One-Bowl Cocoa Brownies

  It had been a bad day.  If I remember rightly, there was rain and cold and the dreariness of another schoolwork-filled day.

  Mid-afternoon, I shoved aside algebra and flipped onto my back, staring at the delicately painted ceiling of our family room.  Hands digging into the plush green carpet.

Salted Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies

  I'm winding down fast, folks.  I love school, learning, and all that fun stuff--but the tail end of this semester is absolutely relentless with all of its decisions, expectations, and unpredictable happenings.  Caught in these situations, I tend to overeat and feel very numb.  Class notes are a thing of the past, and even scrolling through happy Pinterest things doesn't appeal to me.  I have projects on projects and I'm not doing anything.  Whoops.  Enter Spotted Cow and Gilmore Girls, and lots of sweet potato fries.

  But between these bouts I'm generally pretty productive.  Sunday night, for example, I spent on the 3rd floor of the library, and I mean literally cross-legged on the floor, studying until I couldn't physically see and the place was closing.  

  Balance, balance.

Malted Milk Rice Krispies

  FRIENDS.  I'm writing I'm writing I'm not writing a paper, I'm not writing because I have to, I'm not writing to be persuasive or grammatically correct or to utilize my critical thinking skills I'm just WRITING.  I'm writing because I want to talk to you and I want to wax poetic about things like rice krispy treats.

  I missed you.

Salted Peanut Butter Cup Brown Butter Blondies

  Girl, where you at.

  I'm on doorsteps in nostalgic neighborhoods watching snow come down.  I'm in cafes in college towns.  I'm washing dishes and learning the art of making wraps and cappuccinos.  I've got my foot in my mouth about all the relationships going on in my life.  I'm wishing on the stars and walking the streets.  I'm browsing apartment listings with weary eyes.  I'm dissecting my feelings.  I'm dissing the drama.

  And I'm making blondies.  I'm keeping things simple where I have the power to do so.

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

  Raise your hand if you've been freaking out about the New Year and reading Joy's post has made you feel a tiny bit better.  The Best of Intentions for 2015, goshdang I love that woman.

  Maybe another 365 days shouldn't feel so daunting, but seriously, they do.  They really do.  Which is why you have to do the whole one day at a time mantra, cuz otherwise it's all just too much.  Maybe you've started doing the oil cleansing method and your face-skin is royally freaking out at this sudden adjustment.  Maybe you've been dabbling in the world of liquid eyeliner and perfecting your cat eye.  Maybe you've taken up yoga and grounded yourself from shopping and excessive gas use-age until one of these job interviews actually works out for you.  Maybe you've been doing a lot of official writing for things like school applications (heaven forbid) and you just need a good paragraph or two of letting your brain explode.

  And maybe that's just me.

Peanut Butter Samoas Bars

  Props to my sister for those well-kept nails (you don't ever want to see mine).

  Ohoho yes I went there.  I so went there.

  But these didn't just happen.  First of all, new house, new oven.  New discoveries.  As in, gas stovetops are great, but for some reason the oven likes to brown the crap out of anything I put in there so that's just fine.

  Not fine.  Got some tweaking to do with that.

  So these were inspired by Diethood's awesome-looking gluten-free bars.  Those pictures man, they just got me.  Got me good.  Got me so good I didn't even read through the recipe, just started making them.  They're gluten-free, so what big whoop.  Much big whoop, actually.  The base is just egg and peanut butter baked together.  Like some funky unsweetened eggy custard.  That's fine if you're into that, but...not what I was led to expect.  I wanted creamy.  I wanted peanut butter.  I wanted Reese's and stuff.  Not eggs.

  So I brainstormed on a boring spring break day in the trailer kitchen.  I wanted something simplistic, with no fricken eggs and baking and messing with fussy oven stuff.  I recalled The Wannabe Chef's amazing little peanut butter bar recipe, and from there the ideas just kept flowing.

  The only unsound idea was the graham cracker crust.  It had good intentions, but it just isn't worth it.  It falls apart, doesn't stick to the peanut butter, and really doesn't do much for texture or taste.  So whatever, I'm ditching it for the recipe, and that makes it gluten-free anyway so everyone's happy.

