Froot Loop Clusters

Could it get any more simple? Melt and stir!

I have loved this ‘recipe’ since I was a little girl. A distant relative would bring these to our annual Fourth of July reunion and I would wait anxiously by the table to grab one as soon as they were put out. I think I was drawn to the beautiful muted colors of the irregular shaped clusters. They stood out among the dozens of flat colorless cookies and brown bars/brownies. While it was my eyes that first drew me to these beautiful little gems, it was my tastebuds that kept me coming back for more.

Now that I am an adult, I not only love the flavor but how easy and quick they are to make. A great thing about these is that there is NO baking required making these the perfect treat to whip up on a hot and humid day (much like today). Warning, these are sweet (as you may expect with sugared cereal as the main ingredient) so make your clusters small. (You can always have more than one or in my case five, ha ha) and don’t send me your dentist bill.

Because these have “Fruit” in the title, you can feel good about consuming large quantities of these (who cares if ‘fruit’ is spelled in a less than conventional way?? ha ha). You have to get your daily serving of fruit in some how! 

I rate this snack a 9 (they may be too sweet for some)

Froot Loop Clusters
16 oz. White Chocolate chips or Almond Bark (or a mixture of the two)
1 TBS shortening (for melting if using white chocolate chips)
5-7 cups Froot Loops Cereal
*If you want you could stir in nuts , M&M’s or mini marshmallows as well, but I like these without the extras, just like I remember. Sweet and Simple

Line a large baking sheet with Wax Paper or Parchment Paper. Set aside.
In a large bowl pour in 5 cups of Froot Loops cereal, set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl place the white chocolate chips (and shortening) and/or almond bark
Melt for 1 minute and then stir. Continue to melt in 20 second intervals, stirring after each interval until the chocolate/bark is smooth.

Carefully pour the melted chocolate into the bowl of cereal and fold to combine.
Add additional cereal 1/2 cup at a time and fold into the mixture using a rubber scraper (spatula) until the cereal is well coated.

*You may not use all of the cereal. It depends on how well coated you want your cereal clusters.
Make sure they are coated enough to stay in a cluster.

Carefully spoon mixture onto prepared baking sheet into tablespoon-sized clusters.
Allow to cool completely on counter or in fridge.
Once cooled and completely set store in airtight container in a cool dry place.

I’m It

I have been tagged by SugarPlum, so here goes nothin!!

1. Last Movie I Saw In A Movie Theater?
The Dark Knight (A+)

2. What Book Are You Reading?
I am not reading any books right now but I have been reading the Wall Street Jouranl and NYT daily.
 
3. Favorite Board Game?
I love Scattegories (though it is not a ‘board’ game) and Scrabble

4. Favorite Magazine?
Entertainment Weekly.

5. Favorite Smells?
Fresh baked bread, fresh cut grass, light crisp floral scents (not all at the same time)

6. Favorite Sounds?
The oven timer sounding that my goodies are done baking and ready to be eaten

7. Worst Feeling In The World?
Having disappointed someone you care about

8. First Thing You Think of When You Wake?
What day is it??

9. Favorite Fast Food Place?
QDoba

10. Future Child’s Name?
Hmmm,

11. Finish This Statement—“If I Had a Lot of Money, I’d…go on vacation and pay off debt.”

12. Do You Drive Fast?
The cops think so, ha ha

13. Do You Sleep With a Stuffed Animal?
No.

14. Storms—Cool or Scary?
Cool.

15. What Was Your First Car?
Family Station Wagon, soooooooo NOT cool

16. Favorite Drink?
Iced Tea

17. Finish This Statement—“If I Had the Time, I Would…
learn a foreign language”

18. Do You Eat the Stems on Broccoli?
Yes

19. If You could Dye your Hair Any Other Color, What Would It Be?
Strawberry Blonde.

20. Name All the Different Cities In Which You Have Lived.
I plead the fifth, ha ha, very non-impressive I assure you

21. Favorite Sport to Watch?
Football

22. One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You
She inspires my inner baker with her blog recipes and photos

23. What’s Under Your Bed?
Wicker Baskets with a variety of cards (in case I need to send one: birthday/anniversary/baby, etc)

