Chocolate Chip and Oreo Brownie Bars

We’ve all heard the expression a day late and a dollar short! Seems that applies to my post today. If I had been on the ball, I’d have posted this on Tuesday, Oreo’s actual 100th birthday. I didn’t realize it was the century mark for everyone’s favorite cookie until after I’d already posted the Baked Chicken recipe on Tuesday. How do you eat your oreo's? Are you a dunker or do you twist them apart and eat the middle?

When I saw this recipe, I knew it was a must try! As I read through the recipe, I couldn't help but notice this is really three desserts in one. This is truly one of those recipes that’s causing our society to be overweight and unhealthy. So what did I do but bookmark it and then a few weeks later, make it. I did only eat one small piece. I sent the rest to work with my husband so he could share this treat for “food day”. For what it’s worth, I did omit the caramel layer, which I am guessing reduced the calories from 2 zillion to maybe just a zillion and a half. If you’re okay with calorie laden, unhealthy desserts, give this one a try. It’s decadent and delicious.




Chocolate Chip Cookie 'n Oreo Brownie Bars
Recipe Courtesy of A Bountiful Kitchen

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips, semi sweet
1 package of Oreo cookies
1 package of brownie mix (to be prepared as directed on the box) Or homemade.
Dulce de leche or caramel topping

Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9X13 pan with parchment paper
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Press the cookie dough evenly into the pan.
Now place the Oreo's on top of the cookie dough.
Spread or drizzle the dulce de leche or caramel topping on top of the oreos.
Prepare brownie batter as directed. Pour/spread brownie batter on top and smooth it around with a spatula.
Bake for about 50 minutes. Bars are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out with a bit of a moist crumb attached. Remove from oven and let cool completely, about 2 hours.
Cut into squares and serve.

I am linking this to Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday and Sweet Tooth Friday.

Baked Chicken with Pamesean and Herbs

Do you participate in Secret Recipe Club? If you do, then you are familiar with the group founder, Amanda. If you don't, you can check it out here. It's a great group to belong to but I think there might be a waiting list right now. This recipe is one I found on Amanda's blog, Amanda's Cookin'.

I am always looking for new chicken recipes, especially ones you could serve company. This is one of those recipes, delicious and makes a beautiful presentation.




Baked Chicken with Parmesan and Herbs

Recipe courtesy of Amanda of Amanda's Cooking

4 skinless chicken breasts
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Preheat oven to 400 F. Combine panko bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and fresh herbs. In a saucepan, melt butter & stir in mustard, Worcestershire and garlic. Remove from heat. Dip chicken in butter, then roll in bread crumb mixture, pressing gently to make crumbs cling. Place in shallow baking pan. Bake 45 minutes or until golden.

I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday!

Nutella Scones - Club Baked

I love nutella! The combination of chocolate and hazelnuts is so rich and delicious! This recipe combines chocolate scones with a nutella filling. I love the way the Baked bakers instruct you to make the scones. You make a square, fold them and then cut them in triangles. So much easier than the ways I have formed scones in the past.

My scones were a little dry. I think I overbaked them just slightly. I am still trying to get baking right in my new convection oven. I also think they needed more nutella in the middle. All in all I was a little disappointed.



If you'd like to give these a try, you can find the recipe at the PhDcupcaker. Check out the other Club Baked baker's scones here!

I am linking this to Miz Helen's Full plate Thursday, Foodie Friday and Sweet Tooth Friday.

Back From Vacation

Hello! We're back from vacation. This was one of the best, if not the best vacation we've taken. Over the next few weeks, I will share more of our photos and adventures.

Soft Caramels - Club Baked

As you're reading this, Tim and I are on our way to Florida. We're taking our first ever 10 day cruise! Even more awesome, I won this cruise. We attended a wine tasting at our local Hy Vee store last Spring. As we were leaving, there was a drawing to enter. We both looked at each other, shrugging and saying we never win anything but stopped to fill out the entry. Needless to say, I am so glad we did. I won't be stopping by to visit for the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to have some amazing sunsets as well as a recap of the Chef's Table to share with you after we return.

Caramels are one of my favorite candies. The movement towards salted caramels increases my love even more. Salty and sweet together are the best.

According to the Baked Explorations recipe, the caramels should take about 7 minutes to reach the desired temperature. Mine were there in about four minutes, causing me to scramble to warm the cream. When I make these again, I will warm the cream earlier. Otherwise, these were easy to make and came together nicely. I should have added the sea salt a little earlier. I waited until they were too cool and it was hard to get the salt to stick.



Thanks to Teri of The Freshman Cook for choosing a fantastic recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog and see the links to the other Club Baked members caramels here!

Pastisio - Secret Recipe Club

Secret Recipe Club took the month of January off. I was glad to see the date for the February reveal was prior to our vacation. We try to plan a vacation to a warm spot every February. Although it's been a much warmer than normal winter this year, we're still looking forward to vacation. This year even more than past years, because I WON this vacation. More about that later.

