanutty /butter mix and stir well

Bit by bit add in the dry mix of ingredients and the chocolate pieces – use your hands here, it’s much easier to mix!

Start balling the dough into 12 cookies. Flatten slightly when placing on the tray and bake for 11-12minutes.

When they come out of the oven, it is key to let them cool down. Allow 10minutes before digging in.

Recommendation is to double the recipe and freeze some cookies, for when you are craving them as a snack!

ManiLife Peanut Butter Picnic Sandwiches

Manilife is available from Booths stores across the North, as well as Coop, Ocado, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. mani-life.com

Ingredients:
6 slices of sandwich soft bread
3 tbsp of ManiLife Original Roast Smooth Peanut Butter (or as much as needed) 
Sandwich 1 – ½ small banana, sliced
Sandwich 2 – Half an apple, thinly sliced and a sprinkle of cinnamon
Sandwich 3 – a punnet of strawberries, sliced 

Steps:

Spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread. Place the banana slices on top of the peanut butter, then top with the another slice of bread. Use a cookie cutter (any shape will do!) – we’ve gone with hearts – and cut the sandwich square into shapes.

PB, apples & cinnamon:

Ingredients:

2 slices of sandwich soft bread

1 tbsp of ManiLife Original Roast Smooth Peanut Butter (or as much as needed)

Banoffee Pie Jars

This is a very simple way to make this classic perfect to take on a picnic.

Ingredients:
For the biscuit base
50g unsalted butter, melted
125g sweet-meal biscuits, crushed
For the filling
85g unsalted butter
50g light soft brown sugar
220g jar Bonne Maman Salted Caramel
For the topping
300ml carton double cream
1 tsp cold, strong black coffee
3 medium ripe bananas
Squeeze of lemon juice
Plain chocolate curls or shards, to decorate

Steps:

Stir the melted butter into the crushed biscuits and divide the crumb mixture between 8 x 220g Bonne Maman jars, press down and chill for 10 minutes.

Slowly melt the butter and sugar together in a small, non-stick saucepan and stir, with a wooden spoon, to dissolve the sugar. Stir in 200g of the caramel and bring to the boil, stirring all the time, until very smooth. Pour the caramel equally into the jars and leave to cool and set.

When the caramel is cold, whip the cream until it just begins to hold its shape. Fold in the coffee and continue whisking until the cream is lightly whipped.

Slice the bananas into a bowl and stir in the lemon juice. Spoon the bananas on top of the caramel followed by the whipped cream. Sprinkle over the chocolate and any remaining caramel in the jar just before serving.

Cook’s tips; The jars with the biscuit base and the caramel will keep, covered, in the fridge for 2-3 days. Top with bananas, cream and chocolate and serve within 2-3 hours.