Easy Cookie Bars

These are quick, easy, gooey, and delicious!

Ingredients:
2/3 cup Butter (softened)
2 cups Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
2 1/2 cups Bread Flour
2 tsps Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Optional Topping:
Sweet and Condensed Milk
Chopped Walnuts
Shredded Coconut

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Mix the eggs into the sugar and butter.  Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Grease a 11X7 pan with butter.  Press dough into the pan.  Bake for 25-30 min or until lightly browned.  Allow bars to cool and top with toppings.

Recipe Source:  I Heart Naptime

2 Ingredient Cookies

I love cookies. And chocolate. And pretty much all things sweet. Since I’ve been doing Weight Watchers, I’ve had to really temper my sweet tooth. I saw these lovely little cookies floating around the internet. I knew that I had to try them. Really, 2 ingredients? No butter or sugar? I’m in!

Ingredients:
2 (Old) Bananas
1 Cup Quick Cook Oats

If you want… add a mix in of your choice.
Want some ideas?
– mini chocolate chips (what I used)
– coconut flakes
– nuts
– raisins
– craisins

Directions
1. Mix your ingredients together. Make sure that the mixture isn’t too wet, if it is – add some oats. Don’t add too many mix ins – you need to make sure that your cookies stick together.
2. Divide into 16 cookies, (i used my cookie scoop, worked perfectly)
3. Bake on a greased pan at 350 for 15 minutes.

**Depending on your mix ins, for the whole batch – it would be 7 points. Not too shabby, eh?

Source

Grandma’s Brownies

Brownie’s 2 day’s in a row!  These are my Grandma’s brownies. I love them!

1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
2 heaping Tblsp. Cocoa
2 cubes melted butter (be careful pouring this in so as not to cook the eggs)
1/2 c. chopped nuts if desired.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together and place in greased 9×13 cake pan.  Bake for 40-45 Min.  Top with frosting (I usually make my frosting to taste using butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and milk)

Source: Grandma Larson

Lunch Lady Brownies–redo

Shut the front door!  Slap yo’ Mama!  Have mercy!  Best danged iced brownies I have EVER sunk my teeth into (and I don’t like my brownies with icing).  I am so dang serious.  This recipe came from Saltbox House  via Facebook or Pinterest.  I don’t know.  Last week was a busy blur, so I have no clue.  I made a double batch (baker’s half sheet pan worked great) right from the get-go because family was coming to grill out and Mike also needed something for a Relay for Life bake sale at work.  This will be my brownie recipe of choice from now on, and my family will expect nothing less.  Are you ready for this?

Ingredients:

For the batter
1 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

For the icing–(make this while the brownies are baking)
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp. vanilla (I added this ingredient.  Just thought it tasted better.)



1.  Melt the butter in the microwave and put into mixing bowl.

2.  Add cocoa and mix until smooth.

3.  Add flour and sugar.  Beat together and then add eggs, vanilla, and nuts, if desired.  Mix until combined.  Do not over stir.

4.  Spread evenly into greased and floured 9 x 13 baking pan (I used baking spray with flour and it worked fine).


5.  Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 F or until done.  Check at about 20 minutes. Toothpick inserted into center should come out clean.

6.  Remove brownies from oven and wait only about 10 minutes to frost them.  You want to frost while they are warm, not hot.

Results:  fudgy, cakey deliciousness!!


Source:  Bonneville Junior High School Brownies via Saltbox House (see link above)





Knock You Naked Bars

Ingredients:

2 1/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
5 oz. evaporated milk
1 (14 oz.) bag caramels
1/2 c. peanut butter

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13 pan.

2.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Gradually mix in flour mixture.   Stir in chocolate chips.

3.  Spread half of cookie dough into the prepared pan.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven.

4.  While the cookie dough is baking, melt caramels and evaporated milk in a double boiler.  Add peanut butter after caramels are melted.  Melt thoroughly.  Spread over baked cookie dough base.

5.  With the remaining cookie dough, drop by spoonfuls on top of the caramel mixture.

6.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown.

Source:  Julie’s Eats and Treats

Cookie Dough Brownies

If you love brownies and sneaking bites of chocolate chip cookie dough….yadda, yadda, yadda…..

Brownie Layer
Ingredients:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups packed light brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a 9×13-inch pan with cooking spray.  In a microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted and smooth (if you use block chocolate you should chop it finely first….mine is in flat disk form so it doesn’t need chopping).  Set aside to cool while you prep the rest of the brownie mixture.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar and whisk well.  Whisk in the eggs and vanilla, then add in the melted chocolate and continue to whisk well to thoroughly combine.  Add the flour and stir together just until the flour is incorporated.  In fact, it’s better to leave a little flour “showing”.  Add in the chocolate chips and stir just until the chips are evenly distributed into the batter.
3.  Spread evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 30-45 minutes (yeah, i know that’s quite a spread…but the original recipe said 25-35 and it took mine 45 to be done in the middle).  Test with a toothpick in the center and if it comes out with a couple of tiny crumbs it’s probably done enough.  Set aside to cool completely.

Cookie Dough Layer
Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp. milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips
Drizzle:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate + 1 tsp. shortening

1.  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.  Stir in the milk, peanut butter, and vanilla until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
2.  Spread evenly over the cooled brownies.
3.  Melt the semisweet chocolate and shortening together in a microwaveable bowl and stir until smooth.  Drizzle over the cookie dough layer.  (I did this by pouring the mixture into a ziploc bag, sealing the bag, and then cutting off one corner to make a piping bag for drizzling.)
4.  Refrigerate until drizzle is set and dough layer is firm enough to cut.

I think next time I would cut the amounts on the cookie dough layer by 1/3 because it was just a bit too rich.  In a house full of brownie lovers, it’s pretty unusual for us to not be able to finish off a second brownie!

Source:  Recipe Girl

Nigella’s Breakfast Bars

Mr. Blue Eyes’ parents gave us a Nigella Lawson cookbook a few years ago and there are some fabulous recipes in it. I mean, c’mon. It’s Nigella we’re talking about. These granola bars are so easy and so good that we eat them morning, noon, and night!

Ingredients:

1 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2.5 Cups of Rolled Oats (not instant!)
1 Cup Shredded Coconut
1 Cup Dried Cranberries
1 Cup Mixed seeds* (Nigella suggests pumpkin, sunflower, sesame)
1 Cup Natural Unsalted Peanuts

1. Preheat the oven 250 degrees F and spray a 9×13″ pan.
2. Warm the Sweetened Condensed Milk in a sauce pan. Ms. Lawson suggests a Large one; I used a small one. Tomato, Tah-mah-toe.
3. In a Large mixing bowl, mix all the other ingredients together. Pour the warmed milk over the top and fold it over until everything is looking gooey and good!
4. Press the mixture into your greased pan. At Nigella’s suggestion I used a latex (or non-latex for all you latex-sensitive people) glove. Make sure you press down fairly firmly and pack it well. We had trouble with crumbling. Not that that makes it taste any less delicious!
5. Bake for 1 hour. After it’s cooled about 10 minutes, cut 4×4 length to width and remove from pan to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container. Makes 16.

*Notes:
1. We have used Unsalted Cashews (1/3 Cup); Salted, shelled pistachios–pictured above (1/3+ Cup); Sunflower Seeds (1/3- Cup). They turned out great!
2. When she says natural, unsalted, she means it. Unsalted just seems to turn out better.

Source: Nigella Express:130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast

Blond Marshmallow Brownies

Ingredients:

1/2 c. butterscotch morsels
1/3 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 t. salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. semisweet chocolate morsels
1 c. miniature marshmallows
1/2 c. pecans or walnuts, chopped

Directions:

1.  Combine butterscotch morsels and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until morsels are melted.  Remove from heat.

2.  In a mixing bowl, stir flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add butterscotch mixture, beaten egg and vanilla and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and nuts.

3.  Spread in a greased 9 inch square baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely and cut into squares.

Source:  Pillsbury Bake Off Contest via Melva Burke (Daily Reflector, June 19, 2002)

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 c. unsalted butter, room temperature
3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
1 c. Oreos, crushed

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2.  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and well-combined.

3.  Add the sugar and vanilla and mix until the ingredients are well-combined.  Add the flour and mix on low until the flour is incorporated.   Stir in the mini chocolate chips and white chocolate chops with a rubber spatula.

4.  Place the Oreo cookie crumbs in a small bowl.  Scoop the cookies into about 1 1/2 to 2 inch balls and then roll in the cookie crumbs.  Place the cookie balls on the baking sheet.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden and the tops are slightly puffed.

5.  Cool on the pan for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.

Source:  Brown Eyed Baker

Sugary Peanut Butter Kisses

 
These are so yummy.  The kids enjoyed mixing the colors into the sugar, and then rolling the cookies in the different colored sugars.  So, this is a very kid friendly recipe and so good to eat!
 
Coloring sugar:
1-2 drops Wilton Gel Food Colors
1/2 c – 3/4 c Granulated sugar
 
Pour sugar into a ziploc bag and squeeze one drop of gel color into the sugar. Seal the bag and start squishing the color into the sugar unto all the sugar is colored.  You can darken the color  by adding more drops of the gel. You can lighten the color by adding more sugar.
 
 
Cookie Ingredients:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. real butter, softened
1/2 c. peanut butter
2 TBSP. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1- 3/4 c. self-rising flour
Hershey kisses, about 30 or more pieces, with the foil off
 
Preheat your oven to 375%. Cream together the white sugar, brown sugar and butter. Really give a few minutes to get nice and creamy. Scrape down the sides of your bowl and add the following peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Mix well and scrape down the sides of your bowl. Whisk the flour and then scoop up the right amount needed.  Slowly add in the flour and continue to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
 
Pour colored sugars onto paper plates. With a cookie scoop drop 1″ balls of the dough into the different colors of sugar and roll around. Place the cookies about 2″ apart on the cookie pan. Bake for 10 minutes for a soft chewy cookie, and 12 minutes for crunchy cookie.  (The cookie will flatten a bit as it bakes.)
 
Take cookies out of the oven and immediately press the hershey kiss into the cookie slightly! Move cookies to a rack to cool.  It takes a while for them to cool down because the hershey kiss melts a bit and then solidifies again.  So, give them time.  Then enjoy!