Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova

If you're looking for an impressive dessert that's a little something different, look no further. I have made one of Nigella's dessert recipes before, but wasn't 100% pleased with the results. This time, I could not have been happier. This Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova was rich and sweet, yet light and fruity. An amazing treat that works for any occasion.

I made this for my in-laws' tenth wedding anniversary. There were seven of us and we ended up with one giant piece left over - this would easily serve ten if you cut it properly.

Chocolate Strawberry Pavlova
adapted from Nigella Lawson

For the Meringue

6 large egg whites
2 c. superfine sugar  (**see note**)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped


For the Topping

2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tbsp. superfine sugar
2 c. sliced strawberries 
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate

**Please note: I don't have superfine sugar in my pantry and I wasn't about to buy any. You don't need to either. Put regular old granulated sugar in your food processor or blender and whir for about 30 seconds (until it's super fine).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Use a pencil to trace a 9-inch- cake tin on the paper. Flip the paper over so your meringue doesn't touch the pencil marks.




Beat the egg whites with a mixer until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. 

Sift the cocoa into the bowl, then add the vinegar and chopped chocolate over the egg whites.

Gently fold everything with a rubber spatula until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in.

Plop the meringue into the center of the parchment circle. Yummy!

Shape the meringue into a disc using a butterknife or offset spatula.

Lick the spatula clean. Mmmm hmmmm!

Place in the oven, and immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees and cook for 60-75 minutes.

When it's ready, it should look crisp and dry on top, but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess beneath your fingers.(This is word-for-word Nigella's direction - I love it!)

Open the oven door, turn off the oven, and let the meringue cool completely.

Move the meringue onto your serving plate.

Whip the cream and vanilla until soft peaks start to form. Add the sugar and whip to combine.

Spread the whipped cream on the meringue and top with the strawberries. My lovely sister-in-law Leah is allergic to strawberries, so I left a section of the pavlova free for her.

Use a vegetable peeler to shave curls of chocolate over the pavlova.

Happy Anniversary to two of my favorite people!

Nanaimo Bars

Oh boy. Let me preface this post by saying that nanaimo bars (say it "nah-nee-moh") are completely addictive. If you're looking for a new no-bake treat, this is a surefire winner. I had all the ingredients on hand in my pantry, so when I found the recipe, I was eating Nanaimo Bars within a couple of hours!

These layered bars remind me a little bit of Brookies in that you mix the different layers separately and then combine. Also, both are very rich and chocolate-y. However, when judged by me, Nanaimo Bars would win the dessert contest anytime. They're slightly easier to make, don't require baking, keep in the fridge forever, and taste amazing. Try them!

I would suggest assembling and measuring all your ingredients ahead of time. You have time in between making each layer where the bars need to chill in the fridge, so prepping only the layer you're about to work on will be sufficient.


Nanaimo Bars
adapted from The Joy of Baking


bottom layer ingredients
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

middle layer ingredients
1/2 stick unsalted butter
3 tbsp. milk or cream (I used skim milk)
2 tbsp. vanilla pudding powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. powdered sugar

top layer ingredients
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 tbsp. unsalted butter


bottom layer assembly
Grease a 9"x9" (I don't have one, so I used 8"x8") pan with cooking spray or butter.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder until incorporated completely.
Slowly stream the beaten egg into the mixture, stirring constantly.
Continue cooking over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.
Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining "bottom layer ingredients".
Press the mixture into the greased pan with your fingers, then cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

middle layer assembly
Using a KA or electric hand mixer, beat butter until creamy.
Add all other ingredients and beat until smooth.
If mixture is too thick to spread, add a tablespoon of milk/cream at a time until it reaches a thick yet spreadable consistency.
Spread over the bottom layer.
Cover and refrigerate at least thirty minutes.

top layer assembly 
In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate and butter in thirty-second increments, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.
Pour over the middle layer and smooth.
Refrigerate until chocolate has set.

Cut into squares (I did 4x4, so got 16 2"x2" bars) with a sharp knife. I prefer to serve chilled straight out of the fridge, but you can also bring them to room temperature before serving. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

The weather has been absolutely beautiful for the past week, so I put off making my Easter dessert until the last minute.  I'm glad I did, because I ended up also making a birthday cake for Andrew's Aunt Sammy. 

