Nutty Baked Goodies!

I've been feeling nutty lately and decided to bake! First off, some Walnut Cream Cheese Shortbread Cookies. I'm all for any drop cookies that don't require chilling the dough and these did NOT disappoint!

Next up, Toffee Pecan Oatmeal Bars. Toffee AND pecan? I'm in heaven! Super easy using the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Mix too, which I always keep on hand!

Weekend Eats and Bakes!

It's been a fun weekend with lots of baking and eating! I ended Saturday night after our Mother's Day dinner with some Cookie Chip Bars. These are made healthier with whole wheat flour and high fiber cereal but taste just like regular cookie bars. I did bump up the chocolate factor by adding more chocolate chips because I felt that 1/4 cup was just not enough!

We were feeling snacky Sunday afternoon so I made some Meatball Tortilla Cups. How cute are they right? No recipe required. I just filled Tostito's Scoops with pre-made meatballs, salsa, sour cream and cheese. Perfect bite-size nibbles!

For dinner, I made mini burgers inspired by Giada's Lamb Sliders. I used beef instead and added sliced tomatoes, which were hiding under all the cheese!

We had to end the weekend on a sweet note, so I made some mini Orange Cranberry Muffins. Super easy to make and super easy to eat!

Ingredients: (24 mini muffins)

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c milk
1/4 c orange juice
1/4 c dried cranberries

Prep:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until well combined. 
3. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking soda. Add to the stand mixer. 
4. In a measuring cup, stir together the milk and orange juice. Pour into the stand mixer. 
5. Add cranberries to the stand mixer and mix until everything is combined but don't over mix.
6. Using a cookie scoop, scoop the batter into the muffin pan, filling all the way to the top.
7. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until the muffins are light golden brown.

A Third Thanksgiving

Since my hubby and I spent Thanksgiving separately this year, we decided to do another celebration after he got back. This is our third Thanksgiving since we already had a Pre-Thanksgiving the weekend before! These are very simply baked chicken leg quarters with carrots, potatoes and onions. Not even a recipe required! It's just chicken seasoned with Italian seasoning and baked in the oven for about an hour. Served over stuffing, of course, cuz it's still Thanksgiving after all!

For dessert, I whipped up an easy boxed mix of Pumpkin Pie Bars with Gingerbread Crust. You can get anymore HOLIDAY than these!

More Fall Eats and Treats!

First off, some treats! Pumpkin Pie Pudding Cookies! Instead of the Cinnamon Chips, I actually found Pumpkin Pie Chips. (I just LOVE seasonal baking ingredients!) They came out soft and tasted just like Pumpkin Pie but in tiny cookie form.

A perfect weeknight meal of braised porkchops topped with dried fruit and pineapples served over Couscous.

More Crockpot goodness with Martha Stewart's Spiced Chicken Stew. We LOVED the raisins in this dish and perfect over stuffing.

A Sunday night feast of Apple and Sage Porkchops served over, what else, STUFFING! It feels like Thanksgiving already!

Since we had the day off for Veteran's Day, I decided to bake some 7-Layer Magic Bars. These had a combination of chocolate, white chocolate and peanut butter chips along with coconut and walnuts. A definite hit at the office and super easy to make too!

Mix and Match Citrus Bars

I was inspired by this recipe for Cranberry Orange Bars but switched things up a bit. For my first batch, I stayed with the cranberries and orange juice but added chopped walnuts instead of the almonds. For my second batch, I changed everything by using raisins, lemonade and pistachios. They were both very yummy and moist and had just the right amount of tart and sweet with a nutty crunch!

Christmas Baking Starts Tonight!

Every year, I give a box of assorted cookies to my closest coworkers during he holidays. Everyone loves them and nothing beats a homemade gift! Since I like to give at least 3 or 4 different kinds of cookies, I have to plan ahead. My hubby was out of town so tonight seemed like the perfect night to start my holiday baking. First up are some M&M Cookie Bars. Super easy using cake mix and any flavor will work. I like to use a lighter color like white or yellow so the M&M's can really show off. Of course, any candy you like will work here so the sky is the limit! Happy Holidays!

