Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars There is a deli near my house that makes the most amazing chocolate peanut butter bars. I have been trying to come up with a copycat version of them for some time & this recipe is pretty much it. I thought they would be a great dessert to make for the bake sale, as chocolate/peanut butter desserts are very popular & these are super simple & don't require any baking! I cut them into 2" bars for the sale, but 1" bite-sized bars would be ideal, as they are very rich.They sold out faster then anything else at the sale...I wish I had made more. To begin, grease a standard sized brownie pan with non-stick cooking spray & line the pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang {for easy removal}. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add a 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar {packed}, 2 2/3 cups confectioners' sugar, a 1/2 cup of softened unsalted butter, & 1 3/4 cups of smooth peanut butter. Beat until smooth, then dump the mixture out into the pan,
Colorful Spiral Cookies Just try to be in a bad mood around one of these. Impossible! I was naturally drawn to these because of the bright, eye-catching swirl, not to mention the jumbo sprinkles-encrusted edges! If anything, these should be the SB mascot, because they are everything I love. Bright, happy, buttery and delicious. Also versatile! Another thing I love about these is that they are SLICE and BAKE. I won't go much into preparation here, because that's all in the recipe, but here are some pictures to give you an idea of the process. I wanted to make my dough even on all sides, so I trimmed some away to make an even roll. I used Wilton's rose gel food coloring. You'll then encrust the dough with jumbo (or other) sprinkles. Speaking of ham... Some of you may wonder why there are so many pictures of my dog, Biscuit, included in my posts. I'll say "Biiiissscuit...no-no!" ...and all my disciplinary plans fly out the window. EDIT: Laurie at Dalla Mia Cucina made them - check out her pretty version. Love,
Pepperoni Pizza Puffs If I ask my kids what they want for dinner, there's a ninety percent chance they will say pizza. They love it, as most kids do. I guess I have an affection for it too, but we don't indulge too often. If I had to choose a favorite pizza, it would be the Hawaiian, but no one else in my household appreciates its flavors like I do, too bad for them. So when my kids came home from school and I had this afternoon snack waiting for them, they were pretty excited to be having pizza at 3 PM. These are the simplest, yummiest little bites. If you have a mini muffin pan you are good to go. Preheat oven to 375o. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Microwave the pizza sauce until warmed through, then stir in 1 Tablespoon basil. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 Tablespoon basil. Print Recipe Ingredients Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Brickle A few weeks ago, I went to a barbeque. On the table there was plate of what looked to be a chocolate type dish that was crumbled up. I grabbed a piece, ate it, had eight more pieces, and then went on a mad hunt throughout the barbeque to see who brought the stuff and how much I would have to pay them for the recipe. After not too much work I tracked it down, and trust me. You want to make this. What’s fantastic about this stuff is many things. Directions 1) Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. 2) Then layer in crackers. 3) Melt the butter in a saucepan and then stir in the brown sugar. 4) Once it has simmered for a few minutes, pour it straight on the crackers. 5) Next, stick your baking sheet in the oven at 325 degrees for 5-10 minutes. 6) When you take it out of the oven, pour the chocolate chips on the tray right away. 7) Meanwhile, crumble up some heath bars. 8) After 5 minutes, use a spatula to spread out the chocolate and make the chips flat. 11) Then just bust the stuff up! Ok. Um.
Birthday Cake Popcorn. So here's what happened. Friday afternoon I was trying to recreate one of those fancy Disneyland cookies I'd told you about earlier in the week. And it started out beautiful and promising: chocolate chip cookie dough, white chocolate candy melts, gorgeous swirls of raspberry preserves, and chunks of rich dark chocolate... the sort of cookie dough that spoons were made for, if you know what I mean. Except it spread into one giant mess of gooey, melted, pink-streaked chocolate. It happened. So I sulked on the couch and decided baking wasn't for me anyways and I should probably just quit and turn in my apron, except I really loved that apron and what would I blog about? Then it hit me. I didn't want cookies. And I wanted it to taste like birthday cake. Fact: I want to eat this picture. I love white chocolate. I made the obviously healthier choice. I melted it. Colorful! It's sweet, addictive, festive and fun, with a subtle taste of birthday cake in every deliciously rich handful.
Fettucine Carbonara with Roasted Tomatoes — Our Life In The Kitchen I’ve been craving Carbonara for a while now but was having a hard time justifying the calories. The willpower was gone when I thought about throwing in some of the surplus cherry tomatoes from the garden. I also planned to make fresh homemade fettucine but I was too lazy busy to get around to it. Enter Plan B. Go to the store for fresh-ish Buitoni. Fettucine, a pound of dry or a couple of boxes of fresh or your own homemade.Pancetta, 3/4 poundYellow or White Onion, 1 mediumGarlic, 5 or 6 clovesEggs, 3Cream, 1 1/2 cupsFreshly Grated Parmesan, 1 cupCoarse Ground Black PepperCherry Tomatoes, 2 dozen or so Put the water for the fettucine up to boil. Dice the pancetta. Rinse the tomatoes and spread them on a baking pan. Fry up the pancetta in a large saute pan. While the pancetta is cooking and the tomatoes are broiling, slice the onion and chop the garlic. Whisk together the eggs, cream and cheese. By now the pancetta should be getting crispy. Add the pancetta… ..and the tomatoes.
