S'Mores Granola Bars

Granola bars are my favorite grab and go snack and you really can't get any easier than this recipe. I love the Quaker Chewy S'mores Granola Bars, so I tweaked the recipe to be as s'mores like as possible. I used Kraft mini marshmallows, they taste like the marshmallows in Lucky Charms, or the kind that come in those little packets of hot cocoa, so they were perfect for these bars. The finished product was quite similar to the Quaker bars, but a bit chewier and more chocolaty tasting. Definitely a keeper. 

No bake S'mores Granola Bars

Adapted From laurenslatest.com

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {not rolled oats!}
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for topping

1/2 cup mini marshmallows, plus more for topping

Mix together Rice Krispies, oats, 1/2 cup marshmallows, and mini chocolate chips (if you want them with less chocolate flavor, leave out the chips till the end). Set aside.

 In a small pot, melt butter, honey, and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it starts to bubble. Reduce heat and cook for another two minutes. Stir in the vanilla. 

Remove from heat and pour over oat/rice mixture. Mix well ensuring that all ingredients are moistened. Line a small jelly roll pan (12x8x1) with aluminum foil.

 Pour mixture into lined pan. Pack it in really tightly or the bars won't set and will fall apart when cooled.  

Sprinkle the top with more chocolate chips and mini marshmallows. Let cool, then cut into bars.

 Have a sweet day! 

Coconut Cream Eggs

Tired of Cadbury creme eggs yet? Ok, me neither, at least not the caramel kind. However, I would like to encourage you all to add a new sweet to your Easter candy repertoire AND one that you can make yourself! Coconut Cream Eggs, think Mounds Bar but way better. Better for a few reasons, no preservatives, weird add-ins, etc. the filling is way creamier than a mounds bar, and they are smaller than Mounds bars so you can eat more ☺. I have problems coating things in chocolate, they never seem to look as perfect as I want them to, so my eggs are not all perfectly egg shaped. They are more oblong and randomly sized, which is due to the fact that I was in a hurry and didn't take time to mold the cream cheese/coconut mixture the way I should have. So be sure you give yourself a bit of time if you are a perfectionist. If not, don't worry they'll still taste fabulous!

Coconut Cream Eggs

Taste of Home

Ingredients

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup flaked coconut

2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon shortening

In a bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sugar and coconut. Refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours or until easy to handle.

Using hands dusted with confectioners' sugar, mold rounded tablespoonfuls of coconut mixture into egg shapes. Place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Freeze for 2 hours or until slightly firm.

Melt chocolate chips and shortening. Remove eggs from the freezer a few at a time; dip into chocolate mixture until completely coated. Return to waxed paper; refrigerate until hardened.

I drizzled mine with colored frosting. I used this recipe. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 3 dozen.

Happy Spring!

Linking up to Tatertots And Jello, Sweet Tooth Fridays, Just Something I Whipped UP, Meatless Monday, Motivate Me Monday and Under the table and Dreaming

Easy No Bake Oatmeal Cookies

Update for you all... I have started crafting.... again. When I first moved into my apartment I would craft ALL the time, I love taking something that starts out plain and ordinary and making it into something extraordinary. The only problem is, I started to run out of room for all my projects. I mean how many hurricane vases can fit in a one bedroom? (I have five) However, I really miss it. I miss the feeling of accomplishment you get after finishing a particularly tricky project, I miss the satisfaction that comes from knowing how much money you saved by making over a thrift store find instead of buying something at pottery barn (or Anthropologie, I LOVE Anthropologie!) So, the other day I had an epiphany.. why not craft stuff that I can either give as gifts or rotate in and out of my apartment decor with the different seasons?! All that being said, I may share some of my crafts on here. Don't get me wrong cooking and baking will definitely still be my main focus (nothing can take their place), I just might add a few crafty projects every once in a while.

