white chocolate | Luv What You Do

White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Raisin Cookies March 16, 2013

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert,Oatmeal — Luv What You Do @ 8:09 am
Tags: Baking, oatmeal, Recipes, white chocolate

As you read this, the BOY and I are most likely sitting at Pints and Pancakes drinking some GREEN beer and celebrating St. Patty’s Day in St. Louis! Woo Hoo!

We have close friends who live on the Illinois side of the city (the same friends we partied in Las Vegas with last year), and it has been WAY TOO long since the four of us have gotten together!

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We always have a ton of fun when we are together, and I’m sure St. Patty’s Day will be no different.

I knew that there was no way that I would show up in St. Louis empty handed.

So on Monday, I pulled out butter in the morning with intentions of making cookies. A quick view of the pantry confirmed that I have an overwhelming amount of peanut butter chips, white chocolate chunks, and dried fruit, including raisins.

The only thing missing was the oats, which I was able to pick up at the grocery store, and I was all set to make oatmeal raisin cookies. There are plenty of oatmeal raisin cookies out there, and I’ve made my fair share of cookies on this blog.

I went with a new to me recipe from a close friend’s blog. She has tons of incredible desserts and makes some of the prettiest cookies that I’ve seen!

Oatmeal raisin cookies are the BOY’s favorite, and I’ve met few people who can say no to a soft and sweet gooey dessert.

In honor of St. Patty’s Day, I added a little green ‘flair’ to a few of the cookies.

This recipe made more than enough cookies for me to bring into work and still have plenty to freeze for this weekend.

The warm white chocolate melts in your mouth and compliments the plump golden raisins perfectly!

This is a delicious combination!

You won’t be able to eat just one!

The BOY was excited to dive into these cookies, but I know he will be even more excited when our friends offer him homemade deer jerky this weekend!

Happy St. Patty’s Day

White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Adapted from The Sugar Coated Chef

Makes 4 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raisins

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients. Stir them into the butter mixture until well blended.

Add raisins and white chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful onto a lined baking sheet.

Bake about 11 minutes, or until lightly golden on the edges. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an air tight container.

Freeze leftovers.

Comments (22)

Holiday Barks December 30, 2012

Filed under: Candy,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 4:01 pm
Tags: butterscotch, Chocolate, No Bake, Recipes, white chocolate

Along with these adorable Chocolate Pretzel Rings, I made a few holiday inspired barks this year. This is a tradition that I started a few years back (these are last year’s barks), and I love how creative you can get with melted chocolate.

Warning: this post has a lot of recipes and fun ideas!

First Up…

Peppermint Bark!

This recipe seems to be everyone’s favorite, especially this time of year.

It’s so simple that I can’t believe I haven’t made it before.

But I will definitely be adding it my yearly list!

This bark makes a beautiful holiday gift, so I recommend making 2 batches…one for yourself and one to share with your friends!

Moving On…

A new and innovative recipe from Crazy For Crust for Scotch Krispie Bark.

Starring butterscotch chips…yum!

Covered in Rice Krispies, chocolate, and then smothered with peanut butter!

It was hard to wait for this one to harden because I was eager to taste it!

I’m a huge fan of the sweet butterscotch and crunchy krispie combination!

And although I love peanut butter, it wasn’t my favorite for this bark, so next time I will probably just omit it.

Getting Back to Peppermint…

I was inspired by these Peppermint Pretzels to create an original bark.

I stirred the chopped pretzels into white chocolate and then covered it with Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips and crushed candy canes.

Super festive…right?

This mish mash actually turned out pretty awesome!

Lastly…

Who doesn’t love S’mores?

This mixture of mallows and grahams creates a complex texture.

That I guarantee you will enjoy!

All of these barks make for easy, fun, and mouth watering gifts. And because they store so easily in your freezer, there is always something for you to snack on. I recommend storing them in freezer safe ziploc bags and remove as much air as possible. Chocolate barks and candies are really forgiving, so you can use all of your leftover baking supplies to create your own sweet treats! No measuring required!

Peppermint Bark

From Back to Her Roots

Ingredients:

8 peppermint candy canes

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

12 ounces white chocolate chips

Directions

Cover a large cookie sheet in aluminum foil. Set aside.

Remove candy canes from wrapper and place in large plastic, ziptop bag. Using a mallet, bottom of a glass or rolling pin, mash the candy canes until they are in small chunks.

