White Chocolate Strawberry Blondies

I’m clearly on a blueberry, strawberry, and white chocolate kick. Summertime just does that to me I guess. I used my go-to white chocolate blondie recipe as a base for these bars and added in the strawberries because, well, I’m in the midst of a love affair with strawberries and I might as well celebrate it.

I love the contrast of the slightly tart and tangy strawberries with the sweetness of the white chocolate. Even though I’m not one of those people who shuns white chocolate ’cause it’s too sweet, I definitely appreciate the balance of flavor the strawberries bring to the mix. Incidentally, you could substitute strawberries for another tart fruit, like raspberries, and get similarly delicious results.

Ingredients:
1 cup AP flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
1 cup strawberries, chopped

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using either your stovetop or microwave, combine the butter and white chocolate to melt. If using your stovetop, put butter and white chocolate in either a double boiler or heavy duty saucepan and melt on low heat while stirring frequently. If using the microwave, put butter and white chocolate in a small bowl and melt on 50% power for 30-second increments until butter is melted and white chocolate is mostly melted. Use a fork or whisk to get the chocolate nice and smooth.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together your eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the white chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth and well-combined.
5. Whisk or stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.
6. Stir in strawberries. (Quick note: If you’re washing your berries on the spot, make sure to pat them dry before adding to batter. You’ll want to eliminate as much moisture as possible before baking.)
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the blondies cool completely (at least 90 minutes) in the pan before cutting into bars.

Jul 10

White Chocolate Blueberry Blondies

After having achieved success with the white chocolate blondies I whipped up not so long ago, I decided to take that same recipe but incorporate one of my favorite summertime fruits: blueberries. I love the contrast of the sweet white chocolate and slightly tart, tangy blueberries. These babies were absolutely amazing. I actually got impatient and dug into them when they hadn’t fully cooled, which made them kind of gooey—but in a good way. In fact, you could just as easily serve these warm in a bowl, call your concoction a white chocolate blueberry pudding, and top it off with vanilla ice cream for contrast. Yum.

White Chocolate Blueberry Blondies

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using either your stovetop or microwave, combine the butter and white chocolate to melt. If using your stovetop, put butter and white chocolate in either a double boiler or heavy duty saucepan and melt on low heat while stirring frequently. If using the microwave, put butter and white chocolate in a small bowl and melt on 50% power for 30-second increments until butter is melted and white chocolate is mostly melted. Use a fork or whisk to get the chocolate nice and smooth.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together your eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the white chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth and well-combined.
5. Whisk or stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.
6. Stir in blueberries. (Quick note: If you’re washing your blueberries on the spot, make sure to pat them dry before adding to batter. You’ll want to eliminate as much moisture as possible; otherwise, your blondies may not bake up as well.)
7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars. I recommend waiting a good 90 minutes to make sure they’re nice and firm. Worst case, if you’re impatient like me, you’ll get a gooier “blueberry blondie pudding” if you choose to dig in earlier. And trust me, that’s not such a bad thing.

Jul 8

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Remember those awesome blueberry crumb bars I made a few days ago? They were so delicious I just had to try a strawberry version. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s fairly easy and pretty adaptable to your favorite fruit. You could try it with raspberries, peaches…the list goes on and on.

Strawberry Crumb Bars
Recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 and ½ cups granulated sugar, divided into 1 cup and ½ cup
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups AP flour
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons orange juice (I used fresh-squeezed from an orange, but any type of OJ will work just fine; you could also use lemon juice if you prefer that flavor profile)
4 cups fresh strawberries, chopped into small pieces
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, optional
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup of the sugar with the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. (Note: This might take awhile, but keep working at it—you want to make sure the butter gets nice and blended.) Your dough will be crumbly.
4. Pat half of the dough into your prepared pan.
5. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and orange juice. Gently mix in the chopped strawberries and chocolate chips, if you’re using them. Sprinkle the strawberry mixture evenly over the crust, and then crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.
6. Bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until the top gets slightly brown and an inserted toothpick comes out relatively clean.
7. Let the bars cool completely in the pan before cutting in. Two hours should do it.

