Author Archives: Maurie Backman

Apr 3

Salted Caramel Toffee Chip Cookie Bars With Milk Chocolate Ganache

Wow. That title is quite a mouthful. But I figure the best way to describe these delicious, decadent bars is to disclose everything I put in them right off the bat.

It all started a couple of days ago, when I found myself craving a thick, chewy chocolate chip cookie bar. (Don’t get me wrong – I love cookies. But I happen to be an even bigger fan of the cookie bar.) I thought about making a batch, but when I started digging through my pantry in search of semisweet chocolate chips, I was shocked to find that I was completely out. I did, however, spot a few bags of toffee bits, and hence the idea was born.

What you’ve got here is a classic chocolate chip cookie base that features toffee pieces instead of chocolate chips. Then, in the middle, you’ve got a soft layer of salted caramel that adds the perfect amount of contrast to an otherwise sweet concoction. And then, to top it all off, you’ve got a nice layer of milk chocolate ganache – just in case you were missing the chocolate.

These babies are everything a cookie bar should be: chewy, somewhat gooey, rich, and just plain yummy. Don’t be intimidated by the fact that this recipe has multiple steps. Each one is fairly simple, and the bars don’t take very long to set up. You can easily start this recipe at some point in the morning and have a nice supply of cookie bars handy for an afternoon snack.

cookiebars

Salted Caramel Toffee Chip Cookie Bars With Milk Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

2 cups AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups toffee bits (alternatively, you can chop up some Heath bars or substitute for chocolate chips if you prefer)

For the salted caramel:

1 cup Kraft caramels, unwrapped (other brands are fine, of course, but Kraft tends to be the easiest to find in my neck of the woods)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 and 1/2 teaspoons course sea salt

For the milk chocolate ganache:

6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9×9 baking pan and set aside.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  3. Cream the butter and sugars until well-combined. Add the eggs and vanilla; mix until well-blended.
  4. Add in the dry ingredients in two to three batches, mixing at a low speed until just combined. Stir in the toffee bits.
  5. Combine the caramels and heavy cream and heat in the microwave in 30-second increments until melted. (Make sure to stir the mixture in between each zap.)
  6. Press half of the cookie dough into your prepared pan.
  7. With an offset spatula, spread the caramel sauce over the bottom cookie dough layer. Sprinkle the sea salt evenly over the caramel. Then, press the remaining cookie dough over the caramel layer.
  8. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the top of the bars start to turn light golden brown. Cool the bars in their pan for about 90 minutes at room temperature. Then, place the bars in the refrigerator while you make the ganache.
  9. To make the ganache, combine the chocolate and confectioners sugar in a small bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream until it gets hot without bubbling too much. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and sugar, and stir or whisk until the mixture turns smooth and glossy.
  10. Remove the bars from the fridge. Use an offset spatula to evenly spread the ganache over the tops of the bars.
  11. Return the pan to the fridge for 30-60 minutes to set. You may want to cut them while they’re slightly cold, but not straight out of the fridge. I like these bars at room temperature, or even slightly warmed. And you can’t go wrong throwing a few of them in a bowl, heating them up, and topping them off with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Mar 11

Nutella Brownies

I’m not a particularly big Nutella fan on its own. Some people can just sit there and eat that stuff by the spoonful, but I’m not one of them. On the other hand, I often find that when you take Nutella and add into the right recipe, it can work wonders on the flavor front. Case in point: these Nutella brownies. What you’ve got here is the rich, chocolate goodness of a classic fudge brownie enhanced by the addition of Nutella. To balance out the sweetness a little, I used bittersweet chocolate chunks in my recipe, but if you’re not afraid of really sweet things, feel free to substitute with semisweet or milk chocolate chips.

Nutellabrown

Nutella Brownies

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup Nutella
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and cocoa powder.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until well-combined; then stir in the Nutella and chocolate chunks.
  5. Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least an hour before slicing and serving.
Mar 6

Coconut Almond Joy Blondies

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I just love the simplicity of blondies. They come together so quickly and without all the hassle involved in digging out your fancy kitchen tools. And they’re so versatile – you can take a blondie recipe you’ve used before and transform it just by altering a few of the ingredients. That’s what I did with my latest batch anyway.