When I saw the recipe for Nigella's Fairy Cakes on "Once Upon a Plate", I knew I had to try them.  My one issue with the recipe was that Mari didn't explain how to get the cupcakes flat and iced as perfectly as hers were.  I winged it and they came out okay.  Mari's icing must have been much thicker than mine, because my cupcakes soaked up a lot of the liquid and were not as perfectly smooth as hers were.  The blue ones came out best, and they were all delicious, so no one really minded.

I added 3/4 cup cocoa powder to one batch of the Fairy Cake recipe and baked it in an 8" cake pan.  Then, using an idea I saw on the back of the Easter M&M's bag, I cut the cake in half and turned it into a butterfly.  I used Mari's easy buttercream recipe, tinted it pink, and decorated with sprinkles and M&M's.  I used candied citrus peel as antennae.  Sammy was really happy with her cake, and it tasted fantastic!

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

 

I really wanted to title this post "Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes"...but then I read it out loud and realized it sounds silly.  (EDIT: I decided to name it that anyway)  That's what these are though - delicious chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, topped with peanut butter cups!

It starts out with these cupcakes.  Any chocolate cake or cupcakes will work, but I had half a batch of the chocolate cupcakes from World Nutella Day in my freezer.  To thaw frozen cupcakes, just remove from freezer, take out of the gallon-size zip bag, and allow to thaw in the plastic wrap.  (You did wrap them the way I taught you, right?  Good.)  These will thaw on the counter in less than half an hour.

While they thaw (or bake, if you're starting there), you can whip together this delicious Peanut Butter frosting!

Peanut Butter Frosting

from AllRecipes 

1/4 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. crunchy peanut butter

1 tbsp. + 1-1/2 tsp. milk

1 c. confectioner's sugar

I opted for crunchy peanut butter because that's what I had on hand, and I ended up loving the texture!  If you are planning to frost a cake with this, you'd probably want to use creamy to make spreading it easier.

In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and peanut butter.  Slowly mix in the sugar, and as the mixture thickens, add the milk a little at a time.  Beat in between additions of milk - you may find you need more or less, depending on your peanut butter.  It will take about three minutes with the beater for this frosting to get nice and fluffy.

This will generously frost eight cupcakes.

To serve, I frosted the cupcakes, then sprinkled with chopped peanut butter cups.  I took one peanut butter cup and cut it into quarters with a sharp knife.  I stuck the quarters into the "back" of each cupcake.  As you can see, I also had some mini cupcakes to decorate!  This frosting is fantastic, and when combined with chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter cups, well...what's not to love?

 

Banana Chocolate Chunk Waffles

When I was a kid, my mom required me to eat breakfast every day before leaving for school.  It's a habit I've pretty much kept up, and it's rare that I skip the morning meal.  On Valentine's Day, I wanted to make something out of the ordinary for breakfast.  Since our weekend breakfasts typically involve bacon, eggs, and toast, I thought waffles would fit the bill.

I have this Cuisinart waffle maker, and the recipe I'll share with you came with it.  If you already have a Cuisinart waffle maker, you've got this recipe, but if you don't...well yay!  You can make Banana Chocolate Chunk Waffles too!

Banana Chocolate Chunk Waffles
adapted from Cuisinart

2 c. AP flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1-2/3 c. skim milk
1 medium banana, mashed
6 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1/2 c. chocolate, chopped into small chunks

Combine all ingredients.  Preheat your waffle maker and cook the waffles according to manufacturer instructions. 

I found that I needed to grease my waffle maker between each waffle.  I also needed to keep the waffles cooking for a bit longer than the red and green lights told me to.  In the end though, I ended up with 9 delicious waffles (one more than Cuisinart said I'd get!).  We ate one each, and I froze the rest in a gallon-size zip-top bag with a piece of wax paper between each waffle.  When you want to eat them, you can just put them into the toaster oven straight from the freezer, just like an Eggo.  Only a million times better!