Warm Toasted Marshmallow S'more Bars Milk and Cookies Cocktails You know when you hear a song on the radio, or in a movie, and you can't get it out of your head for days? You find yourself singing the theme song to iCarly as you wash the dishes, or better yet, all you can hear in your head is (as your talking to a client at work!) is "shake ya a**, watch yourself" after watching About a Boy for the sixteeth time. That's how I felt about these sprinkle-rimmed glasses of milk I spotted over on Oh Sweet Babies. In my mind these would be absolutely perfect for a tween birthday party. Little kids would love them too, but I might consider forgoing the glass and using plastic or disposable sippers for them if you're serving them at a party. As I was sitting here uploading these pictures, it also occurred to me that they would be wonderful to serve at a baby shower, where there are generally a few ladies in attendance who can't indulge in a nice glass of wine. Milk and Cookies Cocktails
Sunday Sweets: Butterbeer Cupcakes | amyBITES Love Butterbeer Cupcakes? Check out Golden Snitch Butterbeer Cake Pops! Welcome to a very special edition of Sunday Sweets! If you’re new to this blog, let me explain. Sunday Sweets is a series I do every few weeks to share super indulgent recipes that wouldn’t otherwise be featured amongst my healthy, everyday eating recipes. Most days you’ll see healthy fare here, but we all need some sweets now and then, right? . Your cast of characters for the cakes. First, cream your room-temperature butter together with your sugars until well-combined and fluffy, like so: Now beat in your eggs, one by one. Now you’re going to alternate adding buttermilk… Cream soda… And your dry ingredients (whisked together) until they’re all added. I could’ve eaten this entire bowl with a spoon. And bake for 15 to 17 minutes until a tester comes out clean and the cake springs back slightly when touched. Mmm. Now it’s time for your butterscotch ganache, which will be the filling and be in the buttercream frosting.
Deep Fried Strawberries | The Family Kitchen I know what you may be thinking. It’s a little out of the ordinary BUT if you give this a try, I think you just might be pleasantly surprised. Strawberries are everywhere right now and I’m always looking for ways to use them. We dipped ours in NUTELLA and the kids enjoyed theirs with a small bit of Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup. I also left the stems on making it easier to hold onto while battering. Deep Fried Strawberries What you’ll need:batter: 1 1/2 cups whole milk 2 eggs – beaten 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 cup cornmeal large strawberries 1/2 cup – 1 cup all purpose flour – enough to dredge strawberries vegetable oil – enough to fry powdered sugar – to dustdipping sauces: Nutella Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup What to do: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Want more of your favorite red fruit?
evil chef mom: cheese fritters with balsamic sun-dried tomato dipping sauce Don't these look better than fried mozzarella sticks that you get at T.G.I. McFuglies? Come on they have fresh thyme sprinkled all over the top. That's called classing up the joint right there. And while I am writing about these make sure you use whole milk ricotta. Don't even think about using skim milk ricotta. Make sure to do this assembly line style. Then dip the cheese balls (teehee, I am well aware I have the mentality of a 12 year old boy) into flour. Then into the egg. Then have them take a roll in the panko crumbs. Viola! cheese fritters: adapted from everyday italian 1 1/2 cups fresh whole milk ricotta 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs) 3 large eggs 3/4 cup all-purpose flour vegetable oil, for frying a few sprigs of thyme lemon In a small bowl combine the ricotta, mozzarella, salt, and pepper. Meanwhile heat 3 inches of vegetable oil in a large skillet to 350 degrees F. ShareThis
Cake Batter Chocolate Bark I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to share a recipe with you. Or to lick a bowl. The secret ingredient here? You may think I’m crazy… but it’s a spoonful of actual cake mix. All you must do is whisk it well into the melted white chocolate. Best decision ever. The truth is, I’ve never been much of a “bark” person. After laying on the couch slurping butter-soaked shrimp scampi, plowing through a bag of m&m’s and watching 7 hours of Lifetime television, I had my answer: cake batter. And I didn’t want to just make white chocolate bark. Did you know I have an obsession with sprinkles? I’d put them on everything if I could. Cake Batter Chocolate Bark 6 ounces high quality dark chocolate (I used Lindt 70%) 12 ounces high quality white chocolate (I used Lindt) 3 teaspoons yellow cake mix sprinkles of your choice (at least 3 tablespoons worth or more) Melt dark chocolate either in the microwave or a double boiler. Melt while chocolate. Once set, break into chunks.