Lucky Treats

March 5, 2013 by 2 Comments

Did you know that March is one of my favorite months of the year? Why? Well, St. Patrick’s day, of course! As I’ve mentioned before, I was an Irish dancer turned Irish dancing teacher. For a good chunk of my life March meant shows, parades, more shows, and celebration. March 17th meant taking the day off from school (or work) and dancing (or watching dancers) at local libraries and pubs.

For the last few years I’ve been bummed to be without my Irish dancing family during this fun month. This year I am going to make the best of things by celebrating the month with FOOD! Starting with these fun treats. They are not traditional Irish fare. Not even close. But they’re fun, easy, and tasty. And a good way to kick off my March! Truth be told, I like them better than regular Rice Krispie Treats.

 

Lucky Treats

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1-10 oz package large marshmallows
6 cups Toasted Oats Cereal with Marshmallows (Lucky Charms)

Directions
Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by lining with foil (leaving a 1-inch overhang) and generously spraying with non-stick spray.

In a large skillet, melt the butter and marshmallows, stirring often. This should take about 3 minutes. Stir in the cereal, making sure to evenly coat. Dump the coated cereal into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Allow to cool completely before cutting into 16 squares.

Source: Irish Fun, Food & Crafts (a little magazine I picked up in the check out aisle 4 or 5 years ago!)

And just for fun – here is a throw back parade picture! That’s me in top middle! Maybe I’ll dig up a few more old Irish dancing photos for the next few posts…

Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Party Food, St. Patrick's Day Tagged With: , , , ,

Sugar Cookie Bars

February 20, 2013 by 3 Comments

I’ve been on a bit of sweet kick lately. I promise we are eating a lot more than brownie tarts, cookies, sorbet, and sugary bars. Sweet treats are just more fun to share! But I will be sharing some delicious savory recipes soon.

These bars are absolutely perfect for bringing to a potluck, Easter party, or family gathering. They’re easy to throw together and easy to transport. Jesse took half of these to work and he said his coworkers gobbled them up and raved about them. What’s not to love about a sugar cookie with frosting? For the frosting, I was going to make a traditional buttercream, but realized at the last minute I didn’t have any powdered sugar (doh!), so instead I went with my go-to fluffy vanilla frosting. You can use whatever frosting you like best.

The original recipe made a ton. I cut the recipe in half and used a 9×13 pan. I was able to get 32 bars and they were just the right thickness. The recipe below is exactly how I made it, if you have a larger party you can double the recipe and use a jelly roll or sheet pan.

 

Sugar Cookie Bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
Frosting and sprinkles, for topping.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9×13 pan by lining with parchment paper (leaving about an inch overhanging the long edges of the pan).

In the bowl of a standing mixer (or large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer) beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at time, beating to incorporate. With the second egg, add the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda. Start by mixing on low speed then increase the speed to medium until fully incorporated.

Drop large dollops of dough over the bottom of the pan then use your hands to evenly press into the bottom and fill the pan to the edges. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely then frost and cover with sprinkles as desired. Cut into 32 bars (8×4). If you want to lift the bars out of the pan just grab the overhanging parchment paper and lift!

Adapted from Beantown Baker

 Here are some more great bar/brownie ideas to take to your next party!
Creamy Lemon Bars
Peanut Butter Marbled Brownies
Basic One-Bowl Blondies
Pumpkin Blondies

Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Dessert, Party Food Tagged With: , , , ,

Individual Strawberry Brownie Tarts

February 11, 2013 by 8 Comments

As I promised on Facebook last week, this week is going to be full of Valentine’s worthy treats. Lots of pinks and reds. And of course some chocolate too!

These Individual Strawberry Brownie Tarts are the perfect dessert for impressing your Valentine. A rich and chocolatey brownie topped with a delicious (and simple!) cream cheese frosting, juicy strawberries, and drizzled with chocolate syrup. Decadent and impressive, but surprisingly easy! For the brownie I stuck with a simple one-bowl recipe. While the brownies were baking I cleaned out the bowl and used it for the simple frosting. If you realllly wanted you could make them just a few steps easier by using boxed brownie mix and store bought frosting, but you might find that the (very few) extra steps for the homemade version are worth it. And you can definitely use store bought chocolate syrup (like Hershey’s).

