Peanut Butter Cup Baked S'mores

We had our second annual end of the school year/beginning of summer barbeque at our house.  It's a nice way to start the summer.  Kevin does the barbequing and I do the sides and dessert.

I went with the summer time theme and made another s'more treat.  This time I used peanut butter cups instead of plain chocolate.  These are by far my favorite baked s'more that I have made. 

Peanut Butter Cup Baked S’mores 
From: Mels Sweet Life (adapted from Pinch of Yum and Sprinkle Some Sunshine)

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
16 peanut butter cups
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff*

This is not marshmallow topping. See previous post about fluff.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8×8 baking dishing with parchment paper; coat lightly with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl of the bowl of stand mixer, beat butter and sugars until fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.  Scrape down the sides.  With the mixer on low, stir in the flour, baking powder, salt, and graham cracker crumbs until mixed.
3. Spread 2/3 of the dough on the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Lightly press the peanut butter cups into the dough, then spread marshmallow fluff on top.  Press the remaining dough on a non-stick surface into the shape of an 8×8 square.  Place the square on top of the fluff and press down lightly.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown.  Allow to cool for at least two hours to give the bars a chance to set, then remove from the pan and cut into squares with a large, sharp knife.

Oreo Pops

I signed up to bring cookies to a baby shower at school.  Someone else was bringing sugar cookies, so I needed to think of something else.  I still wanted something cute and girly, not just a regular cookie.  Someone else was bringing cupcakes.  I thought about cake pops, but they're not a cookie and are close to cupcakes.

I did a Google Image Search of baby shower desserts.  There were a lot of cute ideas...mostly sugar cookies, cupcakes and cake pops.  Not what I was looking for.  Then I saw one that had Oreo Pops. 

This was perfect.  They count as a cookie and I could make them cute and pink.  I did a quick search and found out how to make them.  They were pretty easy (easier than cake pops).

Oreo Pops

From: Easy Baked 

INGREDIENTS:
One package of Double Stuff Oreos
2 (12oz.) bags of Wilton White Candy Melts (any color)
24 Lollipop sticks
edible glitter, sprinkles or whatever type of decoration you wish

DIRECTIONS: 
Carefully twist apart all of the Oreo cookies.  I used the store brand cookies.  These twisted apart quite easily.  Others had commented they had a hard time not breaking any cookies and I didn't break any.

Using one of the pop sticks, make an indentation in the white filling of each cookie.

Melt the Candy Melts in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until completely melted and smooth. You could also use a double boiler

Dip the end of one stick into the melted white chocolate, drizzle a little in the center of the white cookie filling and then gently press it into the indentation made.

Place the top of the cookie back on and allow white chocolate to harden (5 minutes or so), cementing the cookie back together with a stick inside.

Holding the stick, lower the entire Oreo into the bowl of melted white chocolate, spooning it over the top and sides to cover it completely.

Allow the excess chocolate to drain off and gently place covered Oreo on a piece of parchment paper to harden. 

Top with edible glitter (or whatever topping you are using) immediately before the chocolate hardens.  You can also drizzle any extra chocolate you have over the cookie.

I put some floral foam in these white bowls.  Then I covered them with clear stones and tissue paper.  It made a cute display with all the other treats that people brought.

Peppermint Patty Brownies

These are AMAZING!  At school the admins have a candy jar behind their desks.  Whenever there are peppermint patties they disappear quickly.  Knowing how much everyone loves the peppermint patties I figured people would like these also.  I was right.

They have the minty taste of the peppermint patty inside a wonderful brownie.

Peppermint Patty Brownies
Recipe source: Jamie Cooks it Up via with Sprinkles on Top

Ingredients
1 cup butter
8 oz unsweetened chocolate
5 eggs
3-3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1-2/3 cups flour
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 bags York Peppermint Patties

Directions

Line the bottom of a 9×13 pan with parchment paper (she said to use foil, but it stuck to mine a bit so I would use parchment) and cover with nonstick spray.

Microwave the unsweetened chocolate and butter for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each cooking interval. Keep cooking and stirring until the chocolate and butter are melted. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl (or in your stand mixer) beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt and almond extract for 3-4 minutes.

Add the melted chocolate mixture and flour. Mix until incorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spread half of the batter into the buttered pan.

Unwrap your peppermint patties and line them up over the top of the bottom layer of batter.

Cover the patties with the second half of the batter.

Bake at 425 for 23 minutes. [This part can be a little tricky. Stick a knife in the top layer of brownie and be sure that it comes out clean before you take them out of the oven.]

Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate at least 6 hours.

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

I love cheesecake and adding cookie dough only made it better.

The cookie dough has no eggs and is cooked with the cheesecake so you don't have to worry about raw cookie dough. 

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

From: Brandy's Baking

Ingredients 
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: 

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

2/3 cup chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling: 

10 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper or foil allowing a little overhang and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove pan to a cooling rack. Leave your oven on while you prepare the dough.

3. While the crust is cooling, prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Mix in the flour on low speed, and mix until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside. (*Note: This mixture is going to be dry...that’s okay. It’s rather like a crumble topping. You’re going to crumble it on top of the cheesecake layer.)

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust. Distribute the cookie dough onto the top of the cheesecake batter in teaspoon-sized clumps. Be sure to use all of the dough.

5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top feels dry and firm (the cookie dough) and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake. Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Chill in refrigerator overnight or for at least a couple hours.

6. Lift the bars out by the overhang and cut into squares for serving.

These were great!  I took them to work and they got eaten up!

German Chocolate Brownies

This week I need to bake three times for three different events at school.  I will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen!

First, for a meeting I signed up to bring brownies.  I wanted to try something new and I found this recipe for German Chocolate Brownies at Glorious Treats.

They were easy to make and easy to take to school.  I will definitely make these again.

German Chocolate Brownies
From: Glorious Treats

Ingredients:

 Brownies-
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Topping-
2 egg whites
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

 1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line an 8"x8" (or 9"x9") square baking pan with parchment paper (or line with foil and spray foil with non-stick spray).
2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter, cocoa powder, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix until well combined. Add in the flour and stir until it's just incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Pour brownie batter into the prepared pan, smoothing as needed with a spatula.
4. In a medium bowl combine topping ingredients. Stir until well combined.
5. Spread topping over brownie batter, then bake brownies for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
6. Cool brownies on a wire cooling rack, remove from pan and cut as desired.