Oh yes, these happened. I’m known for bringing the sweetest of desserts to family parties. So much so that my dad’s best friend (who has a sweet tooth like no other) said to my mom, “Jamie’s coming right? What dessert did she come up with?” I tend to make fairly complex & time consuming desserts. Instead of standing over my stove & hand dipping truffles, I opted for these this year & they were by far the easiest thing I have ever made.
I originally saw these on Pinterest, and then followed link to link until I found the original recipe on Girl Meets Life. I love stumbling on new blogs. I made them in a 9x13 baking pan, which made them a bit thin. Next time I’ll use an 8x8 brownie pan instead. I bet these would be amazing as cake pops also.
Cake Batter Blondies
Ingredients:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Combine the first four ingredients in a bowl & then mix in the 1/4 cup sprinkles & 1/2 cup white chocolate chips.
2) Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray & spread the cake mix into it. Add more sprinkles on top for decoration. Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. You want the center to still be a bit gooey when you take them out of the oven.
3) Let cool & cut into squares. Stare at how pretty they are.
These were awesome. I’ve been having a serious blondie craving lately & had to make them yesterday. It also helped that we were going to a 3rd birthday party & I had an excuse to make them. I’m not a fan of chocolate so I think blondies are way superior to brownies.
Butterscotch & Chocolate Chip Blondies
Makes about 20-25 bars
Ingredients:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
- 1 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt (about a 1/4 tsp)
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a baking pan - 8x8 square pan if you want thicker blondies but less of them. 9x13 pan if you want thinner blondies & a few more. I used the 9x13 cause I like thin ones.
2) Place the brown sugar & butter in a mixing bowl & beat on medium until blended together. Add the egg, vanilla, & salt & beat until blended.
3) Add flour & beat on low until dough forms. Add the butterscotch & chocolate chips & use your hands to mix the dough & chips together.
4) Press into the baking dish & make sure the entire thing is even.
5) Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. The edges will be browned when you’re finished & no dough will come off on a toothpick.
6) Let them cool when you remove them from the oven. Once cooled, remove from pan & cut into about 25 bars.
I tend to only make these around the holidays, so I’ve started calling them Christmas Bars. They are so good. DBF eats them, and he normally runs away from things with coconut in them. These go very quick at parties & are crazy simple to make. I’ve been told that the traditional recipe has peanut butter chips in it, but I like to use butterscotch chips instead.
7 Layer Magic Bars
Servings: About 18 bars
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
- 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butterscotch chips
- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick spray.
2. Place 1 cup of the coconut on a baking pan & toast until the edges begin to brown, about 4-6 minutes. Keep an eye on it because it will go from browned to burnt in about a minute.
3. Melt the stick of butter & combine with the graham cracker crumbs. Press the crum mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Flatten out until the entire pan is lined with a crust. It might seem like you don’t have enough of the crumb mixture, but you do!
4. Once the coconut is toasted, layer the remaining ingredients on top of the crust:
- crushed walnuts
- chocolate chips
- white chips
- butterscotch chips
- toasted coconut
- condensed milk (cover entire pan with this)
- 1/4 cup untoasted coconut on top
5. Let sit for about 15 minutes until the condensed milk soaks into the other ingredients.
6. Back at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. It will be bubbling & the edges should be browned when finished. Let cool completely. Remove entire square from the pan & cut into 18 bars.
*NOte: If you try to remove the bar from the pan before it cools it will break apart because everything is still warm & melted. You want this to harden before cutting.
One random Sunday afternoon I decided to make the boyfriend something he’d love while he was out playing sports (he does this a lot). I remembered that Snickers are one of his favorite chocolate bars & after some Googling I found this recipe on Brown Eyed Baker. They appear to be very tedious at first, but they actually came together quicker than I imagined.
The hardest part is making the caramel peanuts. I had never worked with homemade caramel before, and I burned the first batch. You can simply buy caramel peanuts if you don’t want to go through the hassle of making them. Though, I assure you that once you get the method down you’ll never want store bought caramel peanuts again.
Homemade Snicker Bars
Servings: 16 bars
Ingredients:
For the crust:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 TB powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 stick butter, cut into small pieces & chilled
- 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
Filling:
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 TB water
- 1 1/2 cup salted peanuts
- 1 1/2 cup thick toffee sauce
Topping:
- 7 oz bittersweet chocolate chips
- 4 TB butter, cut into small pieces & kept at room temperature
Directions:
1. Place your oven rack in the center & pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8” square pan with non-stick spray or butter it.
2. Make the crust:
- Place the flour, sugar, powdered sugar &salt into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Toss in the pieces of cold butter and pulse about 12 times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal.
- Pour the yolk over the ingredients and pulse until the dough forms clumps. Stop before the dough comes together in a ball.
- Place the dough into the 8” square pan and press it evenly across the bottom. Pierce the dough all over with a fork and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the sides begin to brown. Remove from oven & let cool before using.
3. While the crust is baking, begin making the filling:
- Have a foil lined (and sprayed) baking pan ready & a wooden spoon.
- Put the sugar and water in a medium pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat to high & continue to cook the sugar, without stirring, until it just starts to color (for some reason mine rarely changes color. After about 8 minutes I throw the peanuts in anyway. Just make sure the water & sugar is thickening a bit before you add the peanuts).
- Toss in the peanuts and immediately start stirring. Keep stirring, to coat the peanuts with the sugar. Within a few minutes, they will be covered with sugar and it should begin to caramel. Keep stirring otherwise they will burn (I’ve burnt them twice!). When the peanuts are coated with a deep caramel color, turn off the heat & pour the peanuts onto the baking pan. spread them out with the wooden spoon & let them cool.
- When the peanuts are cool, separate the nuts or break them into small pieces. Divide the nuts in half. Keep half of the nuts whole or in large pieces for the filling, and finely chop the other half for the topping.
4. Spread the caramel sauce over the crust with a small border left around the edges. Sprinkle the whole candied peanuts over the caramel.
5. Make the topping:
- Melt the chocolate in a double broiler (don’t know what a double broiler is? Look here).
- Turn off the heat & stir in the butter. Stir until the butter is completely melted into the chocolate.
6. Assemble together:
- Pour the chocolate over the caramel & peanuts. Smooth it out the best you can.
- Sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top.
- Place the pan in the refrigerator to set the topping, about 20 minutes. Leave them in the refrigerator for a few hours if you want them served very cold.
7. Once cooled in the fridge, pop the entire square out of the pan & cut into 16 bars.
*Note: I almost always buy a disposable tin 8” pan at the grocery store when I make these. It makes it MUCH easier to pop the square out at the end!