The Ugliest Cake Ever

It started out innocently enough.  I decided at the last minute that I wanted to bake my husband a birthday cake.  No big deal, right?  Well, then some stipulations were made.  I had just made a chocolate-peanut butter dessert three days ago, so I wanted to avoid that combo, which happens to be Andrew's favorite.  It had to be cake (I don't know why!) so I didn't make gingerbread men (his second favorite).  And it had to be something I had in my pantry, since it was snowing like crazy and I didn't want to go to the store, and it was already the day of his birthday when I decided to make the cake.  Let's just say...all these stipulations?  They're the stuff disasters are made of.

I had a Triple Fudge cake mix, so I decided to start there.  After searching around on the Betty Crocker website for a while, I found this recipe.  A layer of cake, then fudge, then more cake?  Yes please!  The only difference I made was that I forgot to reserve one cup of the crumbly cake mix, instead mixing it all together with the applesauce and eggs.  This worked out okay, though if I had created the crumbly layer, I wouldn't have tried to make a layered cake, and none of the following would have happened.

I cut the cake in half while it was still in the 13x9.  My intention was to stack it on a cake stand and make a square layered cake.  When I put the first half on the cake stand, it was a little too large, and it broke.  For some inexplicable reason, I tried the other half, and wouldn't you know, being the same size as the first half, it broke too.  So there I was with four broken pieces of a cake that I had just made.

After some consideration, I opted to cut the two larger pieces into circles, and the two smaller pieces into half circles.  I stacked the three circles on top of one another, then made this icing and poured it over the top.  It was delicious...but ugly.  Like, really ugly.  This is definitely the most hideous cake I have ever made.

I will totally understand if one of you submits this to Cake Wrecks.  Luckily, the cake was delicious, the frosting was yummy, and we ate almost all of it.  I saved the off-cuts from the circles for snacking!  Anyway, the reason I showed you all this cake is because I promised when I started this blog I would share my disasters.  There haven't been too many lately, save for putting my fingers through the electric mixer, but this was too horrifying not to share!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

So, World Nutella Day is today, February 5, and in order to assist you in celebrating this illustrious holiday, I present to you a slammin' chocolate cupcake recipe from my friend Samantha (who brought us this and this) and an AMAZING Nutella frosting.  If you've never had Nutella, stop reading this, go to the store, and report back once you've bought some.  I'll wait.

Got it?  Good.  Let's move on.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Start with one box of chocolate cake mix.

Using the measurements on the cake mix box as your guide, make the following changes:

-Replace the oil with melted butter
-Replace the water with chocolate milk
-Add one box instant chocolate pudding.

Line muffin pans with paper liners, fill, and bake according to box directions.  I was able to get 16 large and 12 mini muffins out of this recipe.  When they are finished baking, remove to racks to cool.


In the meantime, prepare your frosting and learn more about World Nutella Day from its creators - here and here.


Nutella Frosting
from The Unrepentant Carbivore

1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. Nutella
5 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. heavy cream

Combine first five ingredients in the bowl of your KA mixer (or use a handheld electric mixer) and beat until ingredients are fully combined and mixture is fluffy.  Add the cream and beat until it is fully incorporated and the batter is "light and smooth".

Frost the cupcakes and immediately bring at least a dozen to the neighbor's house, as I did.  Otherwise, you will end up eating them all, and nobody wants to get sick on World Nutella Day, right?

Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars

 

Have you ever made a dessert so sinfully delicious that you knew you couldn't be trusted around it?  In a four hour span, I found this recipe, made the treats, cut them up, ate four, and packed the majority onto a plate to send to work with Andrew the next day.  I kept almost two dozen of these little guys, and I think Andrew ate maybe two.  So yeah.  Let's just say it's a good thing I've been at the gym four days a week, because these babies are irresistible!

You can get the full recipe here.  It's a lot of steps, but honestly, I didn't find it much more complicated than making chocolate chip cookies, and the extra effort is SO worth it.  I do want to tell you about some of the small things I did a little differently.

