Serving Up {Cookies}: Evil Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I have stumbled across this recipe a number of times, and each time I think, "how yummy!" only to realize, "I have this recipe!" (and it IS yummy!)  Most recently the recipe was showcased on a morning news show and I chuckled that they referred to them as Evil Oatmeal Fudge Bars.  Of course by "evil" it translates to I-can't-stop-at-just-one-insanely-delicious...so I feel the name is a good one and I have chosen to use that name as I share this recipe.

One Year Ago: Easy Salsa
Two Years Ago: Zucchini Bread

EVIL OATMEAL FUDGE BARS     
(recipe adapted from aunt Holly, Good Things Utah & Becky Higgins)
printable version

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups quick-cooking oats
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 c. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla

In a mixing bowl cream butter and brown sugar, adding eggs and vanilla until well combined. Combine the oats, flour, salt and baking soda in a separate bowl and stir dry ingredients into the creamed mixture. Press 2/3 of oat mixture into a greased 9" x 13" baking pan.

In a saucepan combine sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, butter and salt. Cook and stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate sauce over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture over the top of the chocolate.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely prior to cutting into squares.

Serving Up {Cookies}: Lunch Lady Peanut Butter Bars

Do the school cafeteria's in other parts of the country still serve Peanut Butter Fingers as part of school lunch?  I went to school in Utah and they were a staple when I was a kid!  But my own children's school only has dessert once a week, and never Peanut Butter Fingers, so my kids were totally unfamiliar with them when I introduced them.

To me, this dessert totally defines school lunches.  In fact, in high school you could buy Peanut Butter Fingers in the "a la carte" line which means that sometimes lunch consisted of nothing more than a Peanut Butter Finger and a milk if you were lucky (not me mom, other people!).

As school begins again in the next few weeks, this is a worthy treat to make as you take a little trip down memory lane and introduce your own family to school lunches in the "olden days".

One Year Ago: Frozen Peaches

Two Years Ago: Pesto Pea Salad

LUNCH LADY PEANUT BUTTER BARS     

printable version

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup oatmeal
additional peanut butter
chocolate frosting***(recipe to follow)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray large cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

Cream butter and sugars together in a large mixing bowl.  Add eggs, vanilla and peanut butter; continue to mix until well combined.  In a separate bowl, combine baking soda, salt, flour and oatmeal.  Gradually add dry ingredients to mixing bowl.  Spread batter onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes (the center will be soft but you do NOT want to overbake).  Allow to cool slightly.

While the bars are still slightly warm, spread with peanut butter.  You want a thin, even layer but can use more and make a thicker layer if you prefer.
Allow the bars to cool completely and then frost with favorite chocolate frosting.
Cut, serve & enjoy.

MY FAVORITE CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch salt
3 1/2 - 4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk

Combine butter and cocoa in a medium saucepan and allow butter to melt completely over med-low heat.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and salt.  Add milk and powdered sugar alternately until you reach desirable spreadable consistency.

Serving Up {Snack}: Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

We have been out of town for the past two weeks and I have been loving being in vacation mode.  Before we left for our little trek, my 10-year old used his own money to buy a package of Trader Joe's Milk Chocolate Covered Potato Chips.  He told me they were for the trip...which I thought was an awful idea since we were having 90-degree weather and I was afraid of the milk chocolate covered fingers that would result from his consumption of his chosen road-trip treat.  Luckily for me, the treat made it for less than 24 hours before he consumed the entire package sitting on the trampoline with a friend.  Issue solved!

In case you don't have a Trader Joe's in your neighborhood (in which case I do suggest you move) or a Candy Basket (a chocolate/candy store in Portland that sells chocolate covered potato chips by the pound) you can make this addictive treat in your own home.  In fact, these photos are the potato chips that my (same) 10-year old son dipped in chocolate one lazy Sunday afternoon completely on his own.  So that is my tag line....easy enough for a 10-year old (boy).  Now get to it!

One Year Ago: Orange Sweet Rolls
Two Years Ago: Caramel Clusters

CHOCOLATE COVERED POTATO CHIPS     
printable version

1 bag ripple potato chips (use the thick ripple ones!)
1 lb. chocolate melts or melting chocolate

Carefully pour the bag of potato chips onto a cookie sheet and sort the potato chips, keeping those that are large and not broken.
Place chocolate melts into a microwave-safe glass bowl and microwave on 70% power for 1 1/2 minutes.  Remove from the microwave and stir.  Replace and continue to microwave in 1 minute intervals, stirring after each time, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Carefully dip each potato chip into the melted chocolate and then place on a sheet of waxed paper to cool and harden.