In a double boiler (or microwave) melt semisweet chocolate chips. When completely smooth, pour onto cookie sheet and spread into a thin later (about 1/8"). Don’t worry if chocolate doesn’t spread to edge of cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in freezer.

Using a clean double boiler, melt white chocolate chips until smooth. Mix in all but 2/3 cup of the candy cane pieces.

Remove cookie sheet from freezer, carefully spread white chocolate over the dark chocolate in a thin layer. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of reserved candy cane pieces on top. Place cookie sheet in freezer.

Once bark is completely cooled and hard. Remove from cookie sheet and break into large pieces.

Scotch Krispie Bark

From Crazy For Crust

Ingredients:

1 bag butterscotch chips

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups Rice Krispies Cereal

½ cup peanut butter (I’d say this is optional)

Directions:

Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place butterscotch chips in a microwave safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 minute, stir, and then add increments of 30 seconds until chips are melted and smooth. Spread on cookie sheet.

Sprinkle Rice Krispies cereal on top of butterscotch layer. Press down with your hands.

Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in microwave, again using 50% power, stirring after 1 minute and continuing to heat at 30 second intervals until chips are melted. (If chocolate doesn’t seem smooth, add about a teaspoon or two of vegetable oil and stir.) Spread over Rice Krispie layer.

While spreading chocolate layer, melt peanut butter in microwave. Drizzle over spread chocolate and swirl with the back of a spoon.

Chill to harden bark, then break into pieces and serve.

White Chocolate Peppermint Pretzel Bark

Ingredients

1 bag of TJ’s Peppermint Pretzel Thins, crushed

8 ounces White Chocolate

Candy canes, crushed

1 cup Andes Peppermint Crunch Chips

Directions

Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.

Melt white chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals until smooth. Do not over heat!

Stir in pretzel thins and Andes Peppermint Chips.

Spread over cookie sheet and sprinkle the top with candy canes. Use a spatula or your hands to push the candy canes into the chocolate.

Freeze or refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set.

Then break into pieces.

S’mores Bark

Ingredients

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

8 ounces candy melts or chocolate

Marshmallows

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper.

Melt chocolate and mix in your graham cracker crumb and half of the marshmallows.

Pour and spread across a parchment paper lined cookie sheet

Sprinkle on the remaining marshmallows and press them into the chocolate.

Freeze or refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set.

Then break into pieces.

What is your favorite chocolate bark?

I’m always looking for new ideas recipes!

Comments (9)

End of Year Cookies

Filed under: Bread,Breakfast,Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 10:57 am
Tags: Baking, breakfast, cranberries, Recipes, white chocolate

I am on the road….to recovery AND to Costco!

I haven’t run in over a week and it seems like forever since I’ve posted about exercise, so I am taking one last day to rest up, and then I am exchanging sick posts for active ones. Much more exciting : )

Speaking of exciting…you HAVE to make this Gingerbread recipe and then the next day you HAVE to turn into Gingerbread French Toast.

It was the perfect combination of spicy bread and ooey gooey breakfast. I’m not sure that there is any other way to start the day!

I don’t know how you make your French toast, but this morning I quickly scrambled together 2 eggs, 1/4 cup almond milk, tons of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla. Then dunked in each slice and fried them up on the skillet.

Topped with some syrup and a few blackberries. The BOY and I ate our breakfast standing in the kitchen we liked it so much!

These past few days, I have had some extra down time, so I have been catching up on all of my favorite blogs. It seems that this has been the year of the cookie! Okay, maybe not officially, but as I read through everyone’s End of Year Recipe Wrap Up, there seem to be a lot, and I mean A LOT, of mouth watering cookie recipes and pictures out there.

These posts are dangerous because they make you want to drop everything you are doing to go preheat your oven. That’s exactly what happened when I was reading through Sally’s Post.

Luckily, I have tons of leftover baking ingredients scattered throughout my house including the driedcranberries and white chocolate chunks I used in these cookies.

A few things I learned while baking these cookies…

Number 1- Adding cornstarch to all purpose flour creates cake flour, and cake flour makes for fluffy cookies!

Number 2-Chilling the dough is important!

Number 3-There is a difference between light and dark brown sugar when baking cookies. Sally recommends using dark brown sugar in these cookies!

These were great lessons to learn! Not only because I made these soft, beautiful, and delicious cookies, but because they will help with many cookie successes in the new year.

Packed full of bright cranberries and white chocolate chunks, these cookies make a great hostess gift for your New Year’s party!

