Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

As I think I've mentioned before, when I became a stay-at-home mom last year I also became a Pampered Chef consultant. I needed a way to make some extra money without having to be outside the house too much, and Pampered Chef fit the bill. It's a super fun job to have - I get out, I meet new people, and I get to try awesome new recipes like this one.

I'm doing a show this weekend with a Valentine's Day theme, so I'm making a dessert and a wine-based drink. The host and I chose this recipe together, but I'd never actually made it so I figured it would be good to give it a whirl before the show. And I am SO glad I did. Wow - these are good!

They are sort of like a kicked-up rice krispie treat. The bottom layer is your standard rice krispie treat, but with pretzels mixed in for crunch and salt. Then it's topped with a peanut butter layer, and finally a coating of chocolate ganace garnished with peanuts and pretzels. The salty/sweet/chewy/crunchy combos are out of this world. I ate way more of these than I care to admit. Plus, they are quick and easy - no baking required. Any Valentine would be more than happy to receive these treats!

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
Recipe from: The Pampered Chef

1/4 cup (50 mL) dry-roasted peanuts
3 cups (750 mL) mini pretzel twists (about 1 2/3 cups/400 mL coarsely crushed), divided
3 cups (750 mL) crisp rice cereal
3/4 cup (175 mL) butter (1½ sticks), divided
1 bag (10.5 oz or 250 g) miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup (125 mL) light corn syrup, divided
1 bag (10 oz or 300 g) peanut butter morsels
1 cup (250 mL) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Coarsely chop peanuts using Food Chopper; set aside. Place pretzels into large resealable plastic bag; coarsely crush using flat side of Meat Tenderizer. Set aside 1/3 cup (75 mL) of the pretzels. Place remaining pretzels and cereal in Stainless (4-qt./4-L) Mixing Bowl.

Place 6 tbsp (90 mL) of the butter in Classic Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted. Add marshmallows; microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds. Stir until marshmallows are completely melted using Mix ‘N Scraper® (see Cook's Tip). Immediately add marshmallow mixture to mixing bowl; mix thoroughly. Spread crust evenly over Medium Sheet Pan; firmly press into pan using Baker's Roller®.

Combine 2 tbsp (30 mL) of the butter and half of the corn syrup in Small Micro-Cooker®. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter morsels; mix until melted (mixture will be stiff). Spread peanut butter mixture over crust using Small Spreader.

For ganache, place remaining butter and corn syrup in Small Batter Bowl. Microwave on HIGH 60-90 seconds or until melted. Stir in chocolate morsels; mix until smooth. Spread ganache evenly over peanut butter mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts and reserved pretzels. Place in freezer 5-10 minutes or until ganache is set. Cut into 24 squares; cut squares in half.

Yield: 24 servings

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Like most people, when I think of snickerdoodles I think of Christmas. Snickerdoodles are one of the cookies I make each holiday season. They're not my favorites - my heart belongs to peanut butter blossoms - but I just feel like they are quintessential to Christmas. So I surprised myself by by rushing right out and making these snickerdoodle blondies. In July. But when I saw them on Michelle's blog I thought they looked so good I couldn't resist. I've been all about the bar cookies recently, and I knew I had all the ingredients in the house. I literally made these about an hour after I came across them in my Google Reader. And I'm glad I did! Not only did these smell awesome while they were baking, but they tasted exactly like my holiday snickerdoodles. Light and slightly tangy with that sweet/spicy topping. Yum! No need to wait until December for snickerdoodles - give these blondies a go to hold you over.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside. Beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the vanilla. Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined. Give the dough a final stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to make sure the flour is incorporated. Spread the dough evenly into the pan (I found an offset spatula was the best tool for the job, as it’s a thick batter). Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Sugar Cookie Bars

I've recently become a big fan of bar cookies. There's really no food I enjoy more than a good cookie, but I find that I rarely have the patience for pulling out the cookie sheets, scooping out the dough, cooling the cookies on racks, etc. But with a bar cookie, the steps are simple - mix the dough, press it into a pan, bake. Viola - cookies!

Sugar cookies are not typically my cookie of choice, but I had been looking into getting some decorated sugar cookies for Charlie and Lily's upcoming birthday party so they were on my mind. Then the other night I came across this recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars on Annie's blog and couldn't resist whipping them up.

