Cadbury Mini Egg Blondies

Cadbury Mini Egg Blondies | Bakewell Junction

Has everyone been as busy as I have?  I have deadlines looming at work and yard work piling up.  Spring and early summer there’s so much to do.  I’d love to hear any shortcuts and tips you have with yard work.  And, has anyone had the explosion of poison ivy that we’ve had in the northeast this year?!?

I was looking for another quick and easy recipe to share with you.  I found this one that would use up some of my left over Easter candy too.  This recipe came together so quickly and was a cinch to make.  The bars are gooey with tons of chocolate and delicious.

Enjoy!

Cadbury Mini Egg Blondies

Yield:  16 bars                 Cook Time:  40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups milk chocolate mini eggs

Directions:

Step 1:  In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.  I melted the butter in the microwave but you can melt it over medium heat on the stove.  In the bowl of the stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the melted butter and brown sugar on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes.  The mixture should look lighter and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as needed.

Step 2:  Mix in vanilla and egg and egg yolk until mixture is creamy.  Mix in the flour in 3 additions until each is combined using a low setting on your mixer.  Prepare an 8 inch by 8 inch baking pan by lining with aluminum foil and greasing with cooking spray.  Transfer the dough to the baking and use the back of a silicone spatula to spread batter evenly across the pan.

Step 3:  Bake in a 325 degree preheated oven for 40 minutes.  The top should be golden brown and a toothpick test should come out clean.  When done, remove the pan from the oven and cool on a rack for 30 minutes.  Place the pan in the refrigerator or freezer to cool completely (a few hours or overnight).  Slice into 2 by 2 inch squares.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Bakeaholic Momma.

Tips:  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake always has perfectly cut cookie bars, so I always use her Tip of the Day to cut the bars.

This post may also be entered in these linky parties.  Click the here to visit the other great posts in the blog hops.

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bars

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bar | Bakewell Junction

Ugh!  I’ve lost another battle to the dandelions.  I was gaining on them this year because the weather was cooler for a while but then a couple of weeks ago we had three days of rain and a warm weekend – it was all over but the crying.  I’m not giving up entirely and will continue on my mission to pull all of them up in the front yard.  Hopefully this will put me in a better position for next year’s dandelion battle.  Wish me luck.

On to more dandilicious happenings…  I was debating whether I should post this recipe because I wanted to tweak it and bring you the revised version with double the cookie dough but time didn’t permit.  While this version is delicious, I am a cookie dough lover and feel that you can never have too much.  These bars a full of buttery goodness and although the cookie dough isn’t as sweet as the chocolate chip cookie dough I’ve had, it’s still quite yummy.  If you’re a fan of shortbread, this bar certainly has what you’re looking for too.  Feel free to leave the recipe as is, if you prefer to have more shortbread than cookie dough.  I will certainly double the cookie dough the next time I make them.  Which version would you prefer?

Have a great Memorial Day!

Snickerdoodle Cookie Dough Bars

Yield:  16 bars                 Cook Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients:

Shortbread:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt (I used Kosher salt)
• 2 cups flour

Cookie dough:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk or cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

Directions:

Step 1:  For the shortbread:  Cream together butter, brown sugar and salt in a large bowl on high speed for 3 minutes.  The mixture should look light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as needed.  Mix in 1/3 of the flour until combined using a low setting on your mixer.  Repeat for each of the remaining 1/3 additions.

Step 2:  Prepare an 8 inch by 8 inch baking pan by lining with aluminum foil and greasing with cooking spray.  Transfer the dough to the baking and press evenly across the pan.  Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.  The top should be golden brown.  When done, remove the pan from the oven and cool on a rack for 30 minutes.  Place the pan in the refrigerator or freezer to cool completely.

Step 3:  For the cookie dough:  In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter and sugar over medium heat.  Stir constantly until the butter is melted and the sugar has mostly dissolved.  This will help the cookie dough to have a less grainy mouth feel from the sugar.  The mixture will take on a custard-like look – this is okay.  Transfer the mixture to a medium mixing bowl, let cook for 15 minutes and then beat at a high speed for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add in the milk and vanilla and mix to combine.  Mix in the flour at a low speed until combined.  Spread cookie dough evenly on the completely cooled shortbread.  Using the back of a silicone spatula, smooth the top of the cookie dough for an even finish.

Step 4:  For the topping:  Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly across the top of the bars.  Place in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight to set and cool completely.  Slice into 2 by 2 inch squares.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from love to be in the kitchen.

Tips:  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake always has perfectly cut cookie bars, so I used her Tip of the Day to cut the bars.

This post may also be entered in these linky parties.  Click the here to visit the other great posts in the blog hops.

Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

A few weeks ago, after Easter, the supermarkets were all selling leftover Easter candy at extremely discounted prices.  At first I wasn’t tempted but when the Cadbury Creme Eggs went down to $.10, I gave in and bought eight of them thinking I would use them in a cupcake recipe.  Instead I used them in this brownie recipe for Mother’s Day.  This recipe resulted in very gooey and chocolaty brownies – sounds good doesn’t it?  Well my sisters loved them.

