S'more Cookie Bars

As the hubby and I are getting closer to the big move -- there are certain things I want to check off my Texas bucket list. One of the top things on this to do list was to go to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo one more time. This was a special event for me for a few reasons. First, I LOVE PITBULL...not just a little but a lot. I have been wanting to see Pitbull for awhile and could never find anyone to go with me. But I have one friend who shares my love of Mr. International and when I asked him if he wanted to go, he said "Dale" like only a true Pitbull fan would say.

I was a bit disappointed because Mr. International gave a shout out to each ethnic group -- White, Black, Hispanic...and then....NOTHING! Ummm...last time I checked there were also Asians...as in Indians and Sri Lankans...as in MEEEEEEE....the freakishly obsessed fan in section 634. ::waving:: How are you going to be Mr. International....Pitbull who sang with Priyanka Chopra and then forget to give a shout out to your Desi girls ::shock face:: Shame on you Pitbull! But I still love you!

The hubby came too, but not so much for Pitbull but for the fooooood. Which brings me to my second reason; the amazingly delicious, cholesterol filled, fat gaining food. And this year had some of the best Rodeo food finds everrrrrr. Let's start with Fried Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese frosting....yup, you read right and let me tell you OMG x infinity. But that was not it, they also had fried Nutella....again, yup...imagine a corn dog except with pound cake and stuffed with straight Nutella. I was in such a wonderful food coma.

The last but most important was spending it with the hubby. 6 years ago in March of 2009, a few weeks after dating the hubby, he took me to the Rodeo -- my first ever rodeo. It was so fun and we were so young. It is crazy how much time just flew by. To think that 6 years later he would be my sweet hubby, the love of my life and the only reason I would still be in Texas 6 years later...I would never have guessed! Plus, our good friend joined us and it was a fun get together and some good laughs.

In the trend of clogging your arteries, I had to share a recipe for another sweet tooth favorite -- S'mores :) Enjoy these fairly easy to whip up s'more bars. I made these for Deacon and his owner's farewell party (I know ::tear::) and it was a big hit. But who doesn't love s'mores, right?!? That would be the hubby..FAIL.

S'MORE COOKIE BARS

Slightly adapted from The Gunny Sack

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 350F Degrees

FOR THE COOKIE
1/2 tsp. water
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. shortening
1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs (5 sheets)

FOR THE TOPPING
1 c. mini Hershey's Kisses, divided
1 c. mini marshmallows 

DIRECTIONS

For the cookie:
In a small bowl, combine water and baking soda. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla, egg and water-baking soda mixture. In a separate medium bowl sift together flour and graham crackers. Slowly mix into wet mixture until well incorporated, but do not over mix. Fold in 1/2 of the mini Hershey kisses.  Line a 8x8 baking dish with aluminum foil and grease lining. Spread batter in lined dish and bake for 18-20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

For the toppings:
Remove from oven and sprinkle mini marshmallows over the bars. Place under broiler for a few seconds until toasted (watch carefully as this happens quickly). Turn off oven and remove baking dish. Sprinkle remaining Hershey kisses over bars and return to oven for 2-3 minutes until Hershey kisses soften.

Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. I suggest refrigerating for clean and easy cutting.

Enjoy,

Red Velvet M&M Cake Mix Bars

::insert scream here:: isn't text scream something like ?!@!#$?!@@!! -- or maybe that is swearing. hahaha. I am definitely trying to scream and not swear. Anywhoo, I am so sorry that I have once more went MIA for bit. I was venting to the hubby how frustrated I get, that I cannot ever seem to blog regularly for a consistent amount of time, even when I have recipes to share. It is just plain annoying. He gave me some good feedback and pointed out that I just need to be honest with you all and myself.

(...tangent....doesn't this sound like a break up speech...hahah...where I am about to say. 'it's not you, really, it's me'...don't worry this is not where this is going)

And basically -- I just need to be open about that fact that at any random moment, even when I think I'll be free, graduate school will sweep in and take over my life. You know, people have always told me, "it'll be worth it." My response instead of "yea I know.."...is now "I will let you know about that." hahaha...The worst part?!? First year faculty have told me that it only gets worse?!?! WORSE!?!? Like whaaaaaaa? Not.Even. So what does that say about the future... :/ That is why not blogging is so annoying. Not only does that mean I have nothing to share with you all. But I stop doing one of the few things that help me de-stress, unwind and smile. Maybe, just maybe, one day I'll find a balance. But as of now, I'm failing. It's okay, not in a sad way, just in a...I am so sorry way :) Forgive me? Again?

