S'Mores Bars

First, an announcement: I'm going to New Mexico for a week and a half!!  Woot!!  And I'll be sure to bring back plenty of pictures this time.  I promise - this time I actually will charge my camera!

So, I won't be posting for a little bit.  Sadface. :(

But I do have one last recipe for you before I leave: S'mores Bars!

Now, there is a story behind these bars.

For countless summers, our neighborhood has hosted a block party sometime between the 4th of July and Labor Day.  There would be games and pet parades and a potluck and glowsticks and all that good stuff.

And each year, the family who hosted it would bring these bars.

I couldn't eat enough of them.  They were heavenly.  They were one of my favorite parts of the entire summer.  And that's saying a lot.

And I had no idea how to make them.

Until I started reading the Hannah Swensen mysteries.

It was the same recipe, except called Rocky Road Bar Cookies and it had added cashews.  So I modified it to be the same as the block party bars.  You can find the original recipe in Carrot Cake Murder.

You have got to make these.  They are pretty easy and really delicious.  They may look a little weird if you've never had them before, but veteran chocoholics like me know scrumptious when we see it.  And these are scrumptious.  Trust me.

S'Mores Bars

12 graham cracker sheets (approximately)

2 cups mini marshmallows

1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

1 stick butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease or Pam a 9x13 baking pan.
2. Lay out graham crackers in pan.  You will have to break some in half or in quarters, and they may overlap.
3. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over graham crackers.
4. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over marshmallows.
5. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat, stirring constantly.  Stir in brown sugar, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
6. Drizzle evenly over pan.
7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until marshmallows are golden.  Cool in pan on a wire rack.
8. Once cool, cut into bars and serve.  Store covered chilled or at room temperature.  Makes 24-36 bars.

Breaking it down:

Lay out your graham crackers like so...

Sprinkle evenly with marshmallows...

Sprinkle on those chocolate chips. :D

Melt your butter...

with brown sugar...

Remove from heat and add vanilla...

Pour over your pan...

And bake about 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, let cool, and serve.  They are delicious.

And now, my fork rant.  At the block parties, I had no choice but to eat these with my fingers - which is fun and all, but it gets your fingers very sticky.  Thus, the fork.

I love forks.

I will seriously eat anything that I bake with a fork.  Brownies, bars, cake, pie, muffins, cupcakes.  Forks rule the world!

Cookies and donuts are like my only exceptions.  So that's why there's a picture of a fork in nearly every post.  Maybe I should design my own fork.  The Lemonade Fork.  Yeah, that could work.

Enjoy these!
-JJ

Minnesota

So, as you may know, I went to Minnesota with my family and my godparents' family.  We stayed at their cabin up by the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

Isn't it nice?  It's right on a lake...

...and right next to an island.

The island is a great little place.  My godsister and I found a little baby turtle there this time!  No pictures, sorry - the camera I use is not waterproof.

There are little blueberry patches on the island - which is really small.  As in, you can walk across it in less than 30 seconds if you're not afraid to step on rocks or lichen or moss.  And it's literally right across from the cabin.

Just jump off the dock and swim!  The inside of the cabin is cozy and colorful:

And my godparents brought their cat, Pepper.

She is incredibly good at sitting still.

And being fuzzy!

I swear, she could be like a cat fashion model or something.

So that was my trip to Minnesota.

Yes, we did eat at the Cheese Factory Restaurant on the way there, but we timed it wrong on the way back.  Fyi, they have amazing blueberry muffins.  Yum.

So, during our vacation, there was a bad storm where we lived that knocked the power out for a couple of days and blew over fences and tore tree limbs.  The parade and the fireworks were cancelled.

And on July 4th in northern Minnesota, we were hit by another storm.  Which knocked our power out for a couple of days.  And the fireworks were cancelled.

Irony.

And that day, I'd decided to bake something for the crowd at the cabin.  Luckily the power went out after it finished baking and while it was cooling.

Can you guess what I made? ;D I'll post it later!

