Desserts – Page 6 – The Pajama Chef

No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

December 18, 2015December 17, 2015 Sarah

Addictive, sweet, chewy, easy no-bake bars. Can you go wrong with marshmallows, peanut butter, butterscotch, and graham crackers? I don’t think so! You need to try these… and SOON.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars... can't go wrong with these easy, delicious treats!

I am always more ambitious with holiday baking, decorating, and cards than is ultimately reasonable. Case in point: this year I made our Christmas cards. Half got sent out earlier this week, the other half will [hopefully] go out this weekend. Sorry family, your cards were last. Ha. To compensate for the card making extravaganza of 2015, this year we decided not to get a tree… mainly because Isa the kitten would probably climb it and knock it down. Seriously, that cat has mad climbing skills. She scampers up the support poles in our living room like they’re nothing [and they already have a rustic look to them, so I’m not concerned with kitty claw marks. If she was destructive towards our furniture, that would be another story. I have no tolerance for that!]. The world is this kitten’s toy, and a tree would be no exception. Hopefully next year she will have matured a wee bit! 🙂 One area that I haven’t skimped in so far is Christmas baking! I made a mess of the kitchen many times over last weekend, and this weekend will be no exception. The best treat I made–by FAR–were these fairly unassuming looking No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars... can't go wrong with these easy, delicious treats!

Brown food never looks that appealing to me, so don’t let the photos turn you away from these babies. If you make one new last-minute sweet treat this Christmas season, let THIS be it. They’re every bit as ooey gooey, sweet, and fantastic as they sound. The ingredient list is short and sweet: butter, peanut butter, butterscotch chips, marshmallows, and graham crackers, and the preparation is incredibly easy. Melt, stir, spread, refrigerate, cut, eat, and enjoy.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars... can't go wrong with these easy, delicious treats!

This treat is well worth the sugar rush, I promise… and with one batch making an entire 12×18 inch jelly roll pan full of these yummy bars… you’ll have enough to feed the neighborhood and yourself for days. 🙂 I’m seriously pondering making another batch this weekend just to have “extras” around! Word of warning though, especially for those of you experiencing higher than average temperatures: these can get pretty soft at room temperature so plan ahead to store in the fridge… they are delicious cold!

one year ago: Orange Spritz Cookies
three years ago: White Chocolate Peppermint M&M Cookies
four years ago: Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
five years ago: Eggless Cookie Dough for Snacking

No-Bake Peanut Butter Marshmallow Bars

Servings: 12x18 inch jelly roll pan
Time: 30 minutes prep, divided + 1 hour to chill
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adapted from my friend Susan and How Sweet Eats

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
3 cups peanut butter [I used 2 cups regular, 1 cup no-stir, non-refrigerated natural peanut butter — Peter Pan brand that’s pretty good for baking]
1 – 11 ounce bag butterscotch chips
2 – 10.5 ounce bags mini marshmallows
4 cups graham crackers, roughly broken
sprinkles, optional

Directions:

In a large pot set over medium-low heat, melt together butter, peanut butter, and butterscotch chips. Stir constantly until everything melts–about 8-10 minutes. If a few chips are stubborn, that’s okay.

Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes. While mixture is cooling, line a 12×18 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Alternatively, you could use a 9×13 inch pan for thicker bars, or even some mini muffin cups greased well or lined with paper liners [but I haven’t tried these options].

Stir in 1 bag of marshmallows and half of the graham crackers until all are incorporated, then stir in remaining marshmallows and graham crackers. Turn out onto jelly roll pan, then use a spatula to press flat and smooth out. Top with sprinkles if desired, then refrigerate for 1 hour to set. Cut into small pieces and store in the refrigerator before serving. Enjoy!

Bars, Desserts, Recipes

Cranberry Crumb Bars

December 14, 2015December 13, 2015 Sarah

Tart, sweet cranberry crumb bars… they are amazingly delicious. What more can I say?

Tart, sweet cranberry crumb bars... they are amazingly delicious.

In the winter, my favorite flavor is cranberry. Between Halloween and Christmas, I buy up/hoard fresh cranberries in a ridiculous fashion–and then freeze a zillion bags for “emergencies.” Crazy, I know, but you DO NOT know when a cranberry craving will strike and have you ever had to look for cranberries in June? Impossible, I tell ya. And I’m sure I’ve told you that before. Ha! 🙂 I also like dried cranberries but fresh cranberries are much better for baking. And these Cranberry Crumb Bars are no exception!

These bar cookies are really really simple and definitely deserve a spot on your Christmas cookie tray this year. They’re rich, buttery little treats with a pop of fresh cranberry and orange in every single delicious bite.

