Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookie Bars

Happy Monday everyone! Not much going on in my life right now.  Just trying to get through the rest of the hot hot hot summer here in Utah.  My darling sister and her cute son are coming to visit on Thursday, so you most likely won't hear from me until Monday when I will be very depressed after she leaves me to go back home to Oregon.  :(  We don't get to see each other very often, maybe once every year or two, so I get very excited to see her and very depressed when she leaves. But I will be back to baking along after that.  I'll have to keep myself very busy to keep my head up!  Now onto the goodies!!!

Yum Yum Yum.  That's all I can say about these chewy, chocolaty bars of goodness.  Crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside.  It's like eating a huge, chunky, chewy chocolate chip cookie. That is my kind of treat! I don't make bars very often and I'm not sure why, because I really enjoyed these.  They are exactly how I like my cookies, but in a bar form.  Give them a try, you won't be sorry!  I hope you all have a great week!

Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookie Bars

recipe by Stephanie

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda and salt.  Set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Add eggs, one at a time until thoroughly mixed.  Add vanilla.  Mix until creamy and smooth.

4. Slowly add flour mixture a little at a time until mixed thoroughly.  

5. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips by hand.

6. Pour batter into a greased 9 X 13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until center is set through and top is browned.  Cut into squares and indulge!

My kids couldn't even keep away!

Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cake

Oh. My.  If you have never tasted this cake before, not only are you seriously missing out on a truly sweet experience, but it is probably one of my favorite cakes in the world.  Yes, that is a powerful statement.  And I have a little secret...I use a boxed cake mix.  Of course, you can make your cake from scratch if you like.  But for some reason, it's just the perfect recipe using a box. And why not? Taking a shortcut now and then isn't gonna kill you.  I promise.  This is one of the most simple cakes I make, but it is truly the sweetest and most perfect balance of taste and texture.  After the cake cools, you get to poke holes in it.  It's my favorite part.  It feels so wrong but so right at the same time.  It is than smothered in both hot fudge and caramel sauce. It seeps into the holes so with every bite you get fudge, caramel and cake.  Yum.  Top it with Cool Whip, chocolate chips and toffee bits, and you've got yourself one amazing cake.  Try it. You will fall in love.  You'll thank me later.  

Oh, and stay tuned for a giveaway coming soon.  It's gonna be great!

Gooey Chocolate Caramel Cake

1 box devil's food cake mix

1 jar hot fudge sauce

1 jar caramel sauce

1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip

mini chocolate chips

toffee bits

1. Grease a 9 x 13 cake pan.  Bake the cake according to package directions.  Let cool completely.

2. After cake has cooled, poke holes in cake.  Warm both the hot fudge and caramel slightly in the microwave, just enough so that the sauces are pourable.  Pour both sauces over the top of the cake.  Let the cake sit for about 15 minutes to let the sauces seep into all the holes.

3. Top the cake with the Cool Whip.  Top the Cool Whip with chocolate chips and toffee bits. Enjoy!

Twisted Peanut Butter Cups

My addiction to Costco has hit an all time high.  Maybe it's the 2 million pints of strawberries for only $5.99.  Or maybe it's the totally awesome rotisserie chicken for $4.99.  Or maybe it's there freakin' cookbook section that gets me everytime.  They may not even be the best or even most well known cookbooks, but the fact that they are like $10 makes me become the victim of an overly obsessive cookbook disorder.  I know that I don't need them.  But they sit there, staring at me screaming "pick me, pick me!" So, I cave.  Yesterday, I caved.  I usually have second thoughts once I've hit my driveway.  Why did I buy that freakin' cookbook? But, this time I found one recipe that really jumped out at me.  Yes, one recipe.  Maybe down the road I can get some new ideas from it, but for now, one recipe.  It is Pillsbury's Best of the Bake-Off Winners.  I found a recipe for Choco-Peanut Butter Cups that I knew I couldn't die without trying.  Just my kind of treat.  So I went home and made it.  All I can say about this recipe can be summed up in just one word.  Yummy.  Yes, it may be lame, but it is one of my favorite descriptive words when it comes to food.  I can't help it.  It must be the little kid in me.  But it's true.  These peanut butter cups are yummy.  It is basically a peanut butter cookie stuffed with peanut butter mixed with half white chocolate and half semi-sweet chocolate.  Try them out and I bet that you will agree. Very rich, but very yummy.  Yum, yum, yum.  Okay, enough of that.  Obviously, the recipe being from the Pillsbury cookbook, calls for store bought peanut butter cookie dough.  But I made my favorite Sweet Melissa recipe, and it was perfect.  So do as you wish! I decided to rename this recipe Twisted Peanut Butter Cups, it just sounded more interesting to me.  But call them what you want! Enjoy this one!  Splurge!!!!

