Taffy Apple Bars

Well when I asked which recipe you were most excited for me to share from Gooseberry Patch's Simple Shortcut Recipes, Taffy Apple Bars received lots of votes so I though I'd share it first.

Taffy Apple Bars

Ingredients
16 1/2 oz. tube refrigerated sugar cookie dough
16 1/2 oz. tube refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3- 1/2 to 4 cups apples, cored, peeled and chopped
1 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping

Directions
Let cookie doughs stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.  (FYI, I couldn't find a tube of refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough so I used the refrigerated cookie squares.)

In a large bowl, combine doughs and flour; beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended.

Press evenly into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan.

Spoon apples over dought; press down lightly.

Sprinkle with peanuts.  (I skipped this step as not everyone is a fan of peanuts at this pigpen.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until edges turn golden and the center is set.

Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. 

Drizzle with caramel topping.

Cut into bars and Enoy!

Don't forget to enter here for your chance to win your very own copy of Simple Shortcut Recipes.

Special thanks to Gooseberry Patch for providing me with this great cookbook to try and share with you. If you would like to purchase this or other cookbooks, please visit their store.

Peanut butter cup fluffernutter blondies

As you know I've developed a sort of love affair with the delicious dessert from the kitchen of Cookies & Cups.  From her salted caramel bars to her caramel swirled M&M brownies, I'm in love.

One of her delights that made everyone at the pigpen smile was peanut butter cup fluffernutter blondies.

They are absolutely delish!

Ingredients

1 cup butter (2 sticks of butter), room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter
2 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1 t. baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1 t. kosher salt
2 cups coarse chopped peanut butter cups (10.5 oz bag)
3/4 cup Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. 

Cream butter and peanut butter together.

Add sugar and brown sugar to the creamed butter and peanut butter and beat until light and fluffy.

Add in eggs and vanilla on a medium speed.

Stir in baking soda, salt, and flour until just combined.

Fold in the peanut butter cups.

Spread the batter in the pan.

Drop the marshmallow cream on top of the batter.  (This is much more difficult than it sounds.  I used a spoon to scoop the cream from my measuring cup and tried my best to randomly drop it on the batter.)

Swirl the marshmallow cream into the batter with a knife.  (Once again, this is much more difficult than it sounds as the batter is very thick and dense unlike a brownie or cake batter that is much more fluid.)

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the toothpick placed 1 inch from the side comes out clean. 

Cool in the pan on a wire wrack and Enjoy!!!!

Iron Chef Bake-Off

As you know Ott, A from A latte with Ott, A has kept me on my toes this year in the kitchen with her monthly secret ingredient Iron Chef Challenges.  It has been a lot of fun to work with some familiar and some new ingredients in the kitchen with these challenges.

Much to my surprise, I was named the winner of not only one, but two of her monthly Iron Chef Challenges.  I actually won the artichoke Iron Chef Challenge in October and the turkey Iron Chef Challenge in November which led me to this month's Iron Chef Bake Off.

Instead of a secret ingredient, the monthly winners are competing in a Bake-Off sponsored by Taste of Home.  Each of us were asked to make the exact same recipe of Cinnamon Raisin Bread and then take that bread to the next level by incorporating it into another recipe.

Believe it or not as soon as I saw the Cinnamon Raisin Bread recipe, I knew what I was going to make.  My mother-in-law makes a bread pudding that puts most others to shame so I thought it would be the perfect thing to make for this bake-off challenge.

Aunt Nettie's Famous Bread Pudding 
Ingredients
French bread to cover the bottom of 9x13 pan or 1 loaf of Taste of Home Cinnamon Raisin Bread
1/2 cup melted butter
8 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
5 1/2 cups milk

Directions
Tear up bread and cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the bread.

Beat 8 eggs well.

Add sugar, vanilla, and salt and beat well.

Add 5 1/2 cups milk and mix well.

Pour over the bread and let rest 15 minutes or until bread is soaked.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until center is set.

Serve warm with the whiskey sauce.

Whiskey Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup melted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 T. whiskey
1/4 cup toasted chopped pecans (toast pecans at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes)

Directions
Melt butter on the stove top.

After butter is melted, remove from heat and whip in powdered sugar and eggs.

Add whiskey and pecans.

Drizzle over the bread pudding.

Enjoy!!!

I hope you not only enjoy the bread pudding, but also the cinnamon raisin bread as by following the recipe for it, you will end up with 2 loaves... one for the bread pudding and one to enjoy for breakfast or a snack.

Thanks again to Ott, A for all of her awesome Iron Chef challenges in 2011!

Angel Sugar Cookies

I've had a bit sweeter than normal sweet tooth lately so it was of no surprise that I thought I needed to make some cookies this past weekend.  It's also no secret that I'm a big fan of The Pioneer Woman so I thought a recipe from her cookbook was only appropriate.  This is how I came to make Angel Sugar Cookies over the weekend and they did not disappoint.

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 cup canola oil
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for the tops of the cookies
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions
Cream together eggs, oil, butter, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, and vanilla.

Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.  When you take the dough out of the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Use a cookie scoop or spoon to drop balls of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  (I did line my cookie sheets with parchment paper.)

Smear butter on the bottom of a glass, then dip it into granulated sugar.

Use the glass to flatten the balls of dough, dipping into the sugar each time.

Repeat until all are flattened.

Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are just barely turning brown around the edges.

Cool before eating... I dare you to wait. :-)

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