I have definitely baked up my fair share of cookies this year, here are a few of my favorites:

Ginger Molasses Cookies

Double Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Oatmeal Scotchies

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Chocolate Mint-Thins

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies

From Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Line an ungreased cookie sheet with parchment paper or silpat. Set aside.

In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together on medium speed until fluffy and light in color. Mix in egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides as needed. On low speed, mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in white chocolate chips & dried cranberries. Chill dough (covered) for 30 minutes or up to 3 days.

Preheat oven to 350F. Drop balls of dough (1.5 tablespoons each) onto cookie sheet OR used a standard-sized cookie scoop. Bake for 8-9 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. Do NOT cook them longer than 9 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet. Transfer to cooling rack.

What are you baking this weekend?

Comments (13)

Candy Cane Puppy Chow December 24, 2012

Filed under: Candy,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 6:58 pm
Tags: gluten-free, No Bake, Recipes, white chocolate

Wow!

I can’t express how exciting it is to read your thoughtful comments on yesterday’s Blogger-Versary post. Ya’ll are incredible!

I left sunny Florida (and my family) behind this morning, but plan to share warm, bright photos to melt winter’s chill until April : ) The BOY picked me up at the airport and after almost a week, it was great to see him! We had a quiet day planned leaving me time to get prepped for Christmas Day and a take 2 hour nap!!!

The BOY and I head separate directions on Christmas Day each with our own traditions. In the morning, I will be celebrating Christmas with my brother, his girlfriend, and her wonderful family. In the afternoon, we move on to Jewish Christmas with a movie and Chinese food. Surprise, surprise, I was put in charge of dessert. Thankfully, he left me more than enough treats in the freezer to snack on and put together for tomorrow’s holiday. However, I also wanted to make something for some of our friends who are gluten intolerant.

Puppy Chow is always a fan favorite and can be made gluten free by using Chex Cereal. I was inspired by our Halloween success with the pumpkin spices kisses, to try Hershey’s kisses puppy chow again…this time with my favorite candy cane kisses!

What I didn’t expect was the bright pink color, but I loved it! I was only sad that I didn’t have any green decorations to sprinkle throughout. I did have some Andes Peppermint Crunch chips, so I sprinkled those in for an extra peppermint kick!

Then doused everything in powder sugar while the BOY stood by watching, waiting for his taste test.

What can I say…you just can’t go wrong with puppy chow?!

This recipe just melts in your mouth leaving a fresh peppermint aftertaste!

I was quite pleased with my creation and know it will taste even better once it is frozen. I think I should make a tshirt that says ‘I heart frozen puppy chow!’ I quickly made a batch of these flourless peanut butter cookies. Along with some bubbly, I am all set for tomorrow’s celebration! Tonight we are headed out for our annual Christmas Eve dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Coopers Hawk!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe evening with family and friends!

Candy Cane Puppy Chow

Adapted from Pumpkin Spice Puppy Chow

Ingredients

1 10 oz bag of Candy Cane Hershey kisses, unwrapped

6 cups Chex cereal

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Andes Peppermint Chips( optional)

Directions

Pour Chex mix and ~1/2 cup Andes Peppermint Chips into a large bowl. Set aside.

Melt kisses in the microwave ~1 minute. Pour melted kisses over Chex cereal, stirring to coat (I find a spatula works best).

Fold in powdered sugar and more Andes mints if desired.

Store in air tight container or freeze.

Comments (7)

White Chocolate M&M Cookies December 22, 2012

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 6:04 am
Tags: Baking, family, Recipes, Sunset, white chocolate

In my search for holiday cookies, I came across this colorful M&M cookies on Two Peas & Their Pod.

I loved the bright colors and this unique twist on an M&M cookie.

Candy canes and white chocolate??? Yes please!

I also knew that the BOY would get a kick out of their IU colors (especially during basketball season).

Although I actually made the cookies last week, I am watching the Indiana/Florida Atlantic game as I write this post. If only they were playing in Florida, I could have gotten tickets to the game (FAU is located right near my family down here).

I thought it would be fun to make these in my mini whoopie pie tins for some thick rounded cookies. Since I only had one pan, I made some of the cookies this way and the rest as drop cookies.

Both ways yielded perfect and flavorful cookies!

You will loving sinking your teeth into these soft and chewy cookies with a strong peppermint aftertaste!

Hint: you might want to run out and grab a bag of these seasonal M&M’s before it is too late!

Even though the BOY and I are many miles away, I did rock my new Indiana tshirt today in support of tonight’s game! In all honesty, I didn’t actually know they were playing until after I put it on, but I did rock the red and white while hanging out with the family all day and stayed up late to watch the game.

