S'more Cookie Bars

I found this recipe over at Baking Bites, about a month ago, judging by the posting date, and quickly added it to my "maybe trying" folder. I'm trying to get better about actually working my way through that folder instead of just always adding to it. :)

I'm a firm believer that whoever first put chocolate and marshmallow together needs to be sainted. But at the same time, I've never had an-honest-to-goodness, straight-off-the-fire smore. Yeah, yeah, I know. One of the 'essentials' of childhood to many people, and here I am, getting closer and closer to 30 (which is whole 'nother post to begin with!), and I never have.

But I'd like to imagine that these, especially when eaten before being fully cooled, so they're still gooey and messy, are pretty close to the real thing.

By the way, I'm adding "eating a real s'more" to my newly-created list of "Things To Do Before I'm 30". Which already includes getting married and having a baby. And taking my parents to Disney World. :)

Anyways, I digress. I used two different chocolate bars, one 'Evening Dream' Ghirardelli (I already had it lol) and one milk chocolate bar. Unfortunately, I forget which side was which. :) Also used less marshmallow creme, which turned out for the best. Right now, they seem to dance on that border between 'sweet' and 'too sweet'. More marshmallow probably would've pushed it over. I used probably about 5 ounces? I didn't measure, just scooped from the jar, spreading until I was satisfied. :)

Really easy to make, though. Maybe next time I'll experiment with other kinds of chocolate.



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars
1½ cups marshmallow creme

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

In a small bow, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.

Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.

Flatten remaining dough and carefully place on top of marshmallow layer. (I spread it on the counter, shaping it into a square, then cut into four pieces. Once on, I pinched the dough together to make it look like one solid piece.)

Bake at 350F for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars. Makes 16 cookie bars.

Almond Apple Bars

It really shouldn't have surprised me that my first time baking after vacation would have its difficulties. But, no. That never occurred to me. Let's see... I had softened the cream cheese in the microwave (I know, cardinal sin, but I had no choice). As I was about to put it into the mixing bowl, a piece of it 'exploded' and flew onto me. Did I mention I was wearing a tank top at the time? Yeah. Cream cheese burns.

Then, as I'm trying to grab an egg from the carton, it stuck a bit, so I applied more pressure. You know where this one's going, I'm sure. Egg, dripping onto my bare foot, down the front of my shirt and the front of my jeans. This is where I start crying because I have egg on my foot. And on the carpet. Finally get the egg off, Dave "edits" my egg-carton due to the broken one (which was not my fault! It was broken to begin with!) and gets the carpet cleaner out. And then I slip and nearly fall where the carpet spray hit the floor. Then start crying again.

*big sigh* It's probably good that Dave peeled and cut my apples for me, otherwise I'm sure I would've wound up in the emergency room. (Thank you, honey, for putting up with me, btw) ;)

Alright. Accidents aside, the recipe was pretty simple. I found it at Alpineberry earlier in the year and saved it in my "maybe trying" folder. With today's weather being rather autumny, I thought it was only appropriate.

The only thing I would do differently next time (and there will be a next time) is to add more spice to it. They're delicious as is, but I think some cinnamon or nutmeg would really jazz it up a bit. :)



Ingredients:
Crust:
1¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
¼ tsp. pure almond extract
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup almonds, finely chopped

Topping:
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
¼ cup almonds, coarsely chopped

Filling:
5 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of salt
2-3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & cut into thin slices

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

For crust:
Sift flour and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the almond and vanilla extracts, beating on medium until smooth. Add the granulated and brown sugars, and beat on medium speed until blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.

On low speed, mix in the flour-salt mixture and the 1/3 cup of finely chopped almonds just until the dough comes together. Dough should be crumbly.

Reserve about 2/3 cup of the crust mixture (for the topping). Press the remaining dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Prick the dough all over with a fork. Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until light golden. Remove crust from the oven.

For the topping:
While the crust bakes, make the topping by adding the flour, granulated and brown sugars to the reserved dough. Mix until well combined. It should be crumbly. Set aside topping and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds while you make the filling.

For the filling:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg, lemon juice and salt until well mixed.

Assembly:
Arrange the apple slices over the baked crust. Pour the cream cheese filling over the apples and gently spread the filling to cover. Crumble the topping over the filling. Sprinkle with the almonds.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, or until light golden brown. Let the bars cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a cooling rack before cutting.

Still alive!

We just got back from vacation yesterday afternoon. It was good. Spent a lot of time with my parents, helped around the house a bit (my parents were quite shocked when I wound up with 8 bags of garbage from the attic LOL), and relaxed. Spent a day in Newport (Rhode Island), since Dave had never been, and toured one of the mansions there (The Breakers). I've been to that one numerous times, but every time, there's always something that I hadn't noticed before.