Tart, sweet cranberry crumb bars... they are amazingly delicious.

Over the years I’ve seen lotsa recipes for cranberry cookie bars/crumbles of various sorts but so many of them require you to use “leftover cranberry sauce.” Who ever heard of such a thing? I inhale cranberry sauce so there’s never any left, much less enough for BAKING. And I’m the simple baker type, most of the time. I don’t want to take the time to dirty up the food processor or a saucepan to MAKE cranberry sauce before making dessert. Even though Ben does 90% of the dishes in our house [I’m a lucky girl!], I can’t justify that nonsense. But even so, I didn’t know if a recipe like this would work. Reading over it, I was a bit skeptical. A crust recipe that has you blend in an egg [even in the topping] and not pre-cook it? Sounds weird. A filling with, literally, just fresh cranberries and flavorings and a tiny bit of liquid? Was I going to be wasting a bunch of ingredients?

Tart, sweet cranberry crumb bars... they are amazingly delicious.

[Spoiler alert: NOPE!] These bars are absolutely magical, wonderful, and amazing. The winter dessert of my dreams… no lie. I am so happy I tried them and seriously wouldn’t change a thing about them. The original recipe suggests maybe a drizzle of white chocolate on top, and while that might make them prettier, I think–for me–that extra sweetness would take away from the perfect pairing of tart + sweet + butter. But you do you, and I’ll do me, and we’ll do these Cranberry Crumb Bars together, okay? Enjoy! 🙂

one year ago: Crockpot Minestrone Soup
two years ago: Baked Fish Tacos with Cranberry Salsa
three years ago: Cranberry Orange Pancakes with Cranberry Maple Syrup
four years ago: Baby Bella, Spinach, and Bacon Frittata
five years ago: Sweet Potato Soup

Cranberry Crumb Bars

Servings: 24
Time: 75 minutes
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from Bakerita

Ingredients:

for the crust:

1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup almond meal or whole wheat flour
zest of half an orange
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup cold, unsalted butter
1 egg

for the filling

juice of 1/2 an orange [I just added a few tablespoons of orange juice]
zest of 1/2 an orange
12 ounces fresh cranberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, flours, orange zest, and cinnamon. Use a pastry blender or two forks to cut in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly — you can also use a food processor for this step.

Press half of the dough into the prepared pan, then mix up the filling.

In another medium bowl, combine orange juice, orange zest, cranberries, sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch. Stir until combined, then spread over crust. Evenly distribute remaining crust over cranberry mixture.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely in the refrigerator before cutting into squares. Store in the refrigerator. Leftovers freeze well. Enjoy!

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

Coconut Oil Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

October 22, 2015October 21, 2015 Sarah

Perfectly soft, chewy dark chocolate chip cookies… made with coconut oil for a little extra deliciousness. 🙂

Can I let you in on a secret? I don’t really like making cookies. In fact, I find it kind of… tedious nowadays. I feel bad saying that, because I have such great memories baking cookies throughout the years with my mom, sister, and grandma, with friends and roommates, even with Ben. I think it might be more enjoyable with someone else, so you can share the measuring and mixing, scooping and rolling, and even the cleaning if you’re lucky. But when you do it all alone, it’s ALL on you. It’s not that making the dough or rolling it out or baking it is hard exactly, but it’s a constant dance of getting everything in the oven and cooked the perfect amount without burning anything, then waiting for the cookie sheets to cool before putting more dough on. On and on it goes. So much work!

That being said, I find it funny that so many people would rather bake cookies over anything else. I’m happy to make muffins or cake or pie or cookie bars any day but asking me to bake [and/or GASP decorate] a bunch of cookies for something makes me freak out. Weird, I know. I will never be that person showing up at a bake sale with impeccably decorated cookies. Oh well.

You might think it’s strange that I’m rambling on about how I don’t really like making cookies… while I’m sharing a COOKIE RECIPE. Geeze, not good endorsement there. Ha! And yes, maybe that is a bit weird. But truthfully, these cookies are worth the trouble and the fuss! They’re worth every bit of that measuring and scooping and rolling and tedious baking process. They’re soft and chewy, with just a hint of coconut goodness, especially when freshly baked. Plus, if you don’t want to bake all the cookies at once, you can freeze the dough balls and pop them out to bake on a random Thursday afternoon for no good reason at all. Something fun to pull out of the freezer, me thinks. 🙂 I hope you love ’em as much as I do!

one year ago: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
two years ago: Peanut Butter Apple Oatmeal Cookies
three years ago: 30 Minute Chicken Tortilla Soup
four years ago: Pumpkin Biscuits
five years ago: Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles

Coconut Oil Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 32 small cookies or 16 larger cookies
Time: 30 minutes + time to chill
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from Leelalicious

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil, at room temperature [consistency of softened butter]
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or coconut extract
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

With a mixer, cream together coconut oil, sugars, egg, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy–about 3 minutes. Add flour, cornstarch, and baking soda, mixing until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into balls–about 32 small balls or 16 larger balls. When chilled, dough will be hard to roll so do this first! Then place on a baking sheet or plate, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. At this point, you can either bake the cookies or freeze for later.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place dough on a lined baking sheet [with a silpat or parchment paper], then bake for 9-10 minutes until edges are just set. Do not overbake! Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container or enjoy right away!

Cookies, Desserts, Recipes

SRC: Cantucci (Almond Biscotti)

September 20, 2015September 19, 2015 Sarah

Sweet, nutty, crisp almond biscotti is a wonderful fall treat. Biscotti always looks so fancy, but only requires a handful of ingredients and comes together in a snap! A great fall treat.

This month for Secret Recipe Club I was assigned to a lovely, exotic blog filled with recipes from across the globe! Choosing a recipe from Manu’s Menu was a tough assignment! Manu, an Italian-native lives in Australia with her Indian husband and their adorable children. Did you catch all those countries and all that cuisine? Italy, Australia, India… Manu’s recipes comes from literally ALL over the world–from her homeland(s) and her travels. So fun. Her photography is gorgeous and every recipe seems authentic, delicious, and do-able for any home cook. I’m not sure how she manages this but I’m so impressed. I thought about making tons of recipes, like her Artichoke Frittata, these cute Kitten Chocolate Cookies, Tahini Honey Roasted Cashews, or this refreshing Moroccan Mint Tea. Ultimately [as I usually do when stressed out about making a SRC recipe choice], I consulted Ben and he thought biscotti sounded like a good choice. So biscotti it is… 🙂

I think biscotti was a great choice from Manu’s blog. What’s more Italian than crunchy cookies to dip in coffee? But while reading Manu’s blog post with her recipe for biscotti, I learned some interesting facts that I just had to share with you! First of all, what we think of as biscotti is actually called cantucci to signify that they are twice baked. All cookies in Italy are called biscotti [plural, singular is biscotto]. Confusing, right? And traditionally, cantucci are dipped not in coffee but in sweet wine! Huh. I mentioned this to Ben and he was like, hmmm, a new sort of communion? Haha! I hope that’s not too sacrilegious to say online but it was just too funny not to share. 🙂 I can’t attest to how these taste dipped in wine, but in coffee… let me just say they are FABULOUS!

These almond biscotti, err--cantucci–are sweet, crunchy, and a lovely treat to make even a weekday morning more special. I love it whenever we have biscotti on hand, since they last for a couple weeks on the counter and also freeze well. #treatsfordays Thanks, Manu, for a great recipe! Enjoy!

one year ago: Baked Blueberry Pork Egg Rolls
two years ago: Autumnal Muffins
three years ago: Iced Tea with Ginger-Mint Simple Syrup
four years ago: Honey Fig Scones
five years ago: Citrus Tilapia

Cantucci (Almond Biscotti)

Servings: 48
Time: 90 minutes
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from Manu’s Menu

Ingredients:

10.5 ounces whole almonds – or a generous 1/2 cup sliced almonds
3 eggs
10.5 ounces sugar
5.25 ounces butter, melted
2 cups/500 grams flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon almond extract [or vanilla]
egg and milk, for brushing – optional

Directions:

Toast almonds in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F for 3-4 minutes, or on the stovetop. Or you can take the easy way out and buy toasted and sliced almonds like me. 🙂 Set aside, and leave oven on. Line a large baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

Then, place eggs and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat with whisk attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Stir in melted butter, then slowly beat in flour and baking powder with paddle attachment on low speed. Fold in almond extract and toasted almonds.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and gently knead dough to form a ball. Dough will be sticky, so flour your hands too. Divide dough into two equal parts, then roll each ball into a long log and place on prepared baking sheet. Brush with an egg/milk mixture, if desired. I forgot to do this!

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes or until the top is just getting golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for about 20 minutes, then slice into thin strips and place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Reduce oven temperature to 340 degrees F, then bake for 20 minutes or until crisp on each side, flipping halfway through.

Cool completely, then eat by dipping in beverage of choice–coffee, milk, tea, or cocoa. Mmm!

For more great Secret Recipe Club recipes, check out the link below!

