Baking Junkie

July, 2011

Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Brownie Bars

Even though I haven’t been posting as often as I would like, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been baking. In fact, I have been baking up a storm this summer, and numerous times I have said the words “this is the best thing I have ever made”.

These, my friends, may just take that ultimate prize.

As soon as I saw the recipe from Amanda I knew it was a genius idea. Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies right? Stuffed chocolate chip cookies are a big rage right now, and then you add in a brownie to the mix….fantabulous!

I could feel my arteries clogging just thinking about these bars, but that didn’t stop me from trying them.

I made them with Oreos like the original recipe calls for. While I thought they were fantastic, my first thought was that using peanut butter cups would make them even better.

I was right.

By using less flour than in a typical cookie dough recipe you ensure that the dough doesn’t become too hard and crunchy with the long baking time. Then you get the incredible flavor of the peanut butter cup, topped with gooey, delicious brownie. Seriously people, you can’t go wrong! I have made this new version twice already and I’m sure I will make them again in the future. They actually won a “bars bake-off” contest at Derek’s office, so I guess these are my first “prize winning” dessert (hopefully not the last)!

I’m telling you, drop what you are doing and make these. Right. Now. You won’t be disappointed. Hopefully your willpower doesn’t crumble like mine. Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Brownie Bars
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1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
18 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
1 box family size brownie mix (9 x 13)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt, then add dry ingredients to dough. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread dough into a well greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Place the Reese’s peanut butter cups on top of dough (3 rows of 6). In a separate bowl make brownie mix according to package directions. Pour over peanut butter cups, making sure that all candy and dough is covered. Place in the oven and bake for 45-55 minutes (I usually end up baking mine closer to 55 minutes, sometimes even a little longer). Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Tags: Bars, Brownies, Candy, chocolate, Cookies, peanut butter

Posted in Bars | 11 Comments »

Monday, July 25th, 2011

S’more Cookies

Sadly, I have only had s’mores on two occasions this summer. Thanks to some wonderful friends Derek received a firepit for his birthday, so I am hoping to rectify that situation. That being said, sometimes it’s nice to have something around the house to satisfy a craving for s’mores when it may not be possible to make them over a fire. That’s where these cookies come in!

The very first recipe I posted last year was for s’more cookie bars, and to this day it remains one of my favorites. The cookie dough made with graham cracker crumbs is a fantastic idea, and I liked it so much that I also used it to make these cookies. I wanted to make some sort of summer-y cookies, so decided to start with the graham cracker cookie dough and just throw in some Hershey’s chocolate and marshmallows. Simple and brilliant! They are easy to make and taste AMAZING fresh out of the oven (although they are still pretty good after a few days as well). Enjoy!

S’more Cookies
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1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cup flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 Hershey’s chocolate bars
1 cup mini marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine butter and sugars. Add in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to liquid ingredients and mix well. Break candy bars into their individual pieces, and break each piece in half. Gently mix into dough using a wooden spoon. Also stir in marshmallows gently with wooden spoon. Form dough into balls and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until tops of cookies are golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then move to wire rack to cool completely.

Tags: Candy, chocolate, Cookies, Graham Crackers, S'mores

Posted in Cookies | 5 Comments »

Monday, July 11th, 2011

Hot Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Recipe adapted from What Megan’s Making

Just before starting the blog I made my first chocolate buttercream frosting. I honestly couldn’t tell you what recipe I tried, but I remember thinking that it could be better. Since then I have been wanting to try different recipes to find “the one”. Fast forward one year, and I think I may have found it!

Megan used this frosting to top off a dark chocolate cake, which I think would taste fabulous. I was mainly interested in trying just the frosting, so I just whipped up a box of plain yellow cake mix. My first reaction was a little mixed and Derek didn’t care for it. Once I actually tried it on a cupcake (because frosting obviously has to be sampled before decorating, right?) I was completely sold. I brought it in to work so my friend (the bride) could sample, and she was sold too! I ended up using this frosting on both yellow and chocolate cupcakes at the wedding, and it got rave reviews.

There is really only one extra step beyond any other basic buttercream, and that is mixing together the heavy cream and hot chocolate mix. Unless you want very thin frosting, you probably won’t end up using that entire mixture. I used about 3/4 of it. I don’t think the hot chocolate flavor necessarily stands out a lot in this frosting, but regardless the taste and texture are amazing! Enjoy!

Hot Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
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1 ½ sticks salted butter, room temperature
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
2 ¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk
½ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup hot chocolate mix

Cream together butter, cocoa powder and salt. Add powdered sugar, then milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together heavy cream and hot chocolate mix. Slowly add to frosting until you’ve reached the desired consistency (I used about ¾ of the mixture). Will frost one dozen cupcakes or one (two layer) cake.

Tags: Buttercream, chocolate, No Bake

Posted in Buttercream | 3 Comments »

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Strawberry Ice Cream

Recipe adapted from Liv Life

A few weeks ago I went strawberry picking for the first time in my life! With the help of my best friend we picked a total of almost 32 pounds of strawberries, and I now have enough strawberry freezer jam to hopefully last until next summer. It’s prime strawberry picking time right now, so if you are looking for recipes to use them up I highly recommend this one.

In the past I was always nervous that homemade ice cream just wouldn’t be as good as the store bought stuff I grew up with, but with each batch that I make I learn just how wrong I was. This ice cream was incredibly delicious and packed full of strawberry flavor. As with most recipes, you can adjust the amount of strawberries you use depending on what kind of flavor you’d like. Enjoy!

Strawberry Ice Cream
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1 pint sliced strawberries
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream
Scant ½ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Slice strawberries as large or small as you would like them ( I left a few larger pieces) and place in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl combine the eggs, sugar and salt. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan heat the heavy cream over medium heat, stirring constantly. Heat until cream is hot, but not boiling. Add a few tablespoons of the cream to the egg mixture and stir. Add a few more tablespoons and mix again. Repeat this once more. You want to raise the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them. Pour the egg mixture back into the cream pot and heat slowly, stirring constantly for several minutes. Pour this mixture into a new bowl and add milk, vanilla and strawberries. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to make the ice cream, add mixture to your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, place in an airtight container and freeze for a few hours before serving.

Tags: Ice cream, No Bake, strawberry

Posted in Ice Cream | 4 Comments »