And speaking of cooking and baking, I have a NO BAKE recipe to share with you all today. It's different from the usual no-bake cookie recipe in that it does not use chocolate OR peanut butter. I know, crazy, right?! I had some dried blueberries that my lovely mother had picked up for me on a recent grocery trip, so I decided to try and make a cookie using these. I found a basic recipe on Cooks.com and changed it up to make it healthier and use the ingredients I had on hand. They turned out pretty well. Really tasty, but if you don't chill them long enough they will fall apart. Make them the night before, chill them over night and you should be good to go. The oats add texture and are the basis for the cookie. I added in oat bran to up the fiber content and stirred in extra coconut in place of nuts. While you could use raisins in these cookies, I highly recommend trying them with blueberries, they give a great fruity flavor that adds to the whole cookie experience :)

No Bake Oatmeal Blueberry Cookies

Adapted from cooks.com

3 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/3 cup flaked coconut

3/4 cup oat bran

3/4 cup dried blueberries (or raisins)

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk (I used rice milk, if you haven't tried it, you should, it's AMAZING)

1 stick butter, cut into pieces

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix together first five ingredients.

Cook sugar, milk and butter over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add the vanilla.

Pour over all other ingredients and stir until well mixed. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper to cool.

Happy Monday!

Linking up to Tasty Tuesdays!

Snickers

Caramel. Peanuts. Nougat. Peanut Butter. Chocolate. It's the HOLIDAY season, guys! What's a holiday without a bit (or a bunch) of indulgence! We can all make a heartfelt New Years resolution in January to cut down on sugar, carbs, eat more veggies, blahblahblah. For now, I would suggest you indulge in a batch of homemade snickers. Ok, these will seriously test your self control, which is why I ended up giving most of them away... cause I apparently don't have such good self-control. Therefore, when I know something as DELISH as these bars is lurking in my freezer, I find every excuse possible to take a trip to the kitchen to partake in the candy goodness. I had them in the house for a total of two days and and probably ate a third of the batch myself. So I decided, in the interest of my health and impending sugar coma, I had better wrap these beauties up and bestow the goodness on some well deserving friends (I became quite popular by the way). I recommend making them in stages. They really aren't difficult, they just require freezing between each layer. You can dip each bar individually in chocolate, but in the interest of time and laziness, I skipped this step. The end result? Chewy, peanutty, carmelly, chocolaty.... fabulous.

My kitchen helper.... Too bad dogs can't eat chocolate...

Ok, now the recipe!

Homemade Snickers

From Instructables contributer Canida

Ingredients:

2 cups chocolate chips or coarsely chopped bar (I used a mix of milk chocolate Hershey's bar and chocolate chips), divided in half

1/2 cup butterscotch chips, divided in half

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, divided into 3 parts (1/4 cup)

5.5 tablespoons butter (divided: 4 Tbsp and 1.5 Tbsp)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk, divided in half

1.5 cups marshmallow fluff

1 teaspoon vanilla

1.5 cups salted peanuts, chopped (or substitute nuts of your choice)

1 pound chewy caramels

Optional: (if coating the sides of your bars)

1 cup chocolate chips or chopped bar

1/4 cup butterscotch chips

1/4 creamy peanut butter

Prep

Line your pan with waxed paper or plastic wrap making sure there's plenty of extra draped over the sides and ends of the pan.. I used plastic wrap but next time I'm using waxed paper as some of the caramel stuck to the plastic wrap.

Bottom chocolate layer

Combine 1 cup chocolate, 1/4 cup butterscotch, and 1/4 cup peanut butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 20-second increments, stirring each time, until all ingredients melt together smoothly. Pour into your pan, and spread in an even layer. Stick the pan in the fridge or freezer to set, at least one hour, I recommend overnight.

Nougat Layer

Combine 4 Tbsp butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1/4 cup evaporated milk in small heavy-bottomed pot. Heat on low until the mixture melts, mixes, and starts to bubble. Stir as necessary. Remove from heat, and add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 cup peanut butter, and 1.5 cups marshmallow fluff. Stir until all ingredients are melted and smoothly combined, then let it cool slightly. Pour into your pan on top of the chocolate, and spread in an even layer. Stick the pan back into the freezer to set.

