Salted Caramel Butter Bars

This recipe is from Julia Goff. For those of you who do not know her, she is another amazing baker that I look up to. She shared this recipe with me the other day and I made them right away. And oh boy, these are addictive so be careful. They are super sweet, but they have small chunks of sea salt on them, which cuts the sweet a little. So it kinda cancels out the calories too :) Here's what you need

Butter, sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla, flour, caramel candies, cream, and coarse sea salt. Combine butter, sugar, and powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla

Beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture 

beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms

Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan lightly with cooking spray. Press 1/3 of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust

 (Sorry about my hands, not the prettiest things you'll ever see..) Preheat oven to 325F. Bake until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown, 20- 25 minutes

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. While the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream

Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth. Stir in vanilla

Pour the caramel filling over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the coarse sea salt over the caramel filling

Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel

Return to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm, about 30 minutes

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Use a sharp knife to cut the bars evenly into squares

Serve. Store in an air-tight container up to 3 days. 

Salted Caramel Butter Bars
For the Crust:
1 lb. salted butter, room temp.
1 cup sugar
1½ cups powdered sugar
2 Tbs vanilla
4 cups AP flour

For the Filling:
1 bag (14 oz.) caramel candies (about 50 individual caramels)
⅓ cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 T. coarse sea salt

Beat together until creamy. Add the vanilla. Beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms. 

Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan lightly with cooking spray. Press 1/3 of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust. Refrigerate the remaining dough at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat to 325F. Bake until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown, 20- 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. 

While the bottom crust is baking and the remaining dough is chilling, make the caramel filling. Place unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the cream. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour the caramel filling over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the coarse sea salt over the caramel filling. Remove the remaining chilled dough from the refrigerator and crumble it evenly over the caramel. Return to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. 

Use a sharp knife to cut the bars evenly into squares. Serve. Store in an air-tight container up to 3 days.

Gooey Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Mrs. Melanie Hancock introduced me to these delicious bars. I'm so glad she did! They were such a big hit and really easy. They pretty much taste like a gooey chewy reese's cup :) Here's what you'll need for the bars

Yellow cake mix, butter, vanilla, eggs, peanut butter, chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, pecans (optional), and peanut butter chips. Melt 1 stick of butter in a mixing bowl

Add in the cake mix, vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter

mix well

Press into the bottom of a 9x13 dish (reserving 1 1/2 cups for the top)

Now prepare the chocolate filling. Combine chocolate chips, condensed milk, and 2 Tbs. butter in a small pot

 Cook on medium-low, stirring constantly until all the chocolate chips are melted. Stir in vanilla and chopped pecans

Pour over the uncooked peanut butter layer.

 Crumble the reserved 1 1/2 cups of peanut butter dough on top of the chocolate. Sprinkle a handful of peanut butter chips around the top

 Bake. Remove from oven and let the bars cool

 Let the bars set up at 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve and enjoy :)

Store in an air-tight container up to about 4 days.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Combine:

1 pkg. plain yellow cake mix

1 stick melted butter

1 c. creamy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Press this into a 9X13 pan reserving 1 1/2 c. of the mixture to crumble on top.

Melt in pot:

1 (11.5- 12 oz) pkg. milk chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 T. butter 

Remove from heat and add:

2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. coconut, chopped pecans, peanuts, walnuts (optional) (I used pecans and I barely noticed them)

Spread chocolate mixture over the mixture pressed in the pan and then crumble the 1 1/2 of reserved cake mixture on top. Sprinkle a handful of peanut butter chips around the top of that. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 325 degrees. Do not let these get brown and hard (I took mine out of the oven when they were just past the 'jiggly' stage in the middle.) They are way better a little under cooked than over cooked. Cool completely before cutting into bars. Store in an sir-tight container up to 4 days. 

6 Layer Cake :)

There are no words for this cake. The first time I had it was when Ellen Griffin brought over a huge slice of it to our house. I'm so thankful for that day.. not being dramatic, just honest. It's her mom (Cindy Griffins) recipe and she was nice enough to share it with us :) This is definitely sweet tooth sisters go-to cake. It is devoured every time we make it, no matter how many people contribute to stuffing their faces. I have a friend who doesn't like chocolate, but loves this cake. I also have a friend who doesn't like cake, but guess what.. she loves this cake. Credit for the best cake ever goes to Cindy Griffin. Thanks so much! We know we can't make it as good as hers, but we try our hardest! I am confident you will fall in love with this cake. Here's what you need for the Swiss Torte Cake (6 layer cake, Cindy Griffin cake, best cake ever, chocolate cool whip cake) any of the above will work

Chocolate cake mix, instant chocolate pudding, eggs, oil, vanilla, and buttermilk. Combine all ingredients into one large mixing bowl, easy as pie! Actually, easier than pie