As for the “individual” part of this dessert – I used a this heart shaped mini-cake pan from Wilton. You could also use ramekins or even a regular muffin tin (making 12 instead of 6, so they aren’t too thick). Or if you don’t feel like messing with individual dessert you could also use a pie pan, tart pan, or spring-form pan.  No matter which option you choose, I’m sure your Valentine will be impressed!!

 

Individual Strawberry Brownie Tarts

Ingredients
1 batch brownies (recipe below)
1 batch cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
~1 cup strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
Chocolate syrup for drizzling

Assembly
Spread cream cheese frosting over tops of brownies. Top with sliced strawberries. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Idea inspired by Pennies on a Platter

One-Bowl Brownies

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp chocolate syrup optional

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously grease desired baking dish. (I used a 6-cavity heart shaped mini-cake pan).

Place butter in a medium microwave safe bowl and microwave just until the butter is melted (15-30 seconds depending on strength of microwave). Remove from microwave and add sugar, stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the vanilla and eggs, stir until combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, stir until combined. Finally stir in the chocolate syrup.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges just start to pull away from the pan. Allow to cool in the pan for 2-3 minutes, then carefully remove (if using a muffin tin or heart shaped pan to make individual tarts, flip out onto a cutting board). Allow to cool completely before frosting.

Adapted from Hershey’s

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar
1/2-1 tsp vanilla
Splash of milk as needed

Directions
In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and start mixing at a lower speed and gradually work up to high speed. Add the vanilla and beat to combine. If needed, add tiny splashes of milk until the frosting reaches desired consistency. If it seems to runny, add more powdered sugar.


Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Dessert, Fruit, Valentines Day Tagged With: , , , ,

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

December 13, 2012 by 1 Comment

You may have noticed that I have been saying “Week of Christmas Treats” and not “Week of Christmas Cookies“. As much as I love (really. love.) cookies, I can’t ignore the other delicious treats loved by so many this time of year. Fudge is something I’ve ignored for the last few years, but I couldn’t let that crime continue another year.

When deciding what kind of fudge I wanted to make I had a lot of ideas swirling around in my head. Once I finally had it narrowed down to 2 ideas, I started searching for good recipes. The problem I came across is that a lot of recipes call for marshmallow fluff or sweetened condensed milk, and some even call for Velveeta cheese (seriously?! tell me it’s better than it sounds). I really wanted to avoid those kinds of products, which, luckily I suppose, really narrowed down my search results. In the end the winning recipe contained evaporated milk (something I usually have on hand anyways) and no marshmallow fluff or sweetened condensed milk (something I never have on hand).

Of course, chocolate and peanut butter are a winning combination in my book. But that’s not all that’s great about this fudge! This fudge is also pretty easy to make and the resulting texture is amazing. Smooth and rich without being obnoxiously sweet (which I find some peanut butter fudge to be). The hardest part for me was deciding when to stop beating the fudge after it cooks and sits. I probably could have gone a bit longer, but I wanted to avoid overbeating.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients
2 1/2  cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup evaporated milk (from a can)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by lining with parchment paper (line the bottom and let it over hang the edges, so you can lift the fudge out later) and buttering.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, stir together the granulated sugar, cocoa powder, evaporated milk, and corn syrup until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved, add 2 tablespoons of butter and stir to melt. Once the butter has melted, bring the mixture to a boil then put a lid on the saucepan and boil for 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes, remove the lid and, without stirring, continue to cook until the mixture has reached 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer.

Once the mixture has reached 234 degree F, immediately remove from the heat and add the rest of the butter, the peanut butter, and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Walk away and let it stand for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, beat the fudge with an electric hand mixer until it loses it’s gloss. I stopped at 8 minutes and probably could have mixed for 1 more minute, but follow your gut, if it’s lost it’s gloss/sheen, stop!

Immediately pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes, to cool down, then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until set. Use the overhanging parchment paper to lift the fudge out of the pan and cut into 1-inch squares. Store in an airtight container in (cool) room temperature.

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

 

Filed Under: Bars and Brownies, Chocolate, Christmas, Dessert, Holiday Treats, Week of Christmas Cookies Tagged With: , , ,