Snickers Cheesecake Brownies

Snickers, cheesecake, and brownies…can it get much better than that? This is another treat I made for my hubby LSAT students. Luckily I stashed one aside for myself and I am so relieved that I did! They were super yummy, and almost reminiscent of the Snickers cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. This is definitely my favorite brownie mix redux to date.

Snickers Cheesecake Brownies

For the Brownies

Ingredients:

1 box brownie mix (I personally love the Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate

   brownie mix from Costco)

Directions: 

Line an 8” x 8” pan with foil, and make sure to leave some foil hanging over the sides (this will make your life a lot easier when it comes time to cut the cheesecake brownies). Spray the foil with cooking spray.

Make the brownies as per the directions on the box. Once the brownies come out of the oven, place the pan in an ice bath until they are cooled.

For the Snickers Cheesecake Layer 

Ingredients:

1 large egg

1 T pure vanilla extract

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 C plus 2 T powdered sugar

8 Snickers (fun size, 4.62 oz.), chopped into small pieces

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

To make the cheesecake layer, add the egg, vanilla, cream cheese, and powdered sugar to a medium bowl and mix with beaters until well combined. Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of cooled brownies and smooth to make an even layer.  Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Cool until they are just warm and then press chopped Snickers into cheesecake layer.

Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours. Using the extra foil hanging off the sides of the pan, lift the brownies from the pan. Using a long, sharp knife slice the brownies to the desired size. You may need to wipe the knife after each cut to ensure cleaner cuts.

Source: Adapted from Bakers Royale

I’m linking this post up at:
Metamorphosis Monday
Menu Plan Monday
Skip to My Lou
Tip Me Tuesday
Today’s Creative Blog

Key Lime Bars

I LOVE key lime pie! I had my very first taste of real key lime pie (not the florescent green goop you get in the grocery store) on my family’s very first trip to the Florida Keys when I was 13. Ever since that fateful day I’ve been hooked.

I can’t believe I’m sharing this, but here’s a picture of my sister, my grandpa, and I during our first visit to the keys on a catamaran.

Oy...check out those glasses and high-waisted shorts!

I wanted to branch out and try something other than a pie, so when I found this recipe for key lime bars I knew it was a must-try. The original recipe for these bars calls for animal crackers to make the crust instead of gingersnaps. When I went to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients for these bars the only animal crackers I could find were the frosted variety and those just won’t do. So, I decided to go with gingersnaps. I love the spicy contrast the gingersnaps give to the tangy lime filling…I highly recommend it!

Key Lime Bars

Ingredients:

Crust

5 oz gingersnaps

3 T packed brown sugar (light or dark)

  Pinch table salt

4 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Filling

2 oz cream cheese , room temperature

1 T grated lime zest, minced

  Pinch table salt

1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 egg yolk

1/2 C fresh lime juice, either Key lime or regular

Garnish (optional)

1/4 C sweetened shredded coconut, toasted until golden and crisp

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut about 12-inch length extra-wide heavy-duty foil; fold cut edges back to form 7 1/2-inch width. With folded sides facing down, fit foil securely into bottom and up sides of 8-inch-square baking pan, allowing excess to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.

TO MAKE THE CRUST: In work bowl of food processor, pulse gingersnaps until broken down, about ten 1-second pulses; process crumbs until evenly fine, about 10 seconds (you should have about 1 1/4 cups crumbs). Add brown sugar and salt; process to combine, ten to twelve 1-second pulses (if large sugar lumps remain, break them apart with fingers). Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter, about ten 1-second pulses. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.

TO MAKE THE FILLING: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.

The bars hot from the oven.

Loosen edges with paring knife and lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using, and serve. (Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days (but seriously I doubt you’ll have leftovers); crust will soften slightly. Let bars stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.)

The bars removed from the pan and cut.

The finished product with a little sprinkling of toasted coconut.

Makes 16 2-inch bars

Source: adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

I’m linking this post up at:

Metamorphosis Monday

Menu Plan Monday

Skip to My Lou

Tip Me Tuesday

Today’s Creative Blog

Cookie Dough Brownies

Holy cow, serious junk food alert!

Yesterday I was searching through Food Gawker for something to make for my hubby’s LSAT class that he teaches. As soon as I saw this recipe I knew it would be perfect for university students. While most people who had the brownies absolutely loved them, I thought there was WAAYYY too much cookie dough. I would suggest you cut the cookie dough layer ingredients in half and then it just might be perfect. By the way, the cookie dough portion is egg-free so no need to worry!