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Good Night!

White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies

From Two Peas & Their Pod

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup crushed candy canes

1 cup White Chocolate Peppermint M&M’s

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugars together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Stir in the white chocolate chips, candy canes, and M&M’s.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool completely.

Note: These recipes turn out nicely in a whoopie pie pan if you have one!

Comments (5)

Sugar Coma December 12, 2012

Filed under: Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 9:40 pm
Tags: cranberries, Recipes, white chocolate

If I ate every sweet that was in my house right now, I would be in a total Sugar Coma! As it stands, I have baked tons of cookies and made a bunch of dips, and we are fully stocked up with the good stuff.

Funny story about that…the BOY calls me last night around 7:15pm while I was still at work. ‘Bad News’, he says. I forgot to bring the nice tin of cookies you made for my parents to their house today. ‘Good News’, he continues. I liked everything in it!

Yup…that happened!

Our house is loaded with tupperwares full of cookies, yet he dove right into the nice arrangement I made for his parents. Typical right : ) I had to smile when I walked in the door and saw the bright red tin sitting next to his big comfy chair. Luckily, there is more than enough to go around so I can restock the tin.

With what you ask? Here is the next recipe from this weekend’s baking spree!

Looks good…doesn’t it?

When I saw this recipe for Cranberry Bliss Bark on Cookies & Cups, I knew I had to make it.

My hands were busy throughout, and my Mom was baking cookies, so we didn’t get tons of pictures of the prep work. When everything was set and done, I had a major foil problem!

But it didn’t foil my toffee.

It just took some extra work to get these sweet and crunchy bites of happiness!

Lesson learned for next time and for when I make my next batch of Christmas Crack. No foil! Just lots and lots of cooking spray. Sally confirmed that this is the way to do it!

My slices of bark aren’t nearly as beautiful as the original, but they are just as tasty!

I recommend storing it in the freezer, but I like most of my sweets frozen.

Frozen or not, this one won’t last long!

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For more holiday BLISS, try making these Cranberry Bliss Bars with your leftover dried cranberries!

Cranberry Bliss Bark

From Cookies & Cups

Ingredients

18 Graham Crackers

1 cup butter

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

8 oz white chocolate or almond bark, chopped finely.

1 cup Craisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°

Line a 15"x10" jelly roll baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. If using foil, make sure that your foil lays over the edge of your pan for easy removal.

Line the pan with graham crackers in an even layer, breaking to fit the pan if necessary.

In a large saucepan melt butter and brown sugar over medium-low heat. Heat until mixture boils and then boil it for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in sweetened condensed milk.

Pour over graham crackers.

Bake for 7-8 minutes until bubbling. Remove from oven and let it sit for 1 minute before sprinkling white chocolate evenly over top.

Let white chocolate sit for 3-4 minutes (I put it back in the oven) until softened and then spread with a spatula or off-set spatula evenly over toffee layer.

Immediately sprinkle Craisins on the white chocolate, pressing gently to stick.

Let cool completely before cutting into pieces. Freezes well!

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Kitchen Sink Peanut Butter Cookies (3 Ways) November 18, 2012

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 9:25 pm
Tags: Baking, Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Recipes, white chocolate

Remember my homemade peanut butter?

I’d be surprised if you were able to forget about it! I sure haven’t and as promised, I am delivering the third recipe installment of my Peanut Butter Month series. Ok, that makes this sound way more serious and planned out than it is (and I sincerely apologize if you are allergic to peanuts), but the game plan is to share 4 new peanut butter recipes this month. Here goes Number 3…

Since I’ve already made brownies and bars, it seemed fitting that this next recipe be for soft, chewy, and loaded peanut butter cookies. Last night, I was dipping some leftover pretzels into the jar for a taste. The salty contrast of the pretzel with the sweet peanut butter was divine, and I knew there should be pretzels in my cookies. Not too long after that I found inspiration on Mercedes Blog. Her cookies are based on a Rachael Ray recipe that I’ve actually made before. It combines the deliciousness of peanut butter cookies with some of your sweet and salty favorites.

How could you go wrong? I used my homemade peanut butter to create the peanut butter dough.

Then stirred in chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and chopped honey roasted peanuts. Basically a whole bunch of things from my pantry. Hence the title of this post…

The game plan was to roll the cookies in the pretzels…

Which was sticky business because my cookie scooper is busted.

