B. Lovin’ It Bars

I love having this blog…a few days ago an old friend of mine that I haven’t talked to in forever sent me a message on Facebook:

“I had an awesome snack the other day, but I have no idea what it was exactly or how it was made. I think it had graham cracker crust on the bottom….& chocolate & peanut butter chips in it…& I THOUGHT come crumbled graham cracker crust on the top & ‘baked’ (it kinda looked that way, anyways…it was kind of brown-looking) coconut. I normally hate coconut, but it was amazing with that stuff & the texture didn’t bother me as much.
Anywho- I figured that since you’re into cooking & baking yummy-ness that you might either know what it is or how to do it…& if possible, I’d love it if you could put the recipe up so maybe I could attempt to make it some time.”

 

She’s sweet and I miss her so it was nice to hear from her!  I assumed that it was a bar called “Magic Bar” or “7 Layer Bar” that I’ve had before.  They’re sooo good and simple.  I made them and brought them into the store today and the guy I work with, Brandon Love, said they’re his favorite thing I’ve made so far; then he told me to name them after him… so here they are… The “B. Lovin’ It Bars”/ “Magic Bars”/ “7 Layer Bars”/ “The Bar of Many Names”.  Just for you Becca! 🙂

P.S. On a side note, Kellen is moving into his new house today, so wish him luck!!

 

 

Magic Bars

Food.com

I made a couple changes to these bars so I’ll put my changes in red.  Also, you can leave out the nuts on some if you want.  I did!

Ingredients:

Yields 16 large bars
16 16

Servings Size

• large cookies

  Update

• 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine, melted 
• 1 cup graham crackers, crushed to crumbs (chocolate animal crackers)
• 1 cup flaked coconut (organic flaked coconut)
• 6 ounces chocolate chips (1 cup)
• 6 ounces butterscotch chips (1 cup) (white chocolate chips, you could also use peanut butter chips)
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (homemade sweetened condensed milk, but only because I was out of the canned stuff)
• 1 cup nuts, chopped (walnuts)

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Mix graham crackers crumbs (animal cookie crumbs) and melted butter until it becomes dough like.
3. Press the “dough” into the bottom of your dish.
4. Layer the coconut and chips in order given in ingredients list.
5. Pour sweetened condensed milk over all.
6. Top with nuts.
7. DO NOT mix together.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.

B. Lovin’ It Bars

I love having this blog…a few days ago an old friend of mine that I haven’t talked to in forever sent me a message on Facebook:

“I had an awesome snack the other day, but I have no idea what it was exactly or how it was made. I think it had graham cracker crust on the bottom….& chocolate & peanut butter chips in it…& I THOUGHT come crumbled graham cracker crust on the top & ‘baked’ (it kinda looked that way, anyways…it was kind of brown-looking) coconut. I normally hate coconut, but it was amazing with that stuff & the texture didn’t bother me as much.
Anywho- I figured that since you’re into cooking & baking yummy-ness that you might either know what it is or how to do it…& if possible, I’d love it if you could put the recipe up so maybe I could attempt to make it some time.”

 

She’s sweet and I miss her so it was nice to hear from her!  I assumed that it was a bar called “Magic Bar” or “7 Layer Bar” that I’ve had before.  They’re sooo good and simple.  I made them and brought them into the store today and the guy I work with, Brandon Love, said they’re his favorite thing I’ve made so far; then he told me to name them after him… so here they are… The “B. Lovin’ It Bars”/ “Magic Bars”/ “7 Layer Bars”/ “The Bar of Many Names”.  Just for you Becca! 🙂

P.S. On a side note, Kellen is moving into his new house today, so wish him luck!!

 

 

Magic Bars

Food.com

I made a couple changes to these bars so I’ll put my changes in red.  Also, you can leave out the nuts on some if you want.  I did!

Ingredients:

Yields 16 large bars
16 16

Servings Size

• large cookies

  Update

• 1/2 cup butter or 1/2 cup margarine, melted 
• 1 cup graham crackers, crushed to crumbs (chocolate animal crackers)
• 1 cup flaked coconut (organic flaked coconut)
• 6 ounces chocolate chips (1 cup)
• 6 ounces butterscotch chips (1 cup) (white chocolate chips, you could also use peanut butter chips)
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (homemade sweetened condensed milk, but only because I was out of the canned stuff)
• 1 cup nuts, chopped (walnuts)

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F.
2. Mix graham crackers crumbs (animal cookie crumbs) and melted butter until it becomes dough like.
3. Press the “dough” into the bottom of your dish.
4. Layer the coconut and chips in order given in ingredients list.
5. Pour sweetened condensed milk over all.
6. Top with nuts.
7. DO NOT mix together.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola

This morning:

I wanted granola.

I looked in the cabinet and we didn’t have any granola.

I looked out the front door…

…and realized, I wouldn’t be going to the store anytime soon.  2012 is comin’, you guys.  I feel it.  Just kidding, I don’t believe that… that much.

I made granola.

I ate granola.

I stocked our cabinet with an essential breakfast cereal.

And now, I’m blogging and watching The Office.

And enjoying my snow day.

What are you guys doing on your snow day???

