Pumpkin Squares

If I remember correctly, this was one of the first things I made here at home after I had started baking. Possibly January 2004? That was the last time I had come home from CA in the winter before moving back here. Both my parents loved it, as did my cousin and her husband. And now this is the second year in a row where it's been requested at Thanksgiving. *shrug* Works for me!

An oatmeal cookie-esque crust with a pumpkin custard on top, it's pretty easy. I always add in spices that aren't in the recipe - allspice, nutmeg - and never seem to measure. I can't cook because I feel more confident in my boxes and measurements, but I can improvise with cinnamon and the like. Another thing we'll just chalk up to a Kristen Quirk. :)

Oh, and because I can rationalize ANY food as being good for you - pumpkin has vitamins and oats are good for lowering cholesterol. There ya go, Leslie. ;)



Ingredients:
Crust:
1 cup flour
½ cup quick-cooking oats
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened

Filling:
15 oz. Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
12 oz. evaporated milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cloves

Topping:
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup quick-cooking oats
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Crust:
Beat flour, oats, brown sugar and butter in a small mixer until crumbly. Press onto bottom on an ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Filling:
Beat pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in a large mixer bowl. until smooth. Pour over crust. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Topping:
Combine brown sugar, oats and butter in small bowl; sprinkle over filling. Bake for an additional 15 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

The Unphotographables: Strawberry Cream Bars

See, I've been bad about posting again. So now I'm making myself do this now, because I can't have breakfast until I finally get my butt in gear and post about these. :)

Last Saturday, I really had no clue what to make. But I knew it would be fruity. It was the first really good day out of the entire month of June. (Yeah, June missed the memo that traditionally the weather should be sunny and a bit warmer. We had rain and grey for like 24 days of the month.) Saturday was beautiful. I even wore shorts and successfully blinded some people, I'm sure. I take after the English/Irish side of my family and am very fair-skinned. Besides, skin cancer is ugly.

Anyways, beautiful day. I always wear sunscreen on my face, else I get a bajillion freckles. I wore a tank top for the first time all year. This is one of those moments where if you had just a little inkling of what the afternoon had in store, it would've been fabulous. You can see where this is going, right? Dave and I went to play miniature golf. He won, as usual. But this time there was a consolation prize of sorts: the first sunburn of the year. Across the shoulds, back of the neck, top of the back. But good news - the legs have kept their traditional white color. :)

(Maybe I shouldn't post before breakfast. Obviously more chatty.)

I wanted something with minimal oven time and nothing was appealing. Somewhere in my head, a lightbulb flashed on. A bar, reminiscent of my Strawberry Kiwi Cream Tart. But only with strawberries and no vanilla pudding. Thus, this recipe was born.

I've found in the past that Martha Stewart's graham cracker crust doesn't always hold well together. So I upped the butter to 4 tablespoons, versus her 3. Yet this time, it was like sand. Thus, no picture because every time I try cut a nice slice out, it's a big mess.

But the taste? Vanilla cream cheese with strawberry slices? Oh, yum. I'm almost kinda glad they don't travel well. That means more for me. Just go to the fridge with a spoon and I'm a happy girl. Maybe I should have that for breakfast. :)

Ingredients:
(your favorite graham cracker crust for an 8-inch baking pan)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup strawberry slices

Directions:
Once graham cracker crust of your choice is cooled and ready to be filled....

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. Top with strawberry slices. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

I think sometimes it's very obvious what fruits are on sale at the grocery store. :) This week it was both blueberries and strawberries. We'll see what gets made next.

For some reason, I'm having a hard time coming up with what to write on here tonight. I was lazy last night and didn't post. And now it's Monday night, Jeopardy's on, and I'm just kinda eh on everything. Post-vacation downtime? I don't know. And I still owe somewhat of a post on that. Yikes.

Since I'm not coming up with anything remotely entertaining, I'll just talk about the recipe. Originally found at Culinary in the Desert, I altered it a bit for those unfortunate folk who do not like coconut. (Those weirdos lol) The addition of the flour in the crust was different, but I don't feel that it made too much difference compared to a regular graham cracker crust.

Reviews are mixed on this one. I really liked it, and even Dave and my dad ate it. Gina did not, Leslie has never had blueberries before and didn't want to try. Marcos took home the three that didn't get eaten. *shrug* I liked 'em quite well, so that counts the most, since I am the girl with the blog. ;)



Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup flour
1/3 cup sugar

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
1 cup blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, and sugar; cut in butter using pastry blender. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Pour batter over hot crust. Scatter blueberries on top.

Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Let cool on wire rack before refrigerating. Makes about 16 bars.

Strawberry Lime Bars

Last week, when Johanna told me it was in the 90s in the San Jose area, I told her to send me some. Because, frankly, spring really hadn't felt like it arrived yet. Yeah, some low 60s here and there, but that's it.

Until she sent me some warm weather. It hit 87F here, folks. Probably about 84F by the water where I am. It's about freakin' time. :D

So, having seen the forecast, I knew I wanted something summery. And I'm sure you can imagine where this is going. The Lime Monster snuck in the back door when I let the dog out. ;)

These are pretty much the exact same thing as last year's Strawberry Lemon Bars, which tasted just like strawberry lemonade. And, hey, amazingly enough, these taste like strawberry limeaid. (Hmm... wonder if I could do this with cherries? Mmmm, cherry limemade...)

Usually I bring a good portion of the baked goodies to work to share with my friends. I don't know if these are going to make it there. LOL Can you tell sometimes that I'm an only child? ;)



Ingredients:
Crust:
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lime Filling:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
¼ cup lime juice
2 tsp lime zest, from 2 limes
2 Tbsp milk
Pinch of salt

Strawberry Puree:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1–2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are

Directions:
Mix the chopped strawberries with sugar and set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.

Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add the pieces of butter and, using a pastry blender or your hands, mix until it's a pale yellow and looks like coarse cornmeal. Line an 8x8 baking pan with a sheet of parchment. Press crust mixture into an even ¼-inch thick layer and about ½-inch up the sides. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Blend the strawberries in a food processor (for a few seconds) or mash with a fork until there are no large chunks. Cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F and bake crust for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling: Whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Then whisk in the lime juice, zest, and milk.

Reduce the oven temp to 325F.

Pour the filling into the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture on the surface. Use spoon or knife to swirl the strawberries through the filling.

Bake at 325F for about 20-22 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Cool to room temperature, and dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Alright, not to toot my own horn here, but honestly, I really feel that I outdid myself on these babies.

Backstory: I asked my friends at work what they wanted for baked goods this week, since I didn't really have anything set in mind. Tasha suggested cheesecake bars, since she loved the Nutella ones. Mind you, this is the girl that says she doesn't like cheesecake (What the duck?!). I've maintained from that day that I'd bring her over to the cheesecake side. And this might be the winning step.

Shockingly enough, it's a Martha Stewart recipe. Martha and I have had our, ahem, disagreements in the past, so it's a big deal that this recipe turned out as well as it did. And I would very much like to try this with lime juice next time. Mmmm... lime. ;) The only change I made is to up the amount of lemon juice, because I really want a stronger flavor than the previous bars.



Ingredients:
8 graham crackers, crushed
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
3-4 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter. Press onto the bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and lemon juice, beating until combined. Pour over hot crust.

Bake at 325F for 30-35 minutes, or until center is nearly set. Let cool completely (or overnight) before cutting into bars.

Peach Oatmeal Bars

Everyone has one of those cabinets where, no matter how hard you try, things just seem to get lost in there for some time, right? Right?? Comfort me here, okay? :)

So in an attempt to find something completely unrelated to baking, it was discovered that I still possessed a jar of peach preserves from Harry and David. They weren't there too long. Darcy (Dave's older sister) sent us a gift box from H&D for Christmas. So, they were still good. I bookmarked this recipe from Vegetarian Times probably around that same time, and somehow the two met in my mind in a moment that could only be described as fateful luck. :D

The recipe came together like a dream, with my only change being the addition of some nutmeg and ginger, figuring it would compliment the peach preserves. Which, yes, it did. When I took the pictures for this post, admittedly, I ate two of the display models afterwards. But what good models they were! ;)



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup light brown sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. almond extract
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
1 cup peach preserves/jam

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking dish.

Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl; set aside.

Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts until smooth. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 1-3/4 cups oats. Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread peach jam over the batter with back of spoon. Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool completely on wire rack, before cutting into bars.