This recipe calls for old-fashioned rolled oats, but all I had was quick-cooking oats.  Guess what?  It turned out FINE.  Good to know, right?  Also, I like raisins, don't get me wrong...but they just don't belong in these bars!  I omitted them.

Lastly, it's recommended to eat these bars chilled, or even frozen.  Um, why?  They are SO good at room temperature!  Obviously, feel free to chill to your heart's content, if you so desire.  I'm just saying, these are perfectly fantastic hacked right off of this big hunk about 5 minutes after you heft it out of the pan. 

Also, I cut this into WAY more than 32 pieces...they are so rich, and I personally prefer to eat four tiny ones than two big ones.  Maybe that's just me?

Anyway, this is a fun recipe!  It's definitely not fancy, but it's a nice change from chocolate chip cookies or brownies, and would be a great treat to bring to a Super Bowl party this weekend!

Christmas Cookies: Ginger Cookies

In an attempt to share with you all the Christmas treats I made, I present to you, my cookie plate!

Included on the plate are pizzelle, brown sugar "slice & bake" cookies, chocolate dipped Oreos, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, coconut macaroons (store bought by my mommy!), chocolate covered pretzel rods, homemade marshmallows, and ginger cookies.

I hesitate to call these gingersnaps, as the recipe does, because these cookies are not crispy.  They stay soft and chewy, and actually continue to soften with time.  After about a week, they started to head toward mushy.  Luckily, there were only four left (out of the 170+ that the recipe yields!) so I didn't feel too bad.

I know the holiday has passed, but these cookies are delicious and not particularly seasonal, so I thought I'd post the recipe with some photos so you can save this one in your files for anytime you need a non-chocolate cookie recipe (though of course, I'll show you how to make it chocolatey!).


Ginger Cookies
recipe courtesy of Grandma Haas

2 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses
4 c. AP flour
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt


Combine flour, soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a medium sized bowl, set aside.


Mix sugar and oil well.  I used my KitchenAid mixer, but you could also blend with a hand mixer if you prefer.  Add eggs one at a time, beat well to incorporate.  Stir in the molasses.


Add the dry ingredients in batches - I usually do 2-3 additions.  Mix well.  If you are using a KA mixer, you may want to take the bowl off the stand and mix by hand with a spoon - I found that the molasses settled to the bottom and didn't mix completely into the batter.

Shape dough into 3/4" balls, roll in sugar, and place balls at least 2" apart on an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.  I have very dark baking sheets, so I baked at 325 for 8 minutes.  I would recommend doing a small trial run with the first batch to make sure your oven temp and timing are perfect. 

Yields 14-1/2 dozen cookies.


The ginger cookies are in the tall pile on the upper left:

If desired, melt dark chocolate candy melts or chocolate chips in the microwave - 60 seconds on defrost, stir, then 30 seconds on defrost.  Continue microwaving in 30 second increments on defrost, stirring in between, until chocolate is melted.  Dip half the cookie into the chocolate, then set on wax paper to cool.  The original recipe recommends using a mix of white chocolate and shortening, but because I have a major aversion to the latter, you'll never see me combining it with chocolate!


Here are the gift boxes and bags and trays I made for Christmas.  It was a TON of work, but I had a great time doing it!

Brownies + Chocolate Chip Cookies = Brookies!

If you read the title of my thread and didn't get excited, I may have to disown you.  How could you NOT be stoked about the combination of chocolate chip cookies and brownies?  Let me tell you, this is a synergistic partnership - cookies are great and brownies are yummy, but together...they are AMAZING!

I have seen this recipe all over the internet, but it seems most bloggers got it from Bakerella, who I believe got it from Betty Crocker herself.

I made these brookies for Ann's surprise birthday party.  Unfortunately, in all my excitement about these delicious treats and the party they were made for, I got just one final photo, and it's a bit blurry.  Click here to see Bakerella's finished product.  Mine looked exactly the same!

This is such a simple recipe - you need one bag of Betty Crocker's chocolate chip cookie mix, and one box of her brownie mix.

Make each one according to the package directions.

 

 

Pour the brownies into a 13x9 pan, then top with blobs of the cookie dough.

Looks good already, doesn't it?

