An Attempt at S'More Cupcakes

Let me explain why this is an attempt.

These cupcakes epic failed.  And I know that's practically an archaic term now, but it's so unbelievably true.  They epic failed.

And I know exactly what I did wrong.

I'm sure these would have turned out absolutely delicious, except that I sort of managed to mess them all up.

The result: cupcakes that weren't baked through at ALL on the bottom half and collapsed in the middle.  In other words: nasty.

And then I realized one thing that had gone wrong - the pan I'd put beneath the cupcake pan to catch drips had been literally underneath the cupcake pan.  As in, the pans were stacked.

Well, no wonder the bottom half wasn't baked.

And as for the collapsing, I have no idea.  I'm sure a thoroughly-baked lower half would have helped with the collapsing issue, and the collapsing isn't really a big deal.  Just cover it up with an extra marshmallow and ganache, like so in the picture above.

This recipe was from Bakerella, and you will find it here.  Where she did it right.

But I'll break it down for you anyway:

Make your graham cracker cupcake batter...

And your chocolate cupcake batter...

And then your graham cracker topping.  Try not to eat this right away.  It's gonna be hard, but you can make it.

Pour in some graham cracker batter and top with the topping..,

And marshmallow halves.

Top with the chocolate cupcake batter...

And more gorgeous graham cracker topping.

Bake as directed.  Hopefully yours won't spread out over the top of the pan as much as mine did.  Try actually filling the cupcake cups 3/4 of the way full.  And the drip pan does not go directly beneath the cupcakes!  No, no, no, no, no!  Also, me being a person suffering from the common sweet tooth, I found the ganache to be too bitter.  Add some sugar to the ganache and taste it if that's the case with you, too.

Well, on to the next recipe!
-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

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

S'More Pops

So.  I got this idea from Love from the Oven, except that of course I had to go and change it up a little.  I love all her ideas for these pops, so I decided to combine a bunch of them.

This is perfect for summer (which it is right now :D) and giving away to friends, teachers, etc.  They're sorta messy to eat though - graham cracker crumbs everywhere! :P

This recipe is just for 12 pops.  Feel free to double, triple, whatever the recipe.  Make as many as you'd like!

S'More Pops

REQUIRES CHILLING TIME

16 full sheets graham crackers

12 marshmallows

1 bag chocolate chips

pizza cutter

12 lollipop sticks

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Break 12 graham cracker sheets in half and lay 12 halves out on a wax-lined baking sheet.  Save remaining 4 full sheets for later.
3. Cut each marshmallow in half with the pizza cutter and place 2 on top of each graham cracker-half.
4. Bake 2-3 minutes.  Immediately squish remaining 12 halves on top of melted marshmallows and stick lollipop sticks into the side of each s'more.
5. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.
6. Crush remaining 4 graham cracker sheets, not too finely.
7. Melt chocolate chips in saucepan or double boiler.
8. Tear off excess marshmallow from pops.
9. Dip each pop into melted chocolate and then dip into crushed graham crackers.  Lay on wax paper.  Repeat with each pop.
10. Chill 1 hour.  Makes 12 pops.

Breaking it down:

Place half-marshmallows on half-graham cracker sheets...

Bake 2-3 minutes at 425 degrees F. and stick halves on top and lollipops in the side.  Trim off the excess marshmallow.

Crush graham crackers...

And place in a small bowl for easier dipping.

I dipped each marshmallow only halfway in, so that you can see the graham cracker beneath the chocolate.  It's more artsy that way, and less dense, if you're interested in that kind of thing.  Hard-core chocoholics, ignore what I just said.

Take a bite (over a napkin so you don't spill too much!) and enjoy the yum of a chilled reverse s'more!

Happy summer!
-JJ

Rocky Road Brownies

Marshmallows seem to be defining at least half of my recent baking endeavors.  Oh, yeah, and chocolate does that too.  So, put them together and you get a recipe for Rocky Road Brownies!  (My own, thank you, with inspiration from Martha Stewart and a love of milk chocolate morsels. :D)

Rocky Road Brownies

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup mini marshmallows

1/2 cup cashews

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter and 1 cup of milk chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and pour into medium/large bowl.
3. Stir in sugars and salt, add eggs, and then mix in the flour.  Mix thoroughly, then pour into an 8x8 prepared or nonstick baking pan.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, then sprinkle on remaining chocolate chips, marshmallows, and cashews.
5. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool in the pan.  Cut into bars of desired size.  Makes anywhere from 9-16 servings.

Of course, I love huge brownies, so I cut the pan three by three...  Sooo filling.  But delicious anyway.  :) And let's break it down:

Cut your butter...

Combine with the chocolate chips...

And melt, stirring constantly until smooth.

Transfer to a large bowl and add sugars and salt...

Stir...

Add eggs...

Stir...

Add flour...

...and mix thoroughly.  Pour into an 8x8 baking pan...

Bake for 30 minutes...

Then sprinkle on chocolate chips...

Add marshmallows and cashews...

Bake for another 5 minutes...

Then cut into yummylicious bars!

Note: You may want to try sprinkling the cashews first, then the marshmallows, then the chocolate chips...  The brownies will probably look prettier and stick together better.  Mine had cashews falling off everywhere.  So remember, the recipe is NOT always perfect!

But still yummy!

-JJ