Caramel and Peanut Layer

Combine 1/4 cup evaporated milk, 1.5 Tablespoons butter, and pound of caramels in the (cleaned) small pot, or melt in increments in the microwave. Stir frequently until the caramels melt into the milk and butter. Allow to cool until it's not going to burn you. Coarsely chop the 1.5 cup peanuts, and stir into the caramel. Pour caramel/peanut mixture into your pan, and spread in an even layer. Stick the pan back in the freezer to set.

Top chocolate layer

- Melt 1 cup chocolate, 1/4 cup butterscotch chips, and 1/4 cup peanut butter, just like you did for the bottom layer. Pour into your pan, and spread in an even layer on top of the caramel.

Stick the pan back in the freezer to set.

Chop

When completely set, remove pan from the freezer, and lift up the waxed paper or plastic to remove the frozen snickers. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Use a sharp, heavy kitchen knife to cut the rough edges off your block, making the edges nice and square and tidy (You can eat the not so pretty ones). Cut into bars. This can be a bit tricky if the bars have not softened enough or have softened too much. Return the block to the freezer as needed to solidify, as it cuts much more tidily when firm.

Dip edges (optional)

Melt 1/2 cup chocolate, 1/4 cup butterscotch chips, and 1/4 cup peanut butter, as you did for the top and bottom layers. Take each individual bar and dip each edge in the melted chocolate mixture. Set on waxed paper and stick in freezer or fridge to dry and set.

Happy Holidays!!

Linking to This Week's Cravings.

Crunchy, Munchy, Smores Bites

I was hesitant to try this recipe because there are TONS of great smores inspired recipes floating around the blogosphere. This recipe was SO easy though, I decided to give it a go. I'm glad I did! These are so easy and satisfy even the most intense sweet tooth craving. Rich dark chocolate envelopes chewy mini marshmallows and sweet graham cracker crumbles. All the reasons we love smores, with none of the sticky mess!

Smores Bites

from tasteofhome.com

Ingredients

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 cups miniature marshmallows

8 whole graham crackers, broken into bite-size pieces

In a large microwave-safe bowl, toss chocolate and oil.

Microwave, uncovered, at 50% power for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes or until chocolate is melted, stirring once.

Stir in marshmallows and graham crackers.

Spoon about 1/3 cup mixture into paper-lined muffin cups (I drizzled mine with melted white chocolate). Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Yield: 1 dozen.

Treats!

Happy Halloween weekend!

Magazine/Cookbook Monday: Sweet and Salty Ritz Cracker Treats

Happy Monday! This easy recipe should help you get rid of any lingering Monday blues. They are a great combo of sweet and salty, and are ready in a flash. The peanut butter gives a nice kick of protein to keep you going, and jam counts as fruit, right? Plus, cover anything with chocolate and you have an immediate mood boost regardless of what day of the week it is!

Chocolaty PB&J Ritz Cracker Treats

Recipe from The Deen Bros. Take It Easy

Ingredients

20 Ritz Crackers

2-3 tablespoons your favorite jam (I chose apricot and raspberry)

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1 12oz package milk or dark chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with foil. Arrange the crackers on the baking sheet.

Spread about 1/4 teaspoon of jam on top of each cracker.

Spread about 1 teaspoon of peanut butter on top of the jam (I had to use my fingers so get ready to get a bit sticky).

Place the chocolate chips in a shallow microwave-safe dish. Microwave, stirring every thirty seconds, until completely smooth (about one and a half minutes for my microwave).

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the hot melted chocolate over each cracker. Using the back of a spoon, gently spread the chocolate over the entire cracker. Put the baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes or until chocolate is set.

I scattered some sprinkles on half of mine so I could tell which were raspberry and which were apricot ☺

These are amazing, by the way, definitely satisfied my after work candy bar craving! Enjoy!