Bake 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees and you get this:

 

 

So far, this looks delicious, right?  Well, here's where Bakerella kicks things up a notch.  She tops these bars with chocolate ganache.  Um, yes please!

Chocolate Ganache

from Bakerella  

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 c. heavy cream

6 tbsp. unsalted butter

Put the chocolate chips in a bowl.

Good job.  :)

Over medium-high heat, bring the butter and cream to just before boiling.  When bubbles are forming around the edges, turn off the heat. 

Perfect!  Pour the butter and cream mixture over the chocolate chips.

Stir until chocolate is melted and fully combined.

 

 

Top the brookies with the ganache, and step away from the pan.  You need to let the ganache set so it doesn't go all over everything.  I put the lid on this pan and stuck the whole thing out in the garage until it was time to cut and plate the bars.

 

There they are, in a place of honor on the table at the party!

I can tell you, these were a HUGE hit.  They are super rich, extremely chocolatey, and win big points from adults and kids alike.  Definitely make them for your next holiday party, office get-together, or random Tuesday at home.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are a nice fall treat.  I saw these on The Beantown Baker - she got the recipe from somewhere else and changed it around, eliminating the streusel topping.  I took TBB's version and further altered it - omitting the dried cranberries and subbing in chocolate, and swapping applesauce for the oil.  The recipe below reflects "my" version.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
adapted from TBB's Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

1 c. pure pumpkin, packed
1/3 c. applesauce
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/4 c. sugar
1-1/2 c. flour
3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk together all ingredients but the flour and chocolate chips until well mixed.  Add flour and chocolate, stir to combine.

Pour batter into muffin cups - it should fill them about 3/4 full. 

Bake 25 minutes (15 for mini muffins).  Allow to cool in the pan for a minute or two:

Then transfer to a baking rack to continue cooling.

I was able to get a dozen mini muffins and ten regular sized muffins from this recipe.  TBB says it should yield a dozen regular size muffins, so either those mini muffins are really tiny, or my regular muffins weren't as large as they should be.  They are the perfect size for breakfast though, so I was happy with the result.

I packaged up the mini muffins to send to friends.

We haven't been experiencing the pumpkin shortage other parts of the country have seen, but I just wasn't getting in the pumpkin spirit.  The can on my pantry shelf beckoned, and finally I answered its call and made these muffins.  Since the recipe only calls for one cup, I have plenty of pumpkin left from my 29 ounce can.  So the only question is, what pumpkin treat should I make next??

Spooky Spiders

Spooky Spiders are a Halloween treat that harkens back to my childhood.  My mom always made them in the week or so leading up to Halloween, and my friends (especially Kristi!) would vie to sneak them off the tray before the Halloween festivities got under way.

These are an easy treat and make a nice addition to any Halloween get-together. 


Spooky Spiders

1 bag chow mein noodles

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave.

Mix chow mein noodles into the melted chocolate.

Use two forks to drop "spiders" onto wax paper covered cookie sheets. 

Allow to cool and harden completely.

Spooky Spiders are a great Halloween treat!  Crunchy, chocolatey, small enough to shove a whole one in my mouth and hold two more in my hot little hand.  I packaged some up to send to friends, along with a few other treats - I'll share those recipes in the next few days as we get closer to Halloween!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

I love to try new things, and when Kristi and I wandered through the Natural Foods section of Stop & Shop yesterday, I saw something that I just had to experiment with - chocolate hemp milk.

Hemp milk is made using the seeds of the hemp plant. It's a delicious alternative for vegans, since they do not consume dairy products. The Global Healing Center explains the benefits of choosing hemp milk, including lots of Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, protein, potassium, and tons of vitamins and minerals. They also have directions for making your own organic hemp milk, which is definitely a step farther than I'm interested in going at this time.

I made an amazing smoothie with the chocolate hemp milk - you could definitely use regular milk, chocolate milk, chocolate soy milk, etc. to get a very similar effect.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

1 banana, cut into chunks and frozen

1 tbsp. peanut butter

1/2 c. chocolate hemp milk

Blend all ingredients until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add more chocolate milk. If mixture is too thin, add banana or ice cubes.

