No-bake Oatmeal Coconut Bars

This probably won't come as a groundbreaking statement to most of you, but it is hot. With temperatures passing 90 F almost every day, and without the advanced modern technology of... air conditioning, I'm not jumping to turn the oven on. But, my sweet tooth hasn't waned with the rising temperatures, so no-bake recipes have major appeal. And this bar cookie with oatmeal, coconut and chocolate fits the bill perfectly. 

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie-Topped Brownies

So I've moved halfway around the world, started pastry school...and baked nothing. We are supposed to begin the actual baking portion of the course today, with bread, so that should be interesting. And even though I haven't baked anything in the past week, as promised I am here to deliver on what I stand behind as the most delicious dessert of 2011 (still in competition with this key lime tart, but as they are so different I shall allow them to remain on a pedestal together). I present to you: Peanut Butter Rice Krispie-Topped Brownies. OK, so I'm not good at naming. 

Cookie Dough Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars

Remember the Lime Strawberry Cheesecake I shared a few weeks ago. I teased then that it was not the only cheesecake I made for the holiday of Shavuot. And indeed it was not, because sharing the spotlight was this jam-packed, sinfully delicious slab of cheesecake. That's right: cookie dough, peanut butter cup cheesecake bars.

Pink Lemonade Bars

I didn't wear a jacket to work yesterday. I planted my vegetable garden. My bedroom window has been open for a week. Ladies and Gentleman...I think it's spring. And what tastes more like spring than a big glass of lemonade? A big glass of pink lemonade. 

Red Grapefruit Squares

These look like lemon squares, don't they. Well they're not! I'm not sure why I get so much joy from hypothetically proving you wrong, but I do. These here are red grapefruit squares. Why are they so yellow? Same reason that lemon squares are yellow - the egg yolks.

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Is it still winter? The sun ins shining, but only half the snow has melted. One day it was 65 F, the next 35 F. One day I'm making Coconut Grapefruit Cupcakes, and the next...Pumpkin Pie Bars. Is everyone over the pumpkin thing yet? Or has it been long enough since Thanksgiving that pumpkin is now back in style?

 

Chocolate Caramel Tart

They say your brain can react to pain before you even feel it: you jerk your hand away from a hot flame before the pain registers in your mind. Basically, your brain is telling you to stop doing something really stupid before you seriously hurt yourself. Unfortunately, my brain doesn't stop me from doing other really stupid things in the kitchen. Things, that just moments after they happen, make me smack my hand against my forehead and wonder why I'm even allowed to go near the stove. This is the tale of the two Chocolate Caramel Tarts. 

Raspberry Crumb Bars

Some recipes are innovative - like pairing coconut and grapefruit or bringing cranberries to new heights. Some are fun and exciting - like homemade doughnuts or cinnamon buns. And some are just perfect renditions on a simple classic, like peanut butter swirled brownies or linzer torte. This recipe falls squarely in to the last category - you've probably had a raspberry crumb bar before, and you might have even made one, but this recipe brings them to their height.

Cranberry Curd Bars

I'm a big fan of lemon curd. It's sweet, it's tangy, it's yellow - I can't really think of any downside. So when my little eye spied a recipe out in the world wide web for cranberry curd bars, I was hesitant. Fact is, I don't even really like cranberries too much. They're too...tart. But in curd form, I thought, they just might work. 

Lemon Squares

When I realized a couple months back that I had no recipe for lemon squares on this blog, I was shocked. Lemon squares are a dessert classic - a must-have recipe for every serious baker. And now you have one. And these aren't just any lemon squares - with slightly more effort that usual, you can produce a creamy, tangy and sweet confection.

Oatmeal Fudge Sandwich Cookies

As I proved last week, sandwich cookies are awesome. I also proved it a year and a half ago. Either way, sandwich cookies are a little more work than your average cookie - what with all the matching up, spread and sandwiching together. No more! These fudge sandwich cookies are baked up in one pan. Oatmeal, fudge, oatmeal. Done.

Peanut Butter, Jelly and Chocolate Bars

Since it's been well-documented here that I like to eat with my hands, it should come as no surprise that I'm a big fan of the sandwich. Endlessly adaptable, the sandwich has an infinite variation - but there is one that has attained almost iconic status. Yes, I'm talking about the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Coconut Toffee Chew Bars

There are all sorts of bar cookies - ones filled with chocolate, fruit, jams, peanut butter - and they're all delicious. But these bar cookies? These are like candy. Completely addictive. Just try to have only one.

Peanut Butter Swirled Brownies

Oh, friends. If heaven is a dessert, I have found it. These dense, fudgy brownies are spectacular themselves, but when paired with a peanut butter swirl? I've achieved nirvana.