24. Would You Like to Be Born As Yourself Again?
I know no different so, probably.

25. Morning Person or Night Owl?
Morning!! Get er up and Get er done!

26. Over Easy or Sunny Side Up?
Over Medium

27. Favorite Place to Relax?
In a hammock (preferable in a tropical location, ha ha)

28. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor?
Soft Serve Vanilla

29. Of All the People You Have Tagged, Who Is the Most Likely to Respond First?
Whoever reads this first, I guess.

 

I am now tagging some wonderfull fellow bloggers, Please, Please, PLEASE go to their sites, they have great recipes sure to put a smile on your face!! Promise:

Ally

Katie

Sing for your Supper

Erin

Michele

Strawberry Cheesecake Swirled Blondies

They sound great don’t they!
I rarely bake using fruit (not sure why because I LOVE fruit!!) and have been playing around with this dessert idea in my head for some time. I wanted to make a blondie that utilized one of my favorite fruits and decided to try and make a Strawberry Cheesecake Swirled Blondie.

These did  not come out as I had pictured in my head. While good, they did not have as strong as strawberry flavor as I had hoped and the cheesecake swirl was kind of sticky and gummy (not the smooth and creamy consistency I was envisioning). I think the cheesecake portion was gummy because I had added a large amount of preserves to the mixture in an attempt to create a real strawberry flavor. I ended up with cheesecake batter that was thinner than I had wanted but I did not want to add more cream cheese to dilute the strawberry flavor.
Next time I may try Strawberry flavored Cream Cheese along with a few preserves. I did not use the flavored cream cheese this go around because I think it can taste artificial and I wanted to keep the recipe as ‘pure’ as possible.

I also did not add a lot of ‘extras’ to the batter since this was my first attempt and really wanted to test out the flavor of the strawberry cheesecake swirl. I did add a few white chocolate chunks which complimented the flavors nicely and added a bit of textural interest to the bars. I bet toasted pecans would be wonderful as well. As is these were best after cooling in the fridge for 24 hours and served cold with a scoop of Strawberry Icecream!

All in all this is a good bar but could use some improvements to live up to what I have pictured in my head. Like I said, next time I will try flavored cream cheese and less preserves in order to keep the cheesecake swirl nice and creamy. I would suggest trying these out and adding your own twist! If you have a successful recipe be sure to let me know!!

I rate these bars a 6 (but they have potential to be much better!)
I would give these a 7 after chilling 24 hours and served with Strawberry Icecream

Blondies
6 TBS butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup coarsley chopped White Baking Chocolate

Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl
5 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup Seedless Strawberry Preserves
1/4 cup sugar
2 TBS flour
1 tsp pure Vanilla
1 egg yolk
1-3 drops Red food coloring (optional but I used)

In bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla beat until smooth. Add egg yolk and food coloring if using and beat just until combined. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350.
Line an 8×8 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.
In a large microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter. Allow to cool for 5 mintues.

Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. Add salt, stir in flour baking powder.
Mix in chopped white chocolate and nuts (if using)

Pour 2/3 batter into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top. Dollup strawberry cream cheese mixture and remaining blondie batter over blondie batter in pan.
Run a knife through the blondie and cheesecake layers to create a pattern or swirls.

Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until set in the middle. (I baked for 32 minutes)
Cool on rack before cutting.

I’ve been Tagged!

Even though I am traveling, I see that I have been tagged by SweetSavorySouthern. If you have not checked out her blog yet do so NOW! She has some wonderful down home comfort foods that all sound delish!

So here are the Tagging Rules:
Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?

I had just graduated high school and was working two jobs all summer to save up for college so I could live it up my Freshman year (and that I did! ha ha).

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?

1. Finish writing a report for work.

2. Iron my dress pants.

3. Eat at a highly rated restaurant for dinner.

4. Go on a walk down by the river.

5. Watch The Next Food Network Star.

Five snacks I enjoy:

1. Peanut Butter

2. Fat free chocolate pudding

3. Baby Carrots

4. Fresh Fruit (apples, bananas, strawberries)

5. Warm fresh baked bread (more specifically, my grandma’s)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Pay off all debt

2. Donate money to Non-Profit charities and foundations (cancer research, homeless vets, animal shelters, children’s hospitals, etc)

3. Fund a Scholarship Program at my old high school and undergrad college

4. Pay for the education of my sisters

5. By my parents a new house

6. Hire a personal trainer

Places I’ve lived:

1. My parent’s house

2. A Co-ed dorm

3. A small apartment with a femal roommate

4. A Condo

5. A House

Jobs I’ve had:

1. Babysitter

2. Data Entry Specialist (collge job)

3. Human Resource Assistant

4. Teaching/research Assistant

5. Counselor

I am tagging…

1. Visions of Sugar Plums

2. And a Cookie for Dessert

3. Our Sweet Life

4. Taste and Tell

5. The Picky Palate

Taking a short Break

I need to travel a bit for work for the next couple of weeks so there will be no updates for a week or so. I am so sorry but please check back soon!