Serving Up {Cookies}: Fudgy Brownie Cookies

I really hope that nobody is completely cookie-ed out.  I know there are treats and candies and cookies everywhere you look - particularly the internet.  My site is no exception.  And while my intention had been to post a hearty soup or meal today, I had two people ask me for this recipe just in the past week so I figured that I better get it posted.

I am a huge brownie fan so I am somewhat leery of cookies that claim being anything close to a brownie...because, well cookies just aren't brownies!  Until now.  This recipe gets it right.  It probably helps that it begins with a brownie mix for it's base, but I am not complaining one bit!  Ease in preparation and an amazing outcome!  Works for me!

One Year Ago: Loaded Chocolate Crinkles

FUDGY BROWNIE COOKIES     
(recipe from Tasty Kitchen)
printable version

1 packaged Fudge Brownie Mix (18-21 ounce size)
1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 Tbs. water
1 cup chocolate chunks

Whisk brownie mix, flour and brown sugar together.  Using a spoon, stir in eggs one at a time and then add butter and water.  The batter will be very thick.  Fold in chocolate chunks.
Cover batter and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare cookie sheet by greasing or lining with parchment.
Drop dough by the tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Allow to cool on the pan slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.

Serving Up {Candy}: Grandpa's fudge

When I was growing up, my grandpa was the Christmas Candy Man!  Homemade fudge, homemade divinity, homemade caramel turtles.  Wow!  I still remember the tradition of being at grandma and grandpa's house on Christmas evening and after all the gifts were opened (and there were always SO MANY gifts!) grandpa would stand up from his recliner and would enter the cold storage room just off of the family room.  He would come out with a platter of his delicious confections and the platter would get passed around to all.  Such a sweet memory!

Sadly I never learned to make the divinity or the caramel turtles, but the fudge is a simple recipe that is perfect for the beginner candy maker.  I have played with the recipe by adding andes mints in place of some of the chocolate to make a mint fudge (my hubbies favorite) as well as just placing chopped mints on top of the prepared fudge for a festive look.  Festive or not, this fudge is a winner every time and it makes a great addition to any goodie platter that you may be preparing for the holiday season.

(a fun idea from pinterest:
cut the fudge into large triangles and then decorate the cellophane to make little fudge reindeer)

One Year Ago: Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cup Bites

GRANDPA'S FUDGE     

printable version

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
7-ounce marshmallow creme
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips***
1 tsp. vanilla

Prepare a 13x9 glass pan by buttering the sides and bottom generously.  Set aside.

Place sugar, butter and milk in a large saucepan.  Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.  Cook for 5 minutes, still stirring.  Remove from heat and add marshmallow creme and chocolate chips, combining by using a wooden spoon.  Beat well with spoon for 5 minutes.  Add vanilla. Pour into buttered 13x9 pan.
Allow to cool completely before cutting.

***I have substituted a portion of the chocolate chips with andes mints to create a mint flavored fudge with great results***

Serving Up {Cookies}: No-bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal

I mentioned that my oven has been out of commission recently.  Which means my craving for a treat just kept growing and growing until it was monstrous in size.  I didn't have the patience to make something that required refrigeration (pudding) or required freezing (ice cream) so I had to come up with something I could make without an oven that would still be able to tackle my craving.

I pulled out this recipe, which is actually a favorite of my kids to make because it is so easy, and within 10 minutes I was dropping little balls of chocolate goodness onto wax paper to cool.  Shortly afterwards my husband arrived home and saw the treats on the counter and said, "you read my mine!  I've been needing a treat!".  I guess the broken oven was having the same effect on him :)  I thought that he was just in need of a treat but he informed me later that he LOVES these little chocolate balls.   Whether it's for the simplicity or for the taste - these really do hit the spot!

One Year Ago: Thai Coconut Ginger Broth

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL COOKIES     
printable version

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 T. cocoa
2-1/2 cups oats
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Allow to boil for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and add the oats, vanilla, and peanut butter. Mix until well blended. Spoon onto waxed paper and allow to cool.

Serving Up {Cake}: Darn Good Chocolate Cake

I had a birthday 10 days ago and my daughter made my birthday cake!  A moist, delicious, rich chocolate cake with a chocolate glaze....how spoiled am I?

This cake recipe is all over the internet but I want to lay claim to it before it was an internet success.  My mom had this recipe clipped from a newspaper article printed at least 12 years ago, maybe longer (long before food blogs either way).  I know it's age because she used this very cake recipe to make a dessert cake for the luncheon at my brother's wedding.  I have also taken it to two weddings myself now as the wedding cake for two of my sister-in-laws.  I can't claim that I know how to decorate a cake (and just for the record, I am retired from wedding cakes) but I can claim that the cake, at both weddings, was a hit on the flavor-meter.

But don't save this cake for some fancy occasion.  It is super quick to whip together and delicious enough to fool anyone who doesn't know better into thinking you slaved over it.