In case you're not familiar with SRC, here's how it works. Each month you're assigned a blogger, you choose one of his or her recipes, prepare it and keep it a secret until reveal day. This month, I was assigned Let's Try These. I am surprised we haven't "met" before. We've both baked in Cookie Carnival and Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club. Also, we've both been through the Wilton cake decorating courses. Vivian has baked a wedding cake. I'd love to do that one day but it makes me crazy nervous to think about it! I chose one of Vivian's savory recipes since I bake enough sweet recipes in the baking groups I belong to.

The cinnamon adds a great depth of flavor to this tomato based pasta dish. Tim and I enjoyed this dish a lot.

Pastitsio
Courtesy of Let's Try These.

2 lean ground beef

6 garlic cloves, minced and divided

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground oregano

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

1/4 to 1/2 cup red wine (or water if you prefer)

1 pound penne pasta

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk (I used skim)

1 1/2 cups vegetable or beef broth (I used beef)

3 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat a pan over medium-high heat; add ground meat. Cook until is browned.

Add Four of the minced garlic cloves, the cinnamon, oregano, pepper flakes and a

generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook until fragrant and spices are

well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, sauce and enough wine, or water,

to make a sauce that is suitable to your taste but still not too thin. You will be

layering the sauce as you would for a lasagna so keep in mind that thickness.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, partially covered,

until sauce is thick and richly flavored, about 20 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Microwave milk and broth in a quart measuring cup, cover lightly with plastic wrap

and cook until steamy and hot. How long this takes will depend on your microwave.

Mine only took 4 minutes.

In a medium saucepan; heat butter and remaining 2 cloves minced garlic until garlic

is slightly golden. Whisk in flour until well blended. Pour in hot milk mixture while

whisking vigorously until sauce is smooth and starts to thicken. Stir in 1/2 cup of

the Parmesan cheese and nutmeg; season to taste with salt and pepper. In a separate

bowl, whisk together the two eggs; add a ladle full of the broth mixture to the eggs

and whisk to combine. Add the egg mixture to the remaining broth in the

sauce pan and whisk to fully incorporate.

Add a ladle full of tomato sauce mixture to bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

Spread half of the pasta over the the pan and top with remaining tomato mixture;

sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

Top with remaining pasta and pour over the top the milk/broth mixture;

cover top with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Cover pan with foil; bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and turn oven to broil.

Watching carefully, broil until tops is spotty brown, 3-5 minutes.

Remove from oven and let stand to set 10-15 minutes. Cut into portions and serve.

Yields: 8 serving

Salty Caramel Ice Cream

Last week I shared this Lemon Ice Cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream cookbook. For the record, I blogged about this last week but made it a few weeks ago. I didn't want you to think we're eating homemade ice cream every week at our house.

I love the way the book is divided into seasons, with the recipes featuring seasonal ingredients. Although we're in the middle of winter, I couldn't resist trying the Salty Caramel Ice Cream.

Jeni uses the dry burn technique for the caramel. I was a little nervous making it this way. I pictured the smoke detectors going off. Fortunately, I was able to get it off the heat just in time and it turned out perfectly.

I've always made the ice cream base, poured it into a pitcher and chilled it overnight in the fridge. Jeni's technique for chilling is to pour the mix into a gallon bag and chill in a bowl of ice water for about 30 minutes. It works great but it's hard to get all of the mix out of the bag. Especially with this one, you don't want to waste a drop.

Just like the Lemon Ice Cream, the texture is perfect, soft and creamy. I also love how it's still easy to scoop after being in the freezer after several days. The flavor is amazing, just a hint of salt and the perfect deep caramel flavor.



Salty Caramel Ice Cream
Makes about 1 quart

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 ½ ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1. Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together cream cheese and salt until smooth; set aside.
3. Mix the heavy cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup with a spout; set aside.
4. Fill a large bowl with ice and water to create an ice bath; set aside.
5. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, spread an even layer of sugar over the bottom of the pan. Heat, without stirring, until there is a full layer of melted sugar on the bottom, but still some white unmelted sugar on the top. When the edges start to turn a golden color, gently pull it towards the unmelted sugar with a heatproof spatula to help melt the center. Continue pushing the sugar until it is all melted and evenly amber in color (like an old copper penny).
6. Remove from heat and gradually add the cream mixture to the pan. It will bubble up, so be careful! It’s extremely hot. Stir until well combined, then return pan to heat and add the milk. Bring mixture to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually stir in cornstarch mixture.
7. Bring back to a boil and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 2 minute. Remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into cream cheese, whisking until smooth. Add vanilla extract and whisk until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the prepared ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as needed, until well chilled, about 30 minutes.
8. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

I am linking this to Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday and Sweet Tooth Friday.