Bars n' Brownies | Just About Baked

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/pinkthree-e1437344127397.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Summer in Review

September 25, 2015
Mir
Bars n' Brownies, C is for COOKIE!, Candyland, Elegant Desserts, Fun Friday!, Let Them Eat Cake, No Bake, Odds n' Ends, Pie Day, We Scream for Ice Cream!
12 Comments

Summer’s over. I’ve finally accepted it. But I’m not quite ready to let go.

You see, summer comes with wonderful desserts. And ice cream. Have I mentioned ice cream?

This past week, I made a fantastic poke cake. It was so delicious. And the photos were a complete #epicfail. So instead of hanging my head in shame, I’m going to share my favorites with you from this past summer!

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/peanutchew5-e1442159086658.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Peanut Chew Bars

September 15, 2015
Mir
Bars n' Brownies, Candyland
31 Comments

Has anyone heard of Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews?

If you have, you probably love them as much as I do. They’re an old-school candy bar with a peanut and a molasses-like chewy center covered in chocolate. They’ve been around for quite a long time. I happen to know that because my ancestors were chewing down on them back in the earlier part of the 20th century. There are some family stories that center around these candy bars.

Like, back in the day, they were apparently very hard to actually chew. Nowadays they’re softer, and I’ve always loved them. So I had to put them into a soft, dense, thick peanut butter cookie bar! These peanut chew bars are full of the candy and peanuts, too!

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/kit4-e1441733593343.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Kit Kat Cookie Bars

Anyone been neglecting the Kit Kats lately? Except me, that is?

Well, let’s get that fixed right away. Anything that involves a wafer and chocolate should never be ignored. That goes double for these bars, which exceed the already super addictive quotient of my usual baking fare.

Seriously, I couldn’t stop eating these. I tried, too. But no matter how many I gave away or shared, I still had enough to make a dent in the batch. And that is an accomplishment worth savoring, my friends.

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/chchip1-e1440522257780.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookie Bars

Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t love a chocolate chip cookie?

If you have, you can inform them that they are missing a soul. I’m sorry, I know taste is subjective. But I mean, come on. It’s a chocolate chip cookie!

When you’re feeling lazy, make bars instead. These chocolate chip bars are also full of chopped pecans and topped off with chocolate drizzle. The flair on top is optional, but I love me some drizzle.

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/smore2-e1440106927965.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Triple Chocolate S’more Brownies

August 20, 2015
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
23 Comments

When it comes to baking, I have a rule: always up the ante.

If you’re not familiar with poker terminology, let me rephrase that. It’s never decadent enough. We can always do more to make our baked goods push glorious boundaries. Brownies are particularly conducive to letting the crazy out. They’re like the best chocolate canvas ever.

These fudgy guys are a lot of fun. The bottom layer is chocolate graham crackers, followed by brownie batter with chocolate chips inside. So there’s the “triple” in the title. And then the whole kit n’ kaboodle is topped off with jumbo marshmallow slices. Aww yeah.

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/marshpb5-e1438727448825.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Fluffernutter Blondies

August 4, 2015
Mir
Bars n' Brownies
28 Comments

I read this really fascinating article the other day about why time seems to speed up as we get older. It’s actually a wonderfully simple explanation of this common phenomenon, and it turns out that we’re not all going crazy.

Time does speed up as we age. See, when we’re little, a month seems like forever because our lives have been pretty short. A six year-old will spend what seems like decades waiting for her birthday because, relatively speaking, a year is a huge percentage of her life. That’s not at all true for a thirty-six year old, for whom a year is a much smaller percentage of life. And by the time anyone reaches much older age, time whizzes by because the majority of years spent alive vs. any time increment is much larger.

Do I sound like a total nerd here? You caught me. I am a nerd about a lot of things, like Shakespeare, Star Trek, and getting older. Getting older scares me, and the faster time goes, the more my existential dread rears its ugly head. But since I’m also a baking nerd, I can use my prowess in the kitchen to provide some much-needed distraction from time’s unyielding march onward.

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/baby5-e1438131403837.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Baby Ruth Brookies

Some kids get neglected. That’s a tragedy I don’t want to talk about. But something I can handle discussing? Candy bars that get neglected.

When I was a kid, my dad would pick us up after school and on simpler days, we’d go straight home. But sometimes there were errands to run, so we had to go out and about. While I hated errands, it usually meant I got to pick out an after school candy bar. For years, that candy bar was Baby Ruth. Those chocolate-covered peanut and caramel bars have a great deal of nostalgia for me.

Which kind of got me to thinking. I rarely bake with Baby Ruth bars, and that’s a crying shame. So today, I’ve remedied that neglect. They’re getting their very own brookie!

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/PBJ2-e1437669638422.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

PB & J Bars

I’ve never gotten over a simple PB & J. I mean, how can you top that?

With a bar, actually. That’s how you top the best sandwich ever. This bar is soft and chewy and topped with strawberry jelly. Oh, and peanut butter chips. Can you imagine what would have happened if your mother had put peanut butter chips in your sandwich when you were a kid? That’s known as “bad parenting.” But it works really well in a dessert bar!

Too well, actually. These guys got banished to the freezer so I wouldn’t slam back the entire batch in one day. It makes me wonder why I didn’t name my blog after all things peanut butter. If you must know, I like to rename my blog in my head. But I still really like Just About Baked.

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/slabsix-e1437352264574.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Chips Apple Slab Pie

As it turns out, you can make pretty much anything with cookie chips. Who knew? I mean, I knew they were addictive, but versatility is also a huge plus.

Apple pie has always been a little bit of a seasonal question mark for me. It comes out at Thanksgiving, so that would suggest that it’s an autumnal food. But then it also comes out for summer potlucks, and that makes it…summer food? Instead of remaining confused, I’ve decided that apple pie is American, delicious, and year-round.

Slab pie is even better. That’s when you bake pie into a square or rectangular pan instead of a pie plate. Nothing is more satisfying than a lovely rectangular slab of apple pie. That is, of course, unless you up the ante. This apple slab pie is covered in Hannah Max oatmeal raisin cookie chips crumble, and it’s impossible to stop eating.

Warning: getimagesize(/home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/uploadshttps://justaboutbaked.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/sacher5-e1437091297645.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/justab8/public_html/wp-content/themes/Total/framework/classes/image-resize.php on line 121

Brownie Sacher Torte

July 16, 2015
Mir
Bars n' Brownies, Cakes, Let Them Eat Cake
18 Comments

Sometimes time can be the best healer.

A year ago, I tried making the famous Sacher torte for my mother’s birthday. It’s a dense chocolate cake with apricot filling that hails from Vienna. I did tons of research and worked much harder than usual to get the cake just right.

Epic fail, everyone. The glaze was clumpy and the cake was just way too dry. It was so not worth all that time and effort. Luckily, time passed and I decided I wanted to try again, but this time I did it on my terms. That means the cake became a brownie and the glaze was a much simpler version of the process that did me in a year ago.