Well, hello Dolly.

I fell in love with this sinfully delicious, decadent and oh so gooey dessert, literally, from first bite.  You might call it a cookie bar, or a type of brownie.  I’m just going to call it GOOD.

Thanks to my friend Kellie, who quickly rattled off the list of ingredients she used, I was able to throw this together in no time.  It’s that easy.

You’ll just need graham crackers, butter, sweetened coconut flakes, chocolate chips, pecans and…wait for it…the glue that ties it all together…sweetened condensed milk.

This is NOT diet food. I repeat: NOT diet food.

Melt one stick of butter in a 9×13 baking dish.  I just threw mine in the oven real quick while I chopped my pecans and smashed my graham crackers.

Rough chop your pecans.  I used my Pampered Chef chopper, so this was done in less than 60 seconds.

Throw some honey graham crackers into a ziploc bag and crush the heck out of them.

Rolling pin works well.

Follow your nose to the smell of melted butter.  Remove the pan from the oven and place on a hot pad (duh, right? ~ well, note to self: pan removed from the oven is hot.  Should use hot pad below and on handles.  Just sayin’)

Sprinkle the crushed graham crackers over the melted butter and press to make a loose crust.  You might have a few gaps here or there.  If this bothers you, sprinkle more than the 1 cup the recipe calls for.  Keep in mind though, you want these to be slightly looser than an actual cookie bar.

Now for our layers!

Sprinkle with coconut flakes.

Chocolate chips.

Pecans.

This can happen in any order.  I saved about a 1/4 cup of coconut to go above the chips and pecans.  You could easily just leave this for your top layer.  No biggie ~ don’t stress!

Lastly, top these beautiful layers with sweet, sweet (sweet), sweetened condensed milk.  Make sure to empty the whole container.  Get a spatula in there if you need to!  Don’t waste a drop!

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.  It may look like it didn’t set enough.  That’s perfect (remember when I said “gooey”?!

Remove and let cool.  Cut into squares and store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks.  Good luck getting them to last that long!

I baked mine a touch too long.  See how it got a little too brown and caramel-ie on the edges?  These pieces were a little chewier than they were gooey.  Still good, but totally different than how Kellie’s turned out.

You can switch up the chips you use: semi-sweet, milk chocolate, butterscotch, or a mixture.  I like semi-sweet.  Joel likes milk chocolate.  Joel won this round.

These are like German chocolate cake bites, without the cake. …not that it’s saving you any calories though.

Go ahead ~ indulge!  Diet starts next Monday, anyway, right?

Sugar buzzed on the 1st day of the New Year,

~pw

Hello Dolly Recipe

 

Print

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

35 mins

 

An easy dessert that brings together pecans, chocolate, coconut and sweetened condensed milk baked together to fix any sweet tooth cravings!

: Dessert, Sweets

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup graham crackers, crushed (about ¾ sleeve)
• 1 cup chocolate chips (milk chocolate, semi-sweet, or dark)
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Melt 1 stick of butter in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish
3. Sprinkle crushed graham crackers over the top of the butter
4. Sprinkle chips, pecans and coconut flakes in layers over the graham cracker crust
5. Pour sweetened condensed milk across the top of the layers to completely cover and sink into the coconut/chips/pecans
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes
7. Remove from oven and let cool before cutting into squares
8. Store in an airtight container, up to 2 weeks

Notes

You can add butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips, if you'd like. If you do that just ensure your ratio still equals 1 cup of chips; any combination will do!

3.1.09

This election has my stomach in knots.

So stressed out that I rummaged through the kitchen looking for something to make to take my mind off of the live news feed Joel had running in the living room.

Last week, after my Halloween binging, I’d had my mind set on homemade peanut butter cups.  Mostly because I liked the idea that I could control the sweetness of them over the overly (no offense) sweet Reese’s cups.  Maybe so I could eat more of ’em?

I read 10, 15 or 20 different recipes and decided to craft this simple one of my own.

I grabbed the peanut butter, powdered sugar, chocolate chips and some butter.  That’s it?  Yep, that’s it!  OH, wait ~ I lied.  Cupcake wrappers and my muffin pans.  Standard sized 12 cups and 24 mini cups.  I couldn’t make up my mind on candy size and wanted to try out milk chocolate versus semi-sweet.

Ok, ok.  So I had to get a few more things together than I originally let on.  No biggie.

Oh, and you should know that I took these lovely pictures of the step-by-step process and wouldn’t you know it, my camera goofed and I can’t recall any of them from the memory card.  Sad day for me.  I had to hastily snap a few after-thought photos with my iPhone.

By after-thought I mean I’d already cracked into the finished product after getting Cannon close ups.

Oh well.  Sorry about that.

So with the election results pouring in across the nation, I melted the chocolate chips in a double boiler and lined my muffin pans with cupcake liners and filled their bottoms with melted chocolate.

Then WHACKED it on the counter and shimmied it from side to side to help the chocolate settle into the bottoms.  I threw this into the freezer and turned to get the peanut butter mixture going.