Cookie Dough Brownies

Ingredients:

For the Brownies Layer:

1 box of brownie mix (family size)
Ingredients on box the box to make the brownies

For the Cookie Dough Layer:

1 ½ C (3 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
1 ½ C brown sugar
⅔ C granulated sugar

1 t vanilla extract
9 T milk
3 C all purpose flour
2 C chocolate chips

Directions:

Make the brownies according to directions on the box and bake as directed.

To make the cookie dough, cream together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in milk. Add in flour and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Once brownies have completely cooled spread the cookie dough on top. Place in freezer for 20-30 minutes or in refrigerator for several hours to set.

Source: Adapted from Baking Junkie

Raspberry Streusel Bars

In the evenings my hubby teaches an LSAT prep course and I try to send treats with him once a week. This past week I made these for his students and they loved them…so much so that the entire pan was eaten! Luckily I stole a taste of one before he walked out of the door with them.

Raspberry Streusel Bars

Cook’s Note: This recipe can be made in a standing mixer or a food processor. Frozen raspberries can be substituted for fresh; be sure to defrost them before combining with the raspberry preserves. If your fresh raspberries are very tart, add only 1 or 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to the filling. The bars are best eaten the day they are baked but can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days (the crust and streusel will soften slightly with storage).

Ingredients:

2 ½ C unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)

2/3 C granulated sugar (about 4 3/4 ounces)

½ t table salt

16 T unsalted butter (2 sticks) plus 2 tablespoons, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and softened to cool room temperature

1/4 C packed brown sugar (1 3/4 ounces), light or dark

1/2 C rolled oats (1 1/2 ounces), old-fashioned

1/2 C pecans (2 ounces), chopped fine

3/4 C raspberry preserves (8 1/2 ounces)

3/4 C fresh raspberries (3 1/2 ounces)

1 T lemon juice from 1 lemon

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking dish, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet. (If using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width.) Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In bowl of standing mixer fitted with flat beater, mix flour, granulated sugar, and salt at low speed until combined, about 5 seconds. With machine on low, add 16 tablespoons butter one piece at a time; then continue mixing on low until mixture resembles damp sand, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. (If using food processor, process flour, granulated sugar, and salt until combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter 16 tablespoons butter pieces over flour mixture and pulse until mixture resembles damp sand, about twenty 1-second pulses.)

Measure 1 1/4 cups flour mixture into medium bowl and set aside; distribute remaining flour mixture evenly in bottom of prepared baking pan. Using hands or flat-bottomed measuring cup, firmly press mixture into even layer to form bottom crust. Bake until edges begin to brown, 14 to 18 minutes.

While crust is baking, add brown sugar, oats, and nuts to reserved flour mixture; toss to combine. Work in remaining 2 tablespoons butter by rubbing mixture between fingers until butter is fully incorporated. Pinch mixture with fingers to create hazelnut-sized clumps; set streusel aside.

Combine preserves, raspberries, and lemon juice in small bowl; mash with fork until combined but some berry pieces remain.

Spread filling evenly over hot crust; sprinkle streusel topping evenly over filling (do not press streusel into filling). Return pan to oven and bake until topping is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool to room temperature on wire rack, 1 to 2 hours; remove from baking pan by lifting foil extensions. Using chef's knife, cut into squares and serve.

Makes twenty-four 2-inch squares

Source: Cook’s Illustrated

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

These bars bring back memories of when my hubby and I lived in Seoul, South Korea. We moved to Seoul 3 weeks after getting married and spent the first year of our marriage teaching English there. We lived in a tiny 300 square foot apartment where the bathroom was the size of a telephone booth and the sink doubled as our shower. Who doesn’t love showering next to their toilet, right? Then there was our kitchen, it comprised of a small fridge, sink, and 2 gas burners. The bathroom took some getting used to, but kind of grew on me after a while. But the kitchen…I loathed that kitchen. Cooking and baking are ways I like to exercise my artistic abilities and in Seoul I seriously struggled on this front! The less than adequate kitchen combined with foreign and unidentified ingredients at the market made for a culinary challenge. Thank goodness for Costco though! We went there monthly and stocked up on as many comforts from home as we could carry on the subway. What a spectacle we must have made: a tall (by Asian standards) blonde, and her really tall (6 foot, 3 inch) bi-racial husband schlepping bulk American products like butter, peanut butter, blocks of cheese, cereal, chocolate chips, etc onto a crowded Seoul subway…awesome.


Our Telephone Booth-sized Bathroom




Kitchen



The rest of our immense 300 sq. ft. apartment.

 With my limited American products and a barely functioning kitchen, I needed to come up with a dish to bring to potlucks at church. And so an old recipe my roommates and I used to make in college was reborn. These bars were always a hit and taste sooooo good! What’s not to love about peanut butter and chocolate?