So what have I been up to? Well....IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY last month. And if you remember, I love my birthday. It's like a national holiday for me. I go all out and pretty much get everything I want for my birthday. I know, that sounds absurdly spoiled. I cannot lie and say I am not. I am extremely blessed with my loving hubby, family and besties. And they understand just how much, for some odd reason, my birthday means to me. This year, the hubby and I went home to California for my birthday! :) It was so nice. I had such a fun an amazing time! I'll share bits of my trip in each post after this!

This is Day 1 of my Valentine's Countdown :) The countdown to love....hahaha! And what screams Valentine's Day like RED VELVET! Plus, M&Ms came out with a seasonal red velvet flavor and they are delicious! Addicting, really....So  I decided to make my M&M Cake mix bars, because my last one was such a big hit. And these were also definitely a hit. Took them to a party and they were all gone :) The hubby only got to try the edges and he was bummed that was all he got. This is as easy peasy to make as it gets! So if you are in a pinch and want an easy, go-to treat....this....is....it!

RED VELVET M&M CAKE MIX BARS

Cake mix bars from Inside a BruCru Life

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 325F Degrees 

1 box of Red Velvet Cake mix
1 egg
1 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
9.9 oz bag of Red Velvet M&Ms (or Valentine's M&Ms)*

*I only found the Red Velvet M&Ms at Wal-mart

DIRECTIONS

Line a 7 3/4 x 11 3/4 baking dish with aluminum foil. Grease aluminum foil with butter, shortening or cooking spray. This will help when removing bars from baking dish, allow for cooling, and easier, cleaner cutting into squares.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, sift in cake mix. Then stir in egg, butter and vanilla. Do not over mix. Remove from stand mixer and fold in half of the red velvet M&Ms.

Evenly press dough into baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining M&Ms evenly onto the top of the batter and gently press in. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to completely cool before cutting into bars.

Enjoy,
Chika

Mint M&M Cake Mix Bars

I have become addicted to a new show. Psych! I love when I can find a show on Netflix, because I become obsessed and when I have a free day; I end up streaming it all day long. When I've watched the show before, I was never a big fan but I think I must have seen all the wrong episodes, because it is a great show! So funny and I just love the character Gus! Do you watch it? or have any Netflix suggestions. Keep in mind, I tend to like forensic, crime-type shows. I don't know why? I'm thinking I have this secret, undercover dream to be in the FBI ;) Maybe, I could solve cupcake mysteries!

Actually I think my second to my ultimate dream of owning a bakery -- I would LOVE to be a food critic. Doesn't that seem like such a cush job? Don't get me wrong, I am sure it is really hard -- writing, dealing with angry people, eating food that may taste gross -- but doesn't the free and relatively, usually (hopefully) yummy food make up for it? I wonder if there is a food critic for only bakeries?!? That would be pretty awesome too! I'll keep sending out positive vibes for that dream to come true, feel free to send your own good vibes my way!

I'd like to consider myself a semi-real blogger :) And an actual self-trained baker/chef. But I have a confession. I love cake mix. I have used cake mix for cake, cupcakes, cookies and now bars! I have seen a few recipes online for cake mix bars, but never been bold to venture and try it, until now! And I think they came out pretty darn good. This recipe is perfect if you need to make something in less than an hour but still want something yummy and festive. It is a cinch to make! Plus, I put holiday mint M&Ms but you could always make these with other flavors (regular, mini, gingerbread, candy corn, etc.). Also, you could switch out the cake mix you use. Maybe you want vanilla? pumpkin spice? pineapple? The possibilities are endless! And amazing --fudgey mint goodness.

MINT M&M CAKE MIX BARS

Cake mix bars from Inside a BruCru Life

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 325F Degrees 

1 box of Devils Food Cake mix
1 egg
1 stick of butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
9.9 oz bag of mint M&Ms (or peppermint M&Ms)

DIRECTIONS

Line a 7 3/4 x 11 3/4 baking dish with aluminum foil. Grease aluminum foil with butter, shortening or cooking spray. This will help when removing bars from baking dish, allow for cooling, and easier, cleaner cutting into squares.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, sift in cake mix. Then stir in egg, butter and vanilla. Do not over mix. Remove from stand mixer and fold in half of the mint M&Ms.

Evenly press dough into baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining M&Ms evenly onto the top of the batter and gently press in. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to completely cool before cutting into bars.

Enjoy,
Chika

Candy Corn M&M Cookie Bars

Remember in elementary school when it was Halloween, and you got to bring your costume to school? And then towards the end of the day, you got to stop schoolwork early, change into your costume and enjoy treats that all the parents sent with their kids to school?! I loved it! It was so fun. I was a red devil, a witch, Frankenstein. Looking back, I loved how my parents never forced me to be anything girly -- I got to be whatever I wanted to be :) I hope that when I have kids, I'll push them to think outside of the box for their costumes and not just be a "princess" or "superhero" but maybe a "princess superhero" :) Well, its clear from Facebook that the Halloween celebrations have begun! I love seeing all the costumes, especially the creative ones!