I busied myself with whisking softened (salted) butter into peanut butter and then whipping powdered sugar into that and listened to the TV with one ear open.  Removing my 1st layer of chocolate from the freezer, I topped it with a dollop of the peanut butter mixture and WHACKED it on the counters again.

My poor neighbors must really think I’m loosing it over this election.

I forgot to throw the peanut butter topped chocolates into the freezer to let that layer settle and got a little headed of myself.  I dropped another dollop of melted chocolate on top of the peanut butter layer and WHACKED again.

I got some gorgeously smooth and flat tops out of these beauties but some dips and valleys in the centers. Didn’t solve my anxiety though.  I needed to let the chocolates harden before diving into my stress relief remedy so I threw them into the freezer for another 15-20 minutes and contemplated what I could have done differently.

If I had been more patient and froze each layer my cups would have a flat even layer of chocolate-to-peanut butter-to-chocolate-ness.

I thought perhaps I should have followed other recipes’ advice and went with unsalted butter, or even melted it.  But no way on the melting ~ I couldn’t get my head around that.  And I could hear Sofia Vergara’s voice in that episode of Modern Family going on about the salt in chocolate milk.  Ok, sticking with salted butter.

I prefer the semi-sweet chocolate but Joel prefers the milk chocolate.  I’m taking a batch to the office (to celebrate an anniversary for one of my employees) ~ I wonder if they’ll like the giant milk chocolate batch or the mini semi-sweet batch?

Which type of chocolate do you prefer?  Hopefully it’s not as close of a race as this year’s election and you have a clear cut winner…I’m talking chocolates folks, not politics!

Stress eating like a champ here.  Don’t mind me.

~pw

5.0 from 1 reviews

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups Recipe

 

Print

Prep Time

10 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

40 mins

 

: Dessert

Serves: 12-18 or 48 mini's

Ingredients

• 1 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 TBSP salted butter, softened
• ¾ cup - 1 cup powdered sugar (adjust to your preferred level of sweetness)
• 32 oz chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners
2. Melt chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until smooth
3. Using a cookie scoop, fill it ½ to ¾ full (depending on the size of your muffin tin) of melted chocolate and dollop into the cupcake liners.
4. Whack it against the counter a bit to level out.
5. Freeze chocolate for 10-12 minutes.
6. Whip softened butter into peanut butter and gradually add powdered sugar. Start with ¾ cup and increase from there. I think 1 cup is ideal, but if you prefer your candy to be super sweet, feel free to increase in ⅛ cup increments from there. If you get it too sweet, just add a tad more peanut butter.
7. Using your cookie scoop, fill it ½ way with peanut butter mixture and drop onto the frozen chocolate layer. Use the back side of the scoop to help level out and whack against the counter to smooth as best you can.
8. Freeze again for 10-12 minutes.
9. Remove from freezer and top with remaining melted chocolate, again using your cookie scoop.
10. Freeze another 10 minutes then they're ready!

Notes

You can customize this to use your favorite kind of chocolate and adjust the sweetness of the peanut butter mixture to call it your own! This recipe makes 12-18 standard cupcake sized cups, 48 mini's or 12 standard + 24 mini's.

2.2.8

There is something about the smell of cinnamon and sugar that can warm a chilly fall day in no time.  After our first freezing day at the pumpkin patch I decided to whip up a batch of the Best Snickerdoodles to warm my babies right up!

I’m a simple cookie kind of gal.  Not much into rolling out dough or waiting for it to chill in the fridge after I’ve whipped up the batter.  I want to get right down to baking and eating ’em.  This recipe is so easy, it’s foolproof.

I’ve been making these since I was 15-ish in my mom’s kitchen.  The original recipe came from one of her old cookbooks that I can visualize in my head but can’t put my finger on ~ the page or the book now.  Simple enough I could throw it together while the kiddos napped.

Preheat your oven to 375°.

In a large zip top bag, shake together the sugar and cinnamon.

Sift your dry ingredients into a bowl (flour, salt, soda & tarter).

Cream together room temp butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs & vanilla and blend to incorporate.

Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet, blending lightly after each addition.  I get it all mixed together after 3-4 additions.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the perfect sized ball of cookie dough.

And drop it into the large zip top bag filled with the cinnamon and sugar mix ~ I do this in batches of 8 at a time.  Zip the top and give ’em a good shake to coat.

Retrieve cinnamon/sugar coated cookie dough balls from the bag and place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Then remove from the oven and off the cookie sheet immediately to a wire rack to cool.

I only cool these another 5 minutes on the rack before moving them to a tupperware container and seal the lid to keep them chewy and soft.  Serve them warm with a warm cup of apple cider and your kids will think you are the Cinnamon Sugar Fairy came to life.

Yes, my friends, there is such thing as the Cinnamon Sugar Fairy!  And yes, these Snickerdoodles are that simple to make.

