Peanut Butter Waffley Muffins

Peanut butter is almost a universally recognized kid's favorite flavor for anything, so these Peanut Butter Waffley Muffins are probably going to receive thumbs-up reviews from the kids in your house. This is an easy to fix recipe (of course, kids will need adult supervision), so plan on letting little hands help you along the way.

These muffins are shorter and more dense than more traditional muffins, hence the name - Waffley Muffins.

The fun first step is a great way for even the little helpers to have a hand in making these muffins ... rather than using shortening to coat the muffin tins, instead use your favorite style of peanut butter, either crunchy or smooth.

This recipe is for 4 muffins, so coat 4 tins. This is what it will look like after the inside of the muffin tins are coated in peanut butter and ready for you to fill with batter.

It might not be the prettiest coating for muffin tins, but it will do the job - keeping the batter from sticking to the muffin tins and  adding just the right amount of tasty peanut butter to the muffins - and getting that slippery coating over the muffin tin is a great excuse for kids to play with their food.

In a small mixing bowl, use a fork to mix together 1 cup pancake baking mix, 2/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 1 egg just until all ingredients are moist and unlumpy. Pour the batter into the muffin tin, almost to the top. Since this batter is heavy, like waffle batter, it won't rise much over the tin. Sprinkle a bit of brown sugar  on top.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. You'll know they're ready to take out of the oven when they're golden brown. To remove the muffins from the tin, gently slip a knife down between the edge of the muffin and the tin and circle around the outer edge loosening the muffin away from the tin, then lift them out. If any of the peanut butter remains at the bottom of the tin, spoon it out and put it on the top of the muffin.

These are great warm, so they're ready to eat as soon as they come out of the oven just as they are. Or add a pat of butter or margarine. Or your favorite jelly. Whatever waffle toppings you like will taste great on these muffins. Do you and your kids like maple syrup? That's how they're served here.

Stuffed Orange Fruit Cups

With this recipe, kids can have fun stuffing as many bite-sized chunks of fresh fruit into the orange cups as possible, and then enjoy eating their creation, probably without even realizing how healthy this snack is for them.

For four fruit cups, you'll want 2 oranges, and any fresh fruit choices that you and the kids in your life enjoy, such as strawberries, grapes, bananas and apples. Feel free to add any other tasty ingredients that you might have in your pantry - like walnuts or coconut - or stir in a favorite flavor of yogurt - lemon is especially delicious with the fresh fruit.

Cut 2 oranges in half, trying to keep all halves about the same size. If there is a bumpy surface on the bottom side, trim a small slice off so that the orange cup will sit level and not roll around.

Scoop out the orange segments (over a medium size mixing bowl) using a small sized spoon, like a teaspoon. The easiest way is to push the tip of the spoon down between the orange and the rind for each segment, then push the spoon downward and toward the center of the orange to scoop out as much of the segment as you can. Try not to push or scrape too hard so you can keep the orange cup in one piece.

If the segments don't come away from the rind in neat pieces, don't worry. Just scoop out the orange pieces into the bowl and let all the orange juice run into the bowl. This will add great flavor to the other fruits.

Add all the other fresh fruit choices to the same mixing bowl and stir it with a large spoon so all the fruits (and yogurt, if you add that too) are combined.

When that's done, fill the orange cups to overflowing with the fresh fruit mixture. That's it! They're ready to eat!

If you're going to make the orange cups ahead of time, you can wrap them individually in plastic wrap and use a twisty tie to seal them. Set them in the frig and they'll be a great cool treat for after school or late night, or next morning's breakfast.

Wrapping them and tying them with a bright ribbon also makes a colorful and tasty party or picnic idea.

You'll probably have some leftover mixed fruit, so invite the kids to refill their orange cups for a second helping! This is one treat you can fix where it's okay for the kids to get stuffed too!

Adults will want to make sure, as always, to supervise kids in the kitchen. And after snack time is over, a couple of empty orange cups and a bucket of water can make for lots of splishy splashy fun time, especially for kids on hot summer days!