The hardest part of this recipe is cutting the Cadbury Eggs, so it’s pretty easy and tasty.

Brownies with egg filling lined up.

Hot out of the oven.

Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

Yield:  16 bars                Cook Time:  40 minutes

Ingredients

Brownie:

• 1 package of your favorite brownie mix (my favorite is Ghirardelli – any flavor will do), prepared as directed

 Filling:

• 8 regular size Cadbury Creme Eggs cut in half

Directions:

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2:  Line an 8” by 8” baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Step 3:  Prepare the brownie mix as described on the package.  Pour half the brownie mix into the pan and smooth out on the bottom of the pan.

Step 4:  To cut the Cadbury Creme Eggs, you’ll need to find out where the filling settled.  I rolled the eggs gently across the table to see where they would rest with the heaviest portion on the bottom and then cut them in half across the top.

Step 5:  Place the Cadbury Eggs cut side up (i.e. the cut side up, so you can see the creme) in four rows, four across.  I placed them on a bias so they would fit better.

Step 6:  Pour the remaining brownie batter on top of the Cadbury Eggs.  There won’t be enough batter to smooth across the top of all the Cadbury Eggs and spaces between but during the baking process this will all even out.

Step 7:  Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.  The middle will still be gooey.  Cool for 15 minutes in the pan.  Use the aluminum foil to take the brownies out of the pan.

Step 8:  Cool completely before attempting to cut into 16 even squares.

Enjoy!!!

Slutty Brownies

I’ve been starting my tomato and pepper plants from seed and haven’t had much time to devote to baking involved recipes, so I was looking for a quick and easy recipe.  I’d found this recipe on the What’s Gaby Cooking blog (originally from the Londoner) and set it aside but it was a perfect time to try it.  I also found these brownies noted on a lot of other sites and I know why…  I brought a bunch of them to the office for my co-workers and they were gone by mid-morning.  I think the name intrigued them from the start.

I made the recipe a couple of times since the first time I baked it for too long because I kept testing it with a toothpick and it only came out clean after 65 minutes of baking (although my husband loved this crispier version).

Totally yummy.  Try it.

Slutty Brownies

Yield:  16 bars                Cook Time:  40 minutes

Ingredients

Cookie Dough:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Oreos:

• 16 Double Stuff Oreo cookies

Brownie:

• 1 package of your favorite brownie mix (my favorite is Ghirardelli – any flavor will do), prepared as directed

Directions:

Step 1:  Prepare the brownie mix as described on the package and set aside.

Step 2:  For the cookie dough, cream together the butter and sugars with a mixer.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla until entirely incorporated.  Add the remaining dry ingredients except chips and mix on low until incorporated.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Step 3:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 4:  Line an 8” by 8” baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

Step 5:  Press half the cookie dough evenly across the bottom of the pan (next time I will try using the entire cookie dough recipe in the bottom of the pan).

Step 6:  Add a layer of Double Stuff Oreo cookies four across by four rows.

Step 7:  Top evenly with brownie mixture.

Step 9:  Bake for 40 minutes on the top rack of the oven.  Let cool at least 10 minutes before attempting to remove the brownies from the pan.  If serving warm, the center brownies will be very gooey, almost like the middle of a lava cake.  The ends will be firmer.  Cut into sixteen pieces.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe adapted from What’s Gaby Cooking (originally from the Londoner).

Double Cookies and Cream Kiss Cookie Bars

For Palm Sunday I had some family over for dinner and a good time was had by all.  To prepare I planned to perfect a Pandoro recipe I attempted for the first time last Christmas but I needed a fall-back dessert in the event that the Pandoro turned out poorly.  By the way the Pandoro was a success – you’ll see that recipe soon…

I had seen the Double Cookies and Cream Kiss Cookie Bars recipe on the Picky Palate site and they looked soooo good that I thought they would be perfect.  I found the new Hershey Kisses in Walmart a couple of weeks ago and had set them aside (so they wouldn’t get eaten) until I was ready to make the bars.

I was right, my head taste tester thought they were fantastic!  They’re sweet and full of Oreo pieces.

After mixing is competed.

Line up the kisses.

Ready for the oven.

Hot out of the oven.  Ready, set, eat.

Double Cookies and Cream Kiss Cookie Bars

Yield:  16 bars                Cook Time:  25 – 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mini chocolate chip
• 12 Oreo Cookies, broken into pieces (if using Double Stuff Oreos, possibly use 9 cookies)
• 25 Cookies and Cream Hershey’s Kisses

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8 by 8 inch baking pan with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray.

Stir butter and sugars in a medium bowl at least 2 minutes.  Combine egg and vanilla into the sugar mixture.  Add dry ingredients and chips to combine.  Finally add the Oreos and stir to combine.

Press 1/3 to 1/2 of the dough into the pan.  Arrange the kisses in 5 by 5 rows on the dough.  Gently press the remaining dough on top of the kisses.  Cover as best you can and press gently.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes.  Cool 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!!!

Recipe barely adapted from Picky Palate.