Wedding Cake #1: recipe for cake as written, topped with chocolate ganache and fresh berries

Wedding Cake #2: recipe for cake as written, topped with a white chocolate cream and then caramel drizzle

(photo from the amazing Kate Maxwell Photography)

One Year Ago: Coconut Chex Mix

DARN GOOD CHOCOLATE CAKE     
printable version

1 18-ounce chocolate fudge cake mix
1 4-serving size box instant chocolate pudding mix
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup oil
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare baking pan by  greasing and dusting with flour - can use a 12-cup bundt pan, a 13x9 baking pan or two 9-inch round baking pans.

Combine all ingredients, except the chocolate chips, in a large mixing bowl.  Using an electric mixer on low speed, mix for 1 minutes.  Stop the beaters and scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Increase mixer speed to medium and mix for 2-3 minutes.  The batter will be thick but should be well combined.  Fold in chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly.

Baking time varies based on the size of pan you are using.  Test for doneness with a toothpick.
Bundt pan; bake for 50-60 minutes.
13x9 pan; bake for 35 mintues.
Two 9" round pans; bake for 25 minutes.

Serving Up {Brownies}: Caramel Brownies

These brownies are not a new recipe - in fact, they have been around for a while because I remember making them back in college when I needed a really decent chocolate fix!  The recipe has kind of gone viral thanks to blogs and pinterest so my guess is that you have seen it before.  But should you have ignored it (for what reason I cannot imagine) by all means trust me that these are worth making.  Thanks to the use of a cake mix as the base, they come together super quick and they are worth it!  You will thank me on this one!

One Year Ago: Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce

CARAMEL BROWNIES     
printable version

50 caramels
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 pkg. german chocolate cake mix
¾ cup butter, melted
1/3 cup evaporated milk
6 oz. chocolate chips

Place caramels and 1/3 cup milk in a small saucepan; melt over low heat and set aside.

Beat the cake mix, 1/3 cup milk and melted butter until well blended. It will be thick. Spread ½ of the batter into a greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Pour melted caramel over the chocolate chips. Top with the remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for an additional 18 minutes or until done – DO NOT overbake. Refrigerate to be able to cut.

Serving Up {Brownies}: Moist Zucchini Brownies

It is nearing the end of zucchini season around here, but I still have a few stragglers coming on in my garden.  What about you?

We have enjoyed zucchini cookies, zucchini muffins, zucchini bread and even zucchini pumpkin bread.  I have also shredded and frozen enough bags of zucchini to keep us in zucchini until next harvest season.  My kids actually love all the zucchini baking that has been going on, but it was these brownies that caused my daughter to declare, "everything is better with zucchini!".  Brownies made better by zucchini?  Now that is zucchini marketing at it's finest!

Truth is, these REALLY are awesome brownies!  We have gone through two pans of them in just the past five days.  Even my husband (the only zucchini-adverse in the family) ate four of them before I finally told him the secret ingredient.

The batter, when prepared and put into the pan, is really dry.  Don't worry, you have not left an ingredient out.  Somehow while baking the zucchini works magic and turns the dry batter into something moist and magical...and chocolate!

One Year Ago: Strawberry Lemonade Quencher

MOIST ZUCCHINI BROWNIES with Buttermilk Chocolate Frosting     
(recipe adapted from Blogchef)
printable version

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2-3 cups shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13x9 baking pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar and vanilla and mix until well blended. In another bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and add the flour mixture gradually to the sugar mixture, mixing well. It will be VERY dry and crumbly - it's okay! Fold in the shredded zucchini. Spread the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brownies test done.

Chocolate Buttermilk Frosting
6 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter
2-3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk***
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch salt

In a saucepan, melt the butter and cocoa powder together. Allow to cool slightly. Add the vanilla, buttermilk and salt and then gradually add the powdered sugar until you reach the desired consistency.
Frost cooled brownies.

***You can make this recipe using regular milk instead of buttermilk, but you have to use more powdered sugar in order to reach the desired spreadable consistency.

Serving Up {Dessert}: Frozen Hot Chocolate

Frozen Hot Chocolate is a popular treat, made super popular by the Serendipity 3 Restaurant in New York City (and more recently at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas).  I remember on a trip to NYC years ago, waiting for over an hour just to get into Serendipity 3 to try their famous hot chocolate.  The next trip to the Big Apple we decided to get reservations for dinner to bypass the wait (you can only get reservations if you are eating dinner - no reservations for dessert only) but the meal was really just our ticket to get to the dessert!  And while we have discovered other delicious goodies at Serendipity 3 (Deep Fried Oreo Sundae and a Frozen Mango "goodness" to name a couple) we always go back to the frozen hot chocolate!