  Look at 'em, just look.  They are beautifully messy.  My first contribution to the obnoxious amount of girl scout cookie recipes out there that there's probably some kind of online food blogger community for.  So proud.

  Also, much rich.  Little nutrition.  High calorie.  Very addict.  But enjoy.

  Also, please welcome the latest contribution to our family, and apparently my new kitchen helper.  We've had her for some amount of months now and she's already grown like crazy while I've been college-ing.  The face kills me every freaking time.  Finola is happy to meet you and would love to lick your face, but alas the computer screen separates her from you.  Done talking vicariously for dogs now, please make bars and eat them k bye.

  

Peanut Butter Samoas Bars
Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup peanut butter, runny or no-stir
• 7 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 10 oz + 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
• 7.5 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels
• 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
• A few pinches of salt

Directions:

In a large, microwaveable bowl, melt together the peanut butter and 6 tablespoons butter until completely liquid.  Remove from microwave and stir in powdered sugar.  Press the peanut butter mixture into an even layer in an 8x8 inch square pan.  Melt together the 10 ounces of chocolate chips and remaining tablespoon of butter and mix.  Pour over the peanut butter layer and place in the freezer (or fridge) while you make the topping.

In a medium pan over medium-low heat, toast the coconut, stirring frequently, until golden brown.  Place in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a double boiler (or a medium metal/glass bowl placed over a pot of simmering ((and only simmering, not boiling)) water), combine the caramels, milk, and salt and stir until melted and combined.  Pour the caramel mixture over the toasted coconut and stir to combine.

Immediately press the coconut/caramel mixture onto the peanut butter/chocolate layers, be sure to initially spread it in even chunks as it is quite sticky and will adhere to the still-warm chocolate.  Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and drizzle over the top with a fork.  Place the finished product in the fridge to chill and set up thoroughly, at least 2 hours, or until the chocolate drizzle has hardened.  

Chisel into bars and allow to come to room temp before serving.  Be wary of portions, these are lovely, but rather rich.

Sources: inspired by Diethood, peanut butter chocolate bars from The Wannabe Chef, and samoas topping from Just a Taste

Peanut Butter Nutella S'mores Bars

  Listening to crickets, gazing at fireflies, swatting at mosquitos, poking at glowing embers, and letting yourself get lost in the flames.  I have some of my best thoughts by a bonfire.  I don't know what it is about them that makes everything seem slightly magical, and somehow safe, but it really pulls at you.  People open up to each other, find the courage to sing, run off into the darkness at random until they're lured back by the enticing crackle of the fire and the smell of burning marshmallows.

Brown Butter Toffee Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars {Product Review}

  Guess what we get to talk about today?  Peanut butter!  Booyah.

  Seriously though, I'm so excited.  This is my first product review, and so far I'm a fan.  I get free samples, I give you all my honest and uncompensated (unless otherwise indicated) opinions, and then you guys get some chance of a lifetime deals.

  Let's talk.

Fudgy Brownies with Salted Caramel Brandy Glaze

  Disclaimer: No straight-up alcohol was consumed by underage bakers during the making of these sinfully-good brownies.

  Just sayin'.  I'm a good kid, and I only have the occasional half glass of moscato or rum and coke when my parentals are around.  I have posted a few boozy things on this blog, but they are adult treats to be made with adult supervision.  However, the finished treats generally contain a significantly less amount of alcohol due to reduction.  Thus, the consumption of those are an entirely different story...

Brown Butter Marshmallow Popcorn Bars

  We used to host annual Oscars parties, back when we had consistent company/friends that cared about such things.  I remember one occasion when my little sister and I decided to get all "dressed up" for the red carpet.  This consisted of a horrendous amount of cherry-red (and scented) lip gloss, sparkly blue dresses a couple sizes too big, and plastic heels.  The ladies who came lent us their feather-y boas.  We were a couple of very happy and doted upon girls.

S'mores Cheesecake Bars

  It's a flannel sort of Sunday.  I've been sleeping in like nobody's business this weekend, and wearing crazy Target knee socks.  There are gummy bears galore, pianos to be played, and I'm currently wrestling through Wuthering Heights.  Speaking of which, can somebody please explain to me the extreme appeal girls seem to have towards Heathcliff?  I mean, sure, he's got a danged pathetic story, but the only person he really seems to care for is Catherine- and even then, he's got a pretty funny way of expressing his devotion.  I won't even get into Catherine's character right now.  Nope.  Can't.  Won't.

