Caramel Bars

October 10, 2011

CaramelI really should call these “panic bars” because I made them in a panic!

It was about 10:30 in the morning and I realized I had company coming at 1:00 – and that company didn’t like chocolate. (Poor kid.)

All of my favorite go-to quick recipes include chocolate (of course!)

To  make matters worse – I was out of butter and margarine.

A quick thumb-through my cookbook collection yielded this recipe – and a quick perusal of the pantry yielded the needed ingredients.

I was back in business!

With just five ingredients – not only were they fast to make -  but they were really rich and gooey and yummy!

Caramel Bars

1 package dry yellow cake mix
2 cups quick- cooking oatmeal (uncooked)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1- 12.5 ounce jar caramel ice cream topping

Mix together the cake mix, oatmeal, and brown sugar. Add the oil and egg; mix well.  Spread half of batter in to a greased 9 x 13 pan. Press a ridge around the edge; then spread with caramel topping. Sprinkle remaining batter on top. Bake 30 minutes ate 350 degrees.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at At the Well and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

By Country Gal | Posted in Brownies, Cookies and Bars | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Bars

May 23, 2011

More Bars Both of my parents and most of my siblings are pretty adventurous when it comes to food.

So I always love to try new recipes – especially desserts – when my family comes to visit.

This last trip – when dad and my sister came to help prepare for graduation – was no different.

Even though the larder was pretty empty and our time was short, we were still able to dig up enough ingredients in the pantry and freezer to make these yummy bars.

The combination of butterscotch chips and graham cracker crumbs intrigued me – and of course I love anything with cream cheese!

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Bars

1 cup butterscotch chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/8 cup flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Melt the butterscotch chips and butter. Add the graham cracker crumbs and walnuts. Mix well. Reserve about one cup of the crumb mixture.  Spread the rest of the mixture in the bottom of  an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake 12 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Add the flour and lemon juice.

Pour over the baked crust and sprinkle with the reserved crumbs.

Bake 20-25 minutes.

Cool. Cut into bars and refrigerate.

These are best when eaten after they have been in the fridge for 24 hours.

This post is linked up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesdays over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cookies and Bars, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (4)

Chocolate Nutty Shortbread

May 9, 2011

bars There’s a graduation gown hanging in my dining room, a pile of to-do lists on my counter, and a ka-jillion cookies in my freezer.

I can’t believe that we’re less than a week away from graduating our oldest son!

My dad and sister came down over the weekend to help out with the long list of projects.

What a blessing they were!

Dad worked on hanging doors and trimming out another room.

Teresa baked, sewed, ironed, cleaned, organized, and helped me make more lists. She even did windows. :)

All that good help needed some good food – like this shortbread cookie with a yummy mixed nut center topped with a layer of chocolate. Don’t even ask how many calories – trust me we worked them all off! :)

Chocolate Nutty Shortbread

Shortbread:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup butter (1-1/2 sticks)

Nutty Filling:

14 tablespoons butter
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons light corn syrup
9 ounces mixed nuts

Chocolate topping:

12 ounces chocolate – I used a mix of semi-sweet and dark

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 9 x 9 x 2 inch-square baking pan with regular or nonstick foil.

Shortbread: In food processor, process flour, sugar and butter until mixture looks sandy and begins to clump. Turn into pan; press over bottom. Prick all over with fork. Bake in 325 degree oven 5 minutes. Lower heat to 300 degrees; bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is pale gold. Let cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Peanut-Caramel Filling: In large bowl, melt butter. Whisk in condensed milk and corn syrup. Cook on medium heat until boiling, stirring all the time. Mixture should be thickened and lightly golden brown. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk. Stir in mixed nuts. Spread over cooled shortbread mixture.

Chocolate Topping: In double boiler, combine chocolates. Heat until melted, stirring to combine. Spread chocolate over nutty filling. Let cool. Once chocolate is set, with sharp knife, cut into 24 bars.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday At the Well and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Cookies and Bars | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Cream Cheese Cut-Outs

May 2, 2011

Sugar CookiesIt’s hard to believe that Matt’s high school graduation and party are in less than 2 weeks!

Although if you were hanging around our kitchen lately – you might guess that something is in the works!

The girls and I have been baking up a storm and filling the freezer with cookies for his big day.

We are making our staple cookie – oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip, our family’s favorite gingersnaps, and these cream cheese cut-outs.

We love these sugar cookies! The recipe originally came from my sister-in-law, who got it from her husband’s grandma. (I guess that means I got the recipe from my husband’s sister’s husband’s grandma!)

They are so moist and easy to roll out and the cream cheese adds a great flavor. We did a sprinkle of just white sugar on these – but have used colored sugars in the past and even frosted them.

Cream Cheese Cut-Outs

1 cup butter
2 cup sugar
2 – 3 ounce packages cream cheese
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add  the cream cheese, eggs and vanilla.

Add the flour and baking powder. Mix well.

Chill for at least 2 hours. Roll and cut out.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen 2-1/2 inch cookies.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Mingle Monday at Add a Pinch, Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cookies and Bars, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , , | Comments (6)

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars

April 25, 2011

Some kind of Dessert We had some eggs in the fridge that needed to be used, so I asked Dagmar to make something yummy.

She could make anything she wanted – just use up some of the eggs!

She buried herself in cookbooks and the recipe file looking for that perfect recipe.

I walked through the kitchen later and saw her busy at work with pans all over the counter and wonderful smells saturating the house.

She finally pulled the masterpiece out of the oven – warm and gooey and full of wonderful chocolate peanut butter goodness.

I asked her how many eggs she used.

She looked at me blankly. “Eggs?”

Oops. She hadn’t used any. :)

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars
(recipe from Pillsbury Baking Cookbook)

2-1/4 cups oatmeal
1-1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped salted peanuts

Beat together the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, and butter until crumbly. Reserve 2 cups for topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of a 9 x 13 greased pan. Set aside.

In another bowl, mix condensed milk, peanut butter, and vanilla until well blended. Pour over the base.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips and peanuts. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Press down gently.

Bake 25-35 minutes or until golden brown (the center will not be set). Cool completely, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

By Country Gal | Posted in Cookies and Bars, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (3)