First, let me say that this recipe makes a LOT of bars. I think I got almost 40 good-sized bars, so this recipe would be perfect for a summer barbecue or party. The bars came out tender and just slightly sweet. Annie suggested using vanilla bean and lemon zest in addition to the vanilla extract. I did not, since I had neither on hand (and I hate lemon) and I thought they were very good as they were - just like a normal sugar cookie. Instead of using the buttercream frosting that went along with this cookie recipe (I didn't have any powdered sugar), I cheated and used a can of Funfetti frosting from my pantry. The bars taste great this way, but I would like to try the frosting recipe next time, especially since I love buttercream. (And I'm including the buttercream recipe below in case you'd like to make it!)

These bars are tasty, simple and fun! I may become a sugar cookie convert after all.

Sugar Cookie Bars

For the cookie bars:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda

For the frosting:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
5 tbsp. milk
Food coloring (optional)

To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Grease a 13 x 18″ rimmed baking sheet. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir together with a fork to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on low speed just until incorporated.

Transfer the cookie dough to the prepared baking sheet and press into an even layer. Bake 10-15 minutes, until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Blend in the vanilla, salt, and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the milk. Tint as desired with food coloring. Spread over the cookie in the pan, cut into bars and serve.

The Doctor is In

Tomorrow is Joe's annual fantasy baseball draft with his friends, and I always bake some sort of treat for him to bring along. I usually make Joe's favorite Kandy Kake bars, which was the plan for this year as well, but this morning I discovered that I was out of flour. I immediately turned to The Cake Mix Doctor Returns, a great cookbook given to me by my friend Lauren this past Christmas. I thumbed for through the book looking for a bar or cookie recipe that I had all the ingredients for and found this recipe for peanut butter chocolate bars. These were super simple to make and are really good - they taste like thick peanut butter cookies with chocolate frosting. Can't beat that!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars

1 package plain yellow cake mix (18.25 ounces)
1 cup smooth peanut butter
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted
2 large eggs
1 package semisweet chocolate chips (12 ounces; 2 cups)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Set aside an ungreased 13-by-9-inch baking pan.

Place the cake mix, peanut butter, melted butter and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for one minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be thick. Reserve 1 1/2 cups for the topping. Transfer the remaining crust mixture to the pan. Using your fingertips, press the crust evenly over the bottom of the pan so that it reaches all sides. Set aside.

For the filling, place the chocolate chips and condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave 1 minute. Stir until smooth, then stir in vanilla. Spread mixture evenly over crust in pan. Using your fingertips, crumble the reserved crust and scatter it evenly over the chocolate. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake 30-35 minutes until edges are golden. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

Oreo Fudge Bars

From the moment I saw these bars on Stephanie's blog I knew that I had to make them. They looked SO good. Last Friday John and Rebecca invited us over for dinner so I offered to make these bars for dessert. These are great because they are different. There's no cake to them at all, just Oreos and creamy chocolate. They are rich and delicious and very, very good. John and Rebecca made an awesome chicken chili (which I'll be making soon to post!) and we enjoyed these bars while we played Trivial Pursuit. For a quick and rich dessert, these are perfect!

Oreo Fudge Bars

1 16oz. package of Oreo cookies
1 stick butter, melted
1/4 tsp satl
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (I used another 1/2 cup semi-sweet)
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular)

Preheat the oven to 325. Line a 9×13 pan with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside 6 Oreo cookies for the toppings. In a small food processor grind the rest of the cookies. If you don’t have a food processor, just pound with a rolling pin until the cookies are fine crumbs. Add the salt to the crumbs and stir to combine. Melt butter and gently stir together with the cookie crumb mixutre. Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Coarsely chop the remaining cookies into chunks and set aside.Over a double boiler or in the microwave, melt 3/4 cup semi-sweet and 1/2 cup milk chocoalte chips together with the condensed milk and vanilla. Stir frequently until smooth. Spread evenly over the prepared cookie crust.


Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and the Oreo cookies chunks over the top of the filling. Press down gently into the chocolate topping. Bake for 20-22 minutes oven. Allow to cool on counter for 1 hour. Chill in fridge until completely cold and set before cutting into bars.

