Bars Fantastic

For any of you that live in Utah or have visited Temple Square know that the Lion House has great food! My first experience that I remember of the Lion House was at my grandparents wedding anniversary dinner. They held the dinner there and I remember all the food being incredible! The second time I went was with a church group and we just went for lunch. I was hooked. Now every time I am around Temple Square I have to stop in. They specialize in comfort food and their Chicken Pot Pie is to die for! Fortunately they are not greedy with their recipes and have numerous cookbooks, many of which I own. My newest cookbook of theirs is the Cookies & Sweets book. YUM-O! It's a dangerous book. I'm sharing one of my favorite recipes from this book today.

The base of this bar is just like any chocolate chip cookie bar but instead of adding everything into the batter, you layer it all in the middle. Genius! You will love it! Make sure you wrap up half of the pan to take to a friend or you just might eat the entire pan in one sitting.

Bars Fantastic

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup caramel bits (or caramels cut into 6 pieces each)

1 cup Skor bar bits

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream butter, brown sugar, and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until fluffy. With mixer running on low speed, add salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour (in that order). Mix until well incorporated.

Line a 9x13 pan with plastic wrap and spray the wrap. Spread half of dough evenly into pan, the easiest way to do this is by spraying your hands with cooking spray and using them to pat it down. Lift plastic wrap and dough carefully out of pan and set aside. Spray pan with more cooking spray. Spread the other half of dough evenly in pan, again I used my hands. Sprinkle with white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, caramel bits, and Skor bits. Carefully turn the other layer of dough onto the chips and bits. Press down gently. Sprinkle nuts on top of dough and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool, cut and enjoy!

A plate for a friend :)

Adapted from The Lion House Cookies and Sweets Cookbook

Brownie Cupcakes with Ganache filling and Marshmallow Frosting

I am always in the mood for brownies. Always. Although sometimes the occasion is more suited for cupcakes. I watch Cupcake Wars every week on Food Network and love it. My hubby is always asking me to make cupcakes since I watch the show so much but I'm more of a cake person. I'm not actually a huge fan of frosting and cupcakes always seem to have more frosting than cake.

When I found these cupcakes I knew I would love them. The frosting is so light and gooey, kind of like the middle of a roasted marshmallow. Brownies, marshmallows, portion controlled (as long as you eat only one, I dare you to try). What could be better? How about filling the little cavity that forms as they settle with ganache! Ah the simple brilliance of baking! These were SOOO good! I think I'll use a few more exclamations just so you'll get the point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
(Hehe)

Brownie Cupcakes with Ganache Filling and Marshmallow Frosting

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk

4 large egg whites

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350°. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, light-brown sugar and cocoa powder. Pour in melted butter and use a wood spoon to stir until combine. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in milk. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combine (batter will be thick).

Divide batter among 12 paper lined muffin cups filling each about 2/3 full (about 1/4 cup batter in each). Bake in preheated oven 16 - 20 minutes (lesser for gooier brownies). Allow to cool in muffin tin several minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Cool completely then fill the little cavity with Chocolate Ganache and pipe Marshmallow Frosting over cupcakes and toast edges of frosting with a kitchen torch if desired. 

For Chocolate Ganache: Heat chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small saucepan. Stirring constantly, heat until melted and combined. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

For Frosting: Add egg whites, granulated sugar and cream of tarter to a heat proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a saucepan filled with a few inches of simmering water. Heat mixture, whisking constantly until egg whites are very warm to the touch, about 4 minutes (mixture so register 160 degrees on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat and transfer bowl to electric stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment. Beat mixture beginning on low speed and gradually increasing to high speed, until stiff glossy peaks form, about 6 - 8 minutes. Add vanilla during the last 10 seconds of mixing. For best results serve immediately. 

Oh yeah! Look at that ganache swirling through the frosting! YUM-O!

 Recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Classy.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Today is my BIRTHDAY! Yay! So to celebrate I am posting one of my FAVORITE cakes! It's absolutely wonderful! Rich, dark, and seductive: everything you want in a man...... And cake.

I actually made this cake when my gluten-free sister-in-law came over for New Year's and I decided it was the perfect time to make it. It is rich, chocolatey, dense, and delightful! I love the brownie texture and the whipped cream with a little sour cream made it taste slightly cheesecake-y. This is definitely a cake I will be making over and over and over and over again! It's seriously good. And really simple. Try it, I know you'll love it!

