Crunchy Marshmallow Bars
Things have been just hopping here at my house! We’ve had almost steady company for a few weeks now – mostly kids.
That means I’ve served up a lot of food.
A lot.
Being the good aunt that I am – that means every meal needs a sweet treat! 
And – since it was so hot – I didn’t want to run my oven. So we’ve been enjoying lots of no-bake and little bake bars.
Dagmar and her cousin Molly found this recipe in one of my Taste of Home cookbooks and whipped them up one afternoon.
Several giggles and BLT’S (bites, licks and tastes) later – they presented us with these yummy bars.
Crunchy Marshmallow Bars
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 – 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups miniature marshmallows
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 butter or margarine
1 package (10 ounces) peanut butter chips
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup plain M & M’s
Cream together the butter and brown sugar. beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add to the creamed mixture until it resembles course crumbs (do not overmix).
Press into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.
Immediately sprinkle with marshmallows and bake another 2-3 minutes or until the marshmallows are puffed. Cool on a wire rack.
Combine the corn syrup, butter, and peanut butter chips in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.
Stir in the vanilla, cereal, nuts and M & M’s. Spread over the crust.
Cool before cutting and serving.
Enjoy!
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Ice Cream Sundae Bars
True confessions here. I don’t remember making or eating this dessert.
That should give you some idea of how crazy life has been around here lately!
Seriously – Angel girl and I were looking through the pictures on the computer and found this one.
I had no idea what is was or why we made it.
Then a few days later I found the remainder of this frozen dessert in the freezer.
So I put my finger in it to see if I could tell what it was. Yum. I put another finger in to further test my taste buds. Then the girls saw me and put their fingers in to check it. After we had eaten at least 2 of the 4 pieces, Angel Girl remembered making this treat on her night to cook – months ago.
We had been trying to use up some of the many things left-over from the Golden Anniversary (which was in April).
Yes. It’s been in my freezer since then.
But it’s gone now. Devoured in the basement in front of the freezer using our fingers.
Since we created this dish ourselves, I’m not sure what we should call it – Left-over Surprise, Freezer Special? Hmm… maybe not.
Since we were using the left-over fixings for ice cream sundaes – let’s go with Ice Cream Sundae Bars.
Ice Cream Sundae Bars
1 sleeve of Oreo cookies (about 14)
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1 quart ice cream, any flavor (we used the left-over vanilla)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup chocolate sauce (we used Nana’s amazing recipe)
Cool Whip (as much as you want)
chocolate sprinkles (just because we could!)
Mix the oreos and melted butter and press into the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Freeze for an hour.
Spread the ice cream over the oreo’s and cover with the peanuts and the chocolate sauce. Freeze for another hour.
Frost with Cool Whip and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles. Freeze.
This will obviously keep for months in your freezer if you should happen to forget that you made it!
Enjoy!
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Chocolate Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies
My mom – Nana Shirley – shares another yummy cookie recipe with us today – and it’s no surprise that it involves her favorite peanut butter and chocolate!
It’s a tradition that I travel to our daughter’s and help “babysit” with grandchildren while their parent’s attend the Home School conference for 2 days.
The responsibilities related to the “babysit” part has changed as the children are growing older, but they still like to eat!
My hubby does not share my love of peanut butter, so this was an ideal opportunity to bake Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies from my “stash” of wanting-to-bake recipes!
I had no marshmallow creme jar in my pantry, but I found a great substitution! Melting 16 oz marshmallows in 3 – 1/2 Tablespoons white corn syrup in a double boiler equals 1 jar of marshmallow creme! I used the microwave, but stopped & stirred each minute.
The cookies are cake-like. Do put them 2 inches apart to keep the desired shape. The filling could use more peanut butter for taste. Be prepared for some filling strings as you spread it!
This recipe was “Grandkid Taste Tested” – and it passed!
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies
Makes 30 sandwiches
Cookies:
1 12-oz pkg. miniature semisweet chocolate pieces ( I used regular size, except for sprinkling on top)
2 Tbsp. milk
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 – 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp.baking soda
1 tsp.baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup marshmallow creme
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set aside 1/4 cup miniature chocolate pieces to sprinkle on cookies.
In microwave-safe bowl combine 1 cup of the chocolate pieces and 2 Tbs. milk. Melt. Set aside.
In bowl beat butter & peanut butter with mixer until combined.
Add sugar, soda, baking powder & salt. Beat. Add eggs, milk, vanilla & melted chocolate. Beat. Add cocoa & flour. Beat. Stir in remaining chocolate pieces.
Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with reserved miniature chocolate bits.
Bake 9 minutes or until tops are set. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
To assemble, spread flat sides of half the cookies with filling. Top with remaining cookies.
Filling: In bowl beat softened butter, creamy peanut butter, marshmallow creme & powdered sugar with mixer until combined. If needed beat in the milk until spreading consistency.
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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
It’s birthday season again.
Angel Girl begins our round of summer birthdays. It’s been a year of changes for her.
I’m not sure when exactly it happened, but I slowly realized that she never played with the Polly Pockets anymore – and the doll house was sitting idle.
I knew she was growing up when she asked for a cheesecake instead of the traditional birthday cake.
No worries – we all love cheesecake. But there was still a hint of sadness that my little girl is growing up.
No more castle cakes, or flower cakes, or Candy Land cakes (my personal favorite!).
She’s slowly moving into the world of adults.
She picked a chocolate chip cheesecake, and I used two different recipes to create this one. Since I didn’t have any vanilla wafers, I substitutes graham crackers crumbs in the crust. It tasted great – and since we all know that the crust is just the conduit to hold the cream cheese filling together to get it to your mouth – it was perfect!
Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons baking cocoa
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
Filling:
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
3 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips
In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-in. springform pan. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Combine sugar and flour; beat into cream cheese.
Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Add the cream, vanilla and chocolate chips.
Pour into prepared crust. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. (Cheesecake top may crack.)
Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan. Garnish the cheesecake with mini chocolate chips. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12-14 servings.
Enjoy!
I’ve linked this post up with Lisa over at Stop and Smell the Chocolates and at Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.
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Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Everybody has a signature cookie – the go-to recipe that never fails.
This one is mine.
The original recipe “Oatmeal Crispies” came from my Grandma Griner and were a staple in her kitchen when my mom was growing up.
Later they were a staple in my mom’s kitchen. She added chocolate chips and would often bake them as bars.
Now that I’m the mom – I did some more substituting to make them my own.
I added peanut butter in place of some of the margarine and I added baking powder.
The result is my signature cookie – and it is a staple in my kitchen!
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (aka Auntie M Cookies)
1 cups peanut butter
1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups oatmeal
2 cups chocolate chips or M & M’s or combination
Cream together the peanut butter, margarine, white sugar and brown sugar.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add the vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, soda, baking powder, salt and oatmeal. Add to the creamed mixture and mix well. The dough will be very thick.
Stir in the chocolate chips and M & M’s.
Drop by teaspoonful on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes or until just starting to brown.
You can grind the oatmeal in the blender before you add it to the flour mixture. It gives a great oatmeal flavor without the extra chewiness.
These travel well and keep really well in the freezer.
Enjoy!
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