Ingredients: (16 bars)


1 box cake mix (any light flavor)
1/3 c butter, melted
2 Tbsp water
2 eggs
1 bag M&M Candies (any flavor)


Prep:


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment paper so that the sides hang over for easy lifting.


2. In large bowl, mix cake mix, butter, water and eggs with spoon until dough forms (some dry mix will remain). Stir in M&M Candies. Spread evenly in pan.


3. Bake 22 to 26 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Life out of pan and cut into 16 bars.

Pecan Squares for My Mom's Bday!

I don't think there's anything my mom loves more than pecans and since her birthday's coming up, I decided to make these Pecan Bars. They've got the perfect crunchy topping and buttery shortbread crust and not at all difficult to make. I'm sure my mom will love them as much as I do!

Messy Cherry Bars

It's not even close to Cherry Season but they were on sale at Safeway so I picked up a bag. I don't really like snacking on cherries cuz they've got pits and I'm just plain lazy so I searched for a recipe to bake with them. I found these Cherry Brown Butter Bars that looked really yummy so I gave them a shot. I even ordered a Cherry Pitter so I wouldn't make a mess but somehow I did anyway. (My kitchen counter and floor are now spotted with red specks!) Lining the baking pan with parchment paper definitely made it easy to take the whole thing out but cutting them was a whole different story. Oh well, they were really tasty and that's all that matters at the end right?

Inspired by Giada's Apricot Oat Bars

I watched Giada make some Apricot Oat Bars a while back and actually went out to buy a straight-edged baking pan just for the occasion. I substituted dried cranberries and strawberry jam using what I already had and they came out AMAZING! I LOVE the combination of the oatmeal and the fruit! I think the pan really helped to get the shape of the bars just right. :)

"Falling" in Love with this Apple Cake!

Fall is definitely Apple Season so I'm looking forward to a lot of baked apple treats! I saw this recipe for Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze and couldn't resist! I actually skipped the glaze cuz the cake already had a lot of sugar in it and it was definitely sweet enough without it. I halved the recipe and baked it in an 8x8-inch pan making 9 squares. I also substituted Pumpkin Pie Spice for the Cinnamon and it came out tasting like a yummy combination of Apple and Pumpkin Pie! I guess you can say I'm definitely ready for Turkey Day!

Starting Off My Fall Baking with Apple Bars

I always think of apples when I think of fall so I decided to start the season with these Sour Cream Apple Bars. I halved the recipe and baked them in an 8x8-inch pan, then cut them into 9 bars. I also added Pumpkin Pie Spice instead of Cinnamon and Allspice and the smell totally made me look forward to Thanksgiving! I love the combination of the crumbly oatmeal crust along with the creamy apple filling. Not too sweet, a lil bit tart and just PERFECT fall treats!

Shortcut to Chocolate Chip Cookies

While searching for a something to make for this Cookie Friday, I stumbled upon these Thick and Chewy Chocolate Cookie Bars. They were described as the "perfect way to satisfy the cookie craving with minimal time and effort" and they really were! Chocolate Chip Cookies in bar form tasted just as good but were so much quicker to make. I managed not to overbake them like I do with so many of my cookies and they came out perfect chewy and soft! They disappeared FAST at the office!

Pineapple + Butterscotch = The Perfect Combo!

Pineapples make me think of sitting on a warm tropical beach and since it's closer to winter weather here in SF, I can only bake and dream! I found this recipe for Pineapple Butterscotch Bars from the Dole website and thought I'd give it a try since I've never thought of that combination before. I tweaked the recipe just a bit to make a smaller batch and they came out perfect! The butterscotch chips weren't too sweet at all and went really well with the refreshing taste of the pineapples. The walnuts added a nice lil crunch too. Perfect summer snacks except that we're not having summer weather right now! :(

Ingredients: (9 Bars)


1-1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
10 oz (1/2 of a 20 oz can) crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 c butterscotch chips
1/4 c chopped walnuts


Prep:


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x8-ich baking pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl; set aside.