In the mean time, here are some of my FAVES for you to make while I am away:

Double PeanutButter Cheesecake Swirled Brownies

Frosted Marshmallow Brownies

Famous Sugar Cookies

Basic Blondies

Frozen Dream Crunch Bars

Carmel Nut Snack Mix

Coconut Dream Bars

I love coconut, almost as much as I love Peanut Butter. I like how coconut provides a depth of flavor and hearty texture to baked goods. The picture may look familiar to those who frequent my blog, but I assure you these are new, but very similar to the Blonde Magic bars I made a while ago.
I whipped these up Saturday night as I was asked to make a dessert for a friend’s wedding shower this past weekend. Knowing she loves everything coconut I decided to try a recipe I have had saved for quite a while.

These bars are so quick and easy to throw together and they use ingredients you usually have on hand. They are a good basic recipe but you could jazz them up by adding toasted nuts, chopped Toffee pieces or chocolate chips (I did not add the chocolate chips as called for in the original recipe because I was asked to bring a non-chocolate dessert.)
A warning however, these bars are really really sweet so you may want to reduce some of the sugar in the filling if you are adding a fairl amount of chocolate or candy. After tasting these I wonder how a little lemon/lime juice in the coconut topping (along with some toasted pecans) would have been, I may try that the next time if I don’t add chocolate or candy.

Needless to say, my friend loved these bars and I enjoyed them as well. What I enjoyed the most about these bars, however, was the brown sugar shortbread like crust. It was so yummy and light and a welcomed change from the usual graham cracker crust of the other dessert bars at the shower. I felt the ratio of crust to topping was too small and not sturdy enough for the topping unless the bars were cut small (maybe not a bad things since they were so sweet, but with the addition of chips/candy/nuts I don’t know if they would have held up even cut small).
Next time I think I will make 1 1/2 times the crust mixture and bake a few minutes longer before adding the coconut topping which may pair down the sweetness of the coconut mixture, especially if adding chips or candy.
All in all, a good recipe that can get better with a few tweaks so feel free to make them your own. I am excited to play around with the recipe a bit because I think it has potential to be a quick go-to versitile dessert.

I rate these bars a 7

Coconut Dream Bars
adapted from Recipezaar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed (divided)
1/2 cup butter, softened slightly
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional) or milk chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a 9×13 pan with foil. Spray lightly with PAM.
Using low speed on mixer, combine flour, 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and butter until mixture resembles sand.
Using lightly greased finger tips, press the mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
While crust is baking, mix together the remaining brown sugar with eggs until just blended.
Stir in remaining ingredients.
Remove crust from oven when time is up and evenly spread coconut mixture over partially baked crust.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool completely and cut into squares. (Do this or they will be messy!!)

The Best Peanut Butter Cookies. Period

It is no secret that I love the combination of PB and chocolate. To me there is no better combination when it comes to sweet treats. Needless to say, I will use any excuse to make treats involving this delicious combination.

This recipe is by far my favorite Peanut Butter cookie recipe ever; and believe me, I have tried many many recipes (Like I said ANY excuse to try more Chocolate/Peanut Butter combinations). The recipe below has been six years in the making. I first received the original recipe as part of a recipe exchange in a club I was involved in my junior year in college (Thanks Heidi). Not being much of a baker back then I liked the recipe but did not know how to tweak it to better meet my preferences (tender and chewy with a lighlty crisp exterior). Don’t get me wrong it was a good cookie to begin with but felt there was potential for more. There were things I LOVED about the original.

I have tried many recipes for Peanut Butter cookies since first receiving the original recipe but have always come  back to the one from Heidi. One thing I love about this recipe is that there is more than twice as much Peanut Butter than butter. I firmly believe that Peanut Butter should not share the spotlight with butter in ANY cookie that claims to be a Peanut Butter cookie! I also love the addition of chocolate and Peanut Butter chips (genious) and that you roll the dough balls in sugar before baking. This creates a slightly crisp exterior that compliments the delicate texture of the interior perfectly!