Is it cold in your neighborhood this weekend?  Try making a batch of these and tell me they didn’t warm you up…tell me they weren’t that easy to make…tell me you didn’t get visited by the Cinnamon Sugar Fairy…go on, I dare ya!

Who put the cookie in the cookie jar?  Me…yes, me.  I put the cookie in the cookie jar…but I’m willing to share ’em with you and your family.

Because I love ya!

~pw

Best Snickerdoodles Recipe

 

Print

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

Super easy, chewy, fluffy sugary and delicious. Basically a no roll, no refrigerate sugar cookie dressed up with cinnamon and sugar instead of frosting. AKA the best snickerdoodle ever.

Serves: 4 doz

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon good cinnamon
• 1 cup butter, room temp
• 1½ cups white sugar (edited: 1.5 cups ~ NOT just .5 cup!)
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2¾ cups flour
• 1½ teaspoon cream of tarter
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix 4 tablespoons sugar with 1 tablespoon good quality cinnamon in a large zip top bag.
3. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, soda & tarter) in a bowl, set aside.
4. Cream together the room temp butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, on medium speed, until fluffy. About 3 mins.
5. Beat in eggs and vanilla and blend until fully incorporated, another 2-3 minutes.
6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in batches ~ about 3 additions. Mix just until flour is incorporated.
7. Using a cookie scoop, scoop dough into balls and drop into the zip top bag with cinnamon/sugar mixture (about 8 cookies in a batch). Close the top and shake to coat.
8. Remove coated cookie dough balls from the bag and place on ungreased cookie sheet, about two inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and off off cookie sheets immediately to a wire rack to cool.
10. The cookies will seem under-done but will firm up on the wire rack as they cool. Removing them immediately also helps ensure they remain fluffy.

3.2.2802

I’m still seeing pink and it has been almost a week since Phanny & Amanda’s baby shower!  I have tons of these pink buttercream mints left over.  I would have TONS & tons, but I’m pretty sure I single handed-ly ate the first ton.

I also got lots of compliments on these homemade buttercream mints and requests for the recipe, so here it is!

Now, you all know I can’t manage to follow a recipe to save my life.  The recipe I started out with was pure cream cheese.  The flavor I was looking for from memory of weddings past was butter based.  So I thought I’d throw caution to the wind, mash them together and hence the butter + cream mint was born.

Start with room temp butter and cream cheese.

Cream these to an ultra smooth, light and airy consistency.

Add peppermint extract.  Vanilla or butter extract can be used in place of peppermint if you prefer.

And food coloring, if using.

Since this was for a baby girl baby shower, I’m going for a few drops of red to make pink.  Little known fact (nerd alert!): pink is not a real color in the color spectrum.  Start with 1 or 2 drops of red to get a soft pink, or you can use baker’s gel/food coloring that comes in pink.

Next, add the powdered sugar in half cup increments and blend, blend, blend.

You might not think you can get all the sugar in, but it will surprise you.  It will get tough, and you’ll want to quit, but don’t.  You want the mixture to firm up so the mints can stand up to room temp and not melt away.

It should look a little crumbly.  Not as crumbly as this picture ~ here’s where I must have lost count of my half cup additions and ended up adding more cream cheese and butter.

Tip: if you lose cup count, like I did, and the mixture is clearly too firm, just blend in another tablespoon of cream cheese.  If it’s too soft, or it was a humid day, shake in a little more powdered sugar.

Roll the mixture into 1/2 – 1 teaspoon sized balls.

Roll the mint in superfine sugar to completely coat.  Alternatively, you can shake these up in a ziploc bag filled with sugar for ease once you’ve rolled out a handful at a time.

Use a fork to press down on the mint, using the tines to leave a peanut butter cookie-like indent.

These can be made in advance of the party since they store extremely well.  I made these a few nights in advance and stored them in a tupperware between sheets of waxed paper.

This small bowl full was left out of the fridge for Joel since he likes candy that is days-old or dry.  Weird, right?

Warning: these are extremely addicting.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

~pw

Buttercream Mints

 

Print

Prep Time

30 mins

Total Time

30 mins

 

The perfect "wedding" or "shower" mint that will surely impress your guests!

Serves: 6-8 doz candies

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• 5-6 cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup superfine sugar
• Optional: food coloring, 1-2 drops of red yields a perfect soft pink

Instructions

1. Cream together the butter and cream cheese to a light and airy consistency.
2. Add peppermint extract and food coloring, if using. Blend to fully incorporate the extract and coloring. About 3-5 minutes will do.
3. Add the powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time and blend until you get a stiff mixture.
4. Roll the mixture in ½ to 1 teaspoon sized balls, shake in a bag filled with superfine sugar then use a fork to flatten.
5. Store in the refrigerator until a few hours before showtime.

Notes

The number of candies you get depends on how large you roll the balls.
The mixture must be stiff to stand up to room temp for an extended time.
If it's too stiff, add another tablespoon of softened cream cheese
If it's too soft, add more powdered sugar.

3.5.3208