2. Beat together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in crushed pineapple. Stir in flour mixture, butterscotch chips and nuts until blended.


3. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Dust cooled cake with powdered sugar, if desired. Cut into squares.

The Yummiest Cheesecake Bars EVER!

My mom LOVES cheesecake and she also loves pecans in just about anything. So when I saw this recipe for Pecan Cheesecake Bars, I knew she'd love them! They were SO good with the crunchy topping and creamy middle. It's just amazing how 8 simple ingredients can make such yummy treats!

Easy Blackberry Pie Bars

I saw that blackberries were on sale (buy 1 get 1 free!) so I picked up a couple of packages and searched for a recipe. I found this one for some yummy-looking Blackberry Pie Bars and immediately knew I had to make them! I cut the ingredients in half and used an 8x8-in pan so I ended up with 16 square bars. I love the fact that they taste like a homemade pie without the fuss of having to make pie crust! I'm sure this recipe would work great with raspberries too.

What's Better than a Bowl of Raisin Bran?

Raisin Bran has always been one of my favorite cereals so I was thrilled when I found this recipe for Raisin Bran Yogurt Bars! I love Kraft's website cuz they always have these yummy and easy recipe using just simple ingredients. In most cases (like this one), I already had everything on hand so these bars came together in no time! I chilled the pan in the fridge overnight after being baked so that the bars would set and be easier to cut. They tasted almost like cheesecake bars but much healthier, of course! I definitely wanna experiment with different cereals and yogurt flavor next time. Maybe some Cap 'n Crunch with Raspberry (think PB & J) or Lucky Charms with Chocolate (think S'Mores)? Now I'm really excited!

Coffee + Cream Cheese = YUMMY Breakfast Treats!

My last batch of Cheesecake Bars were such a hit that I decided to make some more. I found this recipe for Mocha Cheesecake Bars from Betty Crocker and knew they'd be perfect! I left out the chocolate chips cuz I thought the coffee flavor would be more intense that way. They were SO good! Coffee and cream cheese definitely make the perfect breakfast treat!

What's Even Better than A Cheesecake?

Cheesecake Bars! For some reason I had cheeesecake on my mind so when I saw this recipe for Cheesecake Bars on one of my favorite blogs, Cookie Madness, I knew I had to make them! I love the fact that she saved some of the crust mixture for the topping cuz it gave these bars such a nice crunch. The cheesecake layer was so creamy and not too sweet, just the way I like it! I cut mine into 16 squares and they're the perfect bite-size treat!

Using Up That Cake Mix!

I'm a total sucker for sales and usually stock up when I see a good buy. During the holidays, cake mix went on sale a LOT and so I ended up with more than a couple of boxes. I'm definitely not complaining though since they pretty much last forever in the pantry and you can make so many different things with them other than cake! I found this recipe from the Betty Crocker website and immediately knew I wanted to try it. I remembered how great my last batch of Cake Mix Bars were so I knew these would be a hit too! They did NOT disappoint! I love the combination of cranberries and white chocolate. You would never guess these bars were made with cake mix cuz they have such a nice cookie-like texture and the crunchy sides are the best!

Pre-Turkey Day Treat: Cranberry Walnut Bars!

Cranberries are everywhere these days with Turkey Day coming up, so I picked up a bag at the store. Not really having much experience with fresh cranberries (I've only used dried ones), I went online for some recipe searching. I found this recipe from the Ocean Spray website and thought they'd be perfect for my Cookie Friday. They were really easy to make and I love any recipe with only 6 ingredients! The cranberries burst open while they're baked and made these bars really moist with a lil bit of tartness. The walnuts also added some great crunch and texture. I think these bars are the perfect treats to welcome Turkey Day!