Peanut Butter Apple Bars

I'm done with taking tests!!!

Yesterday was your typical Game Day in Madison, but was I partaking in the festivities? Nope! Instead of hanging out with my friends and watching the Badgers win against UTEP, I got to take a 2 hour math content exam.  Wooo!

For teacher preparation in Wisconsin, you have to take the PRAXIS I before you start the two year secondary ed program and you have to take the PRAXIS II before you start your full time student teaching placement.  I could have taken the test a few times last year, but they were always on a really bad day for me.  For example, the July exam was on my 21st birthday.  I decided to celebrate my birthday and just wait until the September one.  So yesterday, I woke up at 6:15 (my alarm was set for 7:30), went for a nice run, had breakfast, and sat around getting nervous until 10:15 when I had to head over to the testing center.  The test was on campus, which was nice, and a couple of my other teacher friends were there to take it too.  This test was actually pretty tricky.  It was all college level math.  Now, I'm good at math, but I haven't taken a math class for over a year now! It was sort of hard to remember all that stuff.  Even remembering how to do things on my graphing calculator was tough.  I did study by doing a few practice tests, so I felt as prepared as I could be.

The test got off to a great start, but around problem 23 (out of 50) I had to go to the bathroom...like really bad.  After my run in the morning, I drank a lot of water to stay hydrated and feel great, but I guess it caught up with me! I more or less ran to the bathroom and back, and I was able to finish with plenty of time and I was able to focus on the problems.  I celebrated with my first Chumpkin (Chai-Pumpkin) Spice Latte of the season, went grocery shopping, and made myself an amazing dinner.  Then, I took a nap...from 7 to 10! Is that a nap?

Following my "nap" I got together with my friends and we went out.  It was nice to finally be part of the game-day festivities and now that I was all done with the test and not stressed out, I was able to just have a great time!

Today I am sharing a recipe that I found on one of my favorite blogs: Two Peas and Their Pod.  I love this site and they always have great food and great stories!  I saw this recipe for Peanut Butter Apple Bars and I just had to make it because Peanut Butter and Apples is my favorite snack!  The bars turned out to be super yummy and this is most certainly something I will make again.  My friend Casey said it might be his favorite of my treats ever (and this is really saying something since Casey helps me cook and bake here!).

Peanut Butter Apple Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups loosely packed brown sugar
1/2 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large granny smith apple, peeled and chopped
Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup natural, creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
2. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over medium-low heat, stirring constantly.  Once this mixture is completely melted and creamy looking, remove from heat, and stir in the peanut butter until well combined and creamy.  Let cool.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
4. In a small bowl, lightly beat the eggs and then stir into the peanut butter mixture until well combined.  Add in the vanilla and stir to combine.  Pour this mixture into the flour mixture and, using an electric mixture, beat until just combined.  Stir in the apples.  Pour the mixture into the baking dish and, using a spatula, spread it out to cover the dish and so that it is even.  Bake for 30 minutes.  The sides will be lightly browned and the middle will be set.  Let cool completely.
5. Make the glaze: Whisk all the glaze ingredients together until smooth and creamy.  Add more milk if needed or less sugar depending on your taste preferences.  Drizzle glaze over the cooled bars.

Enjoy :)