I did do some baking, despite my dad's protests. He felt that since I was on vacation, I shouldn't be doing anything, despite how baking isn't work to me. I won out in the end, making my large-pan brownie recipe (which is posted somewhere around here), and my dad ate a good amount of them. :)

So I'll be back to my mostly usual baking/posting schedule this Friday. :D

Oops

I've been having a bad time with headaches lately. Pretty much every day for this entire week, and a few times a week for a while before that. Dave told me after this morning's disasterous walk, that maybe I should take today off.

"No, I'll be fine," I insisted. Come on, with my heritage (English, Irish, Portuguese), of course I'm stubborn!

Thought I'd try something different. He wanted something with oats, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Found one the other day.

I mixed it all together, found the dough to be a bit odd, but didn't really think anything of it. In, out of the oven. Looks decent enough.

It's not until he gets home from work and is about to put a slice of pizza in the microwave...

There's a bowl of melted butter in there.

Oops.

Well, that explains the oddness of the dough, right? :P

There's a lesson in this, of course: don't bake when you feel like your brain is mutinying upon itself.

As a side note, on Tuesday, we fly out for vacation (Woohoo! I'm going home! LOL), and while I'll still be baking there, I have no way to upload photos. So, most likely I'll post the recipe and then do pics later.

Enjoy your labor day weekends! :)

Pomegranate Chocolate Cupcakes

I was watching Iron Chef the other night, and it was Battle Boar. Which totally doesn't interest me, because that's on the List of Animals I Won't Eat. But one thing that caught my attention was the marinade that either Bobby Flay or the contender used: maple syrup and pomegranate. I instantly turned to Dave and said, "What do you think of pomegranate cupcakes? Is it possible?" He shrugged and switched it back to the baseball game during the commercial. LOL

I started searching, to see if anyone else had the same thought, and had some luck. On the POM Juice website, they had a recipe.

Once mixed, the batter was very... soupy, for lack of a better word. I was half convinced it'd be a failure like the Carrot Cupcakes of last weekend. (Which we shall not speak of again LOL) Thankfully, they turned out very well, and I am Happy. :)

(Oh, and I halved their recipe, just in case it wasn't a winner LOL)

edited to add: I can't believe I forgot to mention the taste! I'm glad that I didn't cut the pomegranate juice down to half a cup. I think it keeps a good balance between the chocolate and the fruit taste. It's very yummy, I'm quite pleased with it. :)



Ingredients:
1½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup pomegranate juice
½ cup boiling water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp. vinegar
½ Tbsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in mixing bowl, making a well in the center.

In a large measuring cup, combine pomegranate juice and boiling water. Add oil, vinegar, and vanilla, and stir.

Pour liquids into flour mix, beating to combine. Fill muffin cups half full.

Bake at 350F for 23-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. milk
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add vanilla, milk, and sugar, and beat until frosting is of spreading consistency.

Jamwiches

Remember the good ol' days? When it was rolling towards September and you had both that mixture of sadness and excitement over the quickly-approaching first day back to school? (Alright, it's September back home. Out here, it's next week, I think.) I was one of those kids that actually enjoyed school, so it was definitely a mix of feelings. On one hand, I'd be going into (whatever) grade, and somehow I always got the teacher that I wanted, all the years of elementary school. But at the same time, when I think back on my childhood summers, it's all very vivid greens and blues and flowers. Sleeping in, playing house/restaurant/school/whatever with April or Erin, swimming in the pool, etc. Sometimes I really miss my childhood, and I do hope that when I have kids, they wind up with the same fond memories.

I digress. Of course. LOL

Really, those words and the recipe are connected, I swear. I think it's because the flavors of the bars remind me slightly of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, even when there's no peanut butter. It's just a very comforting taste, and it works out well that's so super-easy to make. And, as I pointed out, there are oats in it, so therefore, there's healthiness. :)



Ingredients:
½ cup butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup unbleached flour
¼ tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup old-fashioned oats (not the 'quick-make' version)
1 cup jam (any flavor)

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

Beat butter, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt until smooth and creamy. Add in oats.

Press 2 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the pan. Spread the jam over this layer (close to edges, but not touching edge of pan as the sugar will burn). Sprinkle the remaining oatmeal mixture over the top and press lightly.

