Let’s be real. I have a hamster. A hamster named Stewart (Like Stuart Little, but obviously spelled differently). I introduced him to y’all here.

Well…here’s the thing. I kind of lost him for 46 hours. See, Stewart was “working out” on his wheel at 3 a.m. and I tried to take the wheel out. I mean, I shook the wheel before I took it out of his cage–that’s good enough, right? Wrong.

The next night (aka 24 hours later), we noticed Stewart wasn’t “working out” at his usual time (aka my bed time). So I huffed and puffed and checked on and him and lo and behold–Stewart was not in his cage. I moved every little pile of fluff to look for him. The little booger was Gone. Missing. Out of there. I was crushed.

I looked for him until 3 a.m. that night ( I had only laid down at 1:30 a.m. anyways…) and searched the house high and low. high. low. middle. ish. with a flashlight the next morning. Needless to say, I hadn’t slept very well that night with my baby Stew on the loose.

The following day I had school all day and night long.

Before:                                                            After:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes! Ladies and Gentlemen, we found Stew! He was running from the DOWNSTAIRS (how did he get down those stairs?) back bedroom and ran towards my dog’s food bowl for a swim. Clever little booger.

Now on to the tart/tartlets. I didn’t have a pan for the tart, so I used a cupcake pan. I still made my OWN crust–this is a first for “Baking Holly”, people. Do a little jig.

This recipe is from the lovely Joy the Baker : Peanut Butter Tart (with a few Baking Holly modifications)

For the Crust:

12 double graham crackers (the kind that measure about 5 x 2 1/2-inches)-[ I used cinnamon]

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

pinch of salt

For the Filling:

1 3/4 cups heavy cream, divided

1 cup natural peanut butter

3/4  (6 ounces) cup cream cheese, softened — I used 8 oz.

1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

For the Topping:

Butterscotch chips
_____________________________________________________

First, crush those bad boy graham crackers. I used CINNAMON graham crackers instead of regular to add an extra dash of awesome.

 

 

After crushing the graham crackers, get your butter ready. Look, what a cute couple.

 

 

 

 

Next, mix that butter cracker love up until every piece is covered in some butter. Then, I pressed it into the plan to create the “tartlet” crusts.

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful.

 

 

 

 

<—Put it in the freezer while you mix the peanut butter love sauce.

 

 

 

In a separate bowl (I used my KitchenAid mixer) combine the peanut butter, cream cheese, and condensed milk. Try not to over blend because the liquids will separate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

<—-I used all 8 oz. of the cream cheese instead of only 6 oz. because 1. I didn’t know where to put it & 2. Who doesn’t love extra cream cheese.

 

 

 

You can totally (“totes”) do this!

 

 

 

 

< + Love =

 

Peanut Butter Goodness.

Oh Hello.

 

 

 

 

Next Whip 3/4 of the heavy cream then mix it with the peanut butter awesomeness.

<–I had a little trouble whipping the heavy cream, but keep going strong…it will whip. Eventually. Overtime..it will be more than liquid. I hope.

 

 

 

Remove the tart pan from the freezer and add in that peanut butter love sauce.

<–I had extra peanut butter awesomeness so I put it in the refrigerator and put it on basically everything. I mean everything. Toast. English Muffin. Cheezits. Yeah.

 

 

 

The extra heavy cream (1 cup) is supposed to be used for the top layer, but I bought the store kind. ( I know, horror). Then, I added butterscotch chips instead of peanuts for an added dash of Christmas-ness.

My, Oh my. You can do this.

Look at that tartlet!!

 

 

 

Add some extra whipped cream…

 

 

 

As I was “cutting” them out of the cupcake pan, I cut HUGE, GIANT holes into the sides of it. I didn’t realize until I cut 5 of them out. Dang Gina.

 

<–Two things can be learned today: 1. Don’t take the wheel out of a hamster cage UNLESS you know he is no longer on it. 2. Don’t over freeze those tartlets, patience is key.