Vanishing Act

The first thing I ever baked for Joe, way back in high school when we first started dating, were Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from the recipe on the side of the Quaker Oats container. Joe and his father LOVED those cookies and asked for them all the time. Eventually I branched out and started baking a variety of different things, and those oatmeal cookies sort of fell by the wayside. They popped into my head this past Sunday morning, however, and I decided to take a trip down memory lane and make Joe this treat. I wasn't feeling patient enough though to make batch after batch of cookies, so I visited the Quaker website and saw that the cookies could easily be made into bars, which is what I did. The bars are thick and moist with all the same fantastic flavor of their cookie counterparts. The house smelled amazing while they baked and Joe thoroughly enjoyed the bars. Sometimes you can't beat the "classics!"

Vanishing Oatmeal Cookie Bars

1/2 pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well. Press dough onto bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered. Makes 24 bars.

Happy Halloween!

Boo! When my aunt told me that she was having a Halloween party for my 9 year-old cousin Adam and his friends I knew I had to be involved. So I volunteered to help her execute the party, and also to bring a treat. I wanted to bake something cute and festive, so when I spotted these pumpkin bars from Taste of Home I knew I had to make them. For all the pumpkin treats I've baked in the last few years, I've never made any that called for pumpkin pie filling as these did. The moist filling makes these sweet and very tender. I followed the recipe exactly, except I just used decorating gel for the faces instead of melted chocolate as the recipe suggests. I also left out the nuts because I was worried that some of the kids might have allergies.

I can't get over how adorable these are! I can't wait to share them with the kiddies at the party tonight! Happy Halloween!

Halloween Pumpkin Bars

1-1/2 cups pumpkin pie filling
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans (I omitted)
1 can (16 ounces) cream cheese frosting
Yellow and red food coloring
Candy corn
Decorating gel

In a large mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans. Pour into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Tint frosting orange with yellow and red food coloring. Frost bars; cut into 35 squares. For eyes, place two pieces of candy corn on each bar. Decorate faces as desired with gel.

Donate and enjoy!

Oh yes, these ARE as good as they look! But how could they not be good? Chocolate, peanut butter, marshmallow...what's not to like? I've had this recipe from Jaime's blog printed out and filed away for quite awhile now but for some reason I hadn't gotten around to making them. But I got the chance last night. Pet Rescue of Mercer, the animal rescue group I volunteer with, is having a dinner and silent auction fundraiser tomorrow and we volunteers were enlisted to prepare some desserts. I wanted something super delicious but relatively quick to make, since I'd be whipping them up on a weeknight. These seemed to fit the bill and I had all the ingredients on hand.

I am so glad I made these. Like Jaime, I used a 13 x 9" pan and omitted the nuts. They are a snap to put together and I love the fact that they are different from your typical brownie or cookie bar. And they taste fantastic! The different textures of the soft marshmallow and crunchy topping make them interesting and addicting! And they made my house smell awesome. I'm sure these will be a hit at the auction tomorrow and will hopefully encourage everyone to make big donations to our animals! Save a puppy - eat one of these :)

Deluxe Chocolate Marshmallow Bars

3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional (I omitted)
4 cups miniature marshmallows

Topping:
1-1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp butter
2 cups crisp rice cereal

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in nuts if desired. Spread in a greased 15 x 10 x 1" or 13 x 9" pan. Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes (mine baked for closer to 25 minutes). Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over cake; return to oven for 2-3 minutes. Using a knife dipped in water, spread the melted marshmallows evenly over cake. Cool. For topping, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and well blended. Remove from heat; stir in cereal. Immediately spread over bars. Chill.

Peanut Butter Fiber One Bars

I am a big fan of all the Fiber One products, but far and away the most delicious are Fiber One bars. So sweet and good. So when I saw this recipe for homemade Fiber One bars on Must Love Chutney I knew I had to make them. Having recently discovered the wonderfulness that are homemade granola bars I was eager to try a new twist, plus I had about three full boxes of Fiber One cereal sitting in my pantry that needed to be put to good use. I followed the recipe almost exactly, except I used cashews for the nuts and threw in some wheat germ for extra nutrition. These are super quick to make, however mine did not hold together well at all. Even after I refrigerated them in an attempt to meld them a bit they still ended up crumbling apart.