Glad to be home!
-JJ

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars

Mmkay.

An explanation is necessary for most people except those part of the fandom.  This is a picture of Sherlock, the British TV series about Sherlock Holmes set in the modern era.  And it is freaking amazing.

It's intelligent, and intense, and British, and it's got Benedict Cumberbatch (best name EVAR) and Martin Freeman in it.  And they're amazing.  (Fyi, they're both going to be in the Hobbit.  Martin's Bilbo and Ben is Smaug, lol.)

Why am I going on about Sherlock?  Other than the fact that it is pretty much my favorite TV show?

There is a connection.  I promise.  I'm just taking my time getting to it, that's all.

So, since I and my lovely friends love Sherlock so much, we all got together and had ourselves a little Sherlock marathon.  All six 90-minute episodes.  It was a fun time.

And for the marathon, I made these brownie-cookie-bar-things.  There is no word for it, I swear.  Just look at the title - such a mouthful!  (And they are mouthfuls.)

Like many things, these brownie/cookie bars age well.  The second day they were great, the third day they were divine.

And because I am really forgetful, I left out the fudge sauce that's called for in the recipe, which, no doubt, would have made these taste even greater and would have probably made for much better-looking pictures.

As it is, I only have one picture of the final version.  And since I wanted to save that for the end, I thought, Hey, I can just put up a picture of Sherlock instead and ramble on about it for a little while.

Because these things will make up for any time wasted reading this.  I guarantee it.

Also, before you forget, you're going to need this.  Buy it now.

This recipe is from kevinandamanda.com.  Amanda has much nicer pictures than I do, so if you're confused, just go here instead.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars

REQUIRES SOFTENED BUTTER

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

11.5 oz. bag milk chocolate chips

1 package Double Stuf Oreos

1 9x13 brownie mix (family size)

1/4 cup hot fudge topping (optional but recommended)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt with a fork.
4. Add to flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Stir in milk chocolate chips.
5. Spread in the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan. (It is very hard to spread into a wax-paper lined pan.)
6. Top with a layer of Oreos.
7. Prepare brownie mix as directed.  Add hot fudge to the brownie batter if you choose.  Spread batter over Oreos.
8. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake additional 15-25 minutes.  Do not overbake - these should still be gooey in the middle.
9. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.  Store covered at room temperature.

If you have a sharp knife, you can cut these bars into large, brownie-like pieces.  Since I was doing this with a plastic knife (so as to not scratch my nonstick pan - which I still grease just in case, btw!), I just cut around the Oreos - which are still hard.  Don't be surprised like I was.

Breaking it down, with very few pictures this time:

Cream butter with sugars...

Add eggs and vanilla...

Combine dry ingredients and add to the wet...

... and stir in the milk chocolate chips.  The real recipe calls for 2 cups, but since the most common size bag of milk chocolate chips comes in 11.5 ounces, I figured that would be okay.  (And it is.)

YUM.

Spread that in your pan - try it with wax paper, I dare you.  It's not fun.  I had to use chip clips to make it stay in place because this cookie dough is soooo thick.

Top with Oreos - don't worry, you'll have extra! ;)

Pour brownie batter (with fudge sauce!!!) over the top and bake as directed.  I overbaked and it didn't look very pretty or gooey and pretty much burned on the bottom.  Yuck.

Yeah, aren't they beautiful?  Not.  But they still taste really good - especially the middle ones with the brownie batter still fudgy. :3

Don't make my mistakes!  Enjoy!

-JJ

P.S. Are you watching Sherlock yet?  You should be!







...How about now?

Kris' Macaroni Salad

This is a recipe, like the pickle wraps, that I learned from my godmother, Kris.  And, just like the pickle wraps, this recipe is very simple.  And somehow I've found a way to make it even more simple than usual.

See, I didn't have any gherkins.  (By the way, I love gherkins, so this is a really big deal.)

But I did have a jar of relish.  Relish=cut up pickles.  See where I'm going with this?

