I have been neglecting my postings recently. April has been an extremely busy month, and I haven't done much experimenting in the kitchen to produce new dishes to share. One glimmer from the last four weeks is the one sweet indulgence that I baked. Bars are so quick and simple to make when you have a hankering for something sweet. I threw these together with some basic ingredients that I always have on hand.
My Magic Cookie Bars
2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips
1/2 cup pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the first three ingredients together in an ungreased 9x13 inch pan until incorporated and all crumbs are moist. Spread across bottom of pan and press evenly into the corners with fingers. Pre-bake for 5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle evenly over the crust the coconut, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and pecans. Drizzle all over with the sweetened condensed milk. Return to oven and bake for 20 minutes or until set. Let cool thoroughly, and then cut into squares to serve.
Fresh out of the oven and so ooey-gooey! I plated one and took a side-on view so you can see the crust:
Very indulgent with many layers of flavour. I have been the envy of my colleagues at work bringing a square in every day as part of my lunch.
For my beats, I decided to turn to an indulgence from my youth. Since these bars are sweet, frivolous, and satisfying, I'm going with a good old Spice Girls tune. I have a very vivid memory of making a music video to this song with my friends and my little brother (wearing a Baby Spice blonde wig!), so this song never fails to make me smile and feel silly. Here's Stop by the Spice Girls.
Don't worry - I'm not the one with a broken heart. I chose the title because I liked the alliteration and because these would be the perfect brownies to heal any love-life woes. This is another one of my almost homemade recipes, like my Butter Pecan Cupcakes. It takes a brownie mix and adds in some magic to make a delicious concoction that looks and tastes like it could be homemade. This recipe is also ideal for the broken-hearted because it's quick and easy. When your heart is hurting, you don't have the time or the energy to bake brownies up from scratch. These come together in no time using just one bowl and then throwing the mix in the oven. For very little work, you're rewarded with a delectable heart-healing treat.
Broken Heart Brownies
1 package brownie mix
ingredients to prepare brownies as stated on package
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup pecans/walnuts
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (if the brownie mix doesn't contain chips/chunks already)
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom of an 8 inch square pan. Add in the ingredients specified on the brownie mix package, but don't mix in right away. Add in the additional ingredients (vanilla, cinnamon, coconut, nuts, and chips) and then mix thoroughly until the batter comes together. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes.
All it takes is some stirring and spreading and voilà:
Moist, chewy brownies with lots of little suprises inside! The coconut flakes give the brownies a more chewy texture, and the cinnamon adds an exotic flavour that plays up the chocolate.
I ate my brownie plain, but for those truly in need of some heart mending, you could add a scoop of ice cream, some chocolate or caramel sauce, whipped cream, the list goes on. Bottom line is these brownies will have you back in your happy place in no time.
My beats match the broken heart theme. I was introduced to this band by my friend Courtney from university when we went on a road trip for March Break last year. She provided the tunes for the drive and put in an album by The Airborne Toxic Event. I fell in love with every track and still listen to them now. The song I chose is one of the best break-up songs I have ever heard. It's about running into an ex who you still have feelings for, and it captures the true raw emotion of that moment. Here is Sometime Around Midnight by the Airborne Toxic Event.
Today was a snow day (I guess I should say is...the snow still hasn't stopped), so I turned it into a domestic day as leaving the house to go anywhere seemed entirely out of the question. After doing four loads of laundry and cleaning my entire house, I figured I could reward myself with some baking. During Christmas shopping this past December, I bought myself a cookie calendar on a whim. The price was good considering it's essentially a cookbook with 365 different recipes. Instead of being patient and discovering a new recipe each day, I went through the entire calendar right after I got it and flagged the dates with the must-try recipes. I jumped ahead today all the way to September 18 to make these bars.
Chewy White Chocolate Butterscotch Bars
(adapted from "The Cookie Calendar 2013")
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 ounces white chocolate
2 eggs
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 in pan with parchment paper (helps to remove the bars from the pan after baking). In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In another small bowl, melt the butter and white chocolate in the microwave. (I used the defrost setting for 1 minute at a time, stirring after each minute until the chocolate was fully melted). In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate & butter and stir to incorporate. Add the dry ingredients in two additions stirring until just incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the pan and spread with a spatula or back of a spoon into all four corners of the pan. Sprinkle the pecans and chocolate chips over top. Bake for 25 minutes - the edges will be very puffy and just slightly golden. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then, grabbing the ends of the parchment paper, left the bars out of the pan and set them on a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before cutting.
Here's how the pan looked just before I put them in the oven - kind of like a big cookie.
And this is the finished product. The cookie-like batter expanded and puffed up around the chips and nuts making a dense but fluffy bar.
The accompanying beats have no profound explanation or link to the recipe as I usually try to do. This was a case of me hearing the song on the radio while I was beating the sugar into the eggs. My pick is Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.