These blondies are very similar to the coconut M&M blondies I made back in November, only the addition of Almond Joy Pieces really amps up that coconut flavor. I love the chewy texture you get from the coconut, and the Almond Joy pieces just make these bars look fun and festive. Coconut fans, stop what you’re doing and go make yourselves some blondies. You can thank me later.

almjoyjpg

Coconut Almond Joy Blondies

Recipe from RecipeGirl

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup Almond Joy Pieces
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8-inch pan with nonstick spray and then line the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugars.
  3. Stir in the egg, vanilla, and salt.
  4. Stir in flour, coconut, Almond Joy Pieces, and chocolate chips until well-combined.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
  6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before turning them out onto a cutting board and cutting into squares.
Feb 18

Peppermint Bark

Peppermint bark is truly a staple item for me during the winter, right up there with hot cocoa and warm soup. Although there are several tasty store-bought versions of this classic treat, I usually like to whip up at least one homemade batch per season. In fact, I made my peppermint bark back in late December but am only first getting around to sharing the recipe and photos now. Blame my job, life, etc…

The great thing about homemade peppermint bark is that you can control the ratios of dark chocolate to white chocolate to peppermint to suit your taste. And it’s also way cheaper to make this stuff yourself than to buy it from your average retailer (though I’ll give you a little tip: Costco sells peppermint bark for a very reasonable price; the only problem is that it’s only available around the holidays). So go ahead: Make yourself a batch of peppermint bark and enjoy the fruits of your labor for several weeks to come (or days, if your self-control is similar to mine, as in non-existent).

pbark

Peppermint Bark

Ingredients:

10 ounces dark chocolate
10 ounces white chocolate
3/4 cup crushed candy cane bits, divided into two equal parts (more or less)
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Method:

  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Using either a microwave or a double boiler, melt the dark chocolate until smooth. If you go the microwave route, zap your chocolate at 50% power and in 30-second increments, stirring well in between each round.
  3. Quickly pour half of the crushed candy cane bits into the melted dark chocolate, and stir.
  4. Add in peppermint extract, and stir again. Then, pour the dark chocolate mixture onto your prepared baking sheet and use a spoon or offset spatula to spread it out as needed.
  5. Place the baking sheet in the fridge for one hour.
  6. After an hour, remove the baking sheet and let it sit at room temperature while you melt your white chocolate.
  7. Using one of the above methods, melt the white chocolate until smooth.
  8. Use a spoon or offset spatula to spread the white chocolate over the dark chocolate-peppermint layer. Sprinkle remaining candy cane bits over white chocolate layer, using your fingers to press some of the bigger pieces in as needed.
  9. Place the baking sheet back in the fridge for an additional hour to allow the peppermint bark to set.
  10. This stuff keeps for quite some time in the fridge, and at room temperature my recent batch lasted about a week. It would’ve lasted even longer had I been able to control myself, but yeah, that didn’t happen.
Feb 14

Peanut Butter Blondies With Reese’s Pieces

Sometimes you have days where you’ve just got to have peanut butter. There’s no question about it. Yesterday was one of those days. After being cooped up during yet another snowstorm, I needed some peanut butter in my life, pronto. Enter these blondies. They’re only slightly different from the ones I made a few months back, but I like the playful color the Reese’s Pieces bring to the mix. Also, the candy coating from the Reese’s adds some crunch to an otherwise soft, chewy, and delicious blondie bar. If you’re craving peanut butter and stuck indoors, be kind to yourself and make a batch of these.

Reesesjpg

Peanut Butter Blondies With Reese’s Pieces

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1/4 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 cups Reese’s Pieces

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, peanut butter, and sugars until well-combined.
  3. Beat in the egg (you can use a whisk or a fork for this) and vanilla; mix until well-incorporated.
  4. Stir in the flour and salt, mixing well.
  5. Stir in the Reese’s Pieces.
  6. Pour your batter into the prepared pan and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Let the blondies cool in the pan (at least one hour) before slicing and serving.
Feb 10

Double Layer Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Warning: If you don’t enjoy crazy, indulgent treats, stay away from these brownies. They really are kind of insane. But in a very good way.

I was craving that chocolate-peanut butter combo but couldn’t decide whether to go for a brownie with peanut butter chips or a peanut butter blondie with chocolate chips. And then I thought, hey, why not combine the two? And that’s how these brownies were born. The bottom layer is a rich, dark chocolate brownie with peanut butter in the base and peanut butter chips generously intermingled, while the top layer is a moist peanut butter blondie studded with semisweet chocolate chips.

Although these brownies do essentially mean making two recipes in one, each batter is really quick and easy to throw together, and the end result is pretty impressive. So even if you’re short on time, if you’re craving chocolate and peanut butter and want something truly over-the-top, go ahead and make a batch of these.

crazybrownies

Double Layer Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients:

For the brownie layer:

1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup peanut butter chips

For the peanut butter blondie layer:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

For the brownie layer:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside. (You can also use a 9×9 pan – your brownies won’t be quite as tall, but that’s okay.)
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Stir in peanut butter and melted chocolate, then set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and cocoa powder.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until well-combined.
  5. Stir in the peanut butter chips.
  6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan, using an offset spatula to smooth out the top.

