Candy Bar Brownies

Sorry for the long delay - I've been bogged down by such a busy schedule. -.-

But now I'm back, and with candy bar brownies!  I've made these once before, using Joanne Fluke's recipe, but I didn't find the brownie taste quite to my liking.  I'm not sure how well my best brownie recipe would work with these, because then they'd be soooo insanely rich, but you could try it!

Here's the very non-specific recipe:

Candy Bar Brownies

1 family size (9x13) brownie mix

all the ingredients that the mix calls for

enough candy bars (any kind) to cover a 9x9 pan

1. Preheat oven as directed by the box and grease a 9x9 pan.
2. Prepare your brownie mix as directed.
3. Spread half of the mix into your prepared pan.
4. Layer your candy bars over the top of the brownie layer.
5. Spread the remaining batter on top.
6. Bake for about 60 minutes.  It depends on your oven, so keep checking the brownies to see if they're done.
7. Let cool on a wire rack until only slightly warm before you cut the brownies.  Do NOT cut warm.  Makes about 16 brownies.

So, as you can see, it took about this many (21 singles) Kit-Kats to cover my pan.  The original recipe is doubled, so that it makes a 9x13 pan.

You can use any brownie recipe you like - but the box mix is sure to work.  It really depends on the taste you want - and you rich you want these brownies to be!  And if you use Kit-Kats like I did, don't be surprised when there's solid, crunchy Kit-Kat in there.  If you use solid milk chocolate, for example, it'll just be like a more fudgy brownie.

I don't recommend using Snickers or Milky Ways or any other thick candy bar, though - try to keep your candy flat.  I do recommend making these, however!

Enjoy!
-JJ

Attempted Chocolate Pudding Pie

As pretty as it looks, this is a fail that I am not proud of.

I tried to make Great Grandma's Chocolate Pudding from Joanne Fluke's Cream Puff Murder, I really did.  But despite my attempts at tempering the egg yolks and the chocolate, I somehow managed to scramble those yolks.  And the chocolate did not melt all the way.

But put it in a graham cracker crust, top it with whipped cream, and feed it to unsuspecting relatives - they'll never know the difference! ;)

So, this was a failure.  Just thought I should put this out there because I do make mistakes sometimes, and anyway these are pretty pictures. :)

Let me know if you have any success making this pudding into a pie!  The recipe can be found here.
-JJ

Extra-Chocolatey Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars

Yes.

A thousand times yes.

Once I saw this in Joanne Fluke's Devil's Food Cake Murder, I was in love.

Completely in love with this recipe.  Even the name screams CHOCOHOLIC!

Okay, in the original recipe, the frosting is just a suggestion at the end of the actual recipe.  But HEAR ME OUT before you decide that it's too much chocolate!

One, the fudge frosting makes these look more like brownies and less like little cookie bars of death by chocolate chips.

Two, chocolate chips exposed to hot air (but not long enough to melt) taste sort of sketch.

Three, the frosting holds the whole cookie bar together and makes it look thicker.

Four, if you're only making a half-pan of this (8x8), then you'll have half a can of sweetened condensed milk leftover.  And if you're like me, the temptation of plain sweetened condensed milk sitting in your refrigerator cannot be resisted, no matter how much you try.  But if you make the frosting too, then you won't have any sweetened condensed milk leftover.  This is a good thing.

Five, it's more chocolate.  And that is never wrong.

So now you have my reasons.

I have made this twice so far.  And both times it received standing ovations.  Well, not really, but I got a lot of compliments, okay?

The first time I made the whole batch, with frosting.  The second time I made a half-batch, again with frosting.  I think the frosting adds a lot, though.  It makes it seem like the whole bar is going to be smooth and then you hit the cereal and the Oreo crust and it's like CRUNCH.

What's that?  Oreo crust?  Cereal?  What's in these things?  Let me break it down for you.  In order.