Jul 4

Blueberry Crumb Bars

One of my favorite things about summer is the abundance of fresh blueberries available to big time fans like me. I’m happy to throw blueberries in just about anything – yogurt, ice cream, muffins, cake…So when I stumbled upon this easy recipe for blueberry crumb bars, I knew I had to give it a shot.

These bars are awesome—moist, crumbly, and just the right of gooey in the middle. They’re the perfect summertime treat, and I have a feeling I just might have to make them again before moving on to all things apple in the fall.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
Recipe slightly (barely) adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup of the sugar with the flour and baking powder.
3. Mix in salt and lemon zest (if you’re using it).
4. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. (Note: This might take awhile, but keep working at it—you want to make sure the butter gets nice and blended.) Your dough will be crumbly.
5. Pat half of the dough into your prepared pan.
6. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust, and then crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.
7. Bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until the top gets slightly brown and an inserted toothpick comes out relatively clean (you’ll get blue streaks from the blueberries even if the bars are done).
8. Let the bars cool completely in the pan before cutting. I’d say wait a good two hours since the blueberry filling makes them gooey to begin with.

Jul 1

White Chocolate Blondies

Some people aren’t fans of white chocolate. But I am—big time. And since I hadn’t baked with white chocolate in awhile, I decided to whip up some easy blondies.

These bars really are a cinch to make. The only tricky part is keeping an eye on the white chocolate while it’s melting. Of course, the best way to melt white chocolate is to use a double boiler, but I got lazy/was in a bit of a hurry and chose the microwave method instead. And you know what? These blondies didn’t suffer one bit.

White Chocolate Blondies

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8×8 baking pan.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. Using either your stovetop or microwave, combine the butter and 1 cup of white chocolate to melt. If using your stovetop, put butter and white chocolate in either a double boiler or heavy duty saucepan and melt on low heat while stirring frequently. If using the microwave, put butter and white chocolate in a small bowl and melt on 50% power for 30-second increments until butter is melted and white chocolate is mostly melted. Use a fork or whisk to get the chocolate nice and smooth.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together your eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Add in the white chocolate mixture and whisk until smooth and well-combined.
5. Whisk or stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.
6. Stir in 1/4 cup white chocolate and bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips.
7. Pour batter into prepared pan. If desired, sprinkle some more of the dark chocolate chips on top.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the blondies cool completely in the pan before cutting into bars.

Jun 20

Blueberry and Peach Crumble

Now that the warm weather seems to be sticking around, I’ve been less and less in the mood for brownies (I know, blasphemy) and more and more in the mood for all things fruit-related. I just love the selection of fresh fruit we get this time of year, and I find myself constantly stocking up and chowing down on melons, peaches, plums, and berries. And while I can easily enjoy my fruit as-is, for me, there’s almost nothing better than a warm, fresh-from-the-oven fruit crumble.

The great thing about crumbles like this one is that they’re super easy to make. Just slice up your favorite fruit and toss it in a little sugar and lemon juice. Then whip up a crumble mixture using your hands, toss it in the oven, and you’re done.

For my latest concoction, I decided to feature blueberries and peaches in the crumble itself, but what I actually did was cut up a bunch of strawberries and plums to use as a cold, fresh bottom layer. You don’t have to take that extra step, but I like the contrast of cold fruit on the bottom, warm crumble in the middle, and cool whipped cream on top. Vanilla ice cream also works wonderfully if you have some on hand. Or, you can forego the extras and enjoy this crumble on its own.

Here’s to a summer full of fresh fruit and delicious fruit-centric recipes.

