No Bake Cookies

One of the easiest things to make is no bake cookies. They are a tasty treat that doesn't last very long in our house. There are tons of recipes online for these but I decided to use a recipe from the Ezra Pound Cake blog.
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Submitted by Jenny White to Recipezaar.com

•1/2 cup butter
•2 cups sugar
•1/2 cup milk
•4 tablespoons cocoa
•1/2 cup peanut butter
•3 to 3 1/2 cups dry quick-cooking oats
•2 teaspoons vanilla
Add the first four ingredi ents into a 4-quart saucepan.

Bring to a rolling boil and hold for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in the next 3 ingredients and drop by tablespoons onto wax paper. Let cool until set.

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

I found the recipe on a cool blog in my google reader called The Cookbook Junkie. I like reading The Cookbook Junkie because there are always recipes from cookbooks that I don't have that sound good. This was a very delicious recipe and despite the lengthy directions, it didn't take very long at all. It tasted like a combo of oatmeal cookies and brownies. Very rich!

Oatmeal Fudge Bars
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Crust and topping
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespooons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons instant espresso or instant coffee (I omited)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter
1 large egg

For the crust and topping: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with a foil sling: Fold two sheets of aluminum foil so they are as wide as the pan. Lay the sheets in the pan, perpendicular to each other, with the extra foil hanging over the edges. Push the foil into the corners, smoothing wrinkles. Grease the sides and bottom.

Whisk the oats, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter until combined. Reserve 3/4 cup of the oat mixture for the topping.

Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake the crust until light-golden brown, about 8 minutes. Let the crust cool completely on a wire rack, about 1 hour.

For the filling: Whisk the flour, sugar, instant espresso and salt together in a medium bowl. Melt the chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave, stirring often, 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer the chocolate mixture to a large bowl and let cool slightly. Whisk in the egg until combined. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spread the filling evenly over the cooled crust and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the reserved oat topping. Bake the bars until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached and the filling begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking.

Let the bars cool completely in the pan, set on a wire rack, about 2 hours. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil, cut into squares and serve.

Lunch Lady Bars

Last week I needed something simple to take to a work potluck luncheon. I came across this recipe for Lunch Lady Bars on the Yum blog. They reminded me of Nestle's Tollhouse Cookie Bars. Luckily the recipe was enough to bring to work and have some leftover for home!

Lunch Lady Bars
originally from Allrecipes.com
2 1/2 c. Flour
1 tsp baking soda soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla (I used almond flavoring since I was out of vanilla)
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used regular semi-sweet chips, not mini)

Combine dry ingredients. Set aside. In bowl mix together oil and sugars. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients. Mix in 3/4 c. of chocolate chips. Spread into 9x13 pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 c. chips on top. Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes or until light golden brown.

Hershey's Ultimate Brownies

Upon seeing so many yummy brownie recipes online, I am now on a quest for the perfect brownie. I found a recipe in my Hershey's cookbook for Ultimate Brownies and figured that would be a good start. The brownies were pretty yummy and the addition of chocolate chips gave them a little bonus! They were so good plain that I didn't bother with frosting them.

Ultimate Chocolate Brownies

3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted and divided
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan or two 8-inch square baking pans.

2. Stir together cocoa and baking soda in large bowl; stir in 1/3 cup butter. Add boiling water; stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining 1/3 cup butter; stir until smooth. Add flour, vanilla and salt; blend completely. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan, 30 to 35 minutes for square pans or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares. About 36 brownies.