Total bummer, I know, but I still got some pretty rounded balls with a half scooper/half hand rolling approach.

After about 20 cookies, I ran out of pretzels. I did a pretty good job of stretching out what I had, but I knew it wasn’t going to be enough. I didn’t have a backup plan and still had plenty of dough leftover, so I chopped up the rest of my peanuts and rolled the dough balls in them.

Until I ran out of peanuts. By the time I got to the bottom of my bowl, the dough was a little thinner and had less of the chocolate chips. I rolled this last dozen or so in sugar like a typical peanut butter cookie.

All varieties baked for about 12 minutes, give or take the time it took me to get organized and lick the bowl, spatula, and spoon completely clean.

These cookies turned out beautifully! The first 2 kinds (pretzel and peanut) were soft and chewy with gooey chocolate chips on the inside and a salty finish.

The sugar coated cookies spread WAY out but are crisp and delish!

One cookie recipe = Three incredible results

#1 Topped with Pretzels

#2 Rolled in Honey Roasted Peanuts

#3 Crunchy and Sugar Coated

Either way, you can’t go wrong. So pick your favorite OR just make them all!

I now have dozens of cookies to share with my family and friends for the holiday this week. And historically, my PB cookies have stored well in the freezer. The only sad news of the evening…

We are all out of peanut butter!

To round off the celebration, the last peanut butter recipe will be here next week. That’s the prefect amount of time for me to find help devouring my pile of cookies and come up with something new to make…Any suggestions?

What is your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe?

Share your links!

Double Chip Peanut Butter Cookies (3 ways)

Recipe from Satisfy My Sweet Tooth

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter (I suggest honey roasted)

2 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped honey roasted peanuts

Toppings (choose one or all):

1 cup crushed pretzels, 1 cup chopped honey roasted peanuts, and 3/4 cups sugar for rolling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and peanut butter and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix until combined. Add flour and baking soda and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and peanuts.

Place remaining crushed pretzels, peanuts, and sugar in a small separate bowls. Using a medium-sized ice cream scoop, drop balls of dough into crushed pretzels (or other toppings) and roll lightly to coat. Then place onto cookie sheet.

Bake 12 minutes. Cool on racks.

Store in airtight container or freezer in freezer safe ziploc bag.

Comments (9)

Festive Cake Batter Blondies July 4, 2012

Filed under: Dessert,Holidays — Luv What You Do @ 3:40 pm
Tags: Baking, cake mix, Recipes, white chocolate

It would be hard to have a holiday without a festive red, white, and blue dessert. So with a quick bit of time after this morning’s race and before this afternoon’s nap, I whipped up a holiday treat. I found this holiday cake mix during our recent trip to Woodman’s, and I knew immediately that I would make 4th of July Cake Batter Blondies!

The BOY was thrilled to see a cake mix out on the counter and was curious to see what I would be making.

I only used 1/4 cup of milk before a nice thick dough formed.

I had full intentions of adding in the white chocolate chips as they totally make the blondies. I’m not even a huge white chocolate fan, but I like the chip texture as you bite into these soft and chewy bars. However, I totally forgot about them! I didn’t want to pull all of the dough out of the baking pan to mix them in, so instead I sprinkled them across the top and pressed them in firmly so they would stick to the bars.

It’s definitely better than no chips at all!

I let these cool down while the BOY and I went upstairs for a nap. It’s a good thing we set an alarm because I was out COLD! I could have used another hour of sleep, but as I walked back downstairs, I was hit with the aroma of cake. For a non-coffee drinker, this is even better!

Even with limited chocolate chips, these bars are light and delicious!

If you are brave enough to turn on your oven, they are perfect for your 4th of July celebration!

And if not, then just stick with the multi-colored sprinkles that are perfect for EVERY DAY celebrations!

Cake Batter Blondies

From girl meets life.

Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg, beaten

1/4 – 1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles

1/2 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the cake mix and sprinkles in a large bowl, then mix in the oil and egg. Add the milk slowly just until the batter is combined – you want it to remain as dense as possible. Place better in a greased 8×8 pan or 8-inch cake pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or just until the edges turn golden. Let cool for 20 minutes before cutting because the gooey center needs to set. The result will be a decadent, cake-batter texture.

Comments (4)

Crunchy Cookies Part III July 1, 2012

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 5:51 pm
Tags: Recipes, treat day, white chocolate

I have been on a bit of a cookie kick lately!

