Milky Way Blondies

These Blondies are.... Decadent. Divine. and Dangerous. ;) You won't want just one. And, as her recipe states, they're flexible with what you can put into them. I make a great caramelita. These kind of remind me of them except without the oatmeal. I also thought they'd be good using leftover Halloween candybars like in Heidi's candybar cookies. SO many possibilities with this blondie recipe. I had to include it on my blog for that reason. The purpose of my blog has *always* been to have it be an external recipe box of nearly all my favorite recipes.... whether they are tried-and-true recipes passed down within our own family, ones I've received from others and made my own, ones I tweaked to my preferences from other websites, or even recipes from other bloggers. I so appreciate good food and the time that goes into making a recipe. I always link back to the original recipe and indicate any changes made. With that in mind, here is the recipe for Milky Way Blondies!

2 cups brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1/2 cup Caramel Bits (or chop caramel squares into fourths)

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

15 Fun Size Milky Way Candy Bars, chopped 

I used my Bosch for this recipe with the paddles. If using an electric mixer, use a large bowl!

Cream brown sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla. Combine and then sift in flour, baking powder, and salt. I mix the flour in only until incorporated. You'll be mixing it more when you add the caramel bits, chocolate chips, and candy bars. I prefer not to overmix. Add in your bits, chips, and bars! 

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking sprain over anyone... especially someone who LOVES chocolate and caramel! y. If desired, line the pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray. The original recipe calls for foil. Myself, I do not prefer foil when baking these kinds of things. I'm kind of a parchment gal. When using parchment, use one section going long ways in the pan and another section going the width of the pan. Leave some hanging over the edge on all sides. Just be sure to use spray! ;) Spread the blondie mixture into the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 22-24 minutes.  Err on the side of looking not done-ish on these. You don't want hard, dry blondies on the outer edge. Mine took about 23 minutes. But every oven is different. They will continue to cook and set up as they cool. Cool completely before cutting. I did these bars the night before like I do for my caramelitas and they were perfect to cut with a good, sharp knife. I cut them to get 15 bars. 

The result is a delectable dessert that will win over anyone.... especially someone that loves chocolate and caramel! ;)

Refer to original recipe for other mix in ideas.

The BEST Chocolate Cake.... Ever!

This recipe is from Six Sister's Stuff who got it from Taste of Home. It is by far one of the best chocolate cake recipes and it is my go-to recipe for chocolate cake or cupcakes. It is easy and always delicious! It is even super yummy right out of the oven with a scoop of ice cream. No frosting, just warm cake and ice cream!

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup baking cocoa (I prefer dutch cocoa)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cube (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp good vanilla (I like mexican or Kirkland brand)
2 eggs
1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Ganache or desired frosting to go on top
(Ice Cream is also delicious if you put a scoop on top of a hot chocolate cupcake in a bowl right out of the oven. It is amazing!) So many options! There's a reason it's our FAVORITE cake! Don't overcook and it will be your favorite too.

Ganache instructions:
Heat 1 cup of heavy cream just to boiling. Pour over chopped chocolate in a bowl and allow to sit for about 5 minutes then stir until smooth with a whisk. I like to use a 4oz semi sweet and a 4oz milk chocolate Ghiradelli baking bar for ganache. Mix and match to your liking. I haven't used chocolate chips. I'm more a baking bar girl, but you can experiment if you'd like. I use 1 Tbsp on the top of each cupcake and allow to setup. Or eat right away with a fork and spoon for ooey gooey goodness. ;)

*Frosting*: (I use my cream cheese frosting recipe here) *A note: For cupcakes, you may want to do a double batch of frosting depending on if you pipe it or just spread it on. I found a regular batch only pipes about 18 cupcakes. One batch works great for a 9x13 cake. Follow recipe directions for chocolate frosting.

Cake Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Put a small pot of water on the stove to boil (or if you have REALLY hot tap water, you can use that as well. You'll only need one cup but I always boil a little extra. ;)

I usually make this recipe in my Bosch, but a large bowl and a hand mixer works great as well. Just remember, you don't want to over mix. 

