Bars – Page 5 – The Pajama Chef

Pumpkin Brownies

October 18, 2011September 14, 2015 Sarah

So I have totally been slacking on Pumpkin Month. 😦 But don’t despair! I have some great pumpkin recipes to share this week that I am so, so excited about to make up for it. First up is one of my absolute favorite fall desserts… Pumpkin Brownies. Normally I am a brownie purist, but this time, I’ve made an exception. Pumpkin is a fun add-in to any recipe, so why not experiment with pumpkin in my brownies?

I first made these brownies last fall, but they disappeared before I ever got a photo. That is just a tiny glimpse into just how delicious they are, because this happened several times. Making the same recipes over and over again is just not something that I do–there are too many good recipes out there so it is very rare!

Needless to say, I was incredibly excited about fall this year so that I could have an excuse to enjoy these festive fall treats. These brownies are rich, fudgy, and chewy–everything a perfect brownie should be in my book. Combined with layers of spiced pumpkin cake, Pumpkin Brownies make the perfect festive seasonal treat that even the non-pumpkin obsessed can love. [If you read regularly, you’ll know that I’m referring to my husband as one of the members of that club. :)] Slivers of these brownies are delicious any way they are served–warm out of the pan, at room temperature, or chilled from the fridge, though I have to say that room temperature is best.

If you’ll excuse me now, I’m going to go hobble off and lament the fact that we don’t have any of these brownies freshly baked. They would be the perfect recovery fuel for the Columbus Marathon on Sunday. We’re still feeling the soreness of the day, but we finished and had fun running together. I’m so proud of Ben finishing his first full marathon! Even if it’s his first and only marathon, he did an awesome job pushing through the pain and helping me run through some unfortunate knee pain that I’ve never experienced before. If he hadn’t been there, it would have been easy to give up, but instead we kept at it and crossed the finish line hand in hand. It was a great experience that I loved sharing with my husband. 🙂

Reader Question ~ What’s one of your most recent proudest accomplishments?

Pumpkin Brownies

Servings: 24
Time: 60 minutes
Print

from anecdotes and apple cores

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
15 tablespoons [2 sticks – 1 tablespoon] butter, melted
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 eggs
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 1/8 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. In a large bowl, combine melted better, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time and then fold in flour slowly until completely incorporated. Divide the batter in half evenly into two bowls.

In one bowl, stir in cocoa and chocolate chips. In the other, stir in pumpkin and spices.

Spread half of the chocolate batter into the bottom of the dish. Pour half of the pumpkin batter on top. Repeat the layers and then drag a knife through the layers gently to marbleize it. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.

Bars, Desserts, Recipes

Peach Shortbread

September 14, 2011October 9, 2015 Sarah

Sometimes, dessert doesn’t have to be over the top. Or uber chocolately. Or super sweet, like so sugary that your teeth hurt.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that… but sometimes, I’m just not in the mood, you know?

Sometimes I want subtle. I want fruity. I want simple. I want Peach Shortbread.

Peachy. Buttery. Slightly spiced. Crumby.

They are super yummy, super easy, and super satisfying.

Perfect for enjoying late summer fruit–just look at those layers!

Reader Question ~ Dessert dilemma… chocolate or fruit? Or both?

Peach Shortbread [from Smitten Kitchen]
click to print

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, softened*
1 egg, beaten
2 peaches, pitted and thinly sliced [~1/8-1/4 inches]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together dry ingredients: sugar, baking powder, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Using a pastry blender or two forks, incorporate butter and beaten egg into the dry ingredients. Mixture will be crumbly. Spread 75% of the crumbs into the bottom of the pan, pressing down to set. Cover crust with peach slices in a single layer. Top peach slices with remaining crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes, until topping is golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Yield: 24 squares.

Time: 40 minutes [10 minutes active].

Note: Original recipe called for browned butter, but I chose to take the easy route. Feel free to follow those instructions if desired.

Bars, Desserts, One Tablespoon Testosterone, Recipes

OTT: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

February 8, 2011October 9, 2015 Sarah

This is a guest post from my husband, Ben. Periodically, he has agreed to share some of his favorite recipes with you in a guest post column entitled One Tablespoon Testosterone, or OTT for short. Enjoy!

———-

Hello again readers of my wife’s blog, it’s been awhile since I have guest posted so I’m back. Today, I’ll weave a tale of deliciousness that my wife first spun before I even met her. Naturally, this meant that there was quite a bit of pressure on me to live up to those standards. But I persevered and I believe they turned out pretty well. So here’s the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (adapted from 1001 Cookie Recipes by Gregg Gillespie)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars - a no fail, can't go wrong treat that EVERYONE loves | thepajamachef.com — So…delicious…

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1 cup canola oil (vegetable oil does NOT work)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (although I did use dark brown sugar)
1 large egg
2 1/2 t vanilla
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
6 oz semisweet chocolate chips for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9 pan. Combine the flour and baking soda in a bowl. In a large bowl, beat the canola oil, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the egg, then beat in the vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate chips (12 oz). Spread the dough in the pan and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the pan and immediately place the chocolate chips for the topping (6 oz) on the warm dough. Place the pan back in the oven for five minutes. Remove the pan and use a spatula to spread the chocolate chips around. Let cool (or don’t bother waiting) and enjoy.

