Gooey Chocolate Toffee Coconut Bars

My awesome aunt Wendy sent me a recipe she thought I would like for Hershey’s “Rich Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars” I made them and they were amazing! I changed a few things, but that’s the good thing about this recipe- it’s infinitely adaptable!

Ingredients: Gooey Chocolate Coconut Pecan Bars (adapted slightly from here)

2 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cups dark brown sugar

3/4 cup salted butter, room temperature

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1 cup milk chocolate chip

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 and 1/3 cups toffee bits

1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Recipe: Gooey Chocolate Coconut Pecan Bars

Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9×13 pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs; add the egg and beat well.

Stir in 1 and 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips and all of the nuts. Set aside 1 and 1/2 cups of the mixture.

Press the remaining crumbs on the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for ten minutes.

Pour condensed milk over the hot crust. Set aside 1/4 cup of toffee bits, and sprinkle the rest over the crust along with the rest of the chocolate chips, crumb mixture, and coconut flakes.

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Top with remaining toffee bits.

Enjoy!

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M&M Cookie Bars

These M&M cookie bars are amazingly easy and simple to make. They’re also really, really good. The flavors are pure vanilla and brown sugar with a pop of chocolate. They’re soft, chewy, and perfect to eat on the go.

Ingredients: M&M Cookie Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/4 cup mini M&Ms

Recipe: M&M Cookie Bars

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13 pan.

Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a small bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the butter and both sugars. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; mix well.

Fold dry ingredients into the egg mixture until just combined.

Stir in 1 cup of the mini M&Ms. Press batter into the pan and sprinkle the 1/4 cup of mini M&Ms on top.

Bake for 22-28 minutes or until top is slightly firm and golden. Cool before cutting.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie Bars

Imagine tangy, bright strawberry rhubarb pie filling sitting on top of a buttery crust and topped with soft vanilla crumble. Well you don’t have to imagine anymore, because you can make these gorgeous strawberry rhubarb crumble pie bars!

Ingredients: Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

2 and 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb

2 and 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

1 and 1/2 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons minute tapioca

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

Crust and Crumble (adapted from here)

2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

13 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and chopped

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Filling

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Crust and Crumble

In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until well combined. Process in your food processor until mixture is crumbly.

In a small bowl whisk extracts into beaten egg yolks using a fork. With a fork, gently toss into flour mixture until moistened and dough starts to hold together. Continue to toss and blend gently with fingertips until well combined yet taking care not to overwork the dough.

Remove 1 and 1/4 cups of the crumb mixture and set aside for the topping in a small bowl. Press remaining dough evenly into prepared baking pan. Spoon pie filling into pan on top of dough and spread evenly with rubber spatula; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake in preheated oven until topping is golden brown and filling is cooked through and bubbly, about 40-45 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!

Nutty Chocolate Toffee Tiffin

I got this recipe from my Aunt Wendy, who got it from her friend Ilene who lives in England, who adapted the recipe from Sainsbury’s magazine, and I (slightly) adapted the recipe from her. If you are not British and are wondering what a tiffin is, from what I’ve gathered, a tiffin is like a cross between fudge and a rice krispie treat but more crumbly. Kind of. It is really, really, good, and really, really addicting. This tiffin is chocolate with dried apricots, coconut, hazelnuts, and toffee bits. Yum! This recipe is also really easy- it’s no bake!

Ingredients: Nutty Chocolate Tiffin

1 cup unsalted butter, chopped

2 tablespoons golden syrup

1 and 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

300 gram pack rich tea biscuits

1/4 cup blanched hazelnuts, chopped

1/4 cup dried apricot, chopped

1/4 cup dessicated coconut

1/4 cup English toffee bits

Recipe: Nutty Chocolate Tiffin

Line an 8×8 pan with plastic wrap or parchment paper.

Mix butter, golden syrup, and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water. Let it melt together until smooth.

In a food processor, process the rich tea biscuits until they’re crumbly.

When the chocolate mixture is smooth, take it off heat and combine all the ingredients in the bowl until well mixed.

*Sprinkle extra coconut and toffee on top.

Refrigerate tiffin until set.