Bake at 350F for 22-25 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into bars. Makes about 16 bars (depending on the size you cut them. I cut them small, thus making more, just because they seem better when bite-sized) :)

Marbled Peanut Butter Brownies

In my quest last... whatever day it was that I made the blondies, I came across this recipe, but didn't have any cream cheese. This is what I first thought of for Myriam's Browniebabe of the Month contest. I didn't think it'd happen, so I just entered the blondies. But, yay, there was time enough, so after I post this, I'll be sending another email to Myriam. :)

These came out surprisingly well. My previous marbling experiences usually wound up... over-marbled, so I'm quite pleased with these. The peanut butter taste isn't too overwhelming, and it's a good balance between peanut butter and chocolate. I asked Dave if he wanted to bring some into work tomorrow, and his words were, "These aren't going to work. They're staying here!" Which made me happy, of course. I'll sneak some to my guinea pigs at work, though.



Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Filling:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. milk

Brownie:
1 cup butter, melted
2¼ cups sugar, divided
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:
For peanut butter filling: Beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, egg, and milk until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 13x9-inch pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cocoa; beat until well blended. Add dry ingredients, beating until well mixed.

Remove 1 cup batter; set aside. Pour remaining batter into prepared pan. Spread Peanut Butter Filling over surface. Drop reserved chocolate batter by teaspoons over filling. Using a knife, gently swirl through top layers for marbled effect.

Bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. About 36 brownies.

Cinnamon Blondies

I admit, it took me a while to come up with these. It wasn't until I went digging through the "pile o' morsels" that this clicked into my head. I'm not the biggest fan of Hershey's Cinnamon Chips, at least pre-baked, but they worked out really well in these. In fact, the flavor seems like it should be in something bread-y or muffin-y. Definitely not in bar form. Which is what I think is so great about these. Oh, and they're "guinea pig approved", too. I should make them a logo or something. :)

Anyways, I like these. Much better than the ginger blondies I previously made. These can be just a snack, or heated up and topped with ice cream. Ooh, a cinnamon ice cream would go perfectly! *covets* ;)

These are also for Myriam's Browniebabe of the Month event. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon (add more, if desired)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
½ tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
3 to 5 oz. Hershey's Cinnamon Chips

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

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

Beat brown sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually add flour mixture. Stir in cinnamon chips. Spread into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes about 16 bars.

Ginger-Frosted Pineapple Cake

I first found this recipe a few years ago, in the Cooking by Moonlight book by Karri Ann Allrich. She had mentioned the ease in which it came together, and I remember being impressed at how true that sentence was. In fact, outside of the frosting, you don't even need the electric mixer; it's all by hand. And, as much as I love the Holy Grail... oh, sorry. The Kitchen Aid mixer as its known to the rest of the world ;) But, yes, sometimes it's nice to mix everything by hand. (Just don't tell that to HG, okay?) ;)

The first time I made this, I just did regular cream cheese frosting. This time around, I added the ginger, and was quite pleased. It's a nice contrast in taste. And my wonderful guinea pigs at work were all happy, too. :)

Oh, and definitely use the crushed pineapple. I didn't have any (nor did Target), so I just went with the chunks. Still good, but the crushed would have been better.



Ingredients:
Cake:
2 large eggs
1 (20-oz.) can crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

Gingered Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup (½ stick) butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 to 3 cups confectioners' sugar
¼ tsp. ground ginger
4 to 5 pieces candied ginger, chopped (optional)

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

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a fork until they are light and fluffy. Add the undrained crushed pineapple, and mix well by hand. Add the flour, sugars, and baking soda, and gently beat with a fork. Do not overheat. Fold in the chopped nuts.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan, then frost.

Gingered Cream Cheese Frosting:
In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, until desired consistancy is achieved. Add the ground ginger, and beat until mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the candied ginger by hand and stir well.

Double Peanut Butter Bars

On Monday night, I said - quite randomly - to Dave, "I feel like making something with peanut butter."

He looked at me and asked, "Who are you?"

I'm sure I've mentioned on here before, my love/hate relationship with peanut butter. Some days, we're friends, I'll go straight for the jar. Other days, just the scent is enough to turn my stomach. So I don't blame him for asking me that question. Besides, it was funny.

I found these on the Hershey website, in search of something peanut butter-y yet simple. It had been a long day, and while I wanted to bake, I wanted something that required little to no thinking. Voila, this recipe worked out perfect.

They taste like any other peanut butter bar, but I feel like they hardened up pretty quickly, even with being in the air-tight container. After Tuesday night, I haven't had a single bit. Other people have, with no complaint. *shrug* Maybe I'm just weird? LOL (No need to answer that one!)



Ingredients:
½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1-2/3 cups (10-oz. pkg.) peanut butter chips (Or the Swirled ones, as that's all I had)
½ cup chocolate syrup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Beat butter and peanut butter in large bowl. Add sugar and brown sugar; beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla.

Beat flour mixture into peanut butter mixture, blending well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Spread half of batter into prepared pan; spoon syrup over top. Carefully top with remaining batter; swirl with metal spatula or knife for marbled effect.

Bake at 350F 35 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. About 36 bars.