Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Tags

bars, caramel, chocolate, cookie, salted caramel

In case you haven’t figured it out, I’ve been in a sort of rut lately. Not really motivated to blog, or even bake and cook. It’s most unfortunate. I’m hoping it’ll get better soon because I’ve been bookmarking a bunch of recipes that I want to try! I did have this recipe bookmarked for quite a while now, and I even bought the caramels before I moved with the intention to make them a couple months ago. Obviously that didn’t happen… (and yes, I should really try to make my own caramel but it scares me! My first attempt years ago failed miserably, as in it burned, and I haven’t tried since.)

But about these cookie bars, they use the best chocolate chip cookie recipe which is chewy and scrumptious, adds a gooey layer of salted caramel, and a sprinkling of salt for a sweet/salty combo. These cookie bars are absolutely divine. And I wasn’t very eager to share! My husband and I ate most of them, but I did share a couple with my sister, because I’m that nice! Hehe. I mostly wanted to get them out of the house to resist temptation. 🙂 But you should totally make these… they’re worth turning the oven on!!!

One Year Ago: Pumpkin-Cranberry Bread and Zuppa Toscana

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Yield: 16 cookie bars

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
10 ounces caramel candy squares, unwrapped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Fleur de sel or other sea salt, for sprinkling

Preheat oven 325 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients; set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter and sugars by hand or with a mixer until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix slowly until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine the caramels and heavy cream. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until the caramels are melted, making sure to stir every 20 seconds.

Press half of the cookie dough into the prepared pan with either your fingers or a spatula, smoothing the top. Pour the hot caramel over the cookie dough in the pan and spread into an even layer, leaving a small border without caramel along the edges; sprinkle the caramel with sea salt. Take the remaining dough and flatten bits between your fingers to create shingles; place the shingles on top of the caramel, slightly overlapping them until all the caramel is covered. Smooth out the top layer of dough. Sprinkle the bars with additional sea salt.

Bake the cookie bars for 30 minutes, or until the top of the bars are light golden brown and the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool the bars in the pan on a wire rack to room temperature, then refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow the caramel layer to set. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature.

Source: Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Brownie Pops, and Happy 4th of July!!

Tags

brownie, brownie pop, cake pop, chocolate, dessert

Hope everyone in the US is enjoying all the celebrations paired with July 4th! And everyone else, happy Wednesday! Personally, I don’t really have any spectacular plans. My husband always sees a Will Smith movie or an alien movie on July 4th, so I think we’re going to see Men in Black 3 and hopefully we’ll get to see fireworks! They’re my favorite part of this holiday, afterall! 🙂So for today, I don’t really have a recipe per say, but a festive treat nonetheless. My nephew turned 2 last week and he had his party over the weekend. Since I live so close to my sister now, I helped her decorate and prepare for the party. It was a cute red and blue themed train party! I was in charge of dessert, like usual, and her request was brownie pops. She didn’t want to go through the hassle of making cake and making frosting and mixing them together (and by that, I think she didn’t want me to take the time and dishes to do all that :P). She wanted it simple, so she asked if I had a good fudgy brownie recipe that would require no extra add-ins and could be made into pops due to the extremely moist and fudgy quality of the brownies. I immediately recommended the Baked Brownie. Best brownie ever, and awesome for brownie pops!Like I said, I was in charge of the baking, so with the help of my older nephew, we made the brownies. Once cooled, I squished and rolled them into 1-inch ball, placed them on wax paper, stuck a lollipop stick into them, and froze them for 30 minutes. They were then dipped into melted chocolate chips/melts, allowed to set, then dipped halfway into melted white chocolate chips/melts and dipped in sprinkles. For my first attempt at any sort of cake pop/brownie pop, they came out pretty well though they certainly are a bit of work and time! Everyone loved them and they came out quite adorable if I do say so myself, but I think I’ll stick to cupcakes and cookies and whatnot! 🙂 One batch of brownies made about 45 brownie pops, and then we served the other batch of brownies straight up with the extra chocolates drizzled over them and any leftover sprinkles. I also wanted to share with you these cool stars that my sister found. You make them yourself with your choice of scrapbook paper, and they were a really nice addition to the party decorations. She now has them hanging in my nephew’s room and they look really cute in there, too!

So, that’s it for today! Hope everyone has a wonderful July 4th, and happy Wednesday! 🙂

P.S. I apologize for the quality of the photos… camera phone 😉

One Year Ago: Panko-Crusted Salmon

Cream Egg Brownies

I hope everyone had a great Easter! I spent my Easter at work, but then I spent my two days off with my mom, sister, and nephews. My oldest nephew helped my mom hide an Easter basket for me 🙂 I may be in my upper 20’s but I still love holiday traditions! One of my favorite Easter candies is Cadbury cream eggs, and lucky for me, my basket was full of them! Original cream eggs, caramel eggs, and a new chocolate cream egg. Yum yum!! My husband absolutely loves cream eggs, so when I saw this recipe for cream egg brownies, I knew it was something I had to try.The reason I’m posting this after Easter is for all you Cadbury cream egg fans. Once your eggs are all gone, and you need a fix, try these brownies! The filling is a copycat of the actual cream egg filling, but these brownies aren’t overly sweet like the cream eggs. The creamy filling is subtle, but these brownies are great! For extra cream egg goodness, you can always double to filling! So go ahead and eat all your cream eggs, then when the craving for more hits, make some cream egg brownies!Cream Egg Brownies
Yield: 16 brownies

Brownies:
⅔ cup flour
2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Filling:
¼ cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon salt
1½ cups powdered sugar

Glaze:
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

To make the brownies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom and sides of an 8-by-8-inch pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on two edges.

