Lynn's Kitchen Adventures » Cookie Bars

No Bake Granola Bars

Lynn — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 01:26:25 +0000

We love my regular granola bars. I have made them often over the last few months and my family has really enjoyed them. In fact we have had them so much we were a bit tired of them.

I decided I needed to come up with something a little different. I was not only looking for a change from our regular homemade granola bars, I was also looking for something that I did not have to bake in the oven during the hotter months of the summer.

When I saw a recipe for no bake chewy granola bars I knew they might work. As usual I did adapt them quite a bit to make them more like how my family would like them.

First of all the original recipe had pretzels in it. I don’t know about you, but pretzels in granola bars is a bit odd and I thought my family would agree with me on that one.

The other main change I made was to decrease the sugar. These were way to sweet. I cut the sugar almost in half and they were still plenty sweet.

The main thing we love about these is the texture. They are a perfect chewy granola bar.

These would work great individually wrapped and then served in lunch boxes and as snacks.

No Bake Granola Bars

6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons honey
3 cups granola, ( I used home made granola)
1 ½ cups rice crispy cereal ( I used gf brown rice cereal)
raisins, crasins, and/or chocolate chips (optional)

In a pan heat the butter, brown sugar, and honey. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 2 minutes or until sugar is dissolved.
Remove from heat and stir in granola and cereal until well combined.
Stir in raisins, crasins, or chocolate chips if adding. We also like these on their own with no additions. By changing around what I add in, I can vary these a little and make everyone in my family happy.
Press mixture in to a 9×13 pan. Let mixture set for several hours or overnight before serving.
Cut into bars and serve.

Add this recipe to ZipList

This post linked to WFMW.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Creamy Lemon Squares

Lynn — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:08:38 +0000

A few weeks ago I made lunch for my husband’s staff. I do this every few months for them and everyone enjoys it. I enjoy cooking it, and they all enjoy a home cooked meal that they did not have to make.

When I do this I usually take the opportunity to try a new dessert recipe.

I have a lemon bar recipe that I love, but Martha Stewart has a recipe for Cream Lemon Squares that I have wanted to make for quite some time. I knew by looking at the recipe that it was a richer and fancier version than my regular recipe.

I decided our office lunch would be a perfect time to try it.

This recipe was so good. I actually made two pans, the regular version I am posting today, and a gluten free version, which I will post on my allergy site soon.

I sent these to the office along with the meal and everyone enjoyed them. If you enjoy lemon as much as I do, then this is a recipe that you need to try.

Creamy Lemon Squares

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
½ cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large egg yolks
1 can (14-ounces) sweetened condensed milk
¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from 4 lemons)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. This makes the bars come out of the pan easier, but it is not necessary.
Cream butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour, and mix just until combined.
Press dough into the bottom and ½ inch up sides of prepared pan. Prick all over bottom with a fork. Bake until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
Whisk together egg yolks, condensed milk, and lemon juice. Pour over hot crust and bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar for serving.
Enjoy!

Add this recipe to ZipList

This post linked to The Happy Housewife.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats

Lynn — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:30:14 +0000

My kids love rice krispy type treats. Well okay, my husband and I love them too.

However, I like my rice krispy treats doctored up a little. Plain ones are good, but fancy rice krispy treats are even better.

Today’s treats are chocolate rice krispy treats. Now, most of the time people just buy chocolate rice krispies or another type of chocolate cereal to make them. I have made them that way, but this recipe today is my favorite way to make chocolate rice crispy treats.

What do I do to make these special? I add cocoa, and not only do I add cocoa, I add chocolate chips that melt into the marshmallows. The combination of the cocoa and chocolate chips makes for the perfect amount of chocolate.

These are really good!

Chocolate Rice Krispy Treats

6 tablespoons butter
1 (10 ½ ounce) bag of mini marshmallows
¼ cup cocoa
8 cups of rice krispy cereal (I used the gluten free kind)
½ cup chocolate chips

In a large pan melt butter, marshmallow, and cocoa over medium heat, stirring constantly until melted.

Remove from heat and add cereal. Stir until well combined.

Stir in chocolate chips until melted.

Press into a greased 9×13 inch pan.

Let sit for several hours, and then cut into bars. These are not quite as firm as regular rice crispy treats. I put them in the refrigerator to help them firm up.

Enjoy!