Desserts, Other, Recipes

Lemon Meringue Pie Puppy Chow #bookclubcookbookcc

August 28, 2015November 22, 2015 Sarah

Think pie is too complicated? Well, enjoy lemon meringue pie in puppy chow form. All that lemon flavor with minimal effort. #dangerous

Like my #dangerous hashtag? Lately I’ve been finding all sorts of things that are #dangerous. S’mores Oreos, for one. The new coffee shop that is getting REALLY close to being completed in my library, for two. Seriously–I can see it from my office window. It’s like 30 steps away. I won’t even have to walk across campus! I see a lot of $3.80 caramel lattes in my future. [Yes, I have the price of a latte on campus memorized.] And this tasty treat, for three. Cause I love me some lemon meringue pie, but it’s kinda complicated. Crust, filling, meringue… all that jazz. And dishes, dishes, dishes! Now I can have all the taste with almost none of the work. #Dangerous, I say!

Lemon Meringue Pie Puppy Chow is sort of a random recipe to make at the end of August, I realize. This time of year is all about getting the last dose of summer in before pumpkin and apple season hits. But lemons are citrus fruits, and citrus fruits remind me of summer [even though they’re really a winter fruit, right?], and lemons are sunshine-y yellow and happy! Plus, puppy chow is a no-bake treat… the perfect sweet that doesn’t heat up your kitchen. Score! So this puppy chow totally makes sense. And is delicious. Did I say that yet? It’s sweet and tangy and sugary… an always addictive snack mix. This version has white chocolate in it too. Mmmm!

But I must admit that I have a secondary motive [besides summery no-bake deliciousness] for making this treat. Lemon Meringue Pie was also the recipe of choice for this month’s edition of #bookclubcookbookCC, a cooking project I am part of this year. See here for more details! Andrea at Adventures in All Things Food hosted. She invited us to read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and make a Very Yellow Lemon Meringue Pie with her. I didn’t make a pie… and I didn’t get to reading the book [though I did check it out from the library, so maybe I will soon]. But I hope Andrea, the rest of the cooking group, and all of YOU lovely readers enjoy this lemony puppy chow. Who doesn’t like puppy chow? And this fun lemon twist will make anyone smile! Enjoy, and be sure to scroll down to enter the giveaway to win a copy of The Book Club Cookbook for yourself! 🙂

one year ago: Minty Turkey Meatballs with Quinoa
two years ago: Roasted Peach Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
three years ago: Brown Rice, Feta, and Tomato Salad
four years ago: Whole Wheat Zucchini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
five years ago: Peanut Butter Fingers

Lemon Meringue Pie Puppy Chow

Servings: makes 11 cups
Time: 10 minutes
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adapted from Living Locurto

Ingredients:

9 cups Chex cereal
11.5 ounce bag white chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter or oil
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2+ cups powdered sugar
2 cups Golden Grahams cereal or equivalent broken graham crackers

Directions:

Place Chex cereal in a large bowl. Combine white chocolate and butter/oil in a medium bowl and microwave on 50% power in 30 second increments until chocolate melts. Stir well between each round in the microwave.

When chocolate is melted, add lemon zest then slowly pour in lemon juice, gently stirring to combine. If juice is too cold then the chocolate can start to seize up, so be careful. When combined, pour over Chex and fold together.

Transfer mixture to a gallon size ziptop bag, then add 1 cup powdered sugar. Seal and shake to combine. Add an additional cup powdered sugar and repeat. If you want more powdered sugar in the mix or you want to fully coat the cereal, you may need to add more–another cup or so. Spread mixture on a large baking sheet or a piece of wax paper to allow chocolate to harden. When chocolate has set, mix in Golden Grahams/graham cracker pieces.

Enjoy!

Note: Unlike regular puppy chow, this is best the day it is made… so it may not be a great recipe for making ahead. It’s definitely still edible [and enjoyable] for 4-5 days but because of the fresh lemon zest and juice you’ll want to eat it quickly.

Giveaway

Andrea at Adventures in all Things Food, this month’s host, is giving away a copy of the book.* Enter to win a copy of the cookbook so you can join us in future months, if you wish!

One of our lucky readers – US and Canada only! – can enter to win a copy ofThe Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp, courtesy of Tarcher-Penguin. Giveaway runs from August 1st till August 31st at 6 o’clock PM, Pacific time. Please see terms and conditions in the rafflecopter widget below. Many thanks to Tarcher Books. You may find Tarcher: on the web, on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Pinterest.

Enter the giveaway at the link below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: Andrea received a complimentary copy of The Book Club Cookbook, Revised Edition: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club’s Favorite Books and Authors by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp to use in this year-long project plus the opportunity to give a copy away. Opinions are our own. We received no further compensation for our posts.