Blondies

Lately I have been trying to bake more. I've never been the best baker, but I figure "practice makes perfect" is a saying for a reason!

On Sunday I was craving something sweet, and I decided to make Blondies, for the sole reason that I had all the ingredients! This recipe came out of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

Sorry I don't have a picture! But they were so good that I thought I should post it anyways.

Blondies

Ingredients

1/2 cup of butter, melted

1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon of baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/3 cup of chopped walnuts or cashews

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the nuts.

4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 9 blondies.

S'more Cookie Bars!

These are great because you get to eat them without actually needing to go camping! haha.

S'more Cookie Bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up ad spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars

Apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars

Another Betty Crocker recipe that turned out to be delicious! My husband really loves it. The sad part is...we left these bars sitting outside the fridge all night so now we have to throw it away. It makes us REALLY sad because they are SO yummy! Not to mention they took a little while to make. :'( Hopefully next time we will remember to stick it back into the fridge! If it weren't for the cheesecake I think it would have been fine.

Makes: 24 bars
Prep Time: 20 min.
Start to Finish: 3 hrs 40 min.

INGREDIENTS
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) oatmeal cookie mix
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine -- I used margarine
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped walnuts -- we didn't add these as we are not nutty people :)

INSTRUCTIONS
1..Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, place cookie mix. Using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through mixture in opposite directions), cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumbs in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
2..Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
3..Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked crust. In medium bowl, mix pie filling and cinnamon. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over top. Sprinkle with walnuts.
4..Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool about 30 minutes. Refrigerate to chill, about 2 hours. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Cover and refrigerate any remaining bars.