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Rice Crispy Type Treats

Lynn — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:50:08 +0000

My kids love rice crispy treats and so do I. They are so easy to put together when we need a quick snack or dessert.

Did you know that you can make rice crispy type treats out of just about any type of cereal? It is a great way to use up cereal that you have bought on sale or maybe cereal that your family did not like very much or that they are tired of.

Over the years I have used fruit loops, golden grahams, honey bunches of oats, captain crunch, and many others. I recently started doing this with gluten free cereals like Chex and that also works well.

I just follow the basic directions for making the treats and use whatever cereal that I have.

What is your favorite cereal to use for these rice crispy type treats?

Rice Crispy Treats

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups rice krispies or other cereal

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add rice krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

Add this recipe to ZipList

For a fun and unique rice crispy treat you should try Amy’s Rice Crispy Roll and Jen’s version of rice crispy treats. They are both fun versions of a classic treat.

Add this recipe to ZipList

[/print_recipe]

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Magic Cake Bars

Lynn — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:43:51 +0000

This recipe is so good and so easy. It is similar to the magic cookie bars or seven layer bars that many of us have made for years, but this version uses a cake mix for the base. I made this for our last staff lunch and everyone loved them.

This is a great dessert to make when you are in a hurry. This is also one of those desserts that I love because I usually have all the ingredients in my pantry.

You can change this up a little by using different chips or leaving out the coconut or nuts. You really just follow the basic idea of it. I think my family actually likes this version better than the one with graham cracker crumbs that I make.

Magic Cake Bars

1 package of devils food cake mix
1/2 cup butter (cut into small chunks)
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk

Place cake mix in a bowl and cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly. Press into a 15×10 jelly roll type pan. Sprinkle the chips, coconut, and nuts on top. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly on top. Bake at 350 for 23-25 minutes. Cool for at least 30 minutes and cut into bars.

Add this recipe to ZipList

For more recipes and ideas see Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Also linked to Cook It Thursday.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

No Bake Cookie Bars

Lynn — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:42:19 +0000

It is August in Oklahoma, which means it is hot outside. The kind of heat where I dread turning on the oven because it heats up the house so much. I have been trying to come up with some easy, no bake, summertime desserts that I can make without using my oven.

This is one I came up with based on my no bake cookies. It is the same basic recipe, I just tweaked it a little bit. I think it is even better this way. My family loved them. I loved them not only because they were good, but because they were quick and easy. Plus, they are a frugal dessert to make and I don’t have to use my oven. I also usually have all these ingredients in my pantry, so these are easy to make any time I need a quick dessert.

No Bake Cookie Bars

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups quick oats (not old fashioned)
⅔ cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips

Bring first four ingredients to a boil and cook 1 minute.
Add vanilla, oatmeal, and peanut butter and stir until combined. Then stir in chocolate chips.
Spread into a jelly roll/bar pan. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares.

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Coconut Bars

Lynn — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Warning this recipe contains coconut! That is what I have to tell my daughter anytime a dessert has coconut in it. She hates coconut and does not like being surprised by it when she takes a bite. And it is not just a texture thing with her, she does not like anything even coconut flavored.

I on the other hand love coconut. It has so much flavor. It is so good. I can eat a handful of it straight from the bag. Oh, it is so good!

This recipe came from my mom. She made this all the time when we were growing up. This recipe reminds me so much of my childhood. She made these a lot because they were easy, frugal, and really good. The whole family enjoyed these bars.

This is a basic old fashioned, simple recipe. No frills or fancy ingredients. This dessert can be made with simple pantry ingredients. I love recipes like that, don’t you?

Now I am curious to know how many of you are coconut haters? Or are you like me and love it?

Coconut Bars

½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups coconut

This recipe is best made by hand. Stir with a wooden spoon. Do not use a mixer.
Melt butter. Add sugars and cream together. Add remaining ingredients and stir until blended. Pour into greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Cool and cut into bars and enjoy.

Add this recipe to ZipList

For more frugal ideas see Frugal Fridays and Grocery Cart Challenge.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Cooking With Kids – Magic Cookie Bars

Lynn — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:00:00 +0000

Last week I posted about cooking with kids. There was quite a bit of interest in the subject, so I am going to start a series about cooking with kids. I hope to post weekly, on Wednesday, on the subject. I hope those of you with kids can get some tips and ideas. And for those of you without kids or kids that are grown up, I hope you still enjoy the recipes.