 

Flourless Chocolate Cake

• 1  cup unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
• 1/3  cup  unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for the pan and dusting
• 1 1/4  cups  heavy cream
• 8  ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 5  eggs
• 1  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/2  cup sour cream
  
• 1/3  cup  confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and dust with cocoa powder.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the butter with ¼ cup of the heavy cream over medium-low heat until the butter is melted. Add the chocolate and stir until melted and smooth; remove from heat.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, and cocoa powder; whisk in the chocolate mixture.
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until puffed and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 1 hour. Run a knife around the edge of the cake before unmolding.
5. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream with the sour creme and confectioners sugar until soft peaks form. Dust the cake with cocoa powder and serve with the whipped cream.

Adapted from Real Simple

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Peppermint Bark Rice Krispy Treats

Do you have a ton of candy canes left over from your holiday celebrations? I totally do! I think I may still have some from last year's holidays. Then I saw these peppermint marshmallows at the store and had to pick them up!

I made these for my Sunday School class and they loved them! I actually am not a fan of white chocolate so I made them again but just left that off. Give them a try, they are pretty great with the extra whole marshmallows in the middle. Mmmm.

Peppermint Bark Rice Krispy Treats

 4 Tbsp butter plus more for greasing the pan

6 cups mini Peppermint Marshmallows

6 cup Rice Krispy Treats

2 cups white chocolate chips

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 tsp oil

2 candy canes, crushed

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add 4 cups marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add cereal and 2 cups marshamallows. Stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Melt milk chocolate chips and spread over treats. Melt white chocolate chips and oil using this tip. Spread over slightly cooled chocolate. Top with candy canes and press in slightly. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

Double the Nutella Cookies

You know when your just in the mood for chocolate. Basically every sing day. Well, this is one of those recipes that you could whip up even on the busiest and craziest of days. These are fantastic! Chocolatey, chewy, Nutella-y, and superb warm or cooled.

I had to take a plate to my neighbors just so I wouldn't eat the entire batch straight from the oven! She ate 3 just while I was there for the five minutes. I take that as a compliment. This is what Santa is going to get this year at my house for sure!

Nutella Frosted Nutella Cookies

3/4 cup Nutella plus more for frosting

2 Tbsp butter 

1 large egg

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°. With a hand held mixer beat together Nutella, butter, and egg. Mix in baking soda and salt. Add in flour and mix just until incorporated. Using a tablespoon, scoop out dough and roll into balls. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or baking mat. You can put theses pretty close together, the don't spread out much. Bake 8-10 minutes, just until set. Mine were perfect at 8 minutes but I didn't crowd them too much. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minute. Move to a wire rack. Heat up about 1/2 cup Nutella in the microwave for 15 seconds. Using a small spoon (a baby spoon works best), spoon Nutella onto cookies and swirl around. Tada! I chocolate fix in 15 minutes! That's pretty awesome!
Makes about 20 cookies, definitely enough to share but I'll leave that up to you.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Pancake Syrup

So we had this tradition growing up where all of us kids would get to choose the food we ate all day on our birthday. It's something that I loved, cost no extra money, and really made my day special. I have decided to always do this with my kids too. Well, it was my son's 5th birthday last week. He loves breakfast more than any other meal of the day. One of his favorite breakfast foods is banana pancakes which we make on a weekly basis. He also loves chocolate chips, and he LOVES peanut butter! So I thought "why not add all of these things into a pancake!"

I have actually made something similar to this before and called them "chunky monkey" or "Curious George" pancakes. But they are really sweet for breakfast so it's not something I do often. Like only once a year. But they are SOOO good!

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Peanut Butter Pancake Syrup

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1 Tbsp oil

1 egg

1/2 cup milk, plus more to get to desired consistency

1 ripe banana, mashed with fork

Handful of mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup pancake syrup

For syrup: Heat peanut butter for one minute. Add syrup and mix.

For Pancakes: Mix four, baking powder, salt, oil, egg and milk together with whisk. Add milk to get to desired consistency. Add in banana and chocolate chips. Use a 1/4 measuring cup and pour onto a medium heated griddle. Flip after about 3 minutes or when your pancakes look like this:

They should look like this:

Take off griddle after a couple more minutes. Or you can always use a tablespoon and make dippers!

Either way you can't go wrong!

Place any leftovers in a single layer on a pan and freeze for 30 minutes (or longer). Place in a freezer bag and freeze until you need them. I put mine in the toaster to reheat but you can use a microwave or toaster oven.

