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M & M Cookie Bark

M & M Cookie Bark

I’m back from sunny Williamsburg, VA, where my husband and I had a mini-vacation without kids. It was magical. If you’ve never been, you need to go! I’ll be sharing some of my favorite parts of the trip over the coming days. But first I have to share something else with you, and I’m excited.

Oh, my goodness. Hold on to your hats. Because I never realized that bark, one of the best treats ever, could be made in cookie form. Guess what? Epiphany time, people!

I was in the grocery store minus my children (wow, am I ever with them?) the other day, which is known in my world as a vacation. It was so lovely. I was wandering up and down aisles, looking at packaging without having to tune out a baby shrieking in my ear or feeling harassed, when I came upon the Brownie Brittle display. Have you seen that stuff? Basically, there are several different flavors of these thin, crispy brownie pieces. Some of them have chocolate chips, others toffee. It doesn’t really matter. The point is, when you bite in, you taste brownie. And I wanted to do the same thing, but with a cookie instead. So cookie bark was born!

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M & M Cookie Dough Fudge Bars

M & M Cookie Dough Fudge Bars

When I was a kid, people didn’t worry about raw cookie dough. So I happily licked the beaters, knowing in my soul that eating batter was the best part of baking anything. But then the dark forces moved in and exposed the dangers of eating cookie dough.

I know a lot of people aren’t afraid. But me, I live in fear. I get nervous around fire and water, I wash my hands obsessively during flu season, and I always wait for the walk sign before crossing the street. Eating raw cookie dough used to be absolutely taboo. Until, of course, everyone realized it was possible to have your dough and eat it, too. Just don’t put in the egg, add condensed milk, and you’re good to go!

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M & M Birthday Cake Magic Bars

M & M Birthday Cake Magic Bars

I just realized something quite shocking. My blog’s been around for all of two weeks and I haven’t posted anything with sprinkles yet! Must fix this problem immediately.

Sprinkles are really magic. I realized a few months back that if I put sprinkles on anything, my kids will eat it. While I’m tempted to test that theory on broccoli, that’s sort of gross. But my son, who pretends to hate chocolate, decided to eat these bars just because of the sprinkles.

See? Magic.

Which is appropriate, considering these are magic bars. The traditional magic bar has a graham cracker crust and then layers of goodness, like chocolate chips and nuts, ending off with a layer of condensed milk. While I don’t always like to mess with success, I’ve found that magic bars can be created in any flavor, anytime, which is why you will probably see a lot of them on this site.

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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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