Tag Archives: bar cookies

December 5, 2012

Copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars

A couple of years ago Starbucks started serving Cranberry Bliss bars – basically a blondie with cranberries, ginger, and orange that is topped with a thin frosting, sprinkled with more dried cranberries and then drizzled with white chocolate. It was an instant hit – right a long with their pumpkin latte.

These are great to have as a snack in the afternoon. Pour a cup of hot coffee and watch the snow fall as you contemplate the amazing combination of white chocolate and cranberry once again. They are beautiful on a cookie plate or a dessert buffer.

Seriously.

What is it about memories that are so different than the reality? Continue reading →

Old Fashioned Hoosier Peanut Bars

I have tried every way I can think of to research the beginnings of Hoosier Peanut Bars. The name sounds like something from the 1930s and I found out that a version of the bar cookies were entered into the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1949 by Edgar Bleeke of Fort Wayne, Indiana. He won, by the way.

My version is based on a recipe from a 1950′s cookbook put out by the Federation of Women’s Clubs, who ever that was. It is a collection of recipes from all over the country and is truly falling apart on me. I love these old cookbooks. The recipes change from decade to decade and you can see how America’s tastes have changed. I would love to say that they have evolved but in most cases that wouldn’t be true. Continue reading →

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Filed under Cookies, Dessert

Tagged as bar cookies, brown sugar, chocolate chips, cookie recipes, Dessert, easy recipes, meringue, peanuts, tips for perfect meringue

May 7, 2012

Kahlua and Chocolate Krispie Treats

There are those things that we adore in childhood and then leave behind as we grow and mature. I would guess that most of us don’t play hopscotch anymore and Koolaide isn’t really on my 5 p.m. priority list.

But Krispie Treats? Now those, THOSE are different. They are as much a part of my life now as they were in 1965. More so because now I have the freedom to make two pans and hide one for myself.

What’s not to like? Sweet, crispie, gooey, easy, fast, and cheap – they embody all that is perfect in a sweet snack food. Except one or two little things. Chocolate and booze.

Well, now you can have both. Continue reading →

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Tagged as bar cookies, chocolate, chocolate chips, cocoa krispies, cookie recipes, cookies, easy recipes, kahlua, krispie kritter bars, marshmallows, no bake cookies, rice krispie treats

December 27, 2011

S’mores Brownies

I will admit to making these before Christmas BUT they are going to be just as good on a cold, snowy day in January or a sweltering, humid July evening.
S’mores. Everyone has had them. They have recently become the stuff of gourmands everywhere, the darling of the foodie world along with whoopie pies and cupcakes.I have even heard of a restaurant (local I think?) that creates homemade marshmallows and graham crackers and serves s’mores as a dessert.

Do you remember the first time you had one? I do. Continue reading →

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Tagged as bar cookies, Brownies, chocolate, desserts, easy recipes, graham crackers, marshmallows, milk chocolate, recipes, s'mores

December 13, 2011

Red Velvet Brownies

I have a recipe written in a spidery handwriting on a faded piece of torn notebook paper. It has intrigued me forever because it sounded so special – Waldorf Red Cake. This recipe was my grandmother’s and I am guessing it is from the late 1920s or early 1930s. Yep, you guessed it – it’s a fancy name for good old red velvet cake.

Food historians believe that red velvet cake got its color from a reaction between the acids in buttermilk and the alkalinity in the old type of cocoa. Continue reading →

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Filed under Cookies, Dessert

Tagged as bar cookies, Brownies, christmas cookie recipes, easy recipes, holiday cookies, red food color, red velvet, red velvet brownies, valentines day cookies, white chocolate