Since we no longer live in Vegas, and our next trip to NYC is a ways off, I needed to get my Frozen Hot Chocolate fix here at home.  Thanks to the internet I was able to search for Frozen Hot Chocolate and come up with loads of recipes.  I read a handful, compared them all to the supposed "original" and then went from there.  Along with tweaking the amounts of sugar and hot cocoa mix and opting for canned whipped cream over whipping my own, I used a mint hot cocoa mix when I made this for my husband for Father's Day because if there is one thing my husband loves more than chocolate, it would be MINT chocolate.  The result....delicious!

One Year Ago: Angel Hair Pasta with Sausage and Clams
                         Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding

FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE     
(recipe adapted from Serendipity 3 Restaurant via abc news)
printable version

4 ounces high quality chocolate (I used 1/2 semi sweet and 1/2 white)
3 Tbs. hot chocolate mix (I used Stephen's Mint Truffle)
2 Tbs. sugar
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream
Chocolate shavings

Chop the chocolate into small pieces and melt chocolate in a small heavy saucepan or in the top of a double boiler over simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted. Add the hot chocolate mix and sugar, stirring constantly until blended.  Remove from heat, slowly add half a cup of the milk, and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender, place the remaining cup of milk, the chocolate mixture, and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth. Pour into a chilled glass and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Serving Up {Cookies}: Decadent Chocolate Bars

Goodness, I feel like I have been absent from blogging forever!  I don't know how some food bloggers do it - blogging right through giving birth and moving across the country.  I haven't got a new home or a new baby as my excuse - just busy and pretty poor time management.  But my intentions are good and I hope to post enough in the next couple of days to fill in the gaps so that nobody will ever know I was gone.

Consider this recipe for these deep, divine, decadent chocolate bars as my penance for my absence.   Bonus is that they require very few ingredients and are SO quick to throw together.  The recipe does call for nuts and I will just tell you right now that I don't believe nuts belong in baked goods - I like to snack on nuts, I like them in my granola and on my salads, but stay away from my baked goods!  Except that they are really good and the perfect compliment to this recipe so this is one of my very few baked recipes that gets nuts.  And while they can be left out (because, believe me I get the "remove nuts from baked goods" movement) I would suggest giving them a try...but I will leave that decision entirely up to you.

One Year Ago:  Todd's Chocolate Chip Cookies

                           Rosemary Herbed Potatoes

DECADENT CHOCOLATE BARS      

printable version

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup cocoa

1 cup cold butter

12 ounces chocolate chips

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar and cocoa.  Cut cold butter into flour mixture and combine well to make a crust consistency.  Press crust mixture into a greased 13x9 pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.  

While the crust is baking, combine 1 cup chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a small saucepan and melt until smooth. 

When crust finishes baking, immediately pour chocolate sauce evenly over the top of it.  Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips and nuts (optional).  Return to the oven for 20 minutes.

Cool before cutting into bars.

Serving Up {Cookies}: Chocolate Rolo Cookies

This is my second recipe this week for using up those leftover rolo candies from Easter - although, truthfully, rolo's don't last that long at our home and I probably ought to have posted these recipes two weeks ago.  Sorry about that.  It turns out that I am not the only one with rolo's on the mind....just this week I have had a couple of rolo recipes land in my google reader.  I haven't made either recipe (yet), but both look a little sinful  - check them out here and here.

In my "prior" life (prior kiddos, prior marriage) I worked as a Registered Nurse. I worked for almost seven years before I took my maternity leave 11 years ago :) During part of my nursing years, I worked in the operating room of a large hospital that was involved in many humanitarian projects. Twice during my time working there, the operating room staff published cookbooks in an effort to raise funds for different medical missions. Since I was young and just beginning my domestic skills, those cookbooks became my standards as I cooked my way through both cookbooks. I have since put those cookbooks aside and don't pull them out near as much as I used to, except for specific recipes. Chocolate Rolo Cookies is one of those recipes.

This recipe is a basic Chocolate Crinkle recipe (even though I don't ever do chocolate crinkles in a basic form - see my recipe for Loaded Chocolate Crinkles here).  The gist of this recipe is chocolate cookie dough wrapped around a rolo and then rolled in powdered sugar and baked.  The rolo melts in the process of baking, leaving a delicious caramel layer inside of your cookie.  Oh, so good!

One Year Ago: Chunky Monkey Pancakes
                        Orange Frostie

CHOCOLATE ROLO COOKIES     
(recipe from Penny W.)
printable version

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 cup flour
approx. 50 rolo candies
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine sugars and softened butter in a mixing bowl; cream together until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla and blend until well combined.  Add dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Wrap about 1 Tbs. dough around one rolo candy and then roll the ball in powdered sugar.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.