Hopefully either you, your significant other, child or all of the above have  a Halloween party coming up for which you plan to make some treats for. For that I bring you Day 4 of my Spooktacular countdown to Halloween. Candy corn epitomizes Halloween treats -- I know, I know, Halloween is associated with treats in general, but if you could think of one sweet that is Halloween and only available around Halloween -- it is candy corn! Well, last year, the hubby found these candy corn M&Ms and decided to try it. I knew I wanted to incorporate candy corn into my Spooktacular countdown. I thought of these M&Ms from last year, and decided they would be a creative twist to a candy corn dessert.

I really enjoy cookie bars, because you get the fun of a cookie but the ease of a bar. Because you just get to dump the batter in a baking dish and let it bake :) Super duper easy, right?! They came out perfect! They smelled so wonderful coming out of the oven -- the mix of white chocolate and candy corn M&Ms in a cookie batter...mmmm....just how a home should smell during Halloween. I gave some to Justin and Luke, and Ashley is going to swing by in a bit to get the rest. The hubby is having a hard time keeping up with eating all the sweets since I am making a new one each day. Hahahaha...he could use all the help he can get ;)

CANDY CORN M&M COOKIE BARS 

Cookie bar adapted from Bakestravaganza

INGREDIENTS

2 1/8 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
1 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. white chocolate chips
9.9 oz. candy corn M&Ms, divided

DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, sift and then whisk together flour and baking soda. Set aside. Then in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment cream together butter and sugars, approximately 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add egg and egg yolk, followed by vanilla -- mixing until well combined. Stir in dry ingredients until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Remove from mixer and, using a spatula, fold in white chocolate chips and half of the M&Ms.

Line a 9x13 or 9x15 baking dish with aluminum foil. Grease aluminum foil with butter, shortening or cooking spray. This will help when removing bars from baking dish, allow for cooling, and easier, cleaner cutting into squares.

Spread batter evenly in baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining M&Ms evenly onto the top of the batter and gently press in. Bake 30-35 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Allow to completely cool before cutting into squares.

Enjoy,
Chika

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I am a homebody, really to a fault. I need to learn to venture out more--and not just in the travel sort of way. See traveling is different, the purpose is to really venture out and see and experience new things. My flaw, is when it comes to doing this only a regular basis in the town where I live. After getting married- it seems like I am even more content spending time at home with my two boys. Which is wonderful- but I think its fun and healthy, to do things not at home and sometimes not together :)  I know, some people love doing everything as a couple and to you guys I say "to each his own." I like a little independence.

Yesterday was one of those nights. I've mentioned the wonderful people I hang out with at the dog park. And last night one of them, who is a band, played at the Bryan Lakeside Icehouse. I had never been and was in a mood to actually go out. What was the selling point for me? They were going to be selling crawfish! I love crawfish! And I got to spend some time with some fun people :) Well, the hubby was invited to come- but in our style- he opted to spend some "me" time at home watching movies and I opted to go out with Justin, Luke and another student in our program, Vince to see the band play and enjoy some seafood. 

When there- Vince had never tried crawfish so we split 4lbs of it :)! And why yes, we did finish it all! Did a little chatting and a little bit of dancing. One of my friends from the  dog park tried to teach me the slow dance two step. I was horrible! And may have stepped on his foot on more than one occasion  On a side note: coming from Houston and eating crawfish in Bryan/College Station (BCS)- there is no comparison. First of all BCS crawfish is not spiced right AND it is way too overpriced during crawfish season. Big disappointment for sure! Then, Vince was craving dessert, so we headed to Justin and Luke's place to enjoy ice cream and fresh baked cookies while playing a game of Cranium (my favorite game). ::cough::cough::Luke and I won::cough::cough:: ;) It was a blast! Proving to me I should go out more (and in just a few minutes I am- to Houston to see my cousins!)

In the meantime, enjoy this wonderfully, ooey-gooey (you know my favorite)- oatmeal fudge bars. The fudge layer is aaa-MA-zing--melting in your mouth :) And its extra gooey because I took these pictures when it came out of the oven! It's a bit funny because I think this is a recipe that my aunt used to make when I was younger. I loved it so much that I made it like every week in 8th grade. And it did not ring a bell with me- until after I made these bars and took a bite- flash to the past :)

OATMEAL FUDGE BARS

Adapted from Megan and Claudy

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 325F

FOR THE OATMEAL LAYER

2 stick of butter, softened

2 c. of brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla 

1/3 c. milk

2 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

3 c. rolled oats

FOR THE FUDGE LAYER

1 (14 oz.) can of condensed milk

6 tbsp. of butter

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

For the Oatmeal Layer:

In the bowl of a standmixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, about 6 minutes on medium-high speed. Then add in eggs, one a time and mix, on medium-slow speed, until incorporated. Slowly stir in vanilla and milk. 