Oreo crust.  Semisweet chocolate chips.  Mini marshmallows.  Sweetened condensed milk.  White chocolate chips.  Chocolate cereal.  Milk chocolate chips.  Optional but highly recommended fudge frosting.

Ohhhhh yes.

About the cereal.  (Yes, I know, shut up already we want the recipe, but you might just want to pay attention to this.)

The original recipe calls for Cocoa Puffs or Cocoa Krispies.  Now, I have grown up on Cheerios and Oatmeal Squares, and I have never had these - and for good reason.  There is NOTHING healthy in them.  Like absolutely zilch.  And while these cookie bars are the opposite of healthy, I feel a lot better if I try to stick something half-healthy in there.

Chocolate Chex, baby.  It exists, and it's good.  And it's sort of healthy.  And it has plain Rice Chex in there too - which gives the cookie bars some more contrasting color.

Also, it crunches really truly delightfully when you take a bite.  It's an experience that you don't want to miss out on.  I'm serious.  That crunching noise it makes seriously has made my day.  Really.

Oh, right, also - WARNING: You will become addicted to these bars.  You will want to make lots and lots of them.  You will become a chocoholic like meeee. *evil chuckle*

Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars - with Chocolate Frosting

2/3 package Oreos (approximately)

1 stick butter

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

2 cups miniature marshmallows

2 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup white chocolate chips

2 cups Chocolate Chex

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 9x13 inch pan.
2. Crush Oreos and measure out 1 1/2 cups.
3. Melt stick of butter in large microwave-safe bowl.  Add crushed Oreos and combine thoroughly.
4. Spread Oreo mixture into prepared pan.  Sprinkle extra crushed Oreo over gaps if necessary.
5. Evenly sprinkle 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips over Oreo crust.
6. Evenly sprinkle miniature marshmallows over the semisweet chocolate chips.
7. Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk over marshmallows as evenly as possible.
8. Sprinkle white chocolate chips over that as evenly as possible.
9. Sprinkle Chex over white chips as evenly as possible.
10. Sprinkle milk chocolate chips over Chex as evenly as possible.
11. Press down on layers with the back of a metal spatula.
12. Bake 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
13. While the bars cool, melt remaining 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.
14. Once melted, add remaining can of sweetened condensed milk to the chips and stir vigorously for about 2 minutes.
15. Remove from heat and immediately spread on fully-cooled bars.
16. Once the frosting on top has cooled, cut into bars and refrigerate covered.  Makes 24 bars.

Breaking it down:

Melt the butter...

Combine with those crushed Oreos...

And spread out a beautiful Oreo crust for yourself.

Sprinkle with those semisweet chocolate chips...

Then the marshmallows...

And then pour on that sweetened condensed milk that I've ranted about so many many times.

Sprinkle on those white chocolate chips...

And the Chocolate Chex (because if you're using another cereal you SHOULDN'T BE)...

And at last, the milk chocolate chips.

Press it down and bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  So delightful.

Whip up your frosting while all this loveliness cools...

And frost those puppies!  Delish!

And of course, while you enjoy probably 5 million milligrams of caffeine and pure chocoholic high heaven, eat it with a fork. xD

You will be in love.  I guarantee it.
-JJ

Key Lime Pie

Now, first off, I'll apologize for the crappy lighting on this picture of the pie.  I'm sorry.  Now I'll tell you why it happened.

This pie is the dessert I baked in Minnesota for the Fourth of July.  We'd have a nice ol' grill and a piece of pie to finish off the night as we listened to fireworks exploding in the distance.  (Watching them was not an option - we didn't have lawn chairs and you do not want to sit outside at night in northern Minnesota for more than one minute.  Then you're just a mosquito buffet table.)

But, surprise surprise, a storm hit and our power was out.  You can see the beginnings of the storm, sort of, in the window.

Luckily, the pie had already been baked, but we had to eat it in the dark.  Which means only that one picture at the top of the post of the finished thing, all nicely sliced up.

