"Just like Reese's" Peanut Butter Bars

If you like Reese's Peanut butter cups, you'll love these! They are super easy to make, and I actually had everything in my cupboard already. I left the graham crackers a little chunky for some texture, but you can crumble them up to dust if you want :) I also stuck mine in the freezer, I love my desserts cold! mmmm..... enjoy!

Peanut Butter Layer:

1/2 c. butter

1 3/4 c. powdered sugar

1 c. peanut butter

3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs


Chocolate layer:

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

*Line an 8×8, 9×9, or 7×11 pan with foil for easy removal of bars later.

Directions:

Peanut butter layer: On low heat, melt 1/2 c. butter. Remove from heat and stir in confectioner’s sugar. Add peanut butter and graham cracker crumbs, stirring until creamy. Spread mixture evenly into pan. Refrigerate while making chocolate layer. 

Chocolate layer: On low heat, melt butter. Add chocolate chips and stir until chips are nearly melted and very soft. Remove from heat and continue stirring until chocolate is smooth and shiny. Spread over peanut butter layer. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut into bars.

Store peanut butter cup bars in refrigerator or freezer.

Makes 16 or more bars

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

I love coconut, and macaroons are one of my fav's. I thought they would be a pain in the neck to make, but they were SOOO EASY and actually fun to make! The final outcome was super delicious. They are crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. I am surprised I haven't eaten them all yet...cuz let me tell you, they are worth every calorie. :) They also would be a great addition to a package you would send in the mail to a family or friend, because they seem pretty sturdy and I think would hold up well.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons:

2/3 c. flour

1- 14 oz. bag of flaked coconut

1/4 tsp. salt

1- 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

*High Quality dipping chocolate of your choice (I use Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mat. (I used a Silpat)

In small bowl, stir together the sweetened condensed milk and both extracts. In separate, large bowl, mix together the coconut, flour and salt. Add the milk mixture to the coconut mixture and blend together with a spoon or clean hands until well blended.

Use a cookie scoop to place mixture on baking sheets.

Bake in oven for 16-19 minutes, or until coconut is toasted.

If desired, dip cooled cookies into melted chocolate of your choice.

* I melted Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips in the microwave at 50% power for about 1 and a half minutes and stirred it until the bowl was no longer warm. Then I dipped and drizzled away and let cool on waxed paper until the chocolate hardened.

Mini Reese's Brownies

My sister Paula made these for Halloween, and they were AMAZING! They are little brownie bites with a miniature Reese's pressed into each one and then topped with peanut butter frosting! YUMMY! And they are so EASY to make :)

All you have to do is:

1. Make a brownie mix as directed on the box.

2. Line mini muffin tins with paper liner, and fill half way with brownie mixture.

3. Cook about 10 minutes, or until you stick a toothpick in it and it comes out clean.

4. Immediately after taking out of oven place a miniature Reese's into the middle of each cupcake until level with brownie.

(if the cooked brownie has expanded all the way to the top of the liner, don't worry it won't overflow! It magically stays the same height)

5. Cool, and top with frosting of your choice. :)

SO EASY!

My peanut butter frosting:

1 jar of pillsbury vanilla frosting mixed with 1/4 cup of peanut butter.

(This time I was lazy and just used the jar frosting because it was quick--but it was good with the peanut butter mixed in!)

Checkerboard Cake!

Okay, It's finally done, and I had to wait all day and after dinner to cut into it and see if it worked....and... It looked really cool inside, I just wished the cake part would have tasted better. :( It was kinda dry. The batter needed to be really thick to hold it shape in the circles and not blend together, so maybe a pound cake would work?? If anyone has a good cake recipe that has thick batter....please let me know. :)

Oh the other hand, I made homemade Chocolate mousse for the filling, which was AMAZING!!! So amazing that I ate so much of it while frosting it, that I can't even look at it anymore...

Well, here are some pictures of the Cake:

Ta, Da! The Inside:

It may not be perfect, but I am sure that the pictures on the box are totally fake. I don't think that it is possible to get it Absolutely Perfect... at least that's what I have to tell myself so I don't go crazy!

My hubby's birthday cake!

Okay, so I was trying to think of a really yummy cake to make my hubby for his birthday, which is Wednesday...Today! I was at Michael's looking for a cake frosting spreader, and I saw Checkerboard Cake pans.

I thought, that looks hard, but how difficult could it be, plus it looks really cool! Anyway, I bought the thing, brought it home and saw that there is a recipe on the box that you are supposed to use. I looked online and everyone who said they used that recipe said it was dry. So I went looking for another. I found one which was made for the William Sonoma Cake pan, which I decided to attempt.

After two full pages of recipe and 2 1/2 hours later, they are finally out of the oven! Holy Moly! That was the biggest pain in the rear...let me tell you! I am OCD, when it comes to baking. I want everything to be perfect. So it took me FOREVER to get the batter into the pans evenly. Now it is one in the morning, and I am waiting for the cupcakes to be ready with the extra batter I had left. I am so exhausted!

Well, I think I hear them beeping, so here are a few pics to show what I have gotten myself into!

Finally in the pans:

Yay! Oven time! The circles look even to me!

Now they are out of the oven, and they definitely aren't perfect circles, so hopefully they still turn out and will be a checkerboard when it is all done! Cross your fingers!!!

This is what it should look like tomorrow:

Please, Please, inside of cake.. look like that tomorrow!!!!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Madness!

I should have taken a picture of these all cut up to show the inside chunky texture....I will next time... Anyway, they were super yummy! They even tasted better the next day....even though I only had one little square, cuz that's all that was left.. :( "Thanks Justin"... Hehe... At least he was nice enough to think of saving me one....I'm sure it took lots of willpower!

*After I baked these I found out that Trader Joe's makes little mini peanut butter cups, about the size of chocolate chips. They would have been really good to use instead of the Reese's...or in addition! :)

Reese's Peanut Butter Blondies

1 c. AP flour

1/4 c. cake flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/3 c. peanut butter (smooth)

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm

1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

3/4 c. peanut butter chips

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray an 8X8 baking pan and line it with parchment paper or foil that overhangs the sides (you will use it to lift the blondies out of the pan).

Mix together the AP flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together (by hand) the melted butter and peanut butter. Add the brown sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Switching to a wooden spoon or a spatula, mix in the sifted flour mixture. Stir in the chips and peanut butter cups. The dough will be thick and chunky.

Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and spread it in evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating front to back halfway through. The bars are done when the dough is set and golden.

**Optional: you can press peanut butter cups into the surface of the blondies while they are still warm. Let the pan and bars cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice the bars into 4 quadrants--and then slice each quadrant into 4 squares. Try not to eat them all! :)