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Tangy Key Lime Bars

Tangy Key Lime Bars

I know, I know. Key lime is a summer thing, right? But I’m a summer girl stuck in the tail end of the winter from hell. I need to do something to ease the pain.

And since it’s my week to bake green stuff (yay, St. Paddy’s Day!), I figured it sorta kinda works. Lime zest is very green.

These bars are special. I adapted this recipe from Becky Bakes and it’s one of my favorites. Instead of working like a traditional lemon bar, these have a consistency like a brownie, but with citrus. Super brilliant. All I did was substitute key limes for the lemon, so I can take credit for very little here. And I am forever indebted to Becky’s genius.

Anyway, onward. These bars come out very sticky and delicious, dripping with a tangy and sweet glaze. They’re impossible to resist.

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Aphrodisiac Cookies (Bakery-Sized!)

Aphrodisiac Cookies (Bakery-Sized!)

Do you remember that urban legend about green M & Ms? You know, the effect they supposedly have on your…ahem?

If we’re being candid, all chocolate has that effect on most women, right? Regardless, the green M & M will always be the sexy one. It’s her lot in life.

It’s a green kind of week. St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, and while I have absolutely no Irish blood in me, I love the green. It gives me hope for spring.

These cookies came from that sudden hankering for all things green. At first, I was actually contemplating sitting around and picking green M & Ms out of a variety bag. Hey, I have plenty of time, right?

Wrong. Luckily, these mint-flavored M & Ms come in three shades of green and do the trick just fine.

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Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Trifle

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Trifle

Have you noticed that I like to put brownie in almost everything? Sorry, kids, but an addiction is an addiction. And I don’t want to get help.

Many years ago when I was a sparkly newlywed, someone went off the registry and got us a trifle dish. At first, I was confused. What on earth was this vase-bowl hybrid thingy? But years of experience and some research cleared up my fog. And I learned that trifles are actually quite nice.

More traditional trifles have whipped cream and berries inside of them, but if you’re getting to know me, then you realize that I can’t go without chocolate. Preferably with peanut butter.

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Girl Scout Cookie Mini-Cheesecakes

Girl Scout Cookie Mini-Cheesecakes

‘Tis the season. You know, that in-between time when spring isn’t here yet and we are so incredibly sick of winter and we need something to get us through?

Enter the Girl Scouts. I don’t know much about the organization, having never taken the pledge myself. But I do know this: any outfit that sells boxes of cookie magic while I’m busy scraping ice off the windshield is the best.

Most people are all about Thin Mints, and a slightly smaller contingent salivates for Samoas. But an even tinier group of us proclaim our undying devotion to the most underrated of all Girl Scout cookies: Tagalongs, a.k.a. Peanut Butter Patties.

Though I favor Tagalongs above all, I am an equal-opportunity dessert enthusiast. Why discriminate against the other flavors? So I decided to make these mini-cheesecakes based on the three most chocolaty Girl Scout cookie flavors.

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Mostly Whole Wheat Challah

Mostly Whole Wheat Challah

Ahhhh…TGIF. Almost. Before I breeze through the last day of the week, it’s time to make some serious bread.

Challah, that is.

Challah is too awesome to fly so much under the radar. It’s traditionally an egg bread made with white flour and sugar, kind of like brioche. It makes amazing French toast. There are also water versions, calling for no egg, as well as challahs filled with anything from raisins to chocolate chips.

And lately, whole wheat challah has begun to pop up in bakeries with more frequency, though it’s often put down by challah traditionalists, and who can blame them? Challah is an indulgence, a bread so good that spreading butter or jam on a slice can actually take away from the yeasty, fresh-out-of-the-oven perfection of the bread itself.

I was pretty hestitant to give the whole wheat thing a try. Why fix what ain’t broke? But in a world where whole grains are healthier and white bread is just an occasional indulgence, I wanted to have my challah and eat it too.

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Squash Cheesecake Brownie Bars

Squash Cheesecake Brownie Bars

If I had my way, everything would have brownie in it. Brownies are just…yeah. The best.

So when I entered a cooking contest (and won, brag brag brag) recently and the required ingredient was squash, I had to find out if I could work a brownie in there somewhere.

Result? This li’l guy.

Okay, I admit it sounds a bit unorthodox at first. Squash with chocolate?

But from the gods that brought us pumpkin and chocolate, this idea was born. If I could enjoy pumpkin bread with chocolate chips (yes yes yes), then couldn’t I make squash kinda taste like pumpkin and then go crazy?

And then, if that worked, could we get some cheesecake in there? Because the only thing better than a brownie is a cheesecake with brownies. Ask Ben and Jerry if you don’t believe me.

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Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cookie Bars

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cookie Bars

Since this is my inaugural post, I’m going to start this relationship the way I want to continue it: honestly.

And to be downright truthful, I have to admit that when it comes to dessert, I have absolutely the highest threshold imaginable for sugar tolerance. When everyone else is saying things like, “Wow, that’s so rich. I can’t eat more than one bite,” I’m halfway through my second helping, feeling like I just don’t get it.

When is anything ever too decadent? Perhaps that explains my tendency to put a lot of EVERYTHING into my baking.

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