Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

These are super good. So good, in fact, that my husband said "these are a keeper" as he was finishing off what the kids didn't eat on their plates (only because they were full). Then he told me they must "go into the rotation." That's pretty high marks around here.

Keep in mind, this makes a 9x13 pan. That's a LOT! You'll wanna plan on sharing this one with a good friend or neighbor. Would be great for a potluck too.

Adapted from this recipe. http://www.southernplate.com/2013/01/revel-bars-amish-romance-and-korean-tv.html

Ingredients

Crust:
1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats

Filling:
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions
Take 2 tablespoons of butter and set aside to use in filling.
In large mixing bowl, place remaining butter and brown sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Add all other dough ingredients and mix again until well combined.
Pat 2/3 of mixture into bottom of greased 9x13 pan.
Place all filling ingredients (including the 2 tablespoons of butter you set aside in step one) in a microwave safe bowl and cook at 30 second intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is completely melted. Pour over crust and spread to the sides.
Drop remaining dough in teaspoon sized drops over the chocolate.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Peanut Butter Parfait

This recipe has Paula Deen roots, but I can't say for sure that this is her exact recipe.  My mother called me saying she had seen something by the same name on one of her shows and that I needed to make it.  I googled "Peanut Butter Parfait" and this is the recipe that I found and used.  I got the recipe HERE.

Ingredients:

2 cups cold milk

1 (3.9 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (8 ounce) container cool whip, thawed

1 cup chopped peanuts

1/2 (1 pound) package Nutter Butter cookies, crumbled

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine milk and pudding mix; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter and powdered sugarIn a medium bowl, combine milk and pudding mix; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter and powdered sugar; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add cream cheese, beating until smooth. Fold in the cool whip, mixing to combine. In serving glasses, layer pudding, peanuts, peanut butter mixture and crumbled cookies, as desired. Garnish with cookies and chopped peanuts. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

My notes:

First, regarding the ingredients...I used 4 ounces of cream cheese because I happened to have half of an 8 ounce block that I needed to use up and I was not going to cut off an ounce and save it.  (o:  I did not use the peanuts.  I didn't have any peanuts in the house and I wasn't going to get any.

 

It was not light at all, as my mother said she thought it may be.  It was heavy and rich and almost caused me to slip into a diabetic coma.  However, it was DELICIOUS!  The husband LOVED it and I will definitely be making it again.  It took all of about 15 minutes to make it and it was really easy.  I was able to do the two stemmed glasses pictured above and 6 smaller ones.  ENJOY!

Two-bit Wonders

before

after

If you are a coconut lover, then you will fall head-over-heals for these!  To say they are easy is an understatement.  And so delicious, they are addictive!  I don't have any "My Notes" below because there is little to say about the preparation...two ingredients and about 15 minutes.  That's all there is to it and you get a little bite of heaven!

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 cups shredded coconut, preferably unsweetened (see note)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease or line with parchment 1 large or 2 small baking sheets.

In medium-size bowl, combine condensed milk and coconut.  Drop mixture by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets.  Yield 24.  Bake 13 minutes or until cookies are set and coconut is golden brown.

Note: If using sweetened coconut, reduce baking time to 8-10 minutes.



Brownie Covered Oreos

1 Brownie mix

1 package Oreos

White chocolate, melted for drizzle, or Wilton White frosting pen works great

White nonpareils Sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare brownie batter according to package directions. Leave in mixing bowl. Dip Oreos in brownie batter then place in bottom of cupcake tins that have been generously sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until brownies are cooked through (doesn’t take long). As soon as you remove, take a plastic knife and run along edges, (this is VERY important so you get the cookie out with brownies not stuck to pan

2. Let cool for 5 minutes, remove drizzle with melted white chocolate or the Wilton White icing pen and sprinkle with nonpareils.

Makes entire package of Oreos

My notes:

Above is the recipe as I found it at Picky Palate.  But the pictures are my own.  I made these for an annual NYE party and I was thankful we were having friends over since there were THIRTY of these little guys.  They were very easy and an instant hit.  I feel like I over-baked mine slightly and I will definitely take them out a couple of minutes sooner next time.  Obviously I skipped the white chocolate drizzle but no one complained.  I'm gonna do this again and I'm also gonna try it with Chips Ahoy too!!!

PB&K Cookies

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar (or spenda if you are diabetic)
1 egg
Hershey's Kisses

Beat together peanut butter, sugar and egg.  Roll into balls.  Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes.  As soon as they come out of the oven, press a Kiss into the top of each one.

My notes:

This is one I got from Paula Deen.  And I have found you really can't ever go wrong with a recipe that came from her kitchen.  I think she just calls these Peanut Butter Cookies...we added the "K".
 
I grew up making old fashioned PB cookies with my mom and they were really good.  However, this has become my standard recipe for PB cookies because it's just SO easy.  THREE INGREDIENTS!  You can't get much easier that that.
 
If you don't put the kisses on top, this is a good recipe for anyone who has a gluten allergy since it is gluten free.  Without the kisses, you will probably want to do the criss-cross-with-a-fork trick to smush them down before you bake them.
 
This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies. That is enough to last a couple of hours at my house.  If I want some to still be around in a few days, then I have to double it.

Gooey Butter Cookies

Ingredients

•1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature

•1 stick butter, at room temperature

•1 egg

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix

•Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and "gooey." Cool completely and sprinkle with more confectioners' sugar, if desired.

My notes:

These cookies have been whipped up in my kitchen numerous times.  They are SO quick, easy & delicious. You can use ANY FLAVOR cake mix that you have on hand, and you can roll the cookies in anything your heart desires.  One of my personal faves is a Butter Pecan cake mix, then roll in cinnamon sugar and chopped pecans.  I rarely remember to set out my cream cheese and butter in time for them to reach room temperature.  So, I microwave them just until soft, but not warm or melted.  Also, I didn't chill the dough for 2 hours.  I put it in the freezer for about 8 minutes (maybe).  I completely forgot about the sprinkling with more confectioners' sugar until I was doing this post.

This is a great one to do with kids.  The cookie dough can be made in advance and chillin' in the fridge until it's time to bake.  I scooped the dough with my Pampered Chef Small Scoop and dropped it into a pie plate with my powdered sugar.  The kids rolled them around and put them on the cookie sheets.