June 2: Rocky Road Bars

Rocky Road Bars

Ingredients:
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter
1 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, cold
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (4.5 oz) all-purpose flour
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups toasted and chopped walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9 by 13-inch metal pan with nonstick foil.
2. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add the brown sugar ad stir until blended. Remove from the heat.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs for about 1 minute or until frothy, then whisk in the sugar and the vanilla. Using a large silicone scraper or mixing spoon, stir in the chocolate mixture, followed by the salt and the flour.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the marshmallows, chocolate chips, and walnuts.
5. Return the pan to the oven for 2 minutes, or just until the marshmallows puff up. Let cool completely in the pan, then chill for about 1 hour or until the top is firm. For an even cleaner cut, freeze for about 30 minutes before cutting. To serve, lift from the pan, using the foil as a handle, set on a cutting board, and cut into 24 bars.

Addition of cocoa powder to butter

Thoughts: I feel like I have made these bars before but I think that I made rocky road cookies in the past. There were no issues making these bars except I hate that cocoa powder gets everywhere! I used slightly more chocolate chips so I could cover the pan. I only had pecans so I substituted them for walnuts and only put it on half. I decided to serve them warm so they were gooey. The people at work thought that if I had chilled them, the brownie would've been hard and tough to chew.They were very good in any case.

February 25: Chocolate Chip Pecan Dulce de Leche Bars

Chocolate Chip Pecan Dulce de Leche Bars

Ingredients:
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (17.5 oz) pouch oatmeal cookie mix, such as Betty Crocker
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dulce de leche, La Lechera Milk Caramel Spread, or thick sundae topping
1/2 cup toasted and chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9-inch square metal pan with nonstick foil.
2. In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer on low speed, mix the butter, cookie mix, egg, and cinnamon until you have a soft and crumbly dough. Press about three-quarters of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes, or until just set.
3. Spread the dulce de leche over the baked cookie dough. Stir the pecans and chocolate chips into the remaining oatmeal mixture ad crumble over the dulce de leche. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 15-17 minutes, or until the top is cooked. The bars will be jiggly, but will firm as they cool and chill. Let cool completely in the pan, then chill for 2 hours or until ready to serve. Using the foil as a handle, lift from the pan, set on a cutting board, and cut into 24 bars.

Before...

And after...

Caramel topping

Crumbly topping

Thoughts: I tried two stores and couldn't find dulce de leche so I just went the thick sundae topping route. I'd imagine the only difference is that maybe it would be thicker? When I poured the topping on (which was the whole jar), it seemed a little runny. Otherwise no issues. They were good and very well received :)

January 22: Kentucky Blondies

Kentucky Blondies

Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Kentucky bourbon or apple juice, plus more for brushing on top
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cups pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9x13 inch metal pan with nonstick foil, or line it with regular foil and spray the foil with flour-added baking spray.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium-size bowl; set aside.
3. In a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl, microwave the butter on high for 1 minute, or until it is completely melted and very hot. With a mixing spoon, beat together the melted butter and brown sugar. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes, and then gently beat or whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and bourbon. Stir the flour mixture into the batter. Let the batter cool if it is still warm, and then stir in the chocolate chips and pecans.
4. Spread the batter in the pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until golden and the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let cool in the pan for 1 hour or until completely cool. If desired, brush the top with extra bourbon. Grasp the foil, transfer to a cutting board, and cut into 32 squares. For a cleaner cut, chill for about 2 hours before cutting.

Addition of brown sugar

Addition of apple juice, vanilla and eggs

Addition of dry ingredients

Addition of pecans and chocolate chips

Before...

And after.

Thoughts: Blondies are always easy to make. Very straightforward. I used apple juice instead of bourbon and I did skip brushing additional juice on top. They came out well and were very tasty. The only issue I had with them is that they were a little hard and definitely became even stiffer the more days that went by. The only thing that was lacking for me was the nutty flavor (like usual).

July 1: Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo Bars

Base
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large pasteurized egg, lightly beaten
5 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Filling
4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar, lightly spooned
2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding or custard powder
2-3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 oz semisweet chocolate

1. Line a 9x13 pan with nonstick foil.
2. Make the base: In the top of a double boiler or in a mixing bowl set over but not touching a pan of simmering water, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and whisk in the sugar, egg, and cocoa powder. Return the pan to the heat and whisk for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the graham cracker crumbs, pecans, and coconut. Spread in the prepared pan and press down tightly. Chill the pan while you make the second layer.
3. Make the filling: In a medium-size mixing bowl, stir together the butter and confectioners' sugar, then beat with a handheld mixer until fluffy. Beat in the pudding mix, milk, and vanilla. Spread the filling over the cooled crust, and then chill for about an hour.
4. Make the topping: In the top of a double boiler, or in the microwave using 50% power, melt the butter and the chocolate, stirring at 1-minute intervals. Spread the melted chocolate over the custard layer and chill until set. When ready to serve, lift from the pan, set the bars on a cutting board, and cut into 32 squares.

If you use the fresh stacks like me, it took 3 packets

Addition of the egg, sugar and cocoa powder

Addition of pecans, graham cracker crumbs, coconut

1st attempt in the microwave

Tried to save it by putting it over the stovetop to melt...fail.

2nd attempt by stovetop

Fail.

3rd attempt...I should've thrown it out instead of putting it on the top

4th attempt to put on top of the other stuff....just melted chocolate in a double boiler...no butter

Finally the finished product!

Thoughts: I had a lot of problems with melting the chocolate for the topping. As you can see by the pics, it took 4 attempts. It was crazy I must've wasted 24 oz of chocolate chips. Other than that there were no issues except they were kind of blah tasting. I think we each ate one bite.

April 21: Tex-Mex Chocolate Chipotle Cherry Cookies

Tex-Mex Chocolate Chipotle Cherry Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
2 cups extra dark chocolate chips
2/3 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
2. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, chipotle powder, and nutmeg together in a medium-size bowl; set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter, both sugars, honey and vanilla on medium speed until creamy. Reduce the mixer speed slightly, and then add the eggs, one at a time. By hand or using the lowest speed of the mixer, slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the batter. Stir in the pecans, chocolate chips, and cherries. Chill the batter for about 15 minutes.
4. Scoop up tablespoonfuls of dough and shape into balls a little over 1 inch in diameter. Arrange about 2 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies appear set. Let cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dry Ingredients

Butter, sugars, vanilla, honey

Adding egg

Mixing in the dry

Adding in the extras

Pop in the fridge for 15

Thoughts: These cookies yielded a lot! In the book it says 32, but I got 67 cookies! In the recipe it says "tablespoonfuls" and I used one tablespoon scoop. So I have 2 large and 1 small container full of these. So far at work, there are mixed reviews so I may have to toss some. I couldn't find "extra-dark" chocolate chips so I just used "dark" chocolate chips. The bag of chips in the picture wasn't enough for the 2 cups required but I had some extra in the pantry. The cookie definitely had a small kick, but it tastes more like a spice cake cookie. Patrick and I both liked it.