Combine all dry ingredients. Add in the butter, buttermilk, vanilla, and eggs. Don't mix this too high. You want to just get it fully incorporated. I stay on low speed. Pour in 1 cup of hot water. Mix. At this point, your batter will seem runny, but it's going to be okay... I promise!. At this point, either grease muffin liners or a  9×13″ pan. Fill cupcakes 2/3 full (which is about 1/4 cup for a larger muffin pan). You don't want them fuller than that! Bake for 12-15 minutes. If not quite done, do 2 more minutes. Mine are almost always done right at 15 minutes. I usually set the timer for 10 minutes and peek on them and add 2 more minutes and take them out. For a cake, bake for 30-35 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean). Just don't overcook so that it isn't dry. This cake is perfection when cooked just the right length. When everything is cooled (cupcakes cool quick!), frost as desired, and decorate if you'd like.

This recipe makes about 32 cupcakes (depending on the size of your pan) or ONE 9x13" pan of cake. I use an IKEA muffin tin which is about a 1 1/2 sized cup. I use the jumbo liners for these found in the cake decorating isle at Walmart. I only fill the cups with a 1/4 cup measuring cup and it makes 27 cupcakes exactly every time. Or you can make a bundt cake (heavily buttered and floured inside in all those creases!) and then pour ganache over top and enjoy!

Nutella Krispie Treats

from Pioneer Woman

(with my changes)

6 Tablespoons Salted Butter, divided

10 ounces, weight Large Marshmallows

1/8 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup Nutella

5 cups Rice Krispies

1-1/2 cup Miniature Marshmallows

1 cup Pecans, Finely Chopped

2 to 2 1/2 ounces, weight Semi Sweet Chocolate Melted (use bar, not choc chips)

(I like Ghiradella baking bar best. It always melts down nicely and looks good on top when it hardens) 

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-low/low heat. I like low best for my stove just so I don't overheat the marshmallow mixture.(If you over heat the marshmallow mixture, it's hard to mix with the cereal and you'll have really chewy treats.) 

Add marshmallows and salt and stir until melted. Halfway through the melting process, add Nutella. When Nutella and marshmallows are melted, add additional 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until smooth.

Meanwhile, melt semi-sweet chocolate in microwave for 1 1/2 minutes at 50% power. Remove from heat and let it cool slightly.

Add Rice Krispies to a large bowl and fold in the Nutella mixture. When it's almost all combined, add mini-marshmallows to the bowl, then continue folding until everything's combined.

Immediately press mixture into a thoroughly greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Sprinkle with half (or all) the pecans, pushing them into the sticky treat just a little. Drizzle semi-sweet chocolate in zig-zags all over the top of the treats. Sprinkle the other half of the pecans on top if you didn't use them all before. Put pan into freezer long enough to set chocolate, then cut into squares. Chocolate will harden again as it sets up. Serve. If there is any leftover, keep in air tight container.

Candy Bar Madness Chocolate Chip Cookies

AKA: Halloween Leftover Cookies

Every Halloween we have LOTS of candy that I prefer my kids not eat and rather not drag it out for a long time either... So one year I decided to sneak into their stash and get all the candy bars that I could find and create some cookies to use them up. :) They weren't too happy with me for stealing their candy without asking, but when they tried the cookies all was soon FORGIVEN! ;)
Now they go through and give me as much as they can part with to repeat the cookies every year.

Here is the basic recipe that I follow
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter (no margarine)
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3-4 cups of cut up candy bar mixture and some chocolate chips too :)

      

       **I put in m&ms, snickers, crunch bars, Hershey's chocolate bars, almond joy (all bars are cut up into small chunks).... the choice of what candy is yours :)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine sugars. Add in butter and cream together with the sugar. Add vanilla and eggs. Mix together.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt (I combine all of this in the sifter and then sift them). Add to the creamed mixture.
Mix well (the dough will be stiff). Add the chocolate chip, candy bar mixture. Mix well to make sure enough dough surrounds the added goodness!

Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper. Take a spoon full of dough and put it on the cookie sheet.
You should fit about 12 per sheet. (I roll mine into a ball then sort of squish it down a little but you could probably just put the spoon full directly on parchment)

Bake 10-12 minutes. Be sure not to over cook them or they will end up being hard discs LOL... they should look a little under done and almost getting golden on top  (but they will be golden on the bottoms)
Remove from oven and let set for a minute or two then remove the cookies and place on wire racks to cool . Enjoy!

