Baking Junkie

Tag: Candy

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, March 7th, 2011

Whopper Blondies

Recipe adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Right now I have 166 recipes saved in my Google Reader. Add in various different recipes I have bookmarked from all over the internet and the number is over 200. Also add in recipes that I have archived in FoodBuzz and have printed or pulled out from magazines and the list approaches 300 (and I add to it everyday)!

Even if I stopped blogging I would still be collecting all of these recipes because they all look and sound so amazing that I can’t wait to try them! Instead of finding a new recipe and making it right away I am really making a conscious effort to plow through some of the recipes that I have saved from almost a year ago now, starting with these blondies.

Growing up I remember Whoppers being one of my favorite candies, and still ranks up there today. A few years ago I started adding the candy to cookies and I was thrilled with the result, so I knew that adding them to blondies would be excellent as well. The malted milk powder and dark brown sugar give these an amazing taste and perfectly chewy texture. I now have an entire container of malted milk powder that I can’t wait to use up.

I did find that after several days these became hard and dry, so I would recommend a) bringing them to your friends/neighbors/coworkers, b) cutting the recipe in half and making a smaller pan, or c) eating them all yourself!

Enjoy!

Whopper Blondies
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1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
1 ¾ cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp malted milk powder
1 ½ cups Whoppers candy (or any other malted milk ball candy)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and malted milk powder. Set aside.

With an electric mixer beat together the butter and brown sugar until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Chop the malted milk balls with a food processor (leaving some large pieces). You can also place the candy in a gallon size plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Pour candy into batter and stir until combined.

Place batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan and smooth until spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Tags: Bars, Blondies, Candy

Posted in Blondies | 9 Comments »

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Chocolate Malt Ball Cookies (Whopper Cookies)

Recipe by Aimee

Are you guys familiar with Whoppers? Chocolatey malty goodness is more like it. I used to eat these a lot as a kid, and last fall I rediscovered them. I started to wonder what it would taste like if I substituted chocolate chips for Whoppers in a cookie, and that’s how these yummy treats were born. To me what makes these cookies so great is the malt powder you get by crushing the candy. It makes them stand out against any chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had. They are my dad’s favorite cookie now, and I have a really hard time resisting the dough. Enjoy!

Chocolate Malt Ball Cookies

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1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups flour
1 box of Whoppers (movie theater size)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat together shortening and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Whisk together baking soda, salt, and flour, and add to dough mixture until fully combined. Empty box of candy into a 1 gallon Ziploc bag and seal. Crush candy with a rolling pin (feel free to take out some aggression here), and add to dough. Roll into small balls (or use cookie scoop) and bake for 10 minutes. Makes 2 1/2 dozen (depending on how much of the dough you sample!).

Tags: Candy, chocolate, Cookies

Posted in Cookies | No Comments »