Chipster Topped Brownies

A couple months ago I purchased by very first Dorie Greenspan cookbook. "Baking: From My Home to Yours" is an enormous tome, too heavy to cart around but too exciting to leave behind. Since I received it I've been busy trying out several things, but I haven't shared any with you yet. Allow these Chipster Topped Brownies to be the first of many.

I've actually made a similar recipe to these, but they were judged on the dry side, and never repeated. But these? Nobody could ever call these dry. These and rich, decadent, soft and chewy. One bite is enough for a chocolate coma, but still, you persist.

The amount of chocolate in both of the batters is truly incredible. Never again do you have to choose between brownie and blondie.

Tip of the Day: You can play around with the chocolate you use in this recipe - I stuck to semisweet, but you can use unsweetened, bittersweet, even milk chocolate chips in the top layer if you desire.

Recipe: (adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from My Home to Yours)

For the brownie layer:
9 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 sticks (8 ounces) butter or margarine
1 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
½ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla
1 cup flour

For the cookie layer:
1 ¼ cups flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) butter or magarine, softened
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks

Brownie layer: Melt the chocolate and butter together, stirring until melted and combined.

Beat the sugar and eggs together until pale and creamy. Add in the salt and vanilla.

On low speed, pour in the chocolate mixture, mixing until combined.

Add the flour, mix until no white streaks remain. Pour batter in to a greased and lined 9x13" pan and set aside.

Cookie dough: Beat the butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy.

Add in the egg, and then the egg yolk, beating between additions. Beat in the vanilla.

Pour in the flour, baking soda and salt and mix until just combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips. Drop the dough by spoonfuls over the brownie batter, and gently spread evenly.

Bake on 350 F for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in the pan.

Coconut Strawberry Bars

As I've mentioned before, I love coconut. But I'm just about the only one I know. Well, not only, but most of my friends are family are not fans. So I don't make it all that often, but sometimes, I just have to break it out.
Yes.
I cut these in to little squares, but that just resulted in me eating about 15 of them.
I actually screwed this recipe up, because I was supposed to bake the base of the cookie first, before adding the topping, but I totally forgot, and then it was too late. I adjusted the time and temperature for baking, and I honestly can't see how it would have made much difference. These were delicious.

Tip of the Day: In most supermarkets, you can purchase both sweetened and unsweetened coconut. In general, stick with what a recipe says, but they can be quite easily interchanged with each other, without adjusting anything else in the recipe.

Recipe: (from Bars & Squares)
Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine, cubed
3 tbsp cold water

Topping:
1/3 cup jam
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

Combine the flour and sugar.
With a pastry blender or the tips of your fingers, cut in the butter until coarse crumbs are formed.
Add in water and mix until moistened.
Press dough in to a greased, 9 inch square pan.
Bake base, 10 to 12 minutes at 425 F.
Spread jam evenly over crust.
Beat the eggs until frothy. Add in sugar, and continue to beat until mixture is thick.
Stir in coconut.
Drop by teaspoonfuls over the jam and carefully spread to cover.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes on 350 F (notice the temperature change).

Chocolate Sandwich Bars and reinvention

As you can see from the title of this post, I set out to create Chocolate Sandwich Bars. And ended up with something a little...different.
The idea for these is so simple, and so ingenious, that I can't believe I didn't think of it before. These bar cookies call for a cookie base, and a chocolate filling, that you spread between two layers of cookie batter and then bake it all together. Just genius.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite execute the way I wanted. Though I followed the recipe except leaving out the almonds in the dough, I found I didn't have nearly enough dough, and too much filling.
After I spread the first layer in, then the chocolate, I soon realized I didn't have enough filling to top them completely. But there was no way I was giving up then, so I swirled what I did have together with the chocolate and baked it up.

And of course I still ate one.
They had a great, rich, chocolatey taste, but I would definitely like there to be more cookie to the filling - and look like more like a sandwich! - and maybe a little bit sweeter. The idea is still exciting, so I'll just have to try again soon.

Tip of the Day: While I'm a big fan of using foil, disposable pans, when making bar cookies I often try to use a metal pan if I can - otherwise you don't get the nice smooth edges. Of course, that just leaves more of an excuse for the chef to "even them out"!

Recipe: (From Bars & Squares)
Note: This is the recipe in its original format. I'd recommend doubling the dough if making it.

Base:
2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
[1 cup chopped almonds - I left these out]

Filling:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (12 ounces)
1 cup milk or whipping cream
2 tbsp butter

Melt the chocolate and butter together, and combine with the milk. Set aside to let cool.

Whisk the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla together until smooth.
Stir in the flour, and almonds if using, until smooth.
Spread half the batter in the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan.
Spread the filling evenly over the base.
Dot the remaining batter on top and spread with a knife to cover.
Bake at 350 F for 30 to 35 minutes.
Let cool completely in pan before cutting.

