The Chocolate Lady Dishes

I was feeding the multitudes – again – and needed a sheet cake brownie.

But I wanted a rich thick brownie, not the cake-like brownies that I associate with one baked in a sheet cake pan.

But the recipes I found all called for almost a pound of butter! Sorry – but I am way to cheap and calorie conscious for that.

So I improvised.

I substituted peanut butter for some butter called for. The result? A really yummy peanut butter lovers dream brownie with a hint of nutrition!  Those teenage boys loved them!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cup (12-ounce package) peanut butter chips
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease 15-1/2 X 10-1/2 X 1-inch jelly-roll pan. In large mixing bowl beat butter, peanut butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla; mixing well.

In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Gradually blend into creamed mixture. Stir in chips.

Spread batter into prepared pans and bake 20 minutes or until set. Cool completely; cut into bars.

Makes about 4 dozen bars.

Enjoy!

Since my favorite part of an apple crisp is the crunchy topping, and you all know that I love chocolate, you can understand my excitement when I found the recipes for these yummy bars!

A gooey chocolate brownie base with a crunchy, nutty, chocolate topping, these were a real hit in  my family!

I seriously considered hiding them from the children in my secret place deep in the freezer – but I refrained. At least I shared some!

Chocolate Streusal Bars
From the Hershey’s Chocolate Cookbook (a must have cookbook for the serious chocolate lover!)

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 egg
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
2 cups (12 ounce package) HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, divided
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 13X9X2-inch baking pan.

Stir together flour, sugar, and cocoa in large bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg; mix well. Set aside 1-1/2 cups mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.

Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, place sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup chocolate chips in medium microwave-safe bowl; stir. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until chips are melted and mixture is smooth when stirred; pour over crust. Add nuts and remaining chips to reserved crumb mixture. Sprinkle over top.

Bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes about 36 bars.

Enjoy!

Here’s a yummy classic from Nana and my youngest sister – who has spent time at Mom’s while her husband is traveling on business! Sure wish I was there too…

Our daughter was baking a cake and had some sweetened condensed milk left. Rather than put it in the refrigerator, where it would probably get lost & forgotten, she whipped up these Bachelor Bars. They are named because easy to make with few ingredients! They look & taste yummy enough to impress anyone! (She halved the recipe and put them in a 8″x 8″ pan.)

Bachelor Bars

(From Sandy’s Kitchen)

• 1 packet graham crackers

• 1 stick butter or margarine

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

• 1 cup coconut

• 1 cup chocolate chips

• 1 cup butterscotch chips

Melt the butter/margarine. Crush the graham crackers and put in bottom of 9”x13” pan. Pour melted butter/margarine over the crackers, mix and pat into bottom of pan. Pour milk over graham crackers. Pat coconut into the milk. Sprinkle chips over ingredients. Bake 350 ° for 20-25 minutes. Let cool. Bars will thicken as they cool. Cut & serve. Leftovers do freeze well.

Till next time!
Nana

My wonderful chocolate-loving sister recently shared these yummy brownies with me!

Gooey and crunchy, they satisfied a deep craving!

I would definitely recommend keeping these in the fridge as the marshmallow layer does tend to get soft and start to run – which is messy but provides some excellent finger licking goodness!

Chocolate Marshmallow Brownies

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
6 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 jar (7 ounce) marshmallow creme
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips
3 cups Rice Krispies

Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine the flour,cocoa, and salt. Gradually add it to the creamed mixture. Spread into a greased 9 x 13  pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Cool completely.

Spread marshamllow creme over the cooled brownies.

In a small saucepan, melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Remove from heat and add the Rice Krispies, stirring to coat.

Spread the chocolate mixture carefully over the marshmallow creme and chill before cutting.

Enjoy!

I’m nuts about nuts.

This was not something that I was born with. When I was growing up the only nuts in our home were the peanuts in our Christmas bags from Santa Claus and the black walnuts that we got free from grandpa and grandma.

Peanuts I like, black walnuts are another story.

I remember well my first English walnut. So mild and delicious! Then I was introduced to pecans and almonds and even cashews! I was in love! There was an entire nutty world out there for me to discover!

This recipe includes both of my favorites – chocolate and nuts!

Chocolate Fudge Pecan Pie Bars

2 2/3 cups flour
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter or margarine
4 eggs
1 cup corn syrup
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (melted)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Mix together the flour with 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives in a scissors motion, cut in butter until the mixture has the texture of coarse crumbs.

Press into the bottom of a greased 15 x 10 inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 15 minutes.

In a separate bowl beat eggs, corn syrup, 1 cup brown sugar, melted chocolate, vanilla and salt.

Stir in the nuts and pour the mixture over the warm crust.

Bake another 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set. Cool completely.

I didn’t have pecans, but substituted a mixture of walnuts and almonds.

Delicious!