This smoothie is so decadent - it would be great for dessert or as a meal replacement. The chocolate hemp milk and peanut butter make it rich and creamy, and the fresh banana flavor prevents it from being too sweet. If you aren't feeling adventurous enough to try chocolate hemp milk, definitely make the smoothie with your own favorite kind of chocolate milk.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

My family all adore chocolate covered strawberries, so we make them several times a year for various functions. Whenever I receive solid chocolate as a gift and can't eat it, I save it to chop up and dunk strawberries in! You may say, how do you have so much chocolate you can't eat it? That's crazy talk! To you I say, would you have eaten the eight pounds of Easter bunnies I received last year?




Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Obviously, you're going to need chocolate and strawberries. The quantities leave plenty of room for error - you'll need to find what works for you, based on the size of your strawberries and how thickly you coat them in chocolate. I used about 1.5 pounds of chopped chocolate bunnies to two quarts of strawberries (maybe it was three? I'm pretty sure it was two).

Set up a double boiler - a saucepan with an inch or two of water in the bottom, topped with a bowl that can sit on top without touching the water.

Dump your chopped chocolate in the bowl and bring the water to a simmer over medium heat. Constantly stir the chocolate, adjusting the heat as necessary to allow for slow, smooth, even melting. (Tip: Do NOT allow any water to touch the chocolate. This will cause it to seize, and once that happens, it's awfully tough to fix.)

Once the chocolate has melted, dip the strawberries. I find the best way to do this is to grip the stem/leaves and dunk the strawberry. If the chocolate is not deep enough to dunk, lay the strawberry on its side at an angle and rotate it to coat all sides.

Cool the strawberries on cookie sheets covered in waxed paper. I often cool and store mine in the refrigerator so they harden faster. If it's warm and/or humid, you will need to do this, and be very careful transporting them, as they melt and fall apart quickly in this type of weather.

If you want to decorate them further, you can try the following:
-Drizzle with a contrasting melted chocolate (white, dark, colored candy melts)
-Sprinkle with finely chopped contrasting chocolate
-Sprinkle with shots/sprinkles/jimmies (or whatever you call 'em in your neck of the woods!)
-Brush with pearl dust
-Sprinkle with cake glitter

If you have other ideas for fun decorations, please leave them in the comments!

**A special thanks to Auntie Jody for emailing me the pic from her camera!!!**

Rocky Road Bars

I receive a lot of cookbooks as gifts. I am an avid reader, and somewhat of a book collector, so a new book is always a welcome present, especially one with pictures of beautiful food.

Someone gave me the Betty Crocker cookbook Simply Dessert, and the first recipe I chose to make was the one for Rocky Road Bars. Funny, it wasn't because I was particularly in the mood for them, but because I had all the ingredients on hand. The extent of my laziness is revealed!

Rocky Road Bars

1 box chocolate fudge or devil's food cake mix

1/2 c butter or margarine, melted

1/3 c water

1/4 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 c + 1/2 c. chopped peanuts

3 c mini marshmallows

1/3 c. chocolate frosting

colored candy pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease or spray a 13x9 pan.

In a large bowl, combine half the cake mix, butter, water, brown sugar, and eggs and stir until smooth. Add in remaining cake mix and 1 cup peanuts, stirring to combine.

Spread mixture in pan, bake 25-30 minutes.

Remove from oven, top with marshmallows. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, or until marhmallows are melted, puffed, and golden. DO NOT overdo this step, as the marshmallows will harden.

Microwave frosting 15-25 seconds, until melted. Drizzle over bars. Top with remaining peanuts and colored candy pieces.

Cool completely, cut into bars. (Betty says you can get 24 bars out of this pan)

The recipe above reflects the changes I made to Betty's recipe. I found that 15 minutes in the oven was WAY too long for the marshmallows (read my note above). Also, I added colored candy pieces - the bars were for a co-workers birthday, and I wanted them to include her favorite colors.

All in all, the bars are very good - not nearly as dense as brownies, yet not as airy as cake. They have some fluffiness to them, but still taste rich due to all the toppings. I've never been a huge rocky road fan, but after making these bars, I may just be converted!