*Optional

Enjoy!

 

Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Well, I had never made cheesecake before and I wanted to give it a try. I also wanted to make chocolate cheesecake because plain was a little too boring for me. So out popped these amazing chocolate cheesecake bars. They have a crunchy Oreo crust, a creamy, tangy chocolate cheesecake filling, and a smooth top layer of chocolate ganache. Very chocolatey. I think these chocolate cheesecake bars turned out beautifully- don’t you?

Ingredients: Oreo Crust

24 whole Oreo cookies

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Chocolate Cheesecake Filling (from here)

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

24 ounces full-fat cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

Recipe: Oreo crust

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the Oreos and the melted butter in a food processor until it makes coarse crumbs. Press into a 8×8 baking dish and bake for 8 minutes.

Cheesecake Filling

Preheat oven to 350F.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler and let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Mix in the granulated sugar. Beat in each egg until incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.

Mix in the chocolate.

Fold in the sour cream until the batter is even. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for about 50 minutes. The cheesecake should be firm, but the middle should be a little wet and wobbly.

Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate at least an hour before spreading the ganache over the top.

Chocolate Ganache

Put chocolate in a small heat-proof bowl.

Bring the heavy cream and butter to a boil and immediately pour over the chocolate. Let stand a few minutes, and then whisk until smooth.

Let cool slightly and then spread over the cheesecake with a off-set spatula.

Return cheesecake to the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Mousse Brownies

Another raspberry chocolate recipe! Yay! Imagine a rich, fudgy, dark chocolate brownie topped with light, fluffy raspberry mousse. These raspberry mousse brownies taste as great as they sound. Even though they consist of two parts, the hardest thing to do is pushing the raspberries through a sieve to get the seeds out. These brownies are so pretty anyone will love them. The coolest part is that the raspberry mousse darkens in color over the days, so if I took a picture now they would be dark, dark, pink.

Ingredients: Brownies (adapted from here)

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons natural sweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, cold

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Raspberry Mousse (from here)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 ounce powdered gelatin

3 cups raspberries

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 cups cold heavy cream

Recipe: Brownies

Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease, then line with parchment paper the bottoms and two sides of an 8×8 pan. This helps when you need to lift the brownies out of the pan.

Add 1-2 inches of water to a medium saucepan. Heat the water until it’s barely simmering. Mix butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium heat proof bowl. Rest bowl over saucepan, make sure the bowl’s bottom does not get wet. (If it does remove some water)

Stir mixture occasionally until the butter is melted and everything is combined. Don’t worry if the batter if gritty.

Remove bowl from heat from 5 minutes until the batter is no longer hot. Stir in vanilla and then add eggs one at a time, beating hard after each one.

When the batter is shiny and well blended, add the flour. Stir until fully incorporated, then continue beating for at least 60 strokes. The batter will be very thick. Spread in lined pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Raspberry Mousse

Place lemon juice in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let sit until gelatin softens, 3 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, puree 3 cups raspberries until smooth, scraping down bowl as needed. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a measuring cup, pressing on solids (you should have about 1 cup of puree); discard solids.

In a small saucepan, combine raspberry puree and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until bubbles form at the edge. Add gelatin mixture and cook, stirring constantly, just until gelatin dissolves, about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a small bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream and 2 tablespoons sugar on medium-high until firm peaks form, about 4 minutes. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in raspberry puree mixture until combined. Pour over brownies. Smooth top with an offset spatula.

Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours (or up to overnight).

Enjoy!

S’mores Bars

These might be the best things I’ve ever had. They literally taste like a s’more in bar form. You start with an amazing thick graham cracker crust, which you top with a mixture of soft chocolate ganache and mini marshmallows, then you pour more mini marshmallows on top and toast the bars under the broiler. You have to leave the bars in the fridge so the ganache will set, but trust me, it’s worth it. My inspiration is from here, but I used a different crust, pan size, different amount of marshmallows, etc.

Ingredients: Graham Cracker Crust

1 and 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers (10-12 whole graham crackers crushed then measured)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Soft Chocolate Ganache (from here)

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

1 cup whole milk

10 ounce bag mini marshmallows (separated)

Recipe: Graham Cracker Crust

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until they’re the texture of coarse cornmeal.