After much success making cookie brittle, I was convinced it would be perfect for my TREAT DAY. Plus, who wouldn’t want to save time by making one large sheet of cookies instead of scooping out individual ones after spending hours in the kitchen.

I had intentions of making these exact cookies, however, I had some leftover caramel chips, and so last minute, I decided use caramel chips, white chocolate chips, and pecans.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this incredible combination!

I baked one large sheet of delicious dough making sure the edges were browned and crispy.

Let everything cool completely (at least 10 minutes) before breaking it into sweet edible chunks.

One of my favorite things about this recipe (besides how creative you can get with it) is that while the outer pieces are crisp and crunchy, the inner cookies are slightly softer and chewy. It is the best of all cookie worlds!

This mixture of add ins (caramel, white chocolate, and pecans) combines sweet with a bit of salty, and the pecans add a definite crunch! It is quite possibly the perfect combination!!! Especially the pecans which taste candy-coated!

These cookies were a huge hit with my coworkers, and I have to remember to send out the recipe to everyone today!

More Crunchy Cookie Recipes:

Crunchy Cookies

Crunchy Cookies Part II

Caramel, White Chocolate, and Pecan Cookie Brittle

Recipe adapted from Toffee Cookie Brittle in Big Fat Cookies by Elinor Klivans

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and 1/2 cup caramel chips

• 3/4 cups pecans, broken into large pieces

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

-In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

-In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown and granulated sugars and vanilla extract until smooth, about 30 seconds. Using a large spoon, slowly add the flour mixture and stir just until incorporated. The dough should appear to be smooth. Stir in the chocolate, caramel, and pecans.

-Spoon the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving at least 1 inch of empty space on all sides. Use the palms of your hands to pat the dough into an even layer about 1/2 inch thick and 13 by 9 inches. The dough should be patted out slightly thinner at the edges.

-Bake the brittle until it turns golden and the edges turn light brown, about 19 minutes. The brittle may be fairly soft when warm but will crisp as it cools. Let the brittle cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes.

-Using a large metal spatula to guide it, slide the large cookie onto a wire rack to cool completely. Don’t worry if the cookie breaks; it will be broken into irregular pieces, anyway. Break the cooled cookie into 2- to 3-inch pieces. The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Comments (2)

Crunchy Cookies Part II May 8, 2012

Filed under: Cookies,Dessert — Luv What You Do @ 10:03 pm
Tags: Baking, Recipes, white chocolate

What did you think of the Spicy Oatmeal Cookies???

Did they have you pre-heating your oven?

Here is another fantastic cookie option that is super fun to make and allows plenty of room for creativity.

I used a recipe from this book for inspiration…

I have never even heard of Cookie Brittle before, but I loved the idea. Instead of toffee, I decided on dried cranberries, white chocolate, and walnuts. What a fantastic combination! But you can be creative here…the possibilities are endless!

Here is my smooth, yet sticky dough…

Stir in your chips, nuts, fruits, chocolate, etc.

Then press your dough out onto parchment paper in the shape of a rectangle. Your hands work just fine for this, plus then you can lick of the tasty dough that sticks to your fingers!

Bake your cookie brittle until the edges start to brown. You want this to be a crispy and crunchy cookie so that it breaks up well.

Breaking up your cookie is the fun party. Don’t use a utensil, just use your hands!

The best part is that you don’t have to be perfect, just break everything into big chunks of delicious cookie. Feel free to sample all of the tiny pieces that break off along the way!

Cookie brittle is my new favorite food! Give it a try and you will totally agree!

It also makes a great gift, and I will be adding to the 2012 Holiday Baking Bonanza.

Cranberry White Chocolate Walnut Cookie Brittle

Recipe adapted from Toffee Cookie Brittle in Big Fat Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and 1/2 cup dried cranberries

• 1/2 cup (about 4 ounces) walnuts, broken into large pieces

Directions:

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

-In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Looking for more crunchy cookies, try these Spicy Oatmeal Cookies.

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Luv What You Do

Balancing a Busy Life with a Healthy Lifestyle

White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Raisin Cookies March 16, 2013

Holiday Barks December 30, 2012

End of Year Cookies

Candy Cane Puppy Chow December 24, 2012

White Chocolate M&M Cookies December 22, 2012

Sugar Coma December 12, 2012

Kitchen Sink Peanut Butter Cookies (3 Ways) November 18, 2012

Festive Cake Batter Blondies July 4, 2012

Crunchy Cookies Part III July 1, 2012

Crunchy Cookies Part II May 8, 2012

Being Me

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