Raspberry Lemon Bars

  So, you remember that discussion about how I didn't like chocolate crinkle cookies for the longest time?  How I thought they were all the same?

  Well, let's just throw lemon bars into that category.  Aaannd then let me remove those as well.  And perhaps let me further confess that I was, again, wrong.  Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong.

Peach Crumble Bars

  So!  I'm just getting over a case of the flops.  I've mentioned them before, and you can be sure they'll come up again. 

  I'm human, I like to experiment, I get distracted, and I have little to do right now except create stacks of dirty dishes.

  In short, these peach bars were the first "blog-worthy" thing I've made in something like a week.  I had all these lovely posts that I was doing ahead of time, but every single one flopped.  Somehow, in someway, they just did not work out.

S'mores Brownies

  I've been on a bit of a rebel kick these past couple Sundays.  Messing with granita flavors, turning pancakes into muffins...stuff like that.  I like that about Sundays with Joy, you test your limits, buy new ingredients, putz around with recipes to make them your own. 

  This week, as I flipped to the page labeled "S'mores Brownies," I knew that nothing more could possibly be done.

Rocky Road Brownies

  On Monday, I left you with a cheesecake.  I wished mother's a belated Happy Mother's Day.  And all of a sudden, it's been three days since I've posted.  Huh.  Well here I be!  I haven't neglected you.  I've been tweeting, facebook-ing, taking pictures, and of course, baking like a madwoman.  There's a whole lot more that goes into blogging than meets the eye.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Oat Caramel Bars

  Ever made a house of cards?  I have.  It's not easy.  You need a good, smooth foundation, precision, balance, an alert eye, time, patience, and the ability to accept failure and try again.  Sometimes you have a plan, a picture of what you want in your head.  Sometimes you just build, and see where it takes you.

  Is it just me, or does that sound a lot like friendships?  Maybe not super literally, but you know.

  There's nothing more frustrating than a card house just falling apart.  You're building, you're being careful, and sometimes for no apparent reason, you're left with a mess.  Granted, sometimes there are obvious factors such as drafts, sudden movement, annoying siblings, etc.  But those times you don't really know, that's tough.

  How do you fix it when you don't know what broke it?

Leftover Easter Chocolate Chunk Brownies

  Hey!  Easter happened!  Just in case you didn't know.

  This year was different for me.  I do believe, for the first time, my grandma forgot to hide candy around her house.  Ok, yeah, my sisters and I are a wee bit old for that, but she's always done it.  Always.  Same hiding places, every time.

  This lady has never accepted change well, but she is good to us.

Raspberry Ginger Oat Crumble Hearts (Bars)

  Valentine's Day for us is like a little bit of leftover Christmas in February, but with paper hearts and chocolate.  When we were all younger and people weren't in college, our parents would get up early and adorn our plates with candy and little gifts.  I love chocolate, sweethearts, and the like, but what was so beautifully special were the cards that my papa still makes us every year.

  Usually it's a sheet of paper folded in half, adorned with some crazy awesome red-penned illustrations that only my father could think up.  Then inside there's a special message, from him and mom, telling each sister how special and loved she is.  We'd eat candy, fry some eggs and bacon, snarf down on some disgustingly sugary cereal, and tell each other, each in our own way, "I love you."

Salted Caramel Chocolate Shortbread Bars

  I always feel sort of stupid when I start talking about how good something I made is.  I mean, I've made recipes that didn't taste so great, why on earth would I pass them on?  So it might appear as if I rave on here, but I just love how all these things taste!
  And yet, I feel like I'm trying to self-promote.  Dumb.  I recommend making the things I post, why else would I post them?  I'm promoting the recipe, not my abilities.  Does this site look like a business?  Nope, I sell nothing.  I give away and pass on awesome ideas, that's where the promotion goes.  I'm just the humble soul behind all of it.  I want happiness to enter kitchens.  It's why I take 53 pictures of bar cookies and spend an hour working on a post.  It's for a good cause, and I love it.
  Just a little reminder, mostly for myself.