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:

2 C peanut butter, divided

¾ C butter, softened

2 C powdered sugar, divided

3 C graham cracker crumbs

1 ½ C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

Beat 1 ¼ cups peanut butter and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in 1 cup powdered sugar. With hands or wooden spoon, work in remaining powdered sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Press evenly into prepared pan. Smooth top with spatula.

Melt remaining peanut butter and remaining morsels in medium, heavy-duty saucepan over lowest possible heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Spread over graham cracker crust in pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until chocolate is firm; cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Source: Adapted from Nestle Classic Recipes

Better-Than-Crack-Brownies

Crazy name for brownies, huh? These brownies have been making the rounds on food blogs and I thought New Year’s Eve would be the perfect occasion to make these. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t like chocolate. It gives me headaches and makes me feel blah, so I would not be a good judge of these brownies. But, I can say that everyone who had one during New Year’s Eve really enjoyed them. They are **extremely** rich so you will get a lot of serving out of one batch.

Better-Than-Crack Brownies

Ingredients:

1 batch box-mix brownies

1 C salted peanuts (if don’t have salted, add sea salt)

2 C chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups

1 1/2 C milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 C creamy peanut butter

1/2 T butter

1 1/2 C Rice Krispies Cereal

Directions:

Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.

While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

Refrigerate for 3 hours before serving.

Source: Adapted from How Sweet It Is

Outrageous Brownies with a Deceptive Twist

I totally did what I said I was going to do—I put Mia’s baby pea purée into brownies for Curtis! But not just any Brownies, The Barefoot Contessa’s “Outrageous Brownies”! They came out so chocolaty and delicious with absolutely no hint of peas. Below is the brownie recipe I followed without my modifications. I modified the recipe below by adding 1 cup of pea puree and an extra 1/3 cup of flour. These were *THE* best brownies I've ever made!

Outrageous Brownies with a Deceptive Twist

Ingredients:

1 lb unsalted butter

1 lb plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate

6 extra-large eggs  

2 T pure vanilla extract

2 1/4 C sugar

1 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 t salt

3 C chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12 x 18 x 1-inch baking sheet. Melt together the butter, 1 pound of chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature. In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. Pour into the baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes, then rap the baking sheet against the oven shelf to force the air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake! Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into 20 large squares.

Source: Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies Recipe

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I can not believe how quickly this recipe came together! I think it took me all of 5 minutes to prep the recipe.

Note: the original recipe called for ¾ cup brown sugar and I cut it back to 2/3. It also called for 1 cup of chocolate chips and I only put in ½ cup because I’m not crazy about too many chocolate chips in my granola bar. Other than the two changes I made, it’s a solid recipe for chewy granola bars!

Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Ingredients:
3 1/4 C rolled oats
1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
2/3 C brown sugar
1/2 C pumpkin puree
1/4 C applesauce
1/4 C honey
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease an 8-inch baking pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together oats, spices, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, honey, and vanilla until smooth. Add oat mixture and beat until oats are completely coated. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Press oat mixture into the prepared pan, using a spatula to spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden. Cool on a wire rack fro 5 minutes before cutting into bars and cooling completely.

Source: Adapted from The Sweet’s Life

Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

I have to admit that I’m not really a fan of cheesecake or cheesecake bars for that matter. I didn’t care for these bars, but everyone else who tried them loved them. My husband, who is brutally honest, gave these bars 9 out of 10. So, if you enjoy cheesecake, give these a shot!

Pumpkin-Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1-3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, cut up, or 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces

2 tablespoons butter

1-1/4 cups sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

Grated fresh nutmeg and/or milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate curls

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir in the 1/3 cup melted butter. Press mixture evenly into bottom of the prepared baking pan; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and the 1-3/4 cups sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and salt on low speed just until combined. Remove 1-1/4 cups of the mixture.

In a small heavy saucepan, combine the 6 ounces chocolate and the 2 tablespoons butter. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Whisk chocolate mixture into the 1-1/4 cups pumpkin mixture. Pour over crust, spreading evenly. Bake for 15 minutes.

Carefully pour the remaining pumpkin mixture over baked chocolate layer, spreading evenly. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes more or until filling is puffed and center is set. Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine sour cream and 1/4 cup sugar. Gently spread over cookies. Cool completely. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours. Cut into bars.* Before serving, sprinkle with nutmeg and/or chocolate curls. Makes 24 to 36 bars.

*Test Kitchen Tip: To make triangle-shape bars, cut the cookies crosswise into four strips. Then cut each strip into five triangles (you'll end up with two half-triangles from the ends of each strip).

To Make Ahead: Bake and chill cookies as directed; cut into bars. Place in a single layer in an airtight container; cover. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Do not freeze.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens