Cookies and Bars

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

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This is a fabulous wintertime baking recipe. This recipe was given to my mom by a pastry chef friend, then later tweaked by me (by adding the rolling sugar, and different ‘add ins’) I love the flavors that go together in this cookie. The white cholocate and cranberries taste so nice! By rolling the cookie in sugar before baking, you’ll get a great crisp on the outside while having a nice soft cookie on the inside. This recipe also doubles very nicely. 

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
1 C granulated sugar
1 C packed brown sugar
1 C unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C shortening
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 C quick cooking oats
2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 C White Chocolate Chips
1 C Dried Cranberries
Sugar for rolling

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Cream butter, shortening, and sugars together. Beat until fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beat until fluffy. Add vanilla.
4. Mix all dry ingredients. Add slowly into the wet ingredients.
5. Shape dough into small balls in your hands, then roll in sugar. Place onto an ungreased baking sheet.
6.  Bake until light brown, about 10 minutes.
7. Immediately remove from cookie sheet.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Now go, enjoy!! This cookie can easily be changed by changing the add ins. I’ve made them with Raisins, Chocolate chips, Nuts, and Dried Pomegranates. All have tasted great!

Nanaimo Bars

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I recently presented the country of Canada to our homeschool geography co-op and wanted some recipes that really represented the country well.  A Canadian friend highly recommended Nanaimo Bars (pronounced nuh-NYE-mo) and kindly offered me some Canadian custard powder to use for them as well.  (I have read that instant pudding powder is a fair substitute for this custard powder if you can’t find it.)  These layered bars are very tasty!

Ingredients:
Layer 1:
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds

Layer 2:
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
3 Tbsp. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. custard powder*
2 cups powdered sugar

Layer 3:
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet baking chocolate**
2 Tbsp. butter

1.  In a double boiler, combine the butter, sugar, and cocoa powder stirring together until melted and smooth.  Beat the egg into a small bowl;  add a little of the cocoa mixture to the egg bowl and stir together well to temper the egg.  Then pour the egg mixture into the double boiler with the cocoa mixture and stir well until thickened, 2-3 minutes.
2.  Remove from  heat and stir in the graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and almonds.  Press firmly into the bottom of an ungreased 8×8-inch pan.
3.  In a bowl, cream together the butter with the heavy cream and custard powder.   Add in the powdered sugar and mix well.   Spread this over the crust in the pan and chill to set.
4.  Melt the semisweet chocolate and butter together until smooth (I used the microwave to do this, in 30 second increments).  Pour over chilled bars.  You can chill to set this or let the bars sit out at room temperature until the chocolate is set.  Cut into bars.

Makes 16 bars

Source:  allrecipes.com

*–I have read that vanilla instant pudding powder is a fair substitute for this custard powder if you can’t find it.
**–I was out of baking chocolate so I just used 4 ounces of semisweet chips.

S’mores Treats

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I remember coming home from school to these. I LOVE S’mores and these are perfect for an after-school snack without getting all smokey.

Ingredients:
2/3 Cup Corn Syrup (I use white)
1 (12 oz) package Chocolate Chips (your favorite–I used Semi-Sweet)
1 tsp Vanilla
6 – 8 Cups Golden Grahams Cereal (I use closer to 6 Cups because I like them well coated)
3 Cups Mini Marshmallows

1. In a Large mixing bowl, pour your Graham Cereal and Mallows in. You don’t need to mix them yet.
2. In a Medium saucepan, bring just to a boil (not quite!) corn syrup. Remove from heat and immediately add the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth.
3. Add vanilla and stir until smooth, again.
4. Pour over the mallows and graham cereal. Stir until will incorporated. The chocolate may seem a bit thick, but persevere! Also, don’t worry if the mallows melt a little. That’s the best part!
5. Press into a greased 9×13 pan and cut into squares when cool.

Source: My mama, Karri H.

Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

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Here’s a way to make an easy version of a Mexican favorite!  (So-pa-pee-ah)

Ingredients:
2 cans (8oz ea.) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls OR Pilsbury Crescent Creations Seamless Dough
2 packages (8oz ea.) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2C Sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
1stick butter (1/2C), melted
1 T ground cinnamon

First mix together the softened cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar, then add the vanilla.  
I don’t like to measure vanilla. Just splash it in…you can’t go wrong.  Go ahead, try it. I can almost guarantee it’ll make you happy. 😉 Then stir it until it’s nice and creamy.
Next, unroll one can of crescents into the bottom of a 9×13 pan.  Press together the seams and fill out the pan to the edges like this:
Pour the cream cheese mixture over the bottom layer of crescents 
Then unroll the second can of crescents over the cream cheese mixture. This part is a bit trickier than the first.  Sometimes it helps to unroll the dough on the counter, press the seams together, roll it back up and then unroll it again over the mixture.  Either way it’s a sticky, tricky job.  But don’t worry about perfection. It ends up looking DELICIOUS, no matter what. 
Then…you know what to do.  That’s right…pour–that–butter!  You might be thinking, “Why in the world would I need ALL THIS BUTTER?”  I will happily answer that question for you.  Because it’s good.  And because it gives the whole top of the dish a deep-fried-with-butter effect.   
Now, you’ll mix 1/2 C of sugar with 1T of ground cinnamon.  
I like to put it in a container with a lid and shake it up!  
After you do that, sprinkle it evenly over the melted butter. Mmmmm. I can taste it now.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350* and let it cool a bit before you cut into it.  Let me show you, again:
Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm. Fabuloso! 




“I Love You” Cookies

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School starts here on August 27th!  We are all excited! I have two kiddos that don’t enjoy school lunches at all,  and the other two pack a lunch when there is something yummy from home they would rather have!  I always send love notes, and special treats but,this year I wanted to do something special for the first day of school. These are soo yummy!  Peanut butter cookies and a dove heart ontop!  Easy peasy!  You can make the cookie from scratch or buy the cookie mix for an even easier time of it!

1 package of peanut butter cookie mix
1 package of Dove milk chocolate hearts
white granulated sugar

Follow the peanut butter cookie instructions. After you have formed the cookie roll it in some sugar and place on the cookie sheet or stone…whatever you have for baking.  Then bake according to directions. It will take about 8 -10 minutes. Don’t let them get to brown. 
When the cookies come out, press the chocolate hearts into the center and the cookie will spread out a bit.  Let them stay on the cookie sheet for a while cooling off. The heart will melt a bit, as you can see in the picture, but it will cool and stick to the cookie just fine.
 After they have cooled completly, remove them from the pan and place them on a rack to let the chocolate set a bit more.  It should be comepletly back to normal before you pack them up.

Gooey S’mores Bars

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I love S’mores.

(That’s “smores” not “shmores” if my husband is listening, ahem!)

But really….I mean, it’s hotter ‘n heck right now and I am not about to go build a campfire so I can indulge in some gooey chocolate, marshmallow madness.

(That’s “-mallow” not “-mellow” if the misspelling world is listening.  Your You’re welcome.)

Enter:  this easy and satisfying recipe via Pinterest that seduced me with its siren song.  I knew when I bought the two giant Hershey bars for it that this was going to be love.  Real heart-pumping, jaw-dropping, artery-clogging love.

If you ask me, this recipe has “Family Night Treat” written all over it.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 (4.4 oz) Hershey bars
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8″ square baking pan.
2.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until well-combined.  Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until well-blended.
3.  In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, and salt.  Add this to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until combined.

4.  Take half of this mixture and press it evenly into the baking pan.  Add the chocolate bars on top (they just fit side by side in my pan).

Spoon the marshmallow creme out on top of the chocolate; gently and evenly spread the marshmallow creme over the chocolate.

Make square-ish patties out of the remaining dough and piece together on top of the creme (I did this in four patties and it worked just fine).

5.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool completely at room temperature (or all the gooey wonderfulness will ooze out of the bars and we don’t want that, do we?).

Makes 16 bars

Source:  Lovin’ from the Oven via Pinterest

Brownie/Cookie Cups

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This is a quick, convenient fix that satisfies youth and adults.  Nothing wrong with a little convenience!

Ingredients:

brownie mix (family size)
2 pkg. refrigerated cookie dough (the kind that is scored)
24 snack size Reese’s cups

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350.
2.  Push 1.5 squares of break-apart refrigerated cookie dough into the bottom of each section of a muffin
     tin.
3.  Place 1 Reese’s cup upside down on top of cookie dough.
4.  Top with prepared brownie mix, filling 3/4 full.
5.  Bake for 18 minutes.

Notes:  Obviously you could half this recipe.  Next time, I think I would opt to use homemade cookie dough.  I loved using the square baking mold as opposed to the traditional round muffin tin.

Source: www.stockpilingmoms.com

Snicker Doodles

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Every time I make Snicker Doodles, I always wonder why I don’t make them more often. They don’t take long and they are super tasty! Cooked right, these have that perfect crunchiness around the outside edge with a soft middle. Mm-MMM!

Ingredients:


1 C Shortening
1.5 C White Sugar
2 Eggs
2 3/4 C All-purpose White Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/2 tsp Salt

 

 3 Tbsp White Sugar
2.5 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a Medium bowl, cream together the Shortening, Sugar (1.5 Cups), and Eggs. I have a superstition about beating the sugar/egg/shortening mixture for five minutes until it’s good and fluffy. I do this with all cookies (or try to) and have no idea it it does anything special, but I like to think it does.

3. In a Small bowl, sift together the Flour, Soda, Tartar, and Salt (or not. Sometimes I add them separately.). Gradually add the dry mixture into the Sugar mixture until nice and incorporated.

4. In a cereal bowl, mix together the Tbsp Sugar and tsp Cinnamon.

5. Taking a heaping teaspoon full, roll the dough into a little ball and then roll it around in the cinnamon until the entire ball is coated.

6. Place on an unprepared cookie sheet two inches apart.

 7. Bake for 7 – 10 minutes. I do mine for 7 minutes and they’re perfect! Cool on a wire rack.

8. Share them. Or DEVOUR them. Whichever you prefer.

Source: LKUEHL, on All Recipes.com, a little personal variation added

~Kara

Brownie Bites

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I think I found this recipe on Pinterest way back in February.  I used it then to send in for a Valentine party at school for one of my girls.  But, this would be a great end of school party treat!  This is soo easy!

Mini Muffin pan
Pam
Box of your favorite Brownie Mix
Reese’s Peanut Butter chips
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Peanut Butter

Set oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin pan. Mix up the brownie mix by the box directions. Fill the muffin pan cups to about 3/4 of the way up. Bake until done…about 15-20 min (depends on how chewy you want them) When they come out of the oven use the back of your spoon, or something rounded that you can press down into the brownie, to form a little cupped space for the peanut butter. (This step must be done immediatly after you remove them from the oven.)  Then let them cool for a bit, and dump them out to finish cooling.  Melt your peanut butter in the microwave until you could pour it!  Then spoon into the brownie cup tops and quickly add the chips.  As they cool the peanut butter will stiffen back up and the chips will be set!

Cherry Bars

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Photo by Anna

This is one of my favorite recipes and it survived from my college days in the 70s–okay I went to college in 1976 and graduated in 1980, if you must know.  I got it from my college roommate and it scores big time whenever I make it.  This is also really good with blueberry pie filling.  I am trying it with blackberry next time…

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can cherry pie filling

Glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla (or almond, a little less), 1 tablespoon water

1.  Mix all ingredients well, except cherry pie filling.

2. Spread 2/3 of mixture into buttered 9″ x 13″ pan–yes, buttered, not cooking spray.  There is a difference in taste if you spray.

3.  Pour pie filling on top and spread evenly.

4.  Spoon rest of dough, like dumplings, on top of pie filling.

5.  Bake at 350 for about 45-50 minutes .

6.  Let cool about 15 or 20 minutes and glaze while still warm.

Source:  Debbie Duke Cornell