4 Layer Cookie Bars

I saw this recipe on Picky Palate and wanted to try it. She calls them "The Motherlode Layered Cookie Bars." There are 4 layers of different cookie dough. I found that the peanut butter layer was the strongest taste that came through after baking. Time consuming, but good and very rich!

4 Layer Cookie Bars

From Picky Palate

Layer 1: Sugar Cookie

1 Roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press sugar cookie dough into bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish that’s been lined foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

Layer 2: Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

(the recipe below makes double what you’ll need for the bars, use extra for cookies)

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder)
2 tsps. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients then stir in chips. Layer 1/2 the recipe over sugar cookie layer, pressing gently.

Layer 3: Peanut Butter Cookie

1 Cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 Cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1. Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined. Press over chocolate cookie dough.

Layer 4: Chocolate Chip Cookie

(the recipe below makes double what you’ll need for the bars, use extra for cookies)

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

3/4 Cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla

2 1/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bag chocolate chips

1. Make sure oven is preheated to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bolw; mix to combine. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips. Spoon 1/2 of the dough evenly over peanut butter cookie dough but don’t press, just leave uneven. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until center of dough is cooked mostly through. Edges will be brown. I covered pan with foil during the last 15 minutes of baking.

2. Let cookies cool completely. Lift out of pan with edges of foil. I cut off 1/2 inch edges and just used softer centers, but do as you wish. Edges are crispier. Drizzle top with 1/2 Cup melted chocolate chips if desired.

Oatmeal Pan Cookie

My husband loves oatmeal cookies, but lately I just don't feel like making cookies. Bars are so much easier and faster! So this makes one big giant oatmeal cookie in a 9x13 pan. He actually liked it better than the cookies because they were thick and soft.

Oatmeal Pan Cookie

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick cooking oats

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. In another mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. With an electric mixer at medium speed, beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture to blend. Stir in oats and butterscotch chips; mix well.
4. Spread batter into baking dish; bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and set.

Christmas Trays

This year's Christmas trays included:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies

Oreo Truffles

Marie's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Caramel Corn

Caramel Corn

Caramel Corn

From All Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 quarts popped popcorn

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in 2 large shallow baking dishes or 1 large roasting pan.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
3. Bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies

Gingerbread White Chocolate Blondies

From My Kitchen Cafe

adapted slightly from Cooking This and That

makes about 24 bars (depending on how you cut them)

2 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 ¼ cups (2 ½ sticks) butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 ¾ cups white chocolate chips
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside (I lined my pan with aluminum foil and then sprayed the aluminum foil with cooking spray).

Whisk together flour, soda, salt, and spices in a bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until creamy and pale, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add vanilla and molasses and mix on medium speed until combined.

Add flour mixture on low speed until combined. Stir in white chocolate.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and bake until golden around edges and toothpick comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan; cut into 24 squares. Blondies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
From Chocolate and Whine

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 7-ounce jar marshmallow cream
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Put the chocolate chips and peanut butter chips in separate, heat-safe bowls.
2. Mix together the marshmallow, milk, butter and sugar over medium heat.
3. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
4. Boil and stir for five minutes.
5. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
6. Pour half the mixture into each bowl of chips; stir until melted.
7. Pour melted chocolate into foil-lined 8 by 8 inch pan. Quickly pour the melted peanut butter chips over it.
8. Let cool on the counter.

Work quickly, but safely. And try to divide the marshmallow mixture as evenly as possible.

Gingerbread Popcorn

I've seen this recipe on Culinary in the Desert three years in a row. It always looks so good, but I had never gotten around to trying it. Finally I decided to bite the bullet and make it. This popcorn is very flavorful. I loved it!

Gingerbread Popcorn

From Culinary in the Desert

15 cups popped popcorn

1 cup butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 Tbs ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 250.

Line two 9x13 pans with foil and coat with cooking spray. Fill each with 7 1/2 cups of popcorn.

Combine butter, brown sugar, molasses, corn syrup, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a large, heavy bottom sauce pan. Heat over medium until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add baking soda. Pour over popcorn and toss to coat.

Bake at 250 for 1 hour, carefully stirring the mixture every 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

It's offically Fall which means time for lots of pumpkin treats! I couldn't find canned pumpkin at my two usual grocery stores until this week, so I've been saving recipes like crazy. Now it's time to make some of them. These are the perfect fall cookie- pumpkin and cream cheese frosting. Such a great pair. The cookies are very, very moist and almost like a dense cake.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients

1 cup butter flavored shortening

1 cup unsalted butter; softened

2 cups white sugar

2 cups canned pumpkin (solid; not pie mix)

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking soda

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

Cream shortening, butter, white sugar and pumpkin. Add eggs and mix well.

Sift together the baking soda, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, salt and flour. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Drop from 1/4 cup cookie scoop to cookie sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Cream Cheese Icing

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (extract will also work)

1 Tablespoon milk

Mix the cream cheese with the butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and milk in a bowl. Frost and smooth with the back of a spoon or a spatula. Add sprinkles as desired.

Chewy Sugar Cookies

My original intent was to make these sugar cookies and roll them in orange sugar to be festive for October, but I couldn't find any orange sugar in my baking cabinet. They still came out pretty though. They are similar to the chewy Pepperidge Farm cookies, but they aren't quite as thick. I try not to eat much sugar, but I've already had 4 of these. That's how good they are!

Chewy Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Bunny's Warm Oven (I omitted the lemon)

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients.

Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Pumpkin Blossom Cookies

I couldn't resist making these cookies because they were so cute! They were very moist and tasty, but I wasn't a huge fan of the kisses on top. The cookies would be just as good without them. But they do make for such a fun presentation for fall.




Pumpkin Blossom Cookies
Recipe from Imperrfections

4 TBS butter, softened
3/4 C vegetable oil
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 C pumpkin puree
3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 (11 oz) bag Hershey's Candy Corn Kisses, FROZEN
extra white sugar for rolling the cookies

Preheat oven to to 350 F.Unwrap 40 candy kisses and place in a bowl and put in the freezer (because these candies are mostly oil and sugar, if not frozen then they melt into a puddle super fast when placed on a hot cookie).

Cream together the butter, oil, and sugars then stir in the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin. Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until completely combined then stick in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up the dough.

Using your hands, quickly roll into large teaspoon sized balls and roll each cookie in a small bowl of sugar (if the dough starts to get too warm, place in the freezer for 5 minutes). Place sugar-rolled dough balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 10-12 minutes.

As soon as they are out of the oven, press a Candy Corn Kiss into the center of each cookie, move to a cooling rack, and place in the freezer for several minutes.

Apple Bars

We went apple picking over the weekend, so I have lots of apples sitting in my kitchen. I've been saving recipes all week in my Google Reader and can't wait to try some of them out. Here's the first one that I made this morning. The recipe came from Gourmet Mom on the Go, but she called them Apple Brownies. I didn't think they were much like brownies because they had a cake like consistency. No matter what you call them, they are tasty!

Apple Bars
Recipe from Gourmet Mom on the Go

Ingredients:

1 c. butter

2 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 C. flour

1 tsp. Baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 large or 4 small apples, peeled and diced

granulated sugar (for sprinkling on top after baking)

Caramel Ice Cream topping (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Choose your pan size: either a 9 x 13 pan, two pie pans, or a pie pan and four mini-loaf pans. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and apples. Mix well.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sugar.

Look what we baked!

Sorry for not posting very often lately. Here's what we finished baking on 7/21/09...

More posts coming soon as I get back into the kitchen!