Ooey Gooey Turtle Bars

It was about time for me to make a drool-worthy dessert- and what better time than the Bachelorette finale?! (Side note: Jef and Emily are SO cute!) These bars are the perfect mix of cookie and gooey turtle! I love how easy this recipe is; the crust is pre-made sugar cookie dough! You can also make tons of substitutions depending on what your sweet tooth is craving (peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips, no nuts, different nuts, etc).

(adapted from an old Knoxville News Sentinel recipe)

Ingredients:

1 roll of refrigerated sugar cookies

1 ¼ cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups chopped pecans

½ cup butter

½ cup packed light brow sugar

1 jar (12.25 oz.) caramel ice cream topping (mine was Smucker’s brand)

1 cup of graham cracker crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press roll of cookie dough in the bottom of an ungreased 9x13” pan.

Sprinkle ¾ cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of chopped pecans on top of the sugar cookie.

Lightly press into the dough. Set aside.

Melt butter on medium-high in a 2 qt. saucepan. 

Stir in graham crackers, brown sugar, and caramel topping. Heat to a boil.

Pour the mixture over the sugar cookie crust.

Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup pecans on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. The recipe is meant to cool for about 3 hours to form a bar-like consistency, but I won’t lie… I love it straight out of the oven on top of ice cream! It’s a wonderfully delicious gooey mess! BUT, if you’re serving them as bars, let them sit on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Loosen the sides from the pan. Let them cool for another 3 hours, cut in squares, and serve! The recipe makes about 24 bars.

-A

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July Fourth - Chocolate Edition

If you’re like me, now is about the time that you’re scrounging for a new July Fourth dessert recipe. It seems like all the patriotic recipes floating around lack my favorite ingredient: chocolate. Well, this year I’ve found two colorful recipes with chocolate included! Both are quick & easy!

Brownie Fruit Pizza

(adapted from Betty Crocker recipe)

Ingredients:

1 package of brownie mix

oil, egg, and water required for the brownie mix

1/3 cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 8-oz. package of cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat!)

¼ cup Cool Whip

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 ½ cup fresh strawberries, sliced

1. Preheat oven according to instructions on your brownie box.

2. Grease either a 12-inch pizza pan or a 9-inch round glass dish.

3. Mix oil, egg, water, and brownie mix according to your box.

4. Pour mix in your selected dish and bake according to your box. Let brownies cool for one hour.

5. In a bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and Cool Whip until smooth and creamy.

6. Spread mixture over cooled brownies.

7. Slice strawberries and arrange fruit on top.

Refrigerate for about an hour before slicing into wedges and serving.

Fourth of July S’mores

Ingredients:

marshmallows

chocolate bars

graham crackers

red, white, and blue sprinkles

These are pretty simple….

1. Stack your S’mores.

2. Individually wrap them in aluminum foil & stick them in the oven at 350°F.

3. Leave them in the oven until your marshmallows are nice and gooey (10 minutes or so).

4. Sprinkle your patriotic sprinkles on the marshmallows!

Cute, easy, yummy, and chocolate-y…what more could you ask for?!

Happy Fourth!

-A

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Southern Peach Cobbler…the Easy Way!

This time of year, peach cobbler is a southern staple. I’ve always been under the assumption that my Mawie’s delicious cobbler must have millions of steps, but it actually doesn’t! It’s five simple steps. So -- if you love cobbler as much as me, head to the grocery store (or local farmer's market) and pick up 7 peaches.

Southern Peach Cobbler

Ingredients: 
7 peaches
1/2 cup butter
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk (I used skim.)

1. Peel your peaches, and cut them similar to how you would cut an apple- but a bit smaller.

2. Melt your butter in the oven in a 2-quart baking dish at 400°.

3. Mix flour, sugar, and milk in a bowl.

4. Pour the mixture over the melted butter.

5. Add peaches.

Bake for 30 minutes or until brown (at 400°) and grab a spoon! And of course -- serve with vanilla ice cream for the perfect melty combination.

-A

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Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies…but Better

So I just recently came across one of my mom’s old recipes and decided to try it out. My expectations weren’t all that high, because I’d never heard of this recipe or seen it pinned….but OH MY GOSH. It’s definitely in my top 3 favorite desserts now. If you like homemade chocolate chip cookies, you’re going to love this. Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. Served with a little vanilla ice cream, it’s to die for. It’s also a super easy, super quick recipe!

Here it is!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Ingredients: 2 large eggs, ½ c packed brown sugar, ½ c all-purpose flour, ½ c sugar, ¾ c softened butter, 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 unbaked 9-inch piecrust

1. Preheat oven to 325° F 

2. Beat your eggs on a high speed in a large bowl until foamy.

3. Beat in flour, brown sugar, and sugar.

4. Beat in softened butter. (I used one stick of butter and a half stick of margarine, and that worked fine too!)

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Spoon into pie crust.

7. Bake 50- 60 minutes OR until a knife stuck halfway between the center and edge comes out clean. The top will brown, but the middle stays nice and gooey. I prefer everything to taste like dough, so I only baked mine about 50 minutes. :)

8. Cool for a few minutes and dig in!

Side Note: You can make the middle of the pie in advance and cover it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it. Then, all you’ll have to do is spoon the middle into your pie crust, and throw it in the oven!

-A

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