Brickle Bars

As evidenced before, Dave loves cookies using the Heath Toffee and Chocolate Bits. These can and will be gone in no time. I offered to make something similar for him as a treat, but in bar form. I still can't trust myself not to overdose on cookie dough. When I feel that I can face the dough without devouring so much, then I shall make the cookies again. :)

This is based off an older Snickerdoodle blondie recipe, with the only main difference being the addition of the Heath bits. I think they taste wonderful. The brown sugar is very evident and the toffee flavor goes wonderful. Dave says it tastes like there's raisins in it. *shrug* Makes no sense to me. They're yummy as far as I'm concerned.



Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
1 egg
½ Tbsp. vanilla
½ cup Heath Toffee and Chocolate Bits

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add in the egg, then vanilla, beating until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until well blended. Stir in Heath Bits. Spread evenly in prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes

Raspberry-Swirled Lime Cheesecake Bars

In order to keep myself busy yesterday afternoon, and when my recipe search gave me nothing that appealed, the infamous Lime Monster appeared. (You may remember good ol' LM - the reappearance usually signals intense lime cravings that sometimes border on obsessive and tend to drive others crazy.) From there, the wheel started turning.

Lime, lime. What can I do with that key lime juice? I've got blueberries in the fridge, no raspberries, though. And some cream cheese that really should get used. Wait! Lime juice, cream cheese... raspberry preserves! Swirled through, all pretty-like! And with a chocolate crust! Because I think it'd be contrasting and pretty. :)

Thus, this recipe was born.

And did the Lime Monster approve? Yes, indeed. The raspberry is a sweetness that cuts through that delicious tartness. And while the chocolate crust wasn't as dark as I imagined, it still works. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup plus ¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup butter, melted

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. key lime juice
2 eggs
1/3 cup raspberry preserves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and butter. Press onto bottom of the pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, and lime juice until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Pour over crust. Drop dollops of raspberry preserves into batter, using a knife to swirl through.

Bake at 325F for 40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for at least four hours before cutting and serving.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Since I know I won't have a chance to post this tomorrow... Happy 2nd Blogiversary to me! LOL It's hard to believe it's been two years doing this and I haven't lost my love for it or anything. And yay for my photography skills improving a bit, too. ;)

I lucked out this week. The grocery store had blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries on sale for $2 each, with the blueberries being a whole pint worth. I'd be a fool not to take advantage of that. So come Saturday morning, I'm seeking out blueberry recipes.

Fate smiled upon me, when she led me to one of my favorite blogs, Smitten Kitchen. And let me tell you, she is not lying when she says how good these are. I opened the container today to find them half gone. (Hey, I won't argue with my dad actually eating fruit. Good, high-in-antioxidant fruit, at that) The only change I made to the recipe (other than halfing it) was to add cinnamon to the dough, and that won my heart for this one. :)



Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cold butter
1 egg
1/8 tsp. salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
2 cups fresh blueberries
¼ cup white sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease an 8-inch baking pan.


Mix together the sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and flour, then add butter and egg, using a pastry blender to combine. Dough will be crumbly. Spread half onto bottom of prepared pan.

Stir together sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice, then gently fold in berries. Sprinkle evenly over crust. Crumble remaining dough on top of the berries.

Bake at 375F for 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Happy New Year!

I hope everone had a fun, safe evening on NYE. We tried valiantly to stay up, but alas... early morning work schedules were what defeated us. Next year, Dick Clark. Next year. ;)

So my first baked good of 2009 proved to be a bit of challenge. Mainly because of one thing: Dave and my mom used up the last of the brown sugar. Do you know how many recipes call for brown sugar? Especially if you're feeling like something with peanut butter? HMPH!

After a lot of searching, I found these over on AllRecipes... Czechoslovakian Cookies. Which led me to the following thoughts:

-I was the only kid in my 3rd and 4th grade classes that not only knew that Czechoslovakia existed and where it was, but I was also the only one that could spell it properly. :) (I really liked maps as a kid lol)

-Czechoslovakia no longer exists. As of some-year-I-can't-remember, it's now Czech Republic and Slovakia.

That out of the way, these bars. Cookies, if you will. Pretty darn easy to make, but not nearly enough jam. I didn't measure to begin with, just covered the dough, really, but it definitely could have used more. I found the use of cardamom in them to be interesting. Maybe it's just me, but cardamom, in what I've used it in, gives it a slight citrus-y flavor. Does anyone else ever get that? *shrug* It worked out well, though; I used seedless raspberry preserves and thought it went nicely together.



Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. ground allspice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
½ cup jam of choice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, then vanilla. Whisk together flour, spices, and pecans (if using), then gradually add to the butter mixture.

Spread half of the dough onto the bottom of prepared pan. Carefully spread jam over the dough, then cover the jam with remaining dough.

Bake at 325F for 55-60 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Cranberry Bliss Bars... almost

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season (food-wise, at least) is when Starbucks brings out the Cranberry Bliss Bars. I look forward to them every year, and have extolled their deliciousness to many a stranger. Probably about four years ago, I decided to try to make my own... they could have been named Cranberry Brick Bars. *shrug*

So Saturday morning rolls around, and I'm baking for me this time. No presents, no holiday desserts, just whatever I wanted. And since there was no need for 400+ cookies this year, I started searching for some cookie recipes. When I stumbled upon Good Eats 'N Sweet Treats and saw she replicated the recipe with non-brick results, it was as if the sun came bursting out behind the heavy clouds, blinding us all with its rays on the freshly fallen snow! (Is that a sentence, or what? LOL)

But that's not to say that I didn't have some concerns as the recipe was coming together. The batter didn't win me over and I found the frosting way too sweet. But put them together, and it was a match made in sweet cranberry heaven. The dried cranberries countered the sweetness of the frosting perfectly. And while it's not an EXACT match, it's the best I've done so far. :)

(Oh, I forget to mention this: I halved the recipe, just in case it didn't come out good. For the full 13x9-inch size, just double the amounts (not the eggs, though; those would be three for the full-size) or check out the original post) :D



Ingredients:
½ cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup dried cranberries
3 oz. white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt. Gradually add in flour. Stir in cranberries and white chocolate. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick insert near center comes out clean. Once completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.

Frosting:
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1?½ cups confectioners' sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. vanilla
1/8 cup dried cranberries

Combine the first four ingredients until smooth. Spread on top of bars. Sprinkle dried cranberries on top.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Triangles

What a mouthful!

A very long time ago (this could be over a year ago, we can't remember), Dave said that he was interested in oatmeal cookies... but with certain, um, prerequisites.

1. No raisins. He's one of those "get those raisins out of my cookies" kind of guys.
2. It had to have peanut butter.
3. It had to have chocolate chips.

When I set out to find something to make yesterday, I had Dave in mind. It was his first day back to work after a week of vacation/work around the house, so something peanut buttery was a must. Out of accident, really, I wound up clicking on a link I've had bookmarked since the first conversation of oatmeal cookies happened. The Canadian Baker posted a yummy-sounding recipe back in '05. (Does this date the conversation? Perhaps.) But you guys all know that I don't like making cookies all that often. So bar form was created. And then I decided to cut 'em in triangles for a change of pace.

The end results? A chewy, sturdy bar that packs a lot of flavor into a bite or two. More positive reviews than negative, at least. Dave's kinda ehh on them (poo!), but they've also been "reborn" with ice cream, both as a base and crumbled over the top. Yum! :)



Ingredients:
1¼ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup butter, softened
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups oats (I used the old fashioned kind)
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

Beat butter, peanut butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until completely incorporated. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until combined. Stir in oats and chips. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 375F for 22-27 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool in pan before cutting into triangles.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookie Bars

This was filed under the "baking endeavors to re-do" folder. Which basically consists of a bunch of stuff I made four to five years ago that I'd like to give another try, to see if it's any different or if I could make any improvements. The only thing I did different this time around with these is that I used the (remaining) butterscotch chips, since somehow there were no peanut butter ones to be found. Hmph.

Anyways, these are super-simple and take no time to whip together. I do prefer it with the peanut butter, though. The butterscotch makes them very sweet, so perhaps lessen the sugar a little bit? My dad's a big fan, not surprising; he's already blamed the dog for some of them disappearing. LOL And Penny just sits up, looks around confusedly, then lays back down on the couch. It's tough being her. Really. ;)



Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups peanut butter morsels

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan.

Combine flour, cinnamon, cloves and baking soda in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until blended; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Spread into prepared jelly-roll pan.

Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

Oatmeal Toffee Bars

Before I get into reading another book (have I mentioned that I'm as much of an avid reader as I am a baker? So far, I've read 114 books this year alone), I'm going to post about the other bars I made yesterday.

Oh, as a quick aside, the pumpkin you saw in the previous picture and the one you'll see with these bars, his name is George. And George went through Pumpkin Puberty tonight, with Dave guiding him through....