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola

This is a very healthy granola. You can omit the wheat germ, flax seed, and psyllium fiber if you want, I just added it for the extra health benefits.

Ingredients

3 cups oats

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1 tablespoon flax seed

1/4 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup nut of choice

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup oil

1/8 cup egg whites, or 1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon psyllium fiber

1 teaspoon oil

1 tablespoon honey

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a parchment paper lined baking sheet in the oven while preparing granola.

Mix together the first list of ingredients in a mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together second list of ingredients.

Take out baking sheet and spread out the first mixture on the sheet.

Crumble the second mixture on top.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer if you want granola to stay crunchy.

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola

This morning:

I wanted granola.

I looked in the cabinet and we didn’t have any granola.

I looked out the front door…

…and realized, I wouldn’t be going to the store anytime soon.  2012 is comin’, you guys.  I feel it.  Just kidding, I don’t believe that… that much.

I made granola.

I ate granola.

I stocked our cabinet with an essential breakfast cereal.

And now, I’m blogging and watching The Office.

And enjoying my snow day.

What are you guys doing on your snow day???

Vanilla Cranberry Walnut Granola

This is a very healthy granola. You can omit the wheat germ, flax seed, and psyllium fiber if you want, I just added it for the extra health benefits.

Ingredients

3 cups oats

1 tablespoon wheat germ

1 tablespoon flax seed

1/4 cup coconut flakes

1/2 cup nut of choice

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup oil

1/8 cup egg whites, or 1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon psyllium fiber

1 teaspoon oil

1 tablespoon honey

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a parchment paper lined baking sheet in the oven while preparing granola.

Mix together the first list of ingredients in a mixing bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together second list of ingredients.

Take out baking sheet and spread out the first mixture on the sheet.

Crumble the second mixture on top.

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer if you want granola to stay crunchy.

Walnut Bars

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Thanksgiving.

I’m preparing myself with these bars.  They’re kind of like pecan pie… only with walnuts because I don’t have any pecans.  And with cake flour because I ran out of regular flour.  And part light part dark corn syrup… because… you guessed it, I ran out.  I’m kind of questioning myself on how these turned out okay, now…

The bars I made turned out MORE than just okay, they were wonderful and gone in 2 days.  (Just a reminder, only 3 people live in my house).  So I’ll give you the Martha Stewart recipe I adapted mine from… and if you want a cakey-er dough and walnuts instead of pecans, just swap out the AP flour for cake flour and pecans for walnuts.  Or make them her way and tell me how delicious those taste! Either way, you should make these!

If you make these following Martha’s instructions, the crust will not look like this.

Make the filling!

Mix it all together.

Crush up your walnuts. Or pecans.

Drop some on the floor.  But don’t worry because your cat will eat them???  He’s so weird.

Incorporate the rest of the ingredients.

Your topping probably won’t look like this either.  I added an extra tablespoon of flour.

Walnut (Pecan) Bars
Martha Stewart

Makes 24

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark corn syrup
• 2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt until light. Beat in 2 cups flour until it forms a mass. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch pan. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on the dough and use it to press the dough into the pan (this will make it easier and will prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers). Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are golden.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 2 tablespoons flour, remaining teaspoon salt, and baking powder. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, brown sugar, and corn syrup until light. Fold flour mixture into egg mixture, then pecans and coconut.
3. Pour over crust and bake 20 to 25 minutes until set. Run a metal spatula around the edges while still warm, then transfer to a wire rack and cool in pan before cutting into 24 bars.

Walnut Bars

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Thanksgiving.

I’m preparing myself with these bars.  They’re kind of like pecan pie… only with walnuts because I don’t have any pecans.  And with cake flour because I ran out of regular flour.  And part light part dark corn syrup… because… you guessed it, I ran out.  I’m kind of questioning myself on how these turned out okay, now…

The bars I made turned out MORE than just okay, they were wonderful and gone in 2 days.  (Just a reminder, only 3 people live in my house).  So I’ll give you the Martha Stewart recipe I adapted mine from… and if you want a cakey-er dough and walnuts instead of pecans, just swap out the AP flour for cake flour and pecans for walnuts.  Or make them her way and tell me how delicious those taste! Either way, you should make these!

If you make these following Martha’s instructions, the crust will not look like this.

Make the filling!

Mix it all together.

Crush up your walnuts. Or pecans.

Drop some on the floor.  But don’t worry because your cat will eat them???  He’s so weird.

Incorporate the rest of the ingredients.

Your topping probably won’t look like this either.  I added an extra tablespoon of flour.

Walnut (Pecan) Bars
Martha Stewart

Makes 24

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark corn syrup
• 2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt until light. Beat in 2 cups flour until it forms a mass. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch pan. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on the dough and use it to press the dough into the pan (this will make it easier and will prevent the dough from sticking to your fingers). Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until edges are golden.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining 2 tablespoons flour, remaining teaspoon salt, and baking powder. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, brown sugar, and corn syrup until light. Fold flour mixture into egg mixture, then pecans and coconut.
3. Pour over crust and bake 20 to 25 minutes until set. Run a metal spatula around the edges while still warm, then transfer to a wire rack and cool in pan before cutting into 24 bars.