So as you can tell from the pictures, I made this at the cabin, on that beautiful lime green table.  (See what I did there?)  It's seriously the smallest kitchen I have ever been in that isn't inside a hotel.  Actually, I've been in hotel room kitchens that are bigger than that kitchen.  But not as well-stocked.  No, we've got all the spices.  And like three pounds of raisins.  Not kidding.

Anyway, a key lime pie is pretty easy to make, and rather than just use the recipe off the back of the key lime juice bottle for the zillionth time, I decided I'd try Joanne Fluke's recipe from, you guessed it, Key Lime Pie Murder.

It's lighter and fluffier and easy to make and very good.  And yes, this is made with a meringue, and yes, you absolutely should make this with the meringue.*  If you don't want to make a meringue, then don't use this recipe and use the one off the back of the key lime juice bottle.

Key Lime Pie

REQUIRES EGG WHITES AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

1 graham cracker crust

5 eggs

14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup key lime juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

pinch of salt

1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk one whole egg.  *Add 4 egg yolks, reserving the whites for the meringue in a separate bowl.  Whisk the egg and yolks until they are a uniform color.
3. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and sour cream.
4. In a small bowl, combine lime juice and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.
5. Pour sugared juice into the egg mixture and thoroughly combine.
6. Pour filling into graham cracker crust and bake 20 minutes.  Once the pie has baked, place it on a wire rack and increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
7. Once egg whites are at room temperature, add cream of tartar and salt to the bowl and beat until the whites form soft peaks.
8. Continue to beat while sprinkling in 1/3 cup sugar.  Beat until egg whites form firm peaks.
9. Spread meringue on top of pie with a spatula, sealing it to the edges of the crust.  Smooth the meringue over or dot it with the back of the spatula to form peaks.
10. Bake for 12 minutes.
11. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.  Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Breaking it down:

Beat egg and yolks...

...and add sour cream and sweetened condensed milk.

In a separate bowl, stir together the key lime juice and the sugar.

Add that to the original egg mixture and stir well.

And when you're taking pictures, be sure to reapply nail polish!

Pour into your graham cracker crust and bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees.  Then, after removing the pie, turn your oven up to 350 degrees.

A note about the crust: when I was making this with my godsister, we followed some instructions on the crust package to make it "golden."  This involved brushing it with an egg or possibly an egg yoke, baking it for about 5 minutes, and allowing it to cool completely before filling it.  I couldn't tell the difference between a regular crust and a golden crust, but if you can, go for it!
Anyway, make your meringue and top your pie.

I chose the peaking style for the meringue.  It is unbelievably fun to do.

And it turns out like this!

Beautifully golden and scrumptious. :D

Needless to say, everyone enjoyed the pie.

Even despite the storm!

Have a great day,
-JJ

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

Best Brownies EVER

Remember those brownies from way back when?

Well, these are those.  But way better.

The only difference?

Frosting, baby.

The previous frosting was okay, but nothing more than that.  The new frosting that I used on these brownies was from none other than the amazing Joanne Fluke - her Fudge Cupcake frosting recipe.  And best of all, it only uses two ingredients: chocolate chips, which are awesome by anyone's standard, and food of the gods: sweetened condensed milk.

Try mixing amazing with heaven and putting it on a brownie.

Heck yeah.

Fudge Frosting
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1. Melt chocolate chips in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula.
2. Once melted, stir in sweetened condensed milk and stir constantly for two minutes, or until the frosting is shiny and of spreading consistency.
3. Remove from heat and spread on cooled brownies.

Breaking it down...
Chocolate chips.  YUM.

Melt them.  Try not to eat it now.

Stir in that ambrosia.  Great, now I'm hungry.

Cook 2 minutes and spread.

Once you try these brownies, your life will never be the same.  I suggest cutting them into small bars.  Very small bars.  They are incredibly rich and amazingly awesome.