For the peanut butter blondie layer:

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars.
  2. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well-incorporated (you can do this with a whisk or even a fork).
  3. Stir in the flour and salt, mixing well.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  5. Using a offset spatula, spread the peanut butter blondie layer over the brownie layer.
  6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, or with only a few moist crumbs.
  7. Let the brownies cool in the pan before cutting and slicing. I recommend holding out two hours if you can, but make sure to leave these for at least a solid hour to set up.
Feb 3

Dark Chocolate Cookies With White Chocolate Chips

Is it ever going to stop snowing around here? Yesterday was so nice I decided to take my son out for a walk…and today it’s snowing again. It’s snowing a lot. And I’m tired of it. Thank goodness I have cookies. Cookies make everything better.

These cookies are really easy to make, and I like the contrast of the white chocolate chips with the dark chocolate base. I especially like dipping these babies in hot chocolate while watching the snow fall from the comfort of my living room.

darkchoccookies

Dark Chocolate Cookies With White Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened (but not melted)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups AP flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Very lightly grease a few baking sheets and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.
  3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until well-combined.
  5. Stir in the white chocolate chips.
  6. Drop the dough by rounded spoonfuls onto your cookie sheets.
  7. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the outsides of the cookies get crisp (the centers may still be somewhat soft but they will firm up during the cooling process).
  8. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let the cookies rest on the sheets for two minutes; then transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.
Jan 29

Pretzel-Crusted Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Caramel Blondies

Wow, that’s a mouthful. No pun intended. The great thing about blondies is that they can be pretty simple. Or not, like these bars. Want to know what inspired these? I was sort of looking for a way to emulate the taste of Chubby Hubby, one of my favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavors, in blondie form, and this is what I came up with.

These bars are pretty outrageous. You’ve got a sweet and salty pretzel crust on the bottom, a rich caramel-peanut butter blondie center packed with chocolate chips in the middle, and a generous layer of chopped peanut butter cups to top it all off. In other words, these bars are really rich. But really, really good.

Chubhub

Pretzel-Crusted Chocolate-Peanut Butter Caramel Blondies

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar

For the blondie layer:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup caramel sauce (store-bought is fine, or make your own by melting about 12 Kraft caramel candies with a tablespoo of heavy cream)
1 cup chopped peanut butter cups, for topping

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×9 baking pan and set aside.
  2. Make the crust by combining the pretzels, melted butter, and brown sugar in a small bowl and mixing well. Press the crust into the bottom of your prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, and egg. Stir in the vanilla.
  4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt.
  5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until well-combined. Then, stir in the caramel sauce and chocolate chips.
  6. Pour the batter on top of the crust. Sprinkle the chopped peanut butter cups on top of the blondie layer.
  7. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the blondies cool in the pan (at least one hour) before slicing and serving.
Jan 23

Everything Blondies

I’ve been kind of bad about posting stuff lately – we can thank my new work schedule for that. But believe it or not, I have been doing a fair amount of baking. And eating, of course. In fact, I devoured more of these blondies than I’d like to admit, but they were really just so darn good I couldn’t resist.

One of my favorite things about blondies is the fact that they’re so versatile. So when I found myself having trouble deciding what type of blondies to make for an impromptu get-together, I decided to simply cram a whole bunch of different flavors into a gooey, buttery base. The result? Another fabulous batch of treats.

everythingblond

Everything Blondies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup butterscotch chips
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup cinnamon chips
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and egg. Stir in the vanilla.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt.
  4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until well-combined. Stir in the various chocolate chips, reserving a small amount of each to sprinkle on top if desired.
  5. Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the blondies cool in the pan (at least one hour) before slicing and serving.
Jan 14

Chocolate Chunky Peanut Butter Brownies

I just love me a good brownie. And I also happen to be a big fan of the whole chocolate-peanut butter combo. So basically, if you’re me, these brownies are a very good thing. They feature a rich, fudgy chocolate-peanut butter base with a chunky peanut butter filling. Talk about yum.

Incidentally, my work schedule recently changed (read: got more demanding) and so I haven’t been posting (or baking, for that matter) quite as regularly as I normally would. I wonder if this new schedule will have a positive effect on both my wallet and waistline…guess we’ll have to see what happens.

chunkypb

Chocolate Chunky Peanut Butter Brownies

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, egg, smooth peanut butter, and vanilla. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salt, and cocoa powder.
  4. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until well-combined.
  5. Pour half of the batter into your prepared pan.
  6. Spread the chunky peanut butter on top of the base layer using either the greased back of a spoon or an offset spatula.
  7. Spread the remaining brownie batter on top.
  8. Bake for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the brownies cool in the pan for at least an hour before slicing and serving.