As my experience in baking grew I began to tweak the origianl recipe each time I made it and I am happy to say I am finished tweaking.
It now meets and exceeds my expectations of what a Peanut  Butter Cookie should be. I know everyone has a different idea of their “perfect cookie” so these may not be your cup of tea, but I do suggest at least trying them. I make these often and every time I take them somewhere people comment on their wonderful light texture and great Peanut Butter flavor.

There are a few Hints/Tips to making these bad boys:
1. I like to chill the dough for about 15 minutes before baking and keep it chilled while one pan is baking (especially during the warm months as Peanut Butter tends to ‘melt’ easily and makes the dough harder to work with). Chilling helps the cookies keep their shape while baking and helps with the delicate texture of the baked cookie.
2. You need to let these cool on a baking sheet for at least five to ten minutes after removing from the oven, if not they will fall apart because they are so tender! You can finish cooling on a wire rack before storing.
3. To keep these nice and soft, store a piece of bread in a sealed container with the cookies, make sure it is not touching the cookies (I place it on a piece of wax paper on top of the cookies in the container)
4. If freezing the balls for later baking, Chill dough, roll into balls and freeze. Don’t roll in sugar until ready to bake.(See photo)
5. These are delicate cookies and can be difficult to transport. I find a single layer of cookies transports beautifully. If needing to stack cookies to transport, place a few sheets of waxed paper in between layers.

I rate these cookies a 9 (hey, there is always room for improvement right? ha ha)
 
The Original Peanut Butter Cookie (from Heidi)
tweaked by bakingblonde
1 cup + 2 TBS peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 TBS milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Peanut Butter chips
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup Sugar (for rolling dough balls, may need more or less)
 
Preheat oven to 350.
Line baking sheets with parchement paper.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the peanut butter, butter. Once combined beat in the white sugar, and brown sugar until well blended. Beat in the egg, milk, and vanilla.
In a large bowl wisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gently add to creamed mixture and mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes.
Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into balls. Genlty roll the dough balls into sugar and place dough balls on parchment lined baking sheets. Carefully press each ball with fork tines to create a criss-cross pattern.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool on baking sheets for 5-10 minutes until sturdy enough to be transfered to a wire rack to cool completely.

Treasure Cookies

What is a treasure? In my mind it is something surprising and good.

I am not sure how these cookies got there name, it may be because they have a unique texture and surprising ingredients. However they got their name, they deliver a tastey treat that may not be as good as gold, but is GOOD none the less. What makes these cookies unique is that they are egg-free and the base of the dough is made from crushed Graham Crackers and Sweet and Condensed Milk.  Add to that a few baking staples and some coconut, chocolate chips and nuts and you have yourself one heck of a tastey cookie.

These cookies are chewy, very chewy and not cake-like in the least bit. The coconut provides some depth and structure to an otherwise gooey cookie that would easily fall apart while enjoying. The Graham Cracker crumbs can be provide a subtle depth of flavor without being overpowering. While they don’t replace my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, they do satisfy my sweet tooth and are a snap to make. These cookies are sweet, but not overly so in my opinion and offer a welcomed change of pace from the traditional cookie.

I rate these cookies an 8

Treasure Cookies
Source: Allrecipes
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used Milk Chocolate)
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
In a small bowl mix cracker crumbs, flour and baking powder.
In a large mixing bowl, beat condensed milk and margarine until smooth.
Add cracker crumb mixture and blend well. Stir in coconut, chocolate chips, and pecans.
Drop by rounded teaspoon on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.
Bake 9-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Store loosely covered at room temperature.

The Best Brownies (again)

Sometimes you are just in the mood for a really good brownie.
 
You know, the no ’special’ ingredients or fancy names. You just want a brownie that combines great taste and texture. While what defines a “great” brownie is highly subjective and varies greatly from person to person, for me these are very very good.