I will start by saying that today’s recipe is not healthy. It is actually quite unhealthy, but it is so good and so easy to make. My kids made it for me for my birthday last month. Well, actually it was a week late because they were all sick on my birthday. But it was for my birthday.

This recipe or versions of this recipe have been around for a while. I am sure many of you have seen it or made it before. But I wanted to remind you of it and let you know how great of a recipe it is for kids to make on their own. In fact my sisters made this all the time when they were learning how to cook. So my family has been making them for years. My kids thought this was so fun to make. They all worked on it together scattering the ingredients around. This is one of those recipes that is pretty hard to mess up.

They are Magic Cookie Bars or Seven Layer Bars. I think the original recipe came from Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk, but I could be wrong. You can change up the recipe by using different chips such as white chocolate or dark chocolate. Just use the basic recipe and change it to your tastes.
There are several different ways to make these. I have tried several. I think it works best to pour the sweetened condensed milk over the crust then layer the ingredients. This makes for a prettier bar that is easier to cut.

This recipe is so simple kids can do it from start to finish. My kids are 6, 8, and 11 and they made them just fine.

Seven Layer Bars/Magic Bars

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
1 (14-ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)
2 cups (12 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350. In small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly on bottom of 13X9-inch baking pan.

Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with fork.

Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into bars or diamonds. Store leftovers covered at room temperature.

Add this recipe to ZipList

This recipe and cooking with kids works for me.

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Lynn — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:36:00 +0000

I saw this recipe several months ago on the Everyday Baking website. I knew right away this was one that I wanted to try for our Christmas party. I made it for Thanksgiving to make sure that we like it and we did. Everyone thought that is was great and it looks really nice. I like it because you can cut the pieces as big or small as you need.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

For the Crust:

20 chocolate wafer cookies or use chocolate graham crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

2 packages bar cream cheese, (8 ounces each)
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice ( I used just cinnamon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside. If you are going to serve these on a platter do this step. It makes them much prettier when you cut them.In a food processor, blend cookies with sugar until finely ground (you should have about 1 cup crumbs); add butter, and pulse until moistened. (or do this by hand)

Transfer crumb mixture to prepared pan, and press gently into bottom. Bake until slightly firm, 12 to 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Place cream cheese in food processor or mixer and blend until smooth. Add sugar, pumpkin puree, eggs, flour, pumpkin-pie spice, and salt; process until combined. Set aside.

Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each, until melted. Add 1 cup pumpkin mixture; stir to combine. Set aside.

Pour remaining pumpkin mixture into prepared pan. Drop dollops of chocolate mixture onto pumpkin mixture; swirl. Bake until cheesecake is set but jiggles slightly when gently shaken, 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool in pan. Cover and chill until firm, at least 2 hours (and up to 2 days). Using overhang, transfer cake to work surface. With a knife dipped in water, cut into 16 squares. Serve.

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here

Caramel Apple Bars

Lynn — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:41:00 +0000

I love fall. I think it is my favorite season. One of the things I love about fall is going to the apple orchard and then eating and then cooking with all the apples. After I posted about the apples I got at the orchard I had several people ask for the recipes that I was going to make.

So, here is the first one I made this week. I love this recipe. I have been making it for quite a few years. I think the original recipe came from Taste Of Home. I have tweaked it over the years to give it more of an apple taste. It just did not have enough apples for me. So, I added more.

I have changed a few other things also to come up with a recipe we love. I really like these. I ate way to many of these this week! But I am trying to convince myself they are healthy, they do have apples and oatmeal in them, right?

I hope to make apple bread today and I will try to post that recipe later this week.

Caramel Apple Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups butter, melted
3 to 3 1/2 cups apples – peeled, cored and sliced ( I like Granny Smith or Jonathan)
1 12 ounce jar caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15×10 inch jellyroll pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, quick cooking oats, brown sugar, and baking soda. Stir in the melted butter. Mix until crumbly. This is the crust. Press about 2/3 of this mixture into the prepared baking pan.

Bake for 8 minutes in preheated oven.

In a small pan, over medium heat combine the caramel topping and the remaining 1/2 cup of flour. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. This is the caramel filling.

Spread apple slices evenly over the baked crust. Then pour the caramel filling over the apple layer. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the top of everything.

Bake again for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before cutting into bars.

Add this recipe to ZipList

Download your FREE Christmas Recipes Ebook From Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. This offer for subscribers only. Click Here