Stir on low speed until combined. Turn up the speed to about medium and beat for 30 seconds, or until there are no/few lumps in the batter. Finished batter

Pour batter evenly into 3 well greased cake pans

Bake to perfection

Carefully flip out of pans right away onto a wax paper lined cooling rack. Let the cakes cool to room temperature. While cooling, prepare the cool whip frosting. Here's what you'll need for the most amazing frosting ever

Cream cheese, sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla, cool whip, and hershey candy bars. In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and powdered sugar

Beat until creamy. Fold in thawed cool whip and chopped hershey bars

Here's the finished frosting

Don't even bother trying to resist this stuff. Now assemble the cake. Cut the cooled cake layers in half to make 2 layers

Carefully pick up half of the cut layer and place it on the serving plate you're using. Slap some frosting on top

Spread it around evenly and lay the other half of the layer on. Repeat until all 6 layers have been stacked

Use the remaining frosting to cover the tops and outside of the cake

Now slice, and surprise :)

Here's the beautiful birthday girl with her cake

And if you want, some people like oreos on their cake..

I love this little booger. Keep cake refrigerated! Personally I like this cake better when it sits overnight, I think it's more moist the second day.

Swiss Chocolate Cake 

(Mrs. Cindy Griffin)

1 box chocolate cake mix (milk chocolate, devils food, swiss chocolate)- any will work

1 small box instant chocolate pudding

3 eggs

1 Tbs. vanilla

1 cup oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Beat on low speed until combined, turn mixer up to medium speed and beat until there are no lumps in the batter. Pour into 3 8-inch round greased cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until cakes are no longer jiggly in the middle. Remove from the oven and let sit about 2 minutes. Carefully flip cakes out onto wax/parchment paper lined cooling racks. Prepare the frosting while the cakes are cooling.

cool whip frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, soft

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

16 oz. cool whip, soft

6 hershey bars, chopped

Beat together cream cheese, both sugars, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Fold in cool whip and chopped hershey bars. Now it's time to assemble your cake. Cut the cooled cake layers in half to make 2 layers. Carefully pick up half of the cut layer and place it on the serving plate you're using. Slap some frosting on top. Spread it around evenly and lay the other half of the layer on. Repeat until all 6 layers have been stacked. Use the remaining frosting to cover the tops and outside of the cake. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. I guarantee this cake will be a huge hit. Thanks again for the recipe, Cindy! 

Monster Cookies.. Best Cookie Ever.

I'm going to go ahead an apologize ahead of time because I am going through a major cookie/bar phase. So these next couple of posts are going to be all about cookies and cookie bars.. hopefully you love cookies as much as sweet tooth sisters do! These cookies are amazing and there's no other way to describe them. You start out with a peanut butter oatmeal cookie dough and pretty much make up your own monster cookie by adding whatever candies you desire. The possibilities are endless, so go crazy with it :) Here's what you need for monster cookies

sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, baking soda, salt, eggs, corn syrup, butter, peanut butter (I prefer a mix of crunchy and creamy, but do which ever you like best), flour, old-fashioned oats, and add ins: peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, mini m&ms. (Reese's cups, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, etc. would also be really good in monster cookies). In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, both sugars, vanilla, salt, baking soda, and corn syrup

Mix well using a mixer or spatula. Once fully mixed, add peanut butter and melted butter

Beat those ingredients in. Then, stir in flour and oats

Lastly, fold in the (add-ins) chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and m&m's

Dough will be a little runny from the melted butter

don't add more flour because you refrigerate the dough to set up. If you add more flour, your cookies will turn into bricks in the oven. After the dough has chilled a couple hours, scoop using a cookie scoop or 1/4 measuring cup (that's the proper measurement for monster cookies). Place dough balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Gently press down on the dough to flatten a little because the cookies don't spread much

Bake

Cool on cookie sheet a couple minutes; carefully transfer onto foil or cooling rack

Store in an air-tight container up to 3 days. And as always, eat with a large and in charge glass of milk :)

Monster Cookies
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. corn syrup
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 stick butter, melted
3/4 cup flour
4 1/2 cups oats
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup mini m&m's

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, both sugars, vanilla, corn syrup, baking soda and salt. Then stir in the melted butter and peanut butter, followed by the oats and flour. Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and M&M’s (or any other add-ins of your choice). Chill the dough for at least 1-2 hour(s). (Dough will be slightly runny before chilling, do not add more flour. This will cause the cookies to become bricks).

3. Drop the dough by ¼ cupfuls (or smaller if you don't want huge cookies) onto baking sheets. Use your fingers to flatten the dough slightly. Baking for 8-12 minutes (depending on the size cookies you decide to make). Slide the parchment paper off the pan and let cool on counter. Store left-over cookies in an airtight container up to 3 days.