Blueberry and Peach Crumble

Ingredients:

For the fruit mixture:
1 cups blueberries
1 cup peaches, peeled and sliced (about 2 large or 3 medium peaches)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 tablespoons AP flour

For the topping:
1/4 cup AP flour
1/4 cup oats (instant should work just fine)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg – whichever flavor profile you prefer
Pinch of salt to taste
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons room temperature butter cut into small pieces

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. To make the fruit mixture, combine the blueberries and peaches in a medium-sized oven-safe bowl (Pyrex works well). Toss with lemon juice, sugar, and flour until the fruit is well-coated. Let the mixture sit for about 20-30 minutes before topping.
3. To make the topping, whisk together the flour, oats, sugars, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Using your fingers, mix in the pieces of butter until the mixture comes together and takes on a crumbly consistency. To make this step easier, before you get started handling the butter, try coating your fingers with a little cooking spray. You’ll have less trouble working with the mixture once it gets sticky. Once the crumble comes together, sprinkle it evenly over the fruit.
4. Place the bowl with the now-assembled fruit crisp on a larger baking sheet. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the top starts to brown and you can see the fruit mixture bubbling on the sides. Serve warm with whatever accompaniments you prefer.
5. Store leftovers, if any, in the fridge, and eat within a day or two. This recipe is designed to serve four people, but you can easily double or triple it if you’re looking to feed a larger crowd.

May 28

Crazy Bark

Sometimes I like to get a little nutty in the kitchen, especially when said nuttiness can be achieved without investing a significant amount of time. I invented this concoction awhile back and decided to whip up a batch recently. I call it Crazy Bark, ‘cause, well, it’s a little insane.

How do I describe what this is? In a nutshell, it’s like a s’more and a peanut chew collided to make one supremely indulgent concoction. I mean, take a look at the ingredients. You’ve got chocolate and peanut butter. You’ve got caramel. You’ve got graham crackers and marshmallows. What more could you ask for?

Crazy Bark

Ingredients:

For the bottom layer:
1 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup dark chocolate
1/3 cup lightly salted peanuts
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup chopped marshmallows (not mini marshmallows—you want smaller pieces here)
1 graham cracker, chopped

For the top layer:
1/2 cup caramel chips (if you can’t find these, feel free to use butterscotch or peanut butter chips instead; or, just double the amount of caramel and milk indicated below)
6-8 Kraft caramels, unwrapped
1 tbsp whole milk (you can use another type of milk if you don’t typically have whole milk on hand)
1/3 cup chopped marshmallows
1/3 cup chopped graham crackers

Method:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Melt the semisweet chocolate, dark chocolate, and peanut butter in the microwave on 50% power at 30-second intervals, stirring in between. Once melted, stir in the peanuts, marshmallows, and graham cracker. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking sheet and refrigerate until set (1-2 hours).
3. Once the bottom layer has set, combine the caramel chips, caramels, and milk in a bowl and melt the mixture in the microwave. Once melted, stir in the marshmallows and graham crackers. Pour the mixture over the bottom layer and return to the fridge to set (another 1-2 hours).
4. Once the bark has set, use a sharp knife (or your hands) to break into pieces. Try not to eat entire batch all at once.

May 24

Chocolate Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars

Oops. I realized I made these awhile ago but never got around to posting the recipe. Luckily I remembered to take a picture, so better late than never I suppose.

Anyway, I’m a big fan of repurposing easy recipes, especially when they come out tasting delicious. So when I needed something to throw together for an impromptu neighborhood gathering, I decided to revisit the oatmeal raisin bars I made a little while back. This time, however, I decided to forego the raisins in favor of chocolate and cinnamon chips. The end result? Pure magic in every bite.

Chocolate Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars
Recipe slightly adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup AP flour
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup cinnamon chips

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter an 8×8 square baking pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides, and butter the paper.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, sugars, egg, salt, and cinnamon until smooth. Add flour, oats, and chips; fold in just until combined.
4. Spread batter in prepared pan, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in pan.
5. Once cool, use the parchment paper to lift the bars onto a work surface for cutting.

May 23

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

We’ve had a bit of a heat wave lately here in New Jersey. And for the record, I knew this was going to happen. See, most years we get at least a little taste of that wonderful season called “spring.” You know, when the sun comes out and the temps are warm enough for you to walk around outside in a t-shirt without being too hot or too cold. Well, this year we basically had cold, often-rainy weather up until a couple of days ago. Then it turned hot. Really hot. I’m talking 85-degree, smog in the air hot. It’s the type of weather where my naturally curly hair doesn’t stand a chance (not that I’m above pulling it back into a bun or slapping a baseball cap on top of my head, but there’s just something about massive, uncontrollable humidity-induced frizz that makes my self-esteem take a bit of a hit) and the simple act of walking down the street is enough to make you reach for a Gatorade.