Press into 8×8 pan and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 375F and bake for 11-15 minutes.

Soft Chocolate Ganache

Melt chocolate with milk in a pan over medium low heat and whisk to combine.

Transfer mixture to a new bowl and set aside for 10 minutes to cool (transferring the mixture to a new bowl will help to cool it faster).

Mix in 1 and 1/2 cups of the marshmallows and pour on top of the crust.

Pour the remaining marshmallows on the ganache and put under the broiler for a minutes or two, to toast the marshmallows.

Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours, or overnight.

Enjoy!

 

Peanut Butter Skillet Brownie

You will love this. Seriously, you will just keep eating more, and more, and more. But don’t let that detour you from making this. The thickest, fudgiest brownie, baked in a cast iron skillet, and stuffed with mini peanut butter cups. To top it all of, it has a thick peanut butter swirl. Just writing about it is making my mouth water! Serve it warm or cold, it’ll be delicious!

Ingredients: Brownie (from here)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 and 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, chopped

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup miniature peanut butter cups, roughly chopped

Peanut Butter Swirl (from here)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe: Skillet Brownie 

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 10″ cast iron skillet.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips, butter, and unsweetened chocolate. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute then stir. Continue heating in 30-second bursts, stirring between each burst, until the mixture is melted and smooth but not scorched. Remove from the microwave and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on medium-high speed until lightened in color and thick, about 3 minutes.

Beat in the vanilla extract.

Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula.

Add the flour and salt, folding gently until combined.

Fold in the peanut butter cups.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan.

Peanut Butter Swirl

Mix peanut butter and melted butter together.

Mix in, confectioners sugar and salt.

Add vanilla.

Drop about 5 dollops onto the brownie batter and swirl in with a knife.

Bake until a tester comes out with moist crumbs still attached, 35 to 45 minutes.

Do not overbake. Let cool to room temperature. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Enjoy!

 

Red Velvet Brownies

These red velvet brownies are so good. They’re very soft and have the hint of cocoa that makes red velvet so delicious. And of course, I had to pair red velvet with a cream cheese frosting. 🙂 The whipped cream cheese frosting is seriously amazing. It’s very much like a thick whipped cream, except with that tangy cream cheese flavor we all love. You won’t be able to stop eating these brownies, or the frosting!

Ingredients: Red Velvet Brownies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup granulated sugar

red food coloring

1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

2 large eggs, cold

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 and 1/3 cups heavy whipping cream, cold

Recipe: Red Velvet Brownies

Preheat oven to 350F and grease and line with parchment paper a 8×8 square pan.

Combine hot melted butter, sugar, and food coloring until creamy.

Mix in the cocoa powder and salt.

Beat in eggs, vanilla, and vinegar at a time.

Mix in flour until smooth.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or a toothpick comes out clean.

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Whip the cream cheese until smooth, and then add in the powdered sugar.

Mix in the vanilla.

While on medium-high speed, slowly pour in the heavy whipping cream until the frosting thickens. The consistency will be like a very thick whipped cream.

Enjoy and remember to take a moment and remember all of our fallen soldiers.

 

Cinnamon Oatmeal Squares

Warm, chewy oatmeal squares bursting with cinnamon flavor, drizzled with vanilla icing. Mmm, pure deliciousness. Plus, because they’re filled with oats you can totally have them for breakfast.

Ingredients: Squares (Makes 12)

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup and 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 eggs

2 egg yolk

2 and 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoons cornstarch

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 baking powder

1/2 baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup quick oats

2 cups (one bag) cinnamon chips

Drizzle

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe: Squares

Preheat oven to 325F and grease and line with parchment paper a 9×13 pan.

Cream butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until it lightens in color. Beat in vanilla and eggs, mixing after each one.

In separate bowl combine dry ingredients, including oats. Mix into wet batter. Pour in cinnamon chips.

Press batter into pan. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Drizzle

Mix powdered sugar, half and half, and vanilla in a small bowl. With a spoon drizzle over oatmeal squares.

Enjoy!