I managed to get a few bars to stay intact but for the most part I ended up with Fiber One trail mix. No worries as far as I'm concerned though - this stuff tastes damn good no matter how you eat it. And I can't stop eating it. I plan to use the trail mix portion in my yogurt, but the treats that stayed in bar form have been gradually devoured by me all day long. I will definitely make these again soon...maybe tomorrow. :) I am trying to figure out how to make them stay together a little better though - any suggestions?

Peanut Butter Fiber One Bars

2 1/2 cups Fiber One cereal
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup chopped almonds or peanuts
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

In a large bowl, stir together the cereal, oats and nuts. Set aside. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Combine the brown sugar and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until boiling, then remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, salt, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Pour over the cereal and oat mixture, stirring quickly (as sugar mixture cools it hardens quickly). Immediately press mixture into the prepared pan using the back of a large spatula. Lightly press chocolate chips into top of bars (if using). Allow to cool slightly, then cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 18 bars.

Better than Kashi - Granola Bars!

It honestly never occurred to me to try to make something like granola bars at home. After all, there are tons of yummy, conveniently packaged bars on the shelves at the grocery store. But yesterday I was really in the mood to bake, but I'm trying to limit junk food so I knew that a weeknight brownie or cookie binge would be out of the question. I had spotted this recipe for peanut butter granola on Everybody Likes Sandwiches a few weeks ago and it had been on my mind ever since. I originally planned to make that, but then decided I was more in the mood for something with nuts and fruit. I went to the Food Network website and found Alton Brown's recipe for granola bars. I am not a fan of Alton Brown's Good Eats, but I've yet to encounter one of his recipes that I didn't like. (My brother-in-law makes Alton's awesome soft pretzels and I'm hoping he'll make them again soon so I can get them on the blog!)

Score another for Alton. THIS is why it's worth it to make granola bars at home. These are so, so good. Shortly after baking (because who can ever wait to "cool completely?") they were soft and chewy, but once cooled they are nice and crisp. The honey and brown sugar adds the right amount of sweetness to complement the hearty crunch of the oats and nuts. I made a few changes to the original recipe that are reflected in the recipe below. I did not have sunflower seeds, nor do I really like them, so I added 1/2 cup of Fiber One cereal in their place and I really liked the way it worked in with the granola. I used a mix of sliced and whole almonds and used craisins and raisins for my fruit. I also used quick-cooking oats rather than old-fashioned rolled oats and they were fine.

I can't wait to make these again. And I can't wait to eat the one I brought to work for my afternoon snack...

Granola Bars

Butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats or quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup Fiber One cereal
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1-ounce unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup chopped dried fruit (I used raisins and craisins)

Spray a 9 by 9-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the oats, Fiber One, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

A gooey afternoon snack

While browsing cooking blogs today, I came across these Lunch Lady Bars on Sherri's blog. Being that chocolate chip cookies are my very favorite food I felt inclined to make these. Immediately. I had a half day at work today so I thought I'd whip these up as an afternoon snack for when Joe got home from school. I'm so glad I did. These are nice and thick and soft and gooey....mmmmmm. They are also unique in the fact that they use vegetable oil instead of butter. They mixed up quickly and baked while I was finishing my cleaning. What a great reward for cleaning the house, and a perfect start to the weekend! Thank you, lunch ladies.

Lunch Lady Bars

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips/chunks

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients. Set aside. In bowl beat together oil and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Gradually beat in dry ingredients. Mix in 3/4 c. of chocolate chips. Spread into 9x13 pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 c. chips on top. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until light golden brown.

Snap, Krackle, Pop

My sister Jill was invited to Easter dinner with her new boyfriend's family and she offered to bring a dessert. She then called me and asked me to make said dessert. I had lots of things in mind, but Jill wanted Rice Krispie treats. So Rice Krispie treats it was. Naturally, I used the recipe on the Rice Krispies website. We made one batch of regular and one batch of chocolate - I just added some cocoa powder and vanilla to the marshmallow and pressed chocolate chips on top. Unfortunately, gossiping with your sister and cooking aren't always the best combo and I added two few cups of Rice Krispies to the original treats, so they were slightly thin and greasy, but Jill insisted I didn't need to remake them. I paid more attention when mixing the chocolate ones and they came out much better! Hopefully Jill's boyfriend's family enjoyed them. And if they hated them, Jill promised to claim that she made them herself ;)

Rice Krispie Treats

3 tablespoons margarine or butter
1(10 oz.) package regular marshmallows
- or -
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies®

Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cut into 2-inch squares when cool. Best if served the same day.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:In a large microwave safe bowl, heat margarine and marshmallows at HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above.

I Want Kandy

If you live on the East Coast, chances are you've had a Kandy Kake. Kandy Kakes are a creation of Tastykake, which is located in Philadelphia, PA. I know that Tastykake products are not available in stores throughout the US, because it is not uncommon for family friends living in other parts of the country to ask us to ship them some Tastykake products so they can get their fix. If you haven't had the pleasure of enjoying Tastykake, you're missing out! Their treats are delicious! Both Joe and I have always been partial to Kandy Kakes, however. A Kandy Kake is essentially a little yellow cake topped with peanut butter and covered in chocolate. How can you go wrong with that?

So I was excited to attend a recipe exchange at my friend Karen's house last year and receive a recipe for homemade Kandy Kakes from Karen herself. Joe tried them and fell in love, so I decided to make a batch for him to bring to his fantasy baseball draft today. I made them yesterday, and Joe proceeded to eat four of them after dinner. They're good, but in my opinion there is too much cake and not enough peanut butter and chocolate! I don't own a jellyroll pan, so I used the largest cookie sheet I have that will fit in my small oven, which probably accounts for my thick layer of cake. Next time I'll divide the batter between two baking pans for thinner cake. Joe had no complaints though.

The only change to the below recipe I made was that I did not measure my peanut butter or chocolate. I just spread on enough peanut butter to make a nice coating over the cake - about 2/3 of a jar. For the chocolate, I just melted a small bag of milk chocolate chips and spread them on until I had a good coating. You can use your judgement (and preferences) for these steps! As I said, next time I'm using more peanut butter and chocolate!

"Kandy Kakes"

4 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking powder

2 c. flour

2 tsp. butter

1 cup hot milk

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

2 (8 oz) Hershey bars

Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla, baking powder and flour. Melt butter in hot milk and add to batter. Pour mixture into greased jellyroll pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Spread at once with peanut butter. Refrigerate until peanut butter is hard. Melt Hershey bars and spread on top. Refrigerate until chocolate is hardened. Bring to room temperature before slicing into bars.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

My friend Jamie hosted a little girl's night get-together at her place this weekend and I wanted to bring some dessert as my contribution to the evening. Jamie had prepared tons awesome treats for us (including some incrible coconut pineapple rum punch - mmmm) but I think these little bars fit in nicely. They were very easy to make too, which is always a plus. I'm not a cheesecake fan so I can't personally speak for the success of the recipe, but people seemed to enjoy them! Thanks to Baking Blonde (the dessert guru!) for suggesting them - the original recipe comes from Pillsbury.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup coconut, if desired
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create 'n Bake® refrigerated chocolate chip cookies

Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in coconut.
In ungreased, 9- or 8-inch square pan, break up half of cookie dough. With floured fingers, press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough. Crumble and sprinkle remaining half of dough over cream cheese mixture.
Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until chilled. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store in refrigerator.

Blondes Have More Fun

When it comes to desserts, I do not fall into the "less is more" category. I believe the more the better - if you can cram in some more chocolate chip, nuts or candy, why wouldn't you? So it's no surprise that these blondies caught my eye right away. This recipe comes from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth, a gorgeous dessert cookbook packed with the most decadent dessert recipes you'll ever see. I got the book for Christmas and have been dying to break it in, so when Joe told me he had his monthly department meeting on Monday I would be sending in something from this book. I choose the Big Blondes because I had almost all of the ingredients on hand already, plus I needed to make something that could easily be eaten during a meeting. These blondies are amazing! They are SO rich and gooey - all the brown sugar and butter in the recipe makes them taste very pecan pie-like, and they are nice and chewy and gooey - not cakey at all. And can I just tell you how amazing my house smelled after I melted the butter and brown sugar together on the stove? My only complaint about this recipe is that you really need to let the batter cool for awhile, otherwise the chocolate chips will melt when you add them in. I felt like I waited forever, and the batter seemed cool enough, but the chips still melted a bit. Also, I felt like they came out a little too greasy - next time I might try reducing the butter to 1 1/2 sticks instead of 2. No worries though, they still came out great and people devoured them. I made a few modifications to the recipe (indicated below) and there are probably a million other things you could add to these if you desired. Enjoy!


Big Blondes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
3 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup pecan halves, toasted
1 cup walnut halves, toasted
1 cup whole raw almonds, coarsely chopped and toasted (I omitted)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I omitted)
4 or 5 full-sized (1.4 ounces) toffee candy bars such as Heath, very coarsely chopped (I used Heath baking bits)
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350. Spray 9x13” pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Melt the butter and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter and sugar are blended and completely melted and mixture starts to bubble gently. Remove pan from heat and let mixture cool slightly.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and salt. Slowly whisk the cooled butter and sugar mixture into the eggs until combined. Whisk in the flour and baking powder to form a loose batter. (Make sure the batter is cool before stirring in remaining ingredients; otherwise the chocolate will start to melt before the bars are baked.)

Stir the nuts, coconut, toffee chunks, and chocolate chips into the cooled batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until the top is shiny and slightly cracked and feels firm to the touch, 30 to 35 minutes. (Mine took a LOT longer than this to bake- closer to 50 minutes.) A wooden skewer inserted into the batter should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Let cool on a wire rack to room temperature, then cut into bars and serve.

Makes 15 large or 30 small bars. (I recommend cutting these small - they are very rich!)

Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

It's rare that I bake anything that doesn't contain chocolate, but I had several containers of oats in my cabinet that I wanted to use up. My first thought was oatmeal raisin cookies, but cookies are so time consuming, especially since my tiny oven can really only accommodate one cookie sheet at a time. So I searched All Recipes for for a bar cookie that would use up my oats and found this one. It was incredibly easy and the bars tasted great. I followed the advice of the reviewers and doubled the recipe to bake in a 13" x 9" pan. I was a little worried about cutting them, as may of the reviews said they crumbled when cut or that it was better to let them sit overnight and then cut them, but mine cooled for an hour and sliced perfectly. I wish I had used a little more jam, but I only had the one jar - next time I'll add a little more. I recommend these for an easy and light dessert. These went to school with Joe along with the pumpkin blondies for his coworkers to enjoy.

Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8 inch square pan, and line with greased foil.
Combine brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Rub in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender to form a crumbly mixture. Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top, and lightly press it into the jam.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

Still more pumpkin

Can't. Stop. Baking. With. Pumpkin. With two big cans sitting in my cupboard and Joe's faculty meeting today I knew the treat I would whip up for his fellow teachers would contain pumpkin. This recipe is originally from Libby's, but I discovered it on Erika's blog. I do not have a 15" x 10" jelly roll pan like the recipe calls for, so I poured my batter into a 9" x 13" baking dish instead. The result was blondies that were more like cake, or possibly pumpkin bread. They were very light and moist, not dense like a blondie would be. But they were still very tasty! As a result of my pan substitution I had to bake my blondies for about 35-40 minutes. I also used chocolate chunks instead of chips, because that's what I had on hand. You can never have too much chocolate!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Blondies

2 1/4 C. Flour
2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar
3/4 C. (1 1/2 sticks) Butter, softened
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
1 C. Pumpkin Puree
2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
1/2 C. Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 15"x10" jelly roll pan/ cookie sheet. Beat sugar, butter and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin and maple syrup. Beat in flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt until well combined and moist. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool a little. Cut into bars and remove to a rack to cool.

My Claim to Fame

I made these Reese's Peanut Butter Bars last year for Joe's department Christmas party and apparently they've made me famous. Joe's co-workers ask him all the time when I'll be making them again, so when Joe told me he had a department meeting this week I decided to whip them up. These are super simple (they don't even require baking) but taste incredible - just like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I also made brownies (just from a mix - I was short on time) for Joe's co-workers who didn't like peanut butter. I'm campaigning for wife of the year ;)

Reese's Peanut Butter Bars

1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

11 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I usually use more like 2 cups - I like chocolate!)

Combine graham cracker crumbs and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Add melted butter and peanut butter; stir to combine. Press peanut butter mixture into a 9x13" dish. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave until smooth. Spread melted chocolate over peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate until firm. Remove from refrigerator and let sit 15 minutes before cutting to avoid cracking.