In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and salt; set aside.

In a double boiler or a medium-large bowl set over gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth, then remove from heat. Whisk in sugars and stir until dissolved and mixture has cooled slightly. Whisk in eggs and vanilla extract until just combined; do not overmix. Sprinkle flour mixture over top of chocolate mixture and fold in using a large rubber spatula until just incorporated. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

To make the cream filling: Beat together corn syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, mixing until creamy and stiff. Place ¾ of the cream mixture on top of cooled brownies and spread into an even layer. Add a drop of yellow food coloring to remaining cream mixture and stir until evenly colored. Drop dollops of yellow cream on top of white layer, and then gently spread over the white layer. Let set at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

To make the glaze: In a small saucepan over low heat or a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter together; stir until smooth. Pour over cream filling, carefully spreading into a thin, even layer. Chill until set, at least 30 minutes, but preferably overnight.

Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove brownies from pan. Use a long sharp knife to cut the brownies into 2-inch squares. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, bringing to room temperature before serving.

Source: Adapted from Love & Olive Oil

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Tags

brownie, cheesecake, chocolate, cream cheese, red velvet

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Like I previously said, I’m not a huge fan of this holiday. Though my husband did get me some nice gifts, so I guess I can’t complain! 🙂 But I will take any excuse to bake something! Due to my lack of planning, I needed a sweet treat for Valentine’s Day that was fast and easy, and that I already had all the ingredients for. Red velvet is so traditional, and though I’m not a big fan of it, I decided to give it another try. I’m determined to like red velvet!! It’s so pretty and everyone else loves it… I just want to fit in! Hehe.These red velvet brownies are amazing. Red velvet fan or not, I love these. The dark chocolate adds a delicious hint of chocolate flavor, and the cheesecake layer is the perfect compliment to the red velvet brownie. Who knows, maybe I’m becoming a red velvet fan after all! If you need a quick and easy last minute treat for Valentine’s Day, give these a try! Your loved ones will surely love them, and love you for making them, too!Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
Yield: 9 to 16 brownies

Red velvet layer:
½ cup butter
2 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons red food coloring
⅔ cup all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Cheesecake layer:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
⅓ cup sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking dish with foil, leaving a little overhanging on each side to create a sling; coat foil with cooking spray.

To make the red velvet layer: In a small, heatproof bowl, melt butter and chocolate together. Stir until combined and smooth; set aside to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and red food coloring. Add chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth. Add flour and salt; with a rubber spatula, stir until just combined and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Pour into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.

To make the cheesecake layer: In a medium mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, egg and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Distribute the cheesecake mixture in 8 dollops over batter in the pan. Gently swirl with a knife.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until brownies and cheesecake are set; the edges will be lightly browned. Let cool to room temperature in pan on a cooling rack then transfer to the refrigerator to chill completely. Use the foil to remove the brownies then slice into squares.

Source: Sweet Pea’s Kitchen, via Baking Bites

Gooey Cookies & Cream Bars

Tags

bar, chocolate, cookie, marshmallow creme, oreo

I’m sorry, but I had to post another dessert recipe! I’ll try to get back to more savory dishes soon but I couldn’t resist. I’ve been eying this recipe ever since I came across it, and I even lost it once and frantically tried to find it. Thankfully I did, and I made sure to bookmark it right away before I lost it a second time! The original concept of these bars were as smores cookie bars, which sound amazing and I definitely plan on trying those eventually. These cookies and cream ones just called out to me, though. Gooey marshmallow with cookies and cream candy bar center, surrounded by an Oreo-based cookie. Doesn’t that sound just amazing?! Okay, I made myself hungry… I’m gonna go enjoy one now! I hope you try them, too!!Gooey Cookies & Cream Bars
Yield: 9 to 16 bars

½ cup butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup Oreo cookie crumbs, about 10 Oreos
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 king-sized Cookies ‘n Cream or white chocolate candy bars
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow crème

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and create a foil sling: tear off 2, 16-inch long pieces of aluminum foil and fold them in half. Lay one in the center of the pan, flattening it along the bottom and sides of the pan and leaving overhanging flaps on each side. Situate the other foil piece in the same manner, but perpendicular to the first foil piece. Grease the foil; set pan aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cookie crumbs, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Divide the dough roughly in half, placing half the dough in your prepared pan.

Use your fingers or a rubber spatula to press and spread the dough in the pan until it covers the bottom in an even layer. Place the candy bars side by side over the dough; if they don’t fit, break and arrange them so you have a full single layer of chocolate (about ¼-inch thick). Drop dollops of marshmallow crème on the chocolate and use a rubber spatula to spread it evenly. Take the remaining dough and place on top of the marshmallow layer; easiest method is to take a small handful at a time and flatten it into a “shingle” then lay them together until the top is covered.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool completely in pan before gently using the overhang of the foil sling to lift the bars out of the pan and place them on a cutting board. Slice into 9, 12, or 16 bars, depending on desired size. Store in an airtight container.

Source: Adapted from Willow Bird Baking