Click here for the printable version: Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I promise these will not disappoint.

Question of the Day: So what’s your favorite homemade cookie recipe?

Bars, Desserts, Recipes

Monkey Bars

January 31, 2011October 9, 2015 Sarah

So, I often wind up receiving a lot of free magazine subscriptions via deals I find on Money Saving Mom. Some of the magazines aren’t exactly my type of reading material–not that anything is wrong with mags like Woman’s Day, but its target audience is a tad bit older than me… BUT it is always fun to get “real mail” and not just bills, and there are always recipes in these women’s mags! I found this recipe in a recent copy of Women’s Day and had the perfect occasion to make them for a Flying Monkey theme party at my husband’s office, honoring his boss on her last day before she left for a new position elsewhere.

These Monkey Bars, unlike the grade school playground staple, are basically a glorified banana bread… but that does not diminish their delightfulness! Everyone loved how flavorful they were–sweet bananas spiced with cinnamon and enriched by mini chocolate chips. They are best enjoyed warm with a glass of milk, but are equally tasty as a healthy lunch treat!

Monkey Bars [from Woman’s Day]

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup mashed ripe bananas [directions say this was about 5, for me it was about 4]
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup skim milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15 x 10 x 1/2 inch pan OR a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Stir together mashed bananas, sugar, oil, milk, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl until fully combined. Fold in flour until just combined, stir in 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips. Spread mixture into pan and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top. Bake about 15-20 minutes for the 15 x 10 x 1/2 inch pan or about 40-45 minutes for the 9 x 13 inch pan or until cooked through. Cool in the pan on a wire rack and cut in squares to serve.

Click here for the printable version: Monkey Bars

Question of the Day: What magazines do you love? I personally am [newly] obsessed with the Food Network magazine! It is great! But I’d love other suggestions. 🙂

Bars, Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

You Get the Best of Both Worlds: Pillow Cookies!

October 4, 2010December 11, 2015 Sarah

The eternal question: brownies or cookies? Both are delicious in their own ways. I love the fudgy, chewy, richness of a good brownie. However… I also am completely addicted to the scent of cookies baking in the oven and that crisp, first bite into a perfectly baked cookie. Sometimes, it’s really hard to choose between the two, like at a party or something. You can either be that person who goes for them both or you can pick just one and be somewhat miserable because you’re still thinking about that poor, abandoned sweet just sitting on the dessert table. It’s a sad place to be, I know. If you share the same conundrum as me, then this recipe is for you.

Picture a cookie the size of your hand. Chocolate chip. Crispy, yet soft.

You take the first bite… tasty, yet pretty standard for a chocolate chip cookie.

Another bite. Wait, what is that? Is that what I think it is? A brownie? No, it can’t be. This is a cookie! What’s going on here?!?!

That, my friends, is a pillow cookie.

A luscious, soft brownie enveloped by a crunchy cookie.

Pillow Cookies... so you don't have to choose between cookies and brownies! #genius — look at that!

Believe you me, this recipe is just as amazing as it sounds… and it’s quite easy too. What better way to start a Monday morning than with a cookie recipe like this? Before I get to the good stuff though, I must ask, on an unrelated note…

Is it bad that when I hear the phrase “the best of both worlds,” I now immediately think of Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana? Help me, please.

Pillow Cookies

Servings: 10
Print

from Bakerella

Ingredients:

1 package brownie mix
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. chocolate chunks

Directions:

Make brownies according to package directions. I use Betty Crocker Hershey’s Triple Chunk brownie mix, though any brownies will do. [Bonus points if you make ’em homemade! I love these though.]

brownie mix in a box — my favorite brownie mix ever!

Let cool, then cut into 10 1-inch squares. What you do with the rest of those brownies is none of my business, but I’m sure you’ll find a good use for them… 🙂

Meanwhile, start making that cookie dough! Yum!

Beat butter in the bowl of stand mixer until light and creamy. Add in brown sugar and mix until smooth. Then, add egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix that up too.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Add to mixing bowl in gradual 1/3 cup increments, beating to combine along the way. Fold in chocolate chunks, then cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Waiting is hard, I know, but this will be worth it! This is important because it’s easier to shape the cookies if the dough is cold.

After an hour or so… preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Then, using a measuring cup, spoon out 1/2 cup of cookie dough and shape into a ball. Yes, you read that right. 1/2 cup dough=1 cookie. Make a well in the middle of the ball like so…

Then press a brownie in that indentation.

And finally, fold the rest of the dough around the brownie.

I found it easiest to prepare 5 cookies at a time on a large baking sheet [15 by 20 inches], and to return the dough to the refrigerator while the first batch baked. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until cookies reach desired done-ness. Repeat until all the dough is gone–this should make about 10 large cookies.

Cool cookies on baking pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Eat ASAP.

Pillow Cookies... so you don't have to choose between cookies and brownies! #genius