Bars

‘Frightfully Delicious Halloween Bars’ with Candy Corn, Mini-Marshmallows, Nuts and Chocolate Chips

Not Halloween? Skip the Candy Corn and use full cup of chocolate chips, M&Ms or broken-up candy bars. ; o )

Frightfully Delicious Halloween Bars are gooey, chewy and chocolatey. Imagine combining a recipe for brownies with a recipe for chocolate cake (which includes a stick of butter) – then sprinkling on mini-marshmallows, nuts and chocolate chips – and you’ll have a good idea of how good these taste.

Oven at 350 (F) Greased 9′ x 9′ pan Yield – 20 pieces

Bake for 22 minutes, remove pan from oven. Add toppings – bake for a further 4 to 5 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

Topping

1 1/4 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips ++ I use ‘Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup candy corn
1/2 cup chopped nuts – your choice

Cake

1/2 cup butter (or margarine) ++ 1 stick
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

METHOD

Place 1 1/4 cups mini-marshmallows in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips, 1/2 cup candy corn and 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Set aside both bowls.

Place 1/2 cup butter or margarine in a microwavable bowl. Melt butter for 30 seconds, until melted. Add 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Mix with a fork or whisk until well-blended and lemon-colored.

Add 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/3 cup cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt. Mix with a whisk or spoon until well blended. Pour batter into greased 9′ x 9″ pan.

Bake at 350 (F) for 22 minutes.

Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle on 1 1/4 cups miniature marshmallows, then sprinkle on mixture of 1/2 cup candy corn, 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped nuts.

Return pan to oven for 4 – 5 minutes, until mini-marshmallows are softened and slightly puffed. Cool completely on wire rack. Fill a mug with very hot water. Cut into 16 or 20 pieces.

++ Dip a sharp knife into hot water before each new cut. ++ Between each cut you may need to wipe off knife. ++ Don’t get frustrated by the stickiness of the marshmallows, just take your time! And keep rewetting the knife in the hot water! Enjoy!!!

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++ Adapted from http://www.hersheys.com/recipes

October 21, 2015November 30, 2017

My Yellow Farmhouse - Cooking with Love!12 Comments

An Oldie but a Goody !! Old-Fashioned Apple Squares – Just in Time for Apple Picking Season

The recipe for these ‘Old-Fashioned Apple Squares’ was one of the first recipes I ever posted – back in November of 2012. There’s a ‘bumper crop’ of apples this year, so I thought I’d repost this once again. These apple squares are yummy!

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You know you’re getting o.l.d when the recipe you’re searching for is over 30 years old !! Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when I actually found it – not filed under “bars” but filed under “apples” – but found, nevertheless!!

These apple squares (or bars) are even tastier than I remember!! They’re loaded with apples, nuts and raisins, and have a buttery, cinnamony goodness – so you can even eat them for breakfast!!

MAKES ABOUT 24 SQUARES – or BARS

Oven at 350 F
Lightly grease a 9″ x !0″ pan
Bake 45 – 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

INGREDIENTS

2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sugar
1/2 packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups roughly chopped peeled and cored apples
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 raisins (Try the raisins even if you don’t always like raisins. They kind of “melt away” into the batter, and give the resulting bars a lovely sweetness and golden dark color.)

In a medium-sized bowl – using a mixer – cream together the vanilla, both sugars and 2 eggs until creamy and throughly mixed.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt & nutmeg. Add the creamed mixture to the dry mixture, and mix by hand until throughly blended.

Add the apples, walnuts and raisins – mix by hand until throughly blended

Pour into the greased pan, spreading with the spoon to get the mixture even.

Bake at 350 F for between 45 – 50 minutes. When cooled, cut with a sharp knife. Enjoy!

October 5, 2015October 5, 2015

My Yellow Farmhouse - Cooking with Love!12 Comments

Chocolate ‘n Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake

The ingredients for ‘Chocolate ‘n Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake’ are probably already in your cupboard. Plus, it’s quick and easy to prepare!

This recipe makes enough for breakfast or ‘tea time’, with a bit left-over for snacking …. any time of the day. Coffee cake is not ‘just for breakfast anymore’! ++ YIELD – approximately 12 pieces Greased 9 x 9 pan Oven at 350 F Bake for 25 – 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts ++ I like a LOT of nuts, so I added 1/2 cup.
1 Tbs. cocoa powder
1/4 cup packed brown sugar ++ Packed means the brown sugar is pressed down in the measuring cup – not lightly spooned in.
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbs. softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups Bisquick baking mix ++ I’ve included a recipe for making your own ‘baking mix’ at the end of this post.
3/4 cup milk

++ I highly recommend putting a small amount of confectionery (icing) sugar in a strainer and then gently shaking it over the baked & cooled coffee cake. Not only will your coffee cake look nicer but the sugar adds a bit more sweetness. (‘Chocolate ‘n Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake’ isn’t overly sweet.)