Strawberry Thumbprint Cookie Squares

Making thumbprint cookies has always been on my to do list. Along with cleaning my apartment, learning another language and finding that jacket I lost four months ago. It's no big shock that I got to the cookies first.But - aha! - I cheated. My old standby, bar cookies, came through here. Instead of forming and shaping the cookies individually I pressed the dough in to a pan, scored the squares and placed a thumbprint in each one. Brilliant, right?!

Really time saving. After they're baked, you recut the lines, and have yourself 28 cookies!
And of course, they don't need the additional drizzle of chocolate, but it really can't hurt.
I really loved the idea of these cookies, and the flavor of all the ingredients combined, but I think the cookie itself was too crumbly. In fact, I took these to the office, and was able to deduce who had eaten them by the crumb trail from the cookies to their desks.

Tip of the Day: Once your recipe is in the oven, you still want to double check to see if there are any instructions on cooling - when to remove from the pan and how long to wait.

Recipe: (adapted from Bars and Squares)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup icing sugar
1 cups (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2/3 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

Combine the flour, sugar, butter, vanilla and egg until well mixed.
Knead the dough until smooth.
Press the dough evenly in to a greased 9x13" pan. Score the dough in to 28 squares.
Make a well in the center of each square with your thumb or the handle of a wooden spoon.
Fill each indentation with jam.
Bake on 400 F for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned on the edges.
Let cool, then drizzle melted chocolate on top.

Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Shortbread Sticks

I made chocolate dipped oatmeal shortbread bars. I think I like the idea of dipping things in chocolate.
The recipe for these came from one of my new cookbooks, Bars and Squares. If you've been around here more than a week, you know how much I love bars. And squares.
So these bars are baked up in one 9x13" pan, and then cut into bars as soon as they come out of the oven, so they're easier to cut when cool.Though this recipe didn't actually call to be dipped in chocolate, another one on the same page did, and I figured it was a pretty good idea.
Originally, I had this grand idea to make long sticks and dip both ends in chocolate. But that was just too heavy to sustain, so a lot of them broke, and I decided it was better to make them all short and cute. Plus I got to eat some broken pieces along the way.
Did I mention that these were really easy? Five ingredients. One bowl. And with oats and brown sugar, they had a really great flavor and texture. They're just fine without being dipped in chocolate, or you could even make them chocolate chip!

Tip of the Day: Melting chocolate for dipping or decorating with a touch of vegetable oil ensures that it will dry nicely, and mimic "tempering" of chocolate.

Recipe: (from Bars and Squares by Jill Snider)

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cups rolled oats

Optional: melted chocolate with a pinch of vegetable oil mixed in.

Beat the sugar and butter together until light and creamy.
Stir in the flour, cinnamon and oats, mixing well.
Use your hands to make sure the dough comes together cohesively.
Press the dough in to an ungreased 9x13" pan. Bake on 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes.
Score in to bars or squares as soon as it comes out of the oven, then let cool.

If dipping in chocolate, melt some semi-sweet chocolate with a touch of vegetable oil together.
Dip bars in chocolate and then place on wax paper. Refrigerate until set.

Double Chocolate Raspberry Bars

You can make fun of me all you want for having practically every other post on this blog dedicated to something raspberry, but I don't care. Raspberry and chocolate is a great combination - and these are no exception.
These are double chocolate raspberry bars - basically everything good in life in one bar.
If there's anything I'm more obsessed with than raspberry it's bar cookies - all the individuality of a cookie, without the rolling and dropping and scooping. And without the multiple batches. Seriously people, bar cookies are the way to go.

So much so that I bought a bar cookie cookbook recently, but more on that later.
Back to these now. The recipe called for them to be made in a 10x15 inch pan, which, though I do have, was entirely too much cookie for me, especially since I have this strange predilection for traveling on mass transit with baked goods. So instead I took 3/4 of the recipe, which worked out pretty well considering my limited math skills. Unless these were supposed to be entirely different and I didn't know, because sometimes I'm pretty sure that 1/2 plus 1/2 is 2. Then again, sometimes I'm not.
Tip of the Day: When you half, third, triple or eighth a recipe - it's important to know which ingredients need to be exact and which don't. A little less or more oats or chocolate chips won't be crucial, but your baking powder or soda should be exact.

Recipe: (from Cookie Madness)

2 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 3/4 cups oats
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 sticks (18 tbsp) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup seedless raspberry jam
Additional 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Stir the flour, cocoa powder, oats, sugars, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.
Stir in the cooled, melted butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Press about 1/2 the mixture in to a greased, 9x13" pan.
Spread the jam on top carefully.
Crumble the remaining dough on top.
Bake on 350F for 40 minutes. Immediately after removing from oven, sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Let cool in pan, then cut in to bars.