So really, you can use chopped gherkins or relish - the macaroni salad comes out pretty much the same either way.  If you happen to love gherkins, like moi, then you will notice the difference if you use relish, but it's kind of a good difference.  For lacking gherkins, anyway.

Sorry, I'm really using the word "gherkins" way too much.  I just love typing it.  Gherkins.  Lol!

Kris' Macaroni Salad

1 box ring (anellini) noodles*

1 cup finely chopped green olives (approximately 1 jar)

1 cup finely chopped sweet gherkins OR pickle relish

1 cup Miracle Whip**

1. Cook the noodles according to the directions on the box, omitting the salt.  Once cooked, place in a large bowl.
2. With a wooden spoon, combine noodles with chopped olives and chopped gherkins or relish.
3. Add Miracle Whip and stir until evenly combined.  Taste.  Add more Miracle Whip if necessary. Store covered in refrigerator.

*The only place I've found these noodles is in Minnesota.  If you can't find them where you live, you can use regular ring noodles, but the texture won't be right.

**This HAS to be Miracle Whip.  No mayo.  NONE.

Breaking it down:

Cook your lovely ring noodles.

Chop olives like this:

The chopped gherkins should be about the same size.  Or you can use relish.  Anyway, combine the pickles and the olives and the noodles...

Add Miracle Whip and don't even THINK about using mayo instead...

And give it several good stirs.

There you have it!  A really yummy macaroni salad, perfect to eat with hamburgers or hot dogs or anytime during the summer.

Or anytime at all, really. ;)
-JJ

Pecan Baklava

I'm baaa-aaack!

And I made baklava!

I love baklava.  Actually, scratch that.  I love this baklava.  I'll take pecans over the traditional walnuts any day.

It's just so yummy.

Don't worry, I'll have plenty of Minnesota stories, pics, etc. up in no time.  But now, to make up for my über-long post about that fantastic cookie dough cake, I'm making this short and sweet - which is basically baklava.  Except for the short part.  It's a pretty long process.

I found this recipe on Food Snots.  It's not traditional, as it uses pecans instead of walnuts.  And don't freak over phyllo dough.  You can find it in the frozen section of your grocery store.  Probably.

This is a very moist baklava - and because it's baklava, it's really sweet.  Translation: perfect for me! :D

Pecan Baklava
REQUIRES CHILLING TIME

Baklava:
1 pound chopped pecans
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
14 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
2 sticks butter, melted

Syrup:
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
2. Combine pecans, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Important: lay each sheet of phyllo dough out on a flat surface and cover with a piece of wax paper and a moist paper towel to keep them from drying out.
4. Fit a sheet of phyllo dough into the bottom of your prepared pan, tearing off extra dough if necessary.  Brush with melted butter.
5. Fit another sheet on top and brush with melted butter.
6. Sprinkle some of the pecan mixture over that sheet, then top with another sheet and brush with melted butter.  Continue this pattern (2 butter-brushed sheets, pecan mixture), ending with two sheets brushed with butter.
7. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
9. Cut into 2-inch squares and drizzle with remaining butter.
10. Bake 45 minutes or until golden brown, then remove from oven.
11. While baking, bring sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce and simmer 20 minutes.
12. Drizzle syrup over hot baklava immediately.  Cool completely on wire rack.  Store at room temperature, covered.

Breaking it down:
Combine chopped pecans, sugar, and cinnamon...

Then lay phyllo sheets spread with butter and that mixture out in the pattern mentioned above.  You'll have 6 layers of pecan mixture and, of course, the 14 phyllo sheets.

Be generous with that butter!

Funny story time: I actually forgot to cut the baklava before it went into the oven.  I realized this about 20 minutes into baking.  So I cut it then.  Follow the recipe, and if it turns out much different, get back to me on it!

And this is what it looks like finished:

Gorgeous.  Eat with a fork.  Sooo sweet and sticky! :)

Have a lovely day!

-JJ