Twisted Peanut Butter Cups

adaped from Pillsbury Best of the Bake-Off Winner Cookbook

24 cookie cups

1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough

(or homemade recipe)

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

2 oats n honey crunchy granola bars (I used Nature Valley), crushed (3/4 cup)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray or shortening.  Cut cookie dough into 24 slices.  Press 1 slice in bottom and up side of each mini muffin cup, forming 1/4 inch rim above top of cup (dust fingers with flour if necessary).  Bake 10-15 minutes or until edges are deep golden brown.  Cool in pans on wire racks 5 minutes.  With tip of handle of wooden spoon, press dough down in center of each cup to make room for 2 tablespoons of filling.

2. Meanwhile, in 2 quart saucepan, melt white chips and 3/4 cup of the peanut butter over low heat, stirring constantly.  Divide mixture evenly into cookie cups (about 1 tablespoon each). Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

3. In same saucepan, melt chocolate chips and remaining 3/4 cup peanut butter over low heat, stirring constantly.  Divide chocolate mixture evenly on top of the white chocolate mixture in each cup (about 1 tablespoon each).  Sprinkle crushed granola bars over top of each. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour.  Remove from muffin cups before serving.

After baking, poke the cookie down so that you have room for the yummy filling.

Fill with the white chocolate peanut butter mixture, and chill.

Fill with the chocolate peanut butter mixture.

Top with crushed granola bars and you now have one twisted peanut butter cup.  

Sorry Daring Bakers....

So, today is posting day for the Daring Bakers Challenge, and as you can see, there are no photo's of a magnificent opera cake awaiting you.  I feel bad about it, but honestly, I just didn't have the time this month.  This recipe was very challenging to say the least, for me anyways.  I bought all the ingredients, and tried to set aside the time, but things just kept coming up.  I know, excuses excuses.  I will try this recipe soon, because I will feel like I accomplished something very much out of my comfort zone.  But this month, it just didn't happen.  I will try to post when I finally complete the task.  If you are curious about what this months recipe was, you can go here.  Also, be sure to check out all of the other Daring Bakers Challenges! But, I will show you another fabulous recipe anyways!  I made these lovely White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Blondies from Paula Dean's Chocolate Magazine and they were divine.  I've actually never been a fan of the macadamia nut or white chocolate for that matter, but these have changed my mind.  Very good.  These are blondies that are best the day they are made. But, you can always half the recipe so they go unwasted!  Very chewy, and tasty, and the chunks of white chocolate and macadamia nuts, make you coming back for more!!!

White Chocolate Chip Blondies

makes 60 blondies

1 cup butter

4 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 60 cups of mini muffin pans with paper liners. (I skipped this step, they work much better when sprayed with nonstick spray and place dough directly into the muffin pans.)

2. In a large bowl, combine butter and white chocolate squares.  Microwave on high in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is smooth (about 1 1/2 minutes total). Add sugars, stirring to combine.  Stir in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually stir in flour.  Stir in vanilla, white chocolate morsels, and nuts.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Let cool in pans for 5 minutes.  Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.