Much-Loved Peanut Butter Brittle Recipe Needs Replacing

Dear Laura: I have lost my much-loved recipe for Peanut Butter Peanut Brittle and wonder if you can find one for me. The peanut butter is added after cooking the syrup and nuts. It is softer than traditional peanut brittle. Thank you. - Kay, Spokane

Dear Kay: For best results, measure all ingredients and butter the pan before beginning to cook. Watch the temperature closely to avoid scorching and work quickly once the syrup reaches hard-crack stage. The variation in peanut butter measurement depends on the softness of the peanut butter. Use less with firm peanut butter, more with softer peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Brittle

2 cups salted peanuts

2 to 2-1/2 cups peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup water

1-1/2 cups light corn syrup

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Mix peanuts, peanut butter and vanilla; set aside.

Combine sugar and water in heavy saucepan. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in corn syrup. Cook to hard-crack stage, or 300 degrees.

Remove syrup from heat; immediately add peanut butter mixture. Stir in baking soda. Pour onto buttered cookie sheet; quickly spread with fork. Cool; break into pieces.

Yield: About 3 pounds.

Dear Laura: I have lots of green tomatoes and would like to use them to make a pie. Can you provide a recipe? - Mary, Spokane

Dear Mary: This pie is from a fall 1975 Dorothy Dean recipe page. It combines seedless grapes with your green tomatoes.

Green Tomato-Grape Pie

2-1/2 cups thinly sliced green tomatoes (see note)

3 cups seedless grapes

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, optional

Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie

Arrange tomatoes and grapes in alternating layers in pastry-lined pie pan. (If grapes are large, cut in half.)

Combine sugar, tapioca, salt, allspice and lemon rind. Sprinkle over fruit; shake pan to distribute sugar mixture. Dot with butter, if desired. Cover with top crust; slit to let steam escape.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 50 minutes or until crust is browned and tomatoes are tender.

Yield: 1 (9-inch) pie.

Note: This pie also could be made with firm, underripe tomatoes from the supermarket.

Dear Laura: Do you have a recipe for homemade dog biscuits? I used to have one but have searched high and low to no avail. Hope you can help me! Thanks. - Jane, Mead

Dear Jane: This simple doggie treats recipe from Joan Jackson of Knight-Ridder News Service was printed in our food section several years ago. It could be the one you’ve misplaced.

Rover’s Rewards

3/4 cup hot water or meat juices

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1/2 cup powdered milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1 egg, beaten

3 cups whole-wheat flour

In large bowl, pour hot water over margarine. Stir in powdered milk, salt, sugar and egg. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Knead 3 to 4 minutes, adding more flour, if necessary, to make a very stiff dough.

Pat or roll to 1/2-inch thickness and cut out with a dog-bone-shaped or other biscuit cutter. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes. Allow to cool and dry out until hard.

Dear Laura: Cake flour is awfully expensive, especially when I only use a small portion of the box. The rest may sit for months and become stale. Is there a way I can make my own cake flour in the quantities I need for a given recipe? Thanks. - Kim, Otis Orchards

Dear Kim: Cake flour is a finely milled soft wheat flour that produces a finer textured cake. Although it won’t get the same results, you may substitute one of the following for each cup of cake flour:

One cup minus 2 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour.

Two tablespoons cornstarch blended with 7/8 cup (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons) sifted all-purpose flour, to make 1 cup.

, DataTimes MEMO: Have a food question? Looking for a recipe? Laura Carnie, a certified family and consumer scientist and food consultant in Coeur d’Alene, would like to hear from you. Write to Cook’s Notebook, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. As many letters as possible will be answered in this column; sorry, no individual replies.

The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN, RECIPE - The Cook’s Notebook CREDIT = Laura Carnie The Spokesman-Review