In weather like this, all I ever really want to eat is yogurt, cereal, and ice cream. And the last thing I want to do is slave over a hot stove or even contemplate turning on my oven. But alas, my desire to put something in my stomach other than pure dairy got the better of me, and so I decided to bake up some quick oatmeal bars.

The good thing about this recipe is that it’s just about the easiest thing ever. You don’t need fancy equipment or a ton of ingredients, and your oven stays on for only a short amount of time. While some people might refer to these babies as oatmeal cookie bars, to me, they’re more like candy bars. The only downside to making them smack in the middle of a heat wave is that the tops have a tendency to melt if you’re cheap and stubborn like me and refuse to run your air conditioner (though I eventually caved). In fact, you’ll definitely want to store these in the fridge, no matter the season. But if you like chewy, chocolate peanut butter candy bars, you’ll definitely want to whip up a batch of these. Just be careful offering them up to neighbors, coworkers, and friends—you may be surprised at what little you have left for yourself.

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:

For the base:
4 cups of quick-cooking oats
1 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup corn syrup

For the topping:
1 cup milk chocolate, chopped (it’s okay to use chocolate chips)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

Method:

For the base:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan and set aside. Using a wooden spoon, combine the oats, brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup.
2. Press the mixture into your prepared pan and bake for 10-12 minutes.
3. Allow the base to cool completely (at least 30 minutes) before adding the topping.

For the topping:
1. Combine the chocolate and peanut butter in a small bowl and melt in the microwave at 50% power for 30-second increments, stirring in between each. Once the mixture is smooth, immediately stir in the peanuts and then use an offset spatula to spread the topping over the base.
2. Place the bars in the fridge to set, at least one hour.
Keep these bars stored in the fridge, not at room temp. They happen to taste really good cold, but if you’d prefer them a little warmer and chewier, just take them out about 15-30 minutes before you want to eat them. I don’t recommend microwaving them to warm them up, as the topping has a tendency to melt quickly.

May 13

Caramel Tres Leches Rice Krispies Treats, or What to Do With Leftover Tres Leches Mix

Remember that delicious tres leches cake I made recently? Well, the one annoying thing about the recipe is that it calls for about a cup of that yummy milk mixture to be discarded. Since I don’t like letting any type of food go to waste, I decided to get creative in finding a way to repurpose some of what I had leftover. And hence these caramel tres leches Rice Krispies treats were born.

This recipe is incredibly easy to whip up. It only takes a few minutes, and there’s no actual baking involved. The only thing is that the cleanup can be a little messy…and the bars themselves, though wonderfully tasty, did end up coming out a little sticky. But if you do what I did and cover them individually with plastic wrap, you’ll have a nice little snack supply on hand.

Incidentally, I still have some more of that milk mixture left over, so if anyone has any ideas on what to do with it before it goes bad in my fridge, I’m all ears.

Caramel Tres Leches Rice Krispies Treat

Ingredients:
1 and ½ cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup miniature marshmallows
About 20 Kraft caramel candies, unwrapped
3 tablespoons tres leches mix (heavy cream, evaporated milk, and condensed milk combined)

Method:
1. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine the caramel candies and tres leches mix and heat in the microwave or on the stovetop until the caramels have melted and the mixture starts to bubble slightly.
3. Stir in marshmallows and cereal, making sure to coat the cereal well.
4. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and refrigerate until set, about one hour. Cut into squares and enjoy.

Busy Baking Mama

Tag Archives: easy

White Chocolate Strawberry Blondies

White Chocolate Blueberry Blondies

Strawberry Crumb Bars

Blueberry Crumb Bars

White Chocolate Blondies

Blueberry and Peach Crumble

Crazy Bark

Chocolate Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars

Oatmeal Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Caramel Tres Leches Rice Krispies Treats, or What to Do With Leftover Tres Leches Mix