Rolo Pretzel Turtles

My kids LOVED helping with this recipe. It was super easy and they taste great.

I'm not going to lie. This isn't a new concept. The recipe is all over the internet and on the back of the Rolo bag. But, since I use this blog as my portable recipe box, it needs to be on here!

Pretzels (we used the Snyders snaps, they are square and not butter flavored)

1 bag of Rolos, unwrapped

Pecan halves (or you can use almonds, cashews, red & green m&ms)

Recipe makes about 50 turtles, depending on how many Rolos are in the bag.

First, you need to toast the pecans. At 350, toast the pecans on a cookie sheet for 4 minutes. Stir them around and toast another 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, place all the pretzels -salt side down is my preference (it's prettier)- on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Kids loved this part, too. Then place all the Rolos, fat side down, in the center of each pretzel. Bake at 350 for 3 minutes. Remove and immediately place a pecan in the center and press down gently. Not too hard or the caramel oozes out. If you don't like pecans, use an M&M, almond, cashew, even Reese's pieces candy. Let cool.

Pop Cake

I realize this isn't a new concept. It is used all the time in dutch oven cooking. But this cake has made an appearance so many times over the last few weeks so I decided to post it.

1 can 7up (12 oz)
1 box white or yellow Betty Crocker Cake Mix

Mix together with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour into floured cake pan and cook for 25-27 minutes at 350. Allow to cool.

Eat plain, with frosting, or with favorite fruit topping (i.e. strawberry shortcake).

Variations:

1 can Diet Dr. Pepper
1 box chocolate cake mix

1 can Diet Cherry Coke
1 box chocolate cake mix

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

Disclaimer: I know I've previously posted a recipe with this same title. In practically EVERY case, I have made every recipe on this site. On occasion, I get one from someone and assume it is good. I received this recipe and it wasn't exactly as I would have liked or imagined. I have a wonderful peanut butter ball recipe (which came from my mother-in-law) that I use for making Christmas candy each year. So I put it to use and the result was fabulous. For that reason, I am reposting this as my own version.... which I of course feel is much better. The peanut butter is extremely smooth and super delicious!

Makes about 60 bites or so depending on the size you roll the balls.

Filling ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
3 tbsp softened butter (not margarine)

Waffle shaped pretzels (squares or rounds)

Melting chocolate

Directions:

Put filling ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined and smooth. (Sorry about the picture. Had to use an old camera for it since my other one was charging!)

The result will be a semi-stiff, but still soft dough. Should not stick to your hands. If it does, add a tiny bit of powdered sugar. (Again, sorry for the bad picture.)Roll into balls. Not too big. About 3/4 of an inch or a little less. (Yeah, battery finally charged! Boy there is sure a difference.)Put between pretzels to make a sandwich.Put in freezer for about an hour or until firm.

Get chocolate ready for dipping.

Dip each "bite" only half way into the chocolate and set on wax paper to set up. Keep in fridge until ready to serve.

I think these would be fun to dip in white chocolate colored for the holidays. There are many possibilities!

Rolo Cookies

There are many recipes for these cookies floating around. These are my own version and I think they're the most moist and easy to make. You'll just have to make sure you don't eat all the Rolos before you make the cookies. :)

2 ¼ cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter/margarine softened
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 small pkg instant chocolate pudding
2 eggs
Approximately 36 Rolo pieces, unwrapped

Mix flour with baking soda in separate bowl. In large bowl, combine butter, sugars, vanilla, and pudding. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add eggs. Gradually add flour mixture. Let chill in refrigerator for at least an hour. Roll medium to small amount of cookie dough around each Rolo. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes at 350. Let sit on cookie sheet for a couple of minutes to let the caramel set up. Then place on wire rack to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Candy Corn Turkey Treats

I'll be the first to admit this isn't the cutest picture. I just couldn't get a cute one. But these little turkeys are great fun! We made these for a cub scout activity and the boys really enjoyed it. We made them along with Nutter Butter Reindeer. I'll be posting it soon.

Ritz crackers (body)
Hershey kisses (head & neck)
Chocolate frosting
Candy Corn (feathers, gobbler, & beak)

Make your frosting (or buy it). Spread a layer of chocolate over Ritz cracker. Press 5 candy corns into the top, making sure the fat part is at the top (like a feather). I prefer the darker candy corns (with the brown and orange), but the store I went to didn't have them. I think it would be fun to actually alternate the two kinds of candy corn, too. Press one Hershey kiss into the bottom part of the turkey for the body and then, with a tiny bit of frosting on the bottom, stick one more candy corn on top of the Hershey kiss to make the gobbler and beak.

Feast on a sweet treat!!!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

This recipe is one of our favorite family recipes. However, so often we forget to take pictures because we're usually taking them to some potluck kind of get-together. So I made this recipe the other day for us and just a few friends and actually remembered to take pictures. I figured I'd repost it so you can see how delectably delicious it really is. Hope you enjoy!

Cookie Crust:
3/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Filling:
2 pkgs softened cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars.

Beat in egg & vanilla.Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda; add to the creamed mixture & mix well.Fold in the chocolate chips with spoon.Set aside 1/3 cup dough for topping.Press remaining dough into a greased 9x13 inch pan.Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese & sugar until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.Spoon over crust. Crumble reserved dough over filling.Bake at 350 for 35-40 min or until lightly golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.Cut into bars. Cover & store remaining bars (if any) in the fridge.

Note: If desired, add 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts to cookie dough when adding the chocolate chips.

Sinful Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

from Stephanie

(Note: I posted this recipe last October. It's super naughty and delicious. I finally found time to make it with step-by-step pictures. So I am reposting it. Hope you enjoy!)

Ingredients:
2 cups Vanilla wafer crumbs (About 40 wafers if just crushing them)
2 Tbsp butter, melted
14 oz wrapped caramels (a 14oz Kraft bag works well since they melt down easier than Brachs. Don’t use Farleys or a generic brand.)
1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
1 cup chopped pecans Note: (I used ½ cup pecans. It was plenty. I think 1 cup would be too much.)
½ cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

Directions:
1. Crush Nilla Wafers. (I like mine so they're not super fine, with a few chunks.)

Melt butter, combine with cookie crumbs.

Press into bottom of 9-inch springform pan.I very lightly sprayed the inside rim of the pan with Pam after I put the crust down so that the caramel and chocolate mixture didn’t stick. It makes for a prettier, more presentable cheesecake.

2. Melt caramels with the evaporated milk in a 1 ½ qt heavy saucepan over low heat. (Medium low works better.)Stir frequently until smooth. Pour caramel sauce into crust.Top with pecans. At this point, allow caramel to cool and set up. I usually let it sit for at least 30 minutes. If it doesn't set up, you will have a mess on your hands when you put the chocolate batter over it.3. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Melt the chocolate (slowly in microwave -in 30 second increments), then blend into cream cheese mixture. Pour chocolate batter over pecans.4. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Carefully loosen sides of cake from rim with knife, but do not remove rim until cheesecake is completely cool. Cool completely on wire rack. Chill completely before serving.

5. Enjoy each sinful slice!

Chocolate Muffins

These are way too easy. You'll almost feel guilty. But don't, they're so yummy and they have great texture. (Note: the picture is with my changes. I added cream cheese and chocolate chips. Leave it to me to make something kind of healthy not even close to healthy.)

1 pkg Rich Chocolate Cake or Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 small can pumpkin

Mix together with mixer.I used a Rich Chocolate cake mix for this batch. I think I prefer the Devil's Food.Put in muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 17 minutes. If you don't like pumpkin, don't worry. These don't taste at all like pumpkin... at all. I was surprised there was even pumpkin in them when I had them the first time. I think it might even be fun to put a small dollop of cream cheese in the middle before baking. But I'm a little obsessed with cream cheese.

Note: A white cake mix can also be used. But the chocolate ones are DELICIOUS!

Variation: I mixed together 1/2 pkg cream cheese, half of a beaten egg, and 1/4 cup sugar with a mixer. Drop by tbsp into each muffin. I tried to put mine in the middle and then sprinkle them with mini chocolate chips on top. But I think making a well in the middle of each muffin and then putting the filling in would work better. I'll have to try that next time. These take a few minutes longer to cook. And they're more like dessert than breakfast. Super rich and yummy. We liked ours with fresh raspberries. :)