Happy Birthday little man! Can't believe how far you've come in five years!

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Candy Cane Buttercream

I LOVE hot chocolate! Like, willing to spend eight bucks at the coffee shop to get the good stuff. So when the Young Women in my ward came to my door, full of flattery and telling me how great of a cook I was, I said "Of course I'll make cupcakes for your program." I can't resist flattery. Or a reason to bake. I always can use a good reason to turn that oven on. And I really wanted to make some hot chocolate cupcakes.

These are great! Moist and rich and the perfect amount of sweetness. I actually got a little adventurous and threw some Marshmallow Bits in them this time but that was a mistake, they completely disintegrated while baking. I'm just going to leave those out of the recipe. They would be really fun as a decoration though. 

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Candy Cane Buttercream

For the cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 packet Hot Chocolate

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup liquid creamer (Irish cream flavor is great!)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° and line muffin pans with cupcake liners. In bowl of stand mixer combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Heat milk and creamer until just warm. Mix hot chocolate packet in. Add eggs, hot chocolate/milk mixture, vegetable oil and vanilla to dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter. Bake for 16 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling.

For buttercream:

 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
6 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 – 1/2 cup milk
4 candy canes plus 2 more for garnish

Place candy canes in blender or food processor and pulse until candy canes are mostly ground, with just a few little pieces. In bowl of stand mixer beat butter until creamy. Gradually add in confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add milk until you reach desired consistency. Add candy canes and mix well. Place buttercream in piping bag fitted with a large star tip and frost cupcakes. Garnish with crushed candy canes.

  

Did you love these cupcakes?! Rate them on Tasty Kitchen 
We were featured on Red Head Can Decorate Christmas Party!

 

 

White Chocolate Pomegranate Blondies

We had a crazy busy weekend here in Utah. But so much fun! We were planning on going to Idaho for my father's birthday but a freak storm came and destroyed our plans. We were really looking forward to getting away so we decided to have a "staycation" instead. We booked a room at the Hampton Inn because they have a pool and a hot breakfast. We went to the UCCU Family Festival at UVU. Tons of fun! You should definitely take your kids next year if you live in Utah County. We swam, ate lots of food, shopped for fun (we never shop anymore, except when necessary), and relaxed in front of Disney Junior. It was the perfect weekend. But it also didn't allow anytime for cooking. So Monday I decided we needed a little treat and I whipped up some of these!

Mmm, this is the perfect fall/winter treat. Which is great because our fall has kind of meshed in with our winter. I love the white chocolate with the pomegranate arils. Plus these are so easy to whip up! The hardest part is deseeding the pomegranate and melting the white chocolate.

To deseed the pomegranate: Get a bowl of cold water. Cut your pomegranate in half (not like an apple where you would cut from stem down. Cut around the "belly"). Hold the pomegranate loosely in your hand cut side down and take the back of a spoon and thwack (I love that word!) the pomegranate all around it and shake out the arils into the bowl of water. The water will allow any membrane that comes loose to rise and the seeds to sink.

To melt white chocolate: This is actually really easy. If you try to melt white chocolate like any other chocolate it will seize up within seconds and form a crumbly mess. You can always melt your white chocolate over a double boiler over simmering water but that's entirely too many dishes for me. Here's what I do. Put 1/4 cup white chocolate chips in a glass or ceramic dish with 1/2-1 tsp vegetable or coconut oil. Now microwave the chocolate in 20 second increments at 40% power, stirring after each round. When the chocolate gets to a stirrable consistency, even though not completely melted, just stir until smooth instead of putting it back into the microwave. See, not so hard.

White Chocolate Pomegranate Blondies  

3/4 cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/2 - 1 cup pomegranate arils

1 cup white chocolate chips  
   

Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup confectioners sugar  

1 Tbsp grated orange peel

1/2 cup white chocolate, melted

1/2 - 1 cup pomegranate arils 

   

In a microwave, melt butter; stir in brown sugar. Transfer to bowl of mixer and cool to room temperature. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Beat in cinnamon, salt, baking powder and flour. Stir in pomegranate arils and white chocolate (batter will be thick).  

Spread into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake at 350° for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack.  This is best if you let cool for at least an hour.

For frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and orange peel until blended. Gradually add the melted white chocolate; beat until blended. Frost brownies. Sprinkle with pomegranate arils. Drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate if desired. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator. 

Serve this with some velvety hot chocolate and you have the perfect afternoon treat on a cold day!