Easy Yummy Granola Bars

Easy Granola Bars

(Recipe by Aliceyn Fokuhl )

 

 



Ingredients

3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 14 ounce can sweetened  condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch pan.

 

2. Mix everything together in a large bowl and the press down into the baking dish

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, cut into bars and then let them cool completely before serving.

So these turned out actually really well. My kids loved them and even I was munching away on them. It's a really good recipe because you can mix in whatever you want and they are such a good alternative to store bought granola bars. Honestly I never buy them because there is so much junk in the granola bars that taste good, and not enough good taste in the ones that don't have all the additives. Definitely making these again!

Lemon Bars

I have always wanted to try making my own lemon bars, and these did not disappoint! Tart and lemony, they're the perfect start to the warm weather coming our way. I think I'm crushing hard on lemons lately, I can't get enough! Luckily my friend has a lemon tree and she is very generous so I'm going to enjoy it. :D

Lemon Bars
adapted from Make it Do

2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
2-3 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Mix above dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until well blended, add milk, and mix until it comes together. Press into pan and cook for 25-30 minutes until slightly golden brown. While crust is cooking make the lemon later:

4 eggs
pinch of salt
4 tbsp flour
2 cups sugar
2 lemons zest and juice

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with salt. Mix in rest of ingredients. Pour over hot crust and bake for another 25 minutes.

Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Glazed Toffee Bars

 

Chocolate Glazed Toffee Bars 

adapted from Joy of Cooking book

Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan.  Whisk together thoroughly:

2/3 cup flour

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Sprinkle over the top:

4 tbsp (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces.

Using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your fingertips, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle over the top and stir in to blend:

2 tsp milk

Knead until the milk is distributed and the particles begin to hold together. If necessary, add a teaspoon or two more milk, until the mixture holds together but is not wet. Firmly press the dough into the pan to form a smooth, even layer. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then bake the chilled dough for 10 minutes, set aside to cool slightly. 

Then, combine in a medium, heavy saucepan, and stirring frequently, bring to a boil over medium heat:

5 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp milk

1/8 tsp salt

Boil the mixture, uncovered for 3 minutes; remove from the heat. Stir in:

1 tsp vanilla

Pour the mixture evenly over the baked layer. Bake until it's bubble, golden brown, and slightly darker at the edges, about 17 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan to a rack to cool slightly. Sprinkle over the top:

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

(you can let the chips melt a bit and then spread the chocolate around on the top, but I found that made them look less pretty, so I just sprinkle the chips and leave them whole) 

 Let the chocolate cool until thickened but still slightly soft, then cut into bars; let cool completely before lifting the bars from the pan. 

Gobble them up with glee. At least that's what I do! They're dangerously addicting.

goodies

plates of goodies for friends and neighbors!

starting at the stars-going clockwise: sugar cookies, jam bars, fudge, peanut butter kiss cookies, and oreo bark. yum!

i'll not be baking for another year, thank you. just kidding.

recipes below:

sugar cookies and royal icing

jam bars

easy fudge

peanut butter kiss cookies

oreo bark

S'mores Bars

***these were scrumptious! rory downed about half last night, and i'm sure will polish them off tonight, that is, if i don't get to them first. janae and julia liked them too. anyways...for such a simple dessert, they were really amazing!


S'mores Bars
from Amber's Delectable Delights

Ingredients
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter (no substitutions)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
9 crushed graham crackers
1 1/2 cups small marshmallows
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions
- Line an 8x8 pan with foil and spray with PAM.
- In a medium mixing bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, 3/4 cup marshmallows and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine the egg, butter, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly until it comes to a full boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
- Pour mixture in bowl with the graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate chips. Stir to combine. (Marshmallows and chips will melt a bit).
- Fold in remaining marshmallows and chips.
- Press mixture into prepared pan.Cool until set. Remove foil and bars from pan, cut and serve. - Store in airtight container either room temp or in fridge (if during warm months).

Pumpkin Bars

***i love baking with pumpkin. end of story. the cream cheese frosting is super rich and yummy. make sure you have a lot of people to share with, they are very rich! my large family only ate about half, and then i had to send the rest with rory to work, cause i didn't want them sitting around with me at home all day! can you imagine what that would do to my (non existent) figure?! anyways, loved these, and they made my house smell sooo delicious while they were baking!


Pumpkin Bars
from Paula Deen via My Kitchen Cafe

Bars:
4 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (can substitute 1/2 cup applesauce for 1/2 cup oil)
15-ounce can pumpkin
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda Icing:
8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using an electric mixer at medium speed, combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until light and fluffy. Stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix at low speed until thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Spread the batter into a greased 13 by 10-inch baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting. Cut into bars.
To make the icing: Combine the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and mix at low speed until combined. Stir in the vanilla and mix again. Spread on cooled pumpkin bars.

Strawberry Pretzel Squares

these delicious little treats are so fun! the pretzel "crust" makes for a delicious salty and sweet treat. and, if you take it to a church function or large party, it will probably get devoured quickly. so make sure you get a picture before there are only three left. seriously, 5 minutes after cutting them up, and they were gone! (sorry about the not in focus picture. as i said i was in a hurry to get out of the way of the ravenous people)


Strawberry Pretzel Squares
from Kraft Foods

2 cups finely crushed pretzels

1/2 cup sugar, divided

2/3 cup butter or margarine, melted

1-1/2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (although i only used one and it turned out fine, i think!)

2 Tbsp. milk

1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

2 cups boiling water

1 pkg. (6 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

1-1/2 cups cold water

1 qt. (4 cups) strawberries, sliced

HEAT oven to 350°F.
MIX pretzel crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter. Press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 10 min. Cool.
BEAT cream cheese, remaining sugar and milk until blended. Stir in COOL WHIP; spread over crust. Refrigerate.
ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression). Stir in strawberries; spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

samoa bars

Samoas Bars
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe


*Makes 30 bar cookies.
Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

First, make the crust. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping:
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels (I used one 14 oz. package of the Kraft brand)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok – I didn’t coat the base of the brownies in chocolate so I only used 1 cup semisweet chips to drizzle on top)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden (mine took about 25 minutes). Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on 50% power for 1-2 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula. Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer (I kind of had to use my hands on this part to get it into an even layer). Let topping set until cooled. When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).

Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish. Alternately, you can omit the step to dip the base of the brownie in chocolate and simply drizzle the melted chocolate on the top of the bars (you won’t need the full 10 oz. if you choose this step). Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

peanut butter cookie bars

They're pretty much awesomeness in a bite.

Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup peanut butter ( I used creamy, you could use crunchy if you prefer)
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla
6 cups oatmeal

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugars together in a large bowl. Add eggs and peanut butter. Mix well. Add salt, baking soda, and flour and mix well. Stir in vanilla and oatmeal. Spread dough in a greased 9x13 pan. bake 15 minutes. Do not over bake. Remove from oven and spread additional peanut butter over bars. (I think this over peanut buttered it, haha) When cool, melt 1/3 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips with 1 tbsp of peanut butter and melt in the microwave. Let it cool for a minute, spoon into a ziploc bag and snip a little bit off of a corner. Drizzle over the top and let it cool and harden slightly. Cut the bars up and EAT!