Isn't he cute? I'm very proud of both of them. ;)

Alright. Onto the food. It was a Hershey weekend, as this came up while searching for brownies. Dave loves the Heath Toffee Bits and Chocolate, so I thought he'd enjoy these. At this point, I don't seem to recall anything particular in the making of them. LOL (It's been a long day) Oh! I did a half-batch, that's what I changed! Oh, goodness. Anyways, my mom really likes them. They're very soft, and using both the toffee and the chocolate, it gives it a little bit more sweetness. I'd make 'em again, I think. :)



Ingredients:
3/4 cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups oats
4 oz. Heath Bits with Chocolate, divided

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Set aside a handful of the Heath bits. Stir remaining toffee bits and oats into batter (batter will be stiff). Spread batter into prepared pan; sprinkle reserved toffee bits over surface.

Bake at 350F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 bars.

Double Decker Peanut Butter M&M Bars

That's a mouthful, isn't it?

Yesterday's baking did not go as planned. The can of pumpkin mysteriously disappeared, with no note whatsoever. You'd think if it was kidnapped, the fiends would leave a ransom note, right? And if he ran away, didn't I raise him better than to leave without a note? Hmph. Watch, he'll come back just after Christmas.

Anyways, thankfully I discovered that before putting together the dry ingredients for my originally planned recipe. I do so hate being wasteful. Thus began my search for something else, when my eyes fell upon Dave's half-full bag of peanut butter M&M's. (He had another full bag still, so it wasn't considered blasphemy for baking with them. He's quite the fan) Surprisingly, my brain went back to a post that I saw on Cooking Madness last week. Voila! :)

I think my only complaint with the recipe is how sticky the dough is. I wound up greasing my hands with Pam spray just to spread the dough into the pan. Other than that, no complaints. And holy moly, Dave's eating something that I made. Lately it's been hit-or-miss with him, so I'm happy. I like the combination of the regular cookie dough and the chocolate, and the general cheeriness that the M&M's give it. I'm easily amused, can you tell? (And also braindead for work today lol)



Ingredients:
2½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
2½ tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup Peanut Butter M&M's

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch dish (or line with foil).

Whisk together 2¼ cups flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugars, until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture. Divide dough in half.

Blend cocoa and melted butter in a small bowl, then stir into half the dough. Spread cocoa dough onto bottom of pan.

For remainder of dough, stir in ¼ cup flour and ½ cup chocolate chips; spread over cocoa dough. Sprinkle M&M's over the top.

Bake at 350F for 32-38 minutes, or until edges begin to pull away from the sides. Let cool on wire rack before cutting into bars. Makes 24-32 bars (depending on how they're cut)

Pumpkin Cranberry Bars

This past week, we had our first little taste of autumn. Waking up in the morning, it was in the 40s. The high temperature was in the low 60s. There was just this crispness to the air that brought fall to mind.

I have mixed feelings on fall. For one, it means colder winter weather is coming. But at the same time, it evokes memories of shusheling through the fallen leaves, and the taste of pumpkin and apple, and just generally home-like scents. That is the best part of autumn for me. :)

When I saw the recipe over at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, I don't know what made me smile more: the picture of the food or the pictures of her Cocker Spaniel and Bunny. Seriously, click now, read and smile, then come back. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Back? See, aren't they adorable?

Anyways, after seeing those bars, I bookmarked it instantly. Then with the aforementioned weather, I bought some pumpkin in preparation for making this.

And it really does taste like autumn should taste. I didn't quite have the amount of cranberries, so I just tossed in what was left in my bag of Craisins. It worked out, though. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. allspice
¼ tsp. ginger
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pumpkin puree
1½ cups dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9x9-inch baking pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Stir in pumpkin. Gradually add flour mixture, beating just until combined. Stir in cranberries. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 375F for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes about 16 bars.

Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Oh, thank goodness, it's not my tastebuds being wonky!

It's yet another winning recipe from Baking Bites. Seriously, I don't think any recipe that I've made from there has ever turned out bad. And I still have two or three on my 'to make' list.

The only thing I changed from the original recipe was omitting the raisins, subbing with chocolate and peanut butter chips. Dave is very much one of those "get those raisins away from my oatmeal cookies" kind of guys, so I knew the additon of pb chips would definitely be for the win. ;)

LIke Nicole mentioned, they are reminiscent of a blondie, but still retain their oatmeal cookie taste. And I really, really enjoyed the fact that it's all done in one bowl. Baking with a headache is always risky business, but far less so when there's not much to clean up afterwards!



Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
½ cup butter, melted and cooled
2 cups quick cooking oats
1½ cups chocolate and peanut butter chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan.

Whisk together flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, and spices in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center, then add the vanilla, egg, and melted butter, beating until smooth. Stir in oats and baking chips. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 22-26 minutes, or until lightly golden on top. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes 16-20 bars.

The Lemon Bars That... Weren't.

I set out the other day to make some lemon bars. Ya know, they usually have the shortbread cookie base and then the lemon-yellow almost-custardy filling. The traditional lemon bar, right?

Well, I found a recipe on Allrecipes that used a graham cracker crust instead. Which would be better for my dad since he has a hard time with really crunchy or harder textures. Alright, good deal. So I'm mixing it together, and the batter seems to taste decently enough, with some added lemon juice. It goes in the oven.

Twenty-five minutes later? It looks like some sort of lovechild between a blondie and a biscuit. And that's the nicest thing to say about it.

But the strangest part? Everyone else in this house loves it. The entire pan was gone by last night. I don't get it. It has the texture of a blondie for the most part. The bottom part, near the crust, is a bit moister, but it's still a lemon blondie as far as I'm concerned. The people living here must be crazy. ;)

I'm going with a Baking Bites recipe tomorrow morning, and I'm quite certain that one will be a winner.

And that I'll get a picture before the masses descend upon it.

Hermit Bars

I've always heard of hermit bars/cookies, but had never made them. So I made them. Then went in search of their history, so I could post it on here. It's been a two-day affair, and only now did I find something relatively decent. Joe Pastry has the best I've come across. Did you know there's not even a Wikipedia page for them? I was shocked.

I can easily imagine these being made a hundred years ago. Even further back than that. No one seems sure as to why they were named hermits, though. Either a mispronounciation, or perhaps based off the color of the hermit's robes? Either way, it makes me feel very connected to the past when making a recipe (or variant of) that's been around for so long. I have a box upstairs of my Aunt Sara's recipes that I plan on going through this autumn. I never met my Aunt Sara, she died a bit before I was born, but all the stories tell of her fabulous cooking and baking. My Uncle Ernie was a lucky man, that's another one I heard a lot. Pictures always show him smiling when Sara was around. Food and love are so intertwined, at least to me. They always looked happy together.

I digress. I think the best image that could be conjured up is one that took place about half an hour ago. I came upstairs from putting some clothes in the washer, and found my dad sitting in the table, quickly closing the cover of the container the bars are in, with a guilty look on his face. :) The bars are soft and chewy, and as they bake, fill the house with a delicious warming scent.



Ingredients:
1-3/4 cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cloves
½ cup butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cup molasses

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg, beating well. Add molasses. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Spread into pan.

Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack before cutting into bars.

Blueberry Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Since moving, my work schedule hasn't been all that predictable. The first few weeks were, a nice 7a-4p, with weekends off, but of course that didn't last. This week, I have today and Thursday off. I have no idea for next week. But not having the sense of predictability is hard for me. I'm a routine kind of a gal.

Today had some semblence of normalcy that I did on my days off in CA. Went to the library (albeit by bus and not walking), got myself a chai, then came back home. Which is exactly what I would do on my first day off. So, some comfort there, at least. :)

So! The idea originated with blueberry cheesecake bars. But I never found a recipe that suited what I was imagining. Out of nowhere, while Dave was watching a baseball game, I believe, I said aloud, "Chocolate-covered blueberries! I wonder if I could make cheesecake bars using that flavor?" Dave then turned to look at me, simply saying, "What?!". You'd think after three years, he'd be used to random outbursts on food. Hmm.

Anyways, I put together a few different recipes, and to be quite honest, I'm not sure how I feel about them. I had a small piece earlier, and I have mixed feelings. Thus, no picture. LOL It's denser than the average cheesecake, and that might have something to do with it. I'm hoping that they'll be better tomorrow. :)

Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup butter, melted

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. cocoa
½ tsp. vanilla
Blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan.

For crust: Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and butter. Press onto bottom of pan.

For filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Add cocoa and vanilla. Pour onto crust. Place berries on top of the cheesecake, pressing down just slightly.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.