In a separate bowl- whisk together flour, baking soda and rolled oats. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, combining until just incorporated.

For the Fudge Layer:

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt together condensed milk and butter, constantly stirring. Once butter is melted, add in vanilla and stir. Add in chocolate chips, one cup at a time. Mix with spatula until all the chips have melted. Then add in next cup and continue stirring until all chips have melted. Remove from heat.

To Assemble:

Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter or shortening (if you do not do this- your bars will stick to your baking dish). Pour half of the oatmeal batter into the baking dish. Evenly spread batter in baking dish using a spatula. Pour the fudge over the oatmeal layer. Again using a spatula to evenly distribute fudge. Finally, top fudge with remaining oatmeal batter. This is a bit tricky as the fudge is soft. This is what I did- place spoonfuls of oatmeal batter on top of fudge- evenly placing spoonfuls across fudge layer. Then gently using a spatula- smear together the oatmeal batter spoonfuls (if that makes sense :) It may not completely cover fudge- this is okay! The batter will spread when baking!

Baking this is also tricky. The original recipe stated 350F degrees for 25 minutes. My bars were nowhere near done. I recommend cooking them at a lower temperature for longer- to keep the inside cooking but the outside from burning. Bake at 325F degree for 45-60 minutes--but keep an eye on it and check it every 10 minutes after the first 30 minutes have passed. 

Enjoy,

Chika

S'Mookie Bars

Today is match day! And although I did not apply for internship this year- it is always a pretty tense time to find out if the program you belong too had a good match rate, because I think that reflects a lot on your program. Thankfully- we had a 100% match! All three students that applied for internship matched! How exciting! I think that when it does become my turn-- I will be terrified yet excited to see where the next step in life takes me. Though, I do hope that the next stage in my life takes me back to California. I would really like to move closer to my family. Let's keep our fingers crossed! And maybe my mom, can better train me in the culinary skills of cooking Sri Lankan and Indian food- and I can share those recipes with you all!

I came home today, exhausted and with a huge sinus headache. I am not sure about you all- but when the weather changes drastically from day to day- I get these awful sinus headaches. I suffer from sinus problems in general (only since I have moved from College Station) but it gets so much worse with weather changes. Well, Texas apparently cannot make up its mind about what the weather should be and so it has gone from hot to cold to warm to freezing! And so my head has been a bouncy ball of pain! Blah! So of course I want to come home, nap and enjoy a yummy treat. What treat did I enjoy this week? S'Mookie Bars :)

I think I had withdrawals after finishing up my S'Moreos so fast! There is just something so addicting about S'Mores and I just cannot seems to get enough of them! I had already planned on making this recipe because I had some left over marshmallows from the S'Moreos plus I always have chocolate chips lying around--so I just had to pick up a few more ingredients. Well- I am glad I decided to make this sooner than later because--just like the S'Moreos-- I could not get enough of them! I decided to take a page from the hubby's book and give it a hybrid name- hence--S'Mookie Bars-- it is a S'More Cookie cut into bar shapes. 

S'MOOKIE BARS

Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

INGREDIENTS

Preheat Oven to 375F Degrees

12 tbsp. butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks of butter)

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature 

2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. chocolate chips

1 1/2 c. mini mashmallows

3 king size Hershey bars, broken into the small rectangular pieces

2-3 graham cracker packages

DIRECTIONS

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment- cream together butter and sugars- for approximately 6-8 minutes. Then add eggs, one at a time until mixed well, followed by vanilla.In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients- flour and baking soda. Add dry ingredients to to wet ingredients, on low speed until just well incorporated. Lastly, add chocolate chips and mini marshmallows-mix briefly- just enough to thoroughly incorporate.

Line graham crackers either in baking dish or, as I did, on a large cookie sheet. I used my large, mega-air bake sheet. Line with 13 graham cracker sheets (total of 26 graham cracker squares). You do have to be careful, if using a cooking sheet, because the graham crackers will easily slide off. Using a cookie scoop (that is what I used) or large spoon, place a tablespoon of dough on graham crackers, one inch apart. Make sure the entire sheet is fully covered with dough scoops that are pretty close together, as you want to dough to spread into each other and completely cover the graham crackers. Press dough down slightly. 

Bake for 5 minutes--remove sheet from oven and press Hershey's bar pieces on to the top of each cookie dough scoop. You can always place more pieces or less, depending on how much chocolate flavor you want--obviously I choose more ;) Bake an additional 5-7 minutes until cookies completely spread, become thicker (puffs up) and edges begin to slightly brown. Remove and allow to completely cool. Then cut into bar shapes with a sharp knife.

Enjoy,

Chika