I love brownies with a light crumb, crossing ever so-slightly over the line towards fudgey and away from cakey. I prefer to not frost my brownies (just an unneeded sugar blanket if your brownies themselves are up to par). I prefer a crackly top, you know the kind you get from a boxed (gasp) mix. Well, these are lacking that but deliver in flavor and texture in every other way and more than satisfied my craving for great plain brownie.  I had made this recipe before but felt they were almost too fudgey and bordering on underbaked (which I feel I may have done).
While you don’t want to overbake brownies (a tester SHOULD have a few crumbs when testing the center of brownies for doneness) or they will be dry and crumbly; you don’t want to underbake them too much unless you are looking for them to sink in the middle and have a dense fudgey texture.
 
I am glad I gave this recipe another shot. I did change up the recipe ever so slighlty and have highlighted my changes in italics. I watched these brownies like a hawk the last ten minutes of baking to ensure that I did not under or overbake them in my oven.

I allowed to cool on the counter for 5 minutes, then I placed them in the fridge on a trivet for 30 minutes to cool before cutting. I read this cooling method in a baking book I thumbed through at a used bookstore. According to the book, cooling brownies more rapidly  produces an intesified chocolate flavor and fudgey light texture. I am not sure if this cooling method is to thank for wonderful flavor and texture or if this recipe just needed a longer bake time than I used in my previous attempt to really shine. Either way it produced a brownie that was phenomenal in texture and flavor. Now if it only had that crackly top……….even without it, these are a winner in my book.
 
I rate these brownies an 8.5

Hershey’s (Or in this case Ghiridelli’s) Best Brownie
Hershey’s
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 TBS Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa (I used Ghiridelli Unsweetened Cocoa Powder)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup mini Milk Chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line an 8×8 pan with foil and lighlty spray with PAM.
In large bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl stir together butter and sugar. Add and stir in vanilla and syrup.  Add eggs, one at a time and mix well. Gently fold in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan.
Cool brownies on counter for 5 minutes. Place brownies, still in pan, into the fridge for 30 minutes to cool. Remove from fridge and finish cooling on counter.
Once completely set and cooled, lift foil and brownies from pan. Peel back the foil and using a sharp plastic knife cut brownies.
Store coverd at room temperature.

Just Chocolate Chip Cookies

I gave this post the title of “Just Chocolate Chip Cookies” because there is nothing really spectacular about them. They are just that. Just Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Going through my blog you will see that as much as I bake, I rarely make plain chocolate chip cookies. I felt it was time whip up a batch and turned to a new recipe I cut out of a flyer handed out at the super market. There was no citation as to where the recipe originated so if you know, post in the comments and I will give credit.

There was no description or intro for the recipe given so I was unsure how they would turn out. I was guessing they would be soft given the higher ratio of brown sugar to white sugar called for and the fact that they were being baked at a higher temperature (causing less spread while baking because the edges bake and set faster than with cookies baked at a lower temp). One thing that did catch my eye was the small amount of butter (compared to other chocolate chip cookie recipes) called for. I was unsure the effect of this on the end product.

I chilled the dough for 15 minutes and in between baking. I baked them only until the edges turned light brown and the centers not quite set (I kept a close eye because each pan seemed to need a different bake time ranging from 8-12 minutes to achieve my desired doneness). These cookies did infact come out of the oven soft with a chew but after storing in an airtight container overnight there texture was still chewy but a little on the tough side, almost as if they were stale.

The small amount of butter called for left these cookies lacking in the flavor department in my opinion. This could be remedied by increasing the butter amount, adding extra vanila or more add-ins (chocolate chips, toffee pieces, nuts, etc).

However, these cookies were good eaten warm right out of the oven with the gooiness of chocolate. They are sturdy once cooled completely and would be great with a scoop of good ice cream sandwhiched between two of them as their flavor would not greatly compete with the ice cream. All in all a so-so cookie recipe but with your own tweaks they may be a winner in your house. Especially with icecream sandwiched in between two of them! For me, I think I will stick to my current chocolate chip cookie recipe for now.

I rate these cookies a 6 as is but they may have potential.

Just Chocolate Chip Cookies
From the supermarket flyer
1/2 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/8 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate  chips
1 cup walnuts or pecans (I omitted because I did not have any on hand) 

 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a mixing bowl cream together butter and sugars. Add the vanilla and egg until well combined (scraping bowl as needed to evenly combine ingredients)

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the batter and mix on low speed just until absorbed. Fold in the chocolate chips (and nuts if using).

Using a medium scooper or a spoon, drop balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet. 
Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until edges are golden.
Allow to cool on sheet for 5 minutes to set. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Store in airtight container.