"Crack Brownies" Version 2

Every Thanksgiving my mom makes an array of amazing desserts, and always has a tray with all different types of cookies and squares. My Aunt Amy particularly looks forward to this one type of bar that never ceases to be included on that Thanksgiving platter. Because these bars never had an official name, we have deemed them "crack brownies" for their ridiculously addicting-ness.

Make sure to evenly pour and spread.

At this time I am forbidden to disclose the exact recipe (hence the "version 2"), but I have since made my own version of these "crack brownies" that are based upon the recipe for magic cookie bars on the back of the Eagle sweetened condensed milk that is an easy, and tasty classic that's just as easy to turn up a notch.

You can use really any type of chips or nuts you like to create your own favorite version, but here's mine- 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter

3 cups graham cracker crumbs

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1 cups semisweet chocolate morsels

1 cup butterscotch chips

2 cups flaked coconut

1 ½ cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 F and grease a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Over low heat, melt the butter in a saucepan. Once melted, add in the graham cracker crumbs and cinnamon. Stir well and pour this mixture into the greased pan and pat it down evenly so it is distributed evenly throughout the entire pan.

In a bowl, dump the different chips, coconut, and nuts and mix with a spoon or your hands (cleaned of course).

Pour the bowl’s mixture over the graham cracker crust evenly, and press this mixture down slightly as well.

Then, pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over everything.

Bake for 22-26 minutes until lightly browned.

Let cool before slicing.

The sweetened condensed milk gives these an almost
fudge-like texture too.

These are great to make when you're running out of eggs in the house and need to bake but don't feel like putting in a lot of effort or time. Don't worry though, everyone loves these.

Walnut Pie Bars

Crisis, alert! No flour left in the house! I was so ready to bake (not only because I wanted to, but I needed baked goods to bring into school) and I opened the flour jar and nothing! I looked in the cabinet, rummaged through the shelves, and still nothing. On top of it, we are out of sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and other ingredients for no bake treats so I was in a serious dilemma until I discovered a package of Betty Crocker cookie mix in the bak of my kitchen cabinet.

I usually never use store-bought mixes. But in times like these, I was desperate. Of course I couldn't just make the sugar cookies as directed, and instead made up my own recipe to take a plain mix and make it look homemade- I guess you can call it semi-homemade baking.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Crust-

1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

½ cup butter

1 egg

Filling-

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup corn syrup

2 tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups chopped walnuts

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.

In large bowl, stir all Crust ingredients until dough forms. Press dough in bottom of pan using floured fingers. Bake 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, stir all Pecan Filling ingredients until well blended. Pour over hot crust.

Bake 15 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely, and then cut into bars.

Sweet Potato Brownies

The other day my mom accidentally bought sweet potato puree instead of pumpkin puree. Since I didn't have any recipes using sweet potato puree and I wasn't really sure how to use it, I decided to turn to Martha, Martha Stewart I mean.

Since my family is pretty healthy anyways, I thought her recipe for sweet potato brownies looked worthwhile to try. I added in walnuts (which turned out to be a good addition) and they turned out to be immensely fudgey and good tasting brownies that you don't feel icky after eating.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

Using good cocoa really
makes a difference.

½ stick butter

2/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup whole-wheat pastry flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup sweet-potato puree

1 large egg

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon instant coffee powder

½ cup walnuts

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter. Remove pan from heat, and stir in cocoa. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Stir in sugar and sweet-potato puree, then egg. In a small bowl, stir together vanilla and coffee until coffee is dissolved; add to cocoa mixture.

Add flour mixture to cocoa mixture and stir until no traces of flour remain. Spoon into prepared pan; smooth the top.

Make sure you smooth out the top
before placing in the oven.

Bake until surface of brownies looks barely dry and an inserted knife comes out with a few moist crumbs, about 20 minutes. Cool to room temperature before serving.

To make these more decadent, you could always add in a half cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I would suggest you first try them to see if you want that added taste.

Very fudgey with walnut chunks.

Sweet potatoes are actually considered a "super food". One medium-sized sweet potato has ons of beta-carotene and a day's value of vitamin A as well as a third of your daily vitamin C's needs. One sweet potato even has as much fiber as a  ½ cup of oatmeal.

Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

My Dad absolutely loves tennis and has for a while now volunteered to teach tennis to underprivileged children on the weekends with the program Grassroots. As a special treat, my Dad invited some of the kids over to our house to watch a tennis match and have pizza. In order to top off their meal, I decided to make special cookies for them to enjoy after pizza. 

They scarfed them up instantly and told me they were the best cookies they ever had.

Right out of the oven.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/44 cups oats

1 stick softened butter

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

1 egg

1½ teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup dried cranberries

2/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chunks

½ cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease cookie sheets and set them aside.

Beat together the butter and sugars and slowly add in the egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Slowly stir this dry mixture into the wet mixture until well mixed. Afterwards, stir in the oats, and finally the cranberries, chocolate chunks, and walnuts.

Roll the dough into small balls and place on the greased baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes so the centers are still soft.

Let cool and then remove from cookie sheets.

Toffee Cookies

I used a cellophane bag and a large cupcake
liner to package the cookies nicely.

Being a senior in high school there has been a lot of news lately coming in from colleges for my friends. In the beginning of the year when people were hearing from their ED schools, I made some good luck cookies for my friends Brandon, Zack, and Olivia. They got into Cornell, UPenn, and Dartmouth respectively, so we deemed by cookies to be good luck charms.

My friend Steven is hearing back tomorrow from school and I promised I would bake him something for good luck.

Bake until they are slightly brown on the edges
so they're a mix of crispy and soft.

I hope he gets in!

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 stick softened butter

½ cups sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup toffee bits

¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease two baking sheets.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in one bowl and in another beat together the butter in sugar. Once mixed, beat in the eggs and vanilla to the butter and sugar mixture. After it is well blended at in the dry mixture until mixed. Finally, stir in the walnuts, chocolate chips, and toffee bits.

Spoon 1-inch balls of dough onto the greased cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool. 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Yesterday I was at Starbucks with my friend and she asked for a slice of pumpkin bread. I looked at it and said, “hey I bet I can make pumpkin bread that tastes better and is better for you than that.” My friend was glad to hear this remark because she knew it meant I would try it out and give her some, and since I don’t want to do any homework, that’s exactly what I did!

So here you go, a healthy version of pumpkin bread that doesn’t compromise health for taste.

Recipe:

Getting every last drop
out of the honey.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted melted butter

¼ cup honey

½ cup plus 2 ½ tablespoons packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 eggs

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree

1 ¾ cup white whole wheat flour

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

A clever is perfect to chop up nuts.

Preheat the oven to 325°F and lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk these dry ingredients together and set aside. In another large bowl, combine the melted butter, canola oil, honey, and ½ cup of the brown sugar and beat until well mixed. Add the eggs and lightly beat and finally mix in pumpkin and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in the chopped nuts last.

Crumble the brown sugar evenly
over the entire top layer.

Pour the batter into the greased pan, and tap the bottom so that the batter evens out. Take the last 2 ½ tablespoons of brown sugar and sprinkle it over the top of the batter.

Place the pan into the oven for 55 to 65 minutes.

Remove, and let cool before slicing.

If you don’t give the bread enough time to cool, then your slices will have no chance of coming out even.

The brown sugar on top is a perfect crumble, and especially perfect for people who love the texture of the muffin tops (and by that I don’t mean the rolls coming out on top of your pants).

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars

It’s Saturday and being a little tired from last night, Olivia and I thought we should chill out and bake…chocolate chip oatmeal bars of course!

This isn't an 8x8 but it is equivalent in size.

Ingredients:

1 ½ sticks of softened butter

1 egg

1 cup brown sugar

¼ cup milk

1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes

2 cups oats

¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ cup chopped walnuts

Don't mind the X on her hand.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together butter, vanilla, eggs, brown sugar, and milk. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and then slowly add it to the other mixed ingredients. Once those ingredients are mixed, stir in the sweetened coconut flakes and oats and then add the chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. Pour the batter into a greased 8 x 8-inch baking pan and bake for 23-25 minutes in the oven. Remove from the oven, let cool, and cut into squares.

These turned out thick and crisp on top with just the right amount of chocolate and nuts.