Cookie Cake Bars

I'm so happy to be sharing this recipe with you today.  I finally had the energy to bake again yesterday evening.  This was after three days of being sick.  I mean really sick - with fever, chills, body aches and more.  Everyone in my house is currently sick but two of us are all finally on the mend now. 


Therefore I'm thrilled to be sharing an actual, real recipe here.  After all, I thought I'd have to start creating dishes like "Snotty Enchiladas" or "Fried Phlegm with a side of bacon and more phlegm."  Sounds yummy, right? So thankfully, for all of us, I have a yummy pick-me-up, make me feel better again dessert to share. 


These cookie cake bars can be made with any type of chocolate chips you have on hand.  I had white chocolate in my pantry so that is what I used.  You could also try dark chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, m&m's, and any other variety that will wet your whistle.  I used white wheat flour for extra grains to make it even better.  The consistency reminds me of a cookie cake you'd order for a birthday party.  Now you can make your own and save yourself the hefty cost!  I cut mine into squares to help with portion control!  Enjoy!






Cookie Cake Bars
(Makes 24 bars)

Adapted from Taste of Home

1 stick (1/2 cup) of light butter
1 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp of vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups of organic, unbleached flour (I use the King Arthur 100% White Wheat brand)
3/4 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
2 cups of chocolate chips - any type that you like best or have on hand!


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a 13x9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.  In a large size bowl, melt the butter in the microwave.  Then add the brown sugar, eggs and vanilla extract to the butter.  Mix well until all sugar is dissolved.  In a different medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Pour the flour mixture into the butter-sugar liquid.  Stir until completely combined. Make sure there are no dry spots. Fold in your chocolate chips.  Spread the cookie batter across the 13x9 inch baking pan. 





Don't worry if the batter looks a little thin, like it might not cover the whole pan.  It will rise! 

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  The edges will be slightly brown and a knife should be inserted cleanly into the mix.  Remove from the oven.  Let cookie cake cool for about fifteen minutes before cutting. 




Cut into squares.  I cut mine into 24 bars.  Have some as your after-dinner treat, a mid-day snack or even as your breakfast like I just did a few minutes ago!  :-)


What's your favorite type of cookie?  What's your favorite type of cake to make or eat?

Two Treats For You: Toffee Almond Chocolate Bars AND Another Cookbook Giveaway!

Don't you love treats?  They come in different forms and take on different meanings to each person.  Today that treat comes in the form of another cookbook giveaway and a delicious dessert recipe that I will post below.   

Both the giveaway and the original version of the dessert are thanks to my blogging buddy Annie Bakes.  Anne actually served as a consultant and co-editor of my cookbook.  She read it and offered helpful suggestions as I was in the writing process.  I'm thrilled to have her on my culinary team. She certainly has given me a ton of encouragement since I started baking and blogging over a year ago.

So let's get to it!  Bring on the fun! 

Treat # 1 - Go to Anne's site now for your chance to win a FREE COPY of my cookbook!  Be sure you read her rules and deadline carefully!

Treat # 2 - Now here is the dessert that I borrowed from Anne's great website.  Only I decided to lighten up her version.   I used less butter, less chocolate and less nuts.  In place I added applesauce and flavored extracts. The bars still had a very delicious outcome.






Lightened Up Toffee Almond Chocolate Bars
(Makes 24 squares)

Adapted from Annie Bakes


2 and 1/2 cups of flour (I used whole wheat white flour)
1 cup of sugar (I used half Stevia and half Sucanat, both natural sugars)
3/4 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of applesauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) of light buttter, softened
1/2 cup of sliced almonds
1 egg
1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk
1 and 1/3 cups of toffee bits
1/2 tsp of almond extract
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a 13x9 inch size rectangular baking pan.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, applesauce and sugars.  Cut or scoop your butter into the mix.  The mixture should crumble and begin to stick together in clumps.  Add in egg, almond extract, vanilla extract and 1/4 cup of the sliced almonds.  Beat with a hand mixer until combined.  Fold in your chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of the toffee bits.  Blend gently.  Set aside 1 cup of the crust mixture to use as topping later on.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the greased baking pan. 

It will look like this:





Yummy, isn't it?  I think I might just eat the crust next time!  :-)



Bake the crust for ten minutes.  Remove from the oven.  While still hot, pour the entire can of sweetened condensed milk over the crust.  Use a spoon or spatula to even it out. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of sliced almonds and the 1 cup of toffee bits over the condensed milk liquid.  Then top with the remaining 1 cup of "crust" mixture that you set aside from earlier.  Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes.  Carefully remove pan from oven. 




Here is what mine looked like before I cut it.  Some of the condensed milk oozed out a little to form the round circles you see.  Who cares though?  It tasted wonderful!


Set it aside to cool before handling and cutting into squares.  I used a plastic knife and cut mine into 24 bars.





Enjoy!  This one is sooo good!  Thanks for the great recipe idea Anne!  I'm glad I was able to take it, tweak it and lighten it up even further!

Good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway as well!  Have a great weekend! 

Coming up soon I'll share my latest disaster with my new breadmaker, a recipe on pumpkin cobbler and other delectable things that I've been making lately!  

Have a great weekend.  I'll be back on Sunday to post my meal plan for next week!

Cooking Disasters - Example # 1: Apple Bars

Well I can't just blow smoke up your butt having you think I'm this wonderfully awesome cook all the time!  Yeah right, far from it! 

I do okay most of the time but I still have failures and disasters.  That is why I entitled my cookbook, "Learn, Laugh, Cook."  Because let's face it, I'm still learning.  I make mistakes - at least one every few weeks.  But somehow I manage to laugh at myself (and my food); then I move on, determined to make something else that will be incredible and make me forget the vomit-looking apple bars that robbed me of an hour of my life!

In my cookbook, I share a few of my common mistakes with you.  I also include a few funny stories that happen to me as well.  This blog will also carry on that tradition of failures!  And I'll begin with this blog post!


Meet my latest cooking disaster - Sour cream apple lemon bars - or as I shall rename them - Bars that my dog wouldn't touch at first!







This is the second or third time I've tried making an apple dessert or apple bread where it turned into mush.  Maybe apples and I just don't mix!  Or don't mix with other things I should say.   I make a wonderful tasting apple crisp and apple crumble dessert but when I attempt to make something "fancier," this is what happens:




Mushy apples sitting on top of a thick, perfect crust. 




And when you get deeper into the dessert it looks like this:



You can just scrape the apple topping away from the crust.  FAIL! 






In fact, look what I can do!  I can pick up the entire crust and the apples just slide right off like a skateboard gliding down a ramp.





Oh well, it's not a total loss I suppose.  My dog will enjoy a special treat.





Wait, even he was afraid to try it at first!  That's really sad!






But once I convinced him that the apple bars were cat vomit mixed in with his own dog poop, he got on board very quickly!


Yummy I know!  But someone has to eat it! 


I could speculate on what went wrong and analyze my steps and ingredients (like the extra apple and lemon juice I placed in there), but why bother?  Why think about it any longer than it takes to throw it in the trash?  What's the point?  I can just start over or make something else.  And that is just what I will do!


So you see, this is why I refer to myself as an ordinary person learning how to cook.  Because that's what I am! 

Stay tuned for more of my cooking disasters and my comical kitchen adventures and other stories.... they are never-ending!  :-)