Method

Combine 1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1 Tbs. cocoa powder and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar in a small bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl beat 1/2 cup sugar, 2 Tbs. softened butter and 1 tsp. vanilla. Add egg and beat until fully combined. Add 1 (of the 2 cups) of Bisquick to sugar/butter/egg mixture and beat to combine. Add 1/2 the milk and beat to combine, scraping bowl occasionally. Repeat with remaining 1 cup of Bisquick and and rest of the milk.

Spoon half the batter into a greased 9′ x 9′ baking pan. Sprinkle on the walnut/cocoa powder/brown sugar mixture. Spoon remaining batter on top. Using a knife, swirl the batter to make a marble pattern.

Spoon remaining batter on top. Using a knife, swirl the batter to make a marble pattern.

Bake at 350F for 25 – 30 minutes. Check for doneness at 25 minutes by inserting a sharp knife into the center of the coffee cake. If the knife comes out clean, your coffee cake is fully cooked.

Place baking pan on a wire rack to cool coffee cake a bit. ++ The coffee cake doesn’t have to be totally cool before you cut into it…. which is a BIG PLUS!! (I am sooo bad – I ate three pieces in one go! The coffee cake was warm, delicious and perfect with a glass of cold milk.) ENJOY!!

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SUBSTITUTE FOR ‘BISQUICK’ BAKING MIX

Yield 6 cups / Units US

Ingredients

• 6 cups all-purpose flour • 3 Tbs.baking powder • 2 Tbs. powdered sugar • 1 1/2 tsp. salt • 3⁄4 tsp. baking soda • • 9 Tbs. canola oil

Method

Whisk together 6 cups all-purpose flour, 3 Tbs. baking powder, 2 Tbs. powdered (icing) sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. salt and 3⁄4 tsp. baking soda. Using an electric mixer set on low, slowly mix in canola oil until no lumps remain and mixture is a uniform texture – about a minute. Store in an airtight container. ++ Recipe for preparing substitute for Bisquick Baking Mix courtesy of – – http://www.food.com/recipe/original-bisquick-baking-mix-copycat-357101

May 9, 2015May 16, 2015

My Yellow Farmhouse - Cooking with Love!21 Comments

M and C’s Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

A few weeks before Christmas I attended a really fun and well-organized event at my grandchildren’s grade school in Pennsylvania. It was a craft fair – but the kids all got to MAKE the crafts, all of which they could give away as gifts, if they so desired. Among the choices were a Christmas ornament, a really cute little pin with beads and a snowflake (which I was given for Christmas!) and “Snowman Soup”, which was made of instant cocoa mix, some marshmallows and a Hershey’s kiss, with a little candy cane tossed in for a stirrer – yummy!!. The table where you could make the always-popular Cookie Mix in a Jar was one of the busiest – and I was lucky enough to receive two of those!!

As my sons can attest, I’m not a very good cookie-baker. I tend to over-bake them, for some reason. Once, while chatting with a friend on the phone, I banged a cookie on the counter and asked her to guess what it was. She said, “A hammer?” “No”, I replied, just a tad embarrassed, “It’s a cookie!”

With my many cookie failures in mind, I decided to make “bars” with the two containers of cookie mix – and I’m glad I did. The bars turned out dense and moist, and, dare I say “hearty” due to the addition of the oatmeal. As a finishing touch, and, because there’s no walnuts in the mix.. AND … because you can never have too much chocolate, I melted a cup of morsels, spread them over the cooked bars and then sprinkled on chopped walnuts. Enjoy!

Oven at 350 30 minutes 10′ x 13′ pan Makes 32 bars… 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″

Ingredients – don’t worry about “leveling” the dry ingredients. At the craft fair, they don’t bother (or have the time).

2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups NOT PACKED brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal – not instant
2 cups chocolate chips
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) – remove packaging, microwave on high for 30 secs.
3 eggs
1 Tbs. hot water
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 Tbs. Crisco
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

In a medium-sized bowl, place all the dry ingredients. Then add the softened butter, 3 eggs, 1 Tbs. hot water and 2 tsp. vanilla.

Spread the batter evenly in the 10″ x 13″ pan. I give you my permission to use your fingers, which will get really, really sticky but you can always lick the dough from them once you’re done mixing. (I’m a big proponent of using (clean) hands when dealing with thick cookie doughs.)

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. The bars will be golden brown and a bit “bumpy” looking.

In a microwavable bowl or glass measuring cup, place 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 Tbs. Crisco – microwave on high for 1 minutes. Take out and stir. Then microwave again – but this time for only 30 seconds. Spread the chocolate glaze evenly over the bars. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cups chopped walnuts. Allow bars to cool, then cut with a sharp knife into 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2 ” squares. Enjoy!

M & C's Chocolate and Oatmeal Bars