Toasted Almond Brittle Bars-So Yummy!

Normally, chocolate and peanut butter sweets are my weakness, but this year I tried a new recipe I found called "Toasted Almond Brittle Bars" from McCormick. They are absolutely delicious, they taste exactly like almond extract smells; a little like marzipan, just nutty and sweet. And despite the word "brittle" being in the name, they aren't hard at all, due to the softer crust. Here's the recipe, hope you enjoy them like I do! Photo below is my own.

Toasted Almond Brittle Bars

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Almond Brittle Topping

1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1- Mix flour, 1 cup butter, confectioner's sugar and salt in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until coarse crumbs form. Press firmly and evenly into greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven 20 minutes or until golden brown.
2- For the topping, mix corn syrup, brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter and cream in medium saucepan. Bring just to boil on medium heat. Remove from heat. Stir in almonds and extracts. Pour over hot crust, spreading evenly.
3- Bake 15 minutes or light golden brown and until filling is set. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes about 3 dozen bars.






Enjoy!

Easy Oreo Truffles, Easy AND Delicious!

Last Christmas, I made these truffles and they went FAST. The recipe is insanely easy and makes a decent batch, depending on how large you make them. I would suggest no larger than the recipe states, 1" balls, as they are rich. I've made these myself this weekend so below the photo from the Kraft foods website is my own photo. Also, please see my notes under the recipe to make it a little easier for you.


Easy Oreo Truffles

Ingredients
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 pkg Oreo cookies, finely crushed (about 4 1/4 cups), divided
2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker's Semi Sweet Chocolate, melted


Instructions
Mix cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended
Shape into 48 (1 inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.


My notes:
1- Upon crushing the cookies, I suggest placing a few cookies in a large zippered baggie and crushing them with a rolling pin. You will want to crush a few at a time because in my experience, it's a little to hard to try to crush them all at once and you need really fine pieces.
2- It's much easier to mix the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese with your hands (yes you'll be sticky, just have paper towels handy) and then scoop out the balls with a melon baller.
3- While dipping the balls, you can use 2 forks to roll them around in the chocolate and coat them better. This way, it's also easier to remove them from the chocolate and place them on the baking sheet.





After making them this weekend, here are my own!




Enjoy!

Absolutely Delish- Grecian Party Squares!

This appetizer has been one of my favorites for a few years; my mom used to have Pampered Chef parties and the sales lady that would be there would always have these for everyone to try. Normally I'm pretty picky about food and refuse to eat spinach (Popeye, I am not!); but these are amazing and the spinach just blends in so well with the other flavors, I don't even notice it. We made these over the weekend when we had family visiting and I've been enjoying them!

Here's the recipe (do note, they are telling you to use specific cookware or baking items, this is just because they want you to buy them at the parties. Your normal cookware will be just fine):

Grecian Party Squares

2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 envelope (.9 ounce) dry vegetable soup and dip mix
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 package (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375°F. Unroll one package of crescent dough across one end of Stoneware Bar Pan with longest sides of dough across width of pan. Repeat with remaining package of dough, filling pan. Using Baker's Roller(TM), roll dough to seal perforations and press up sides to form crust. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown; remove from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack.

Meanwhile, in Classic Batter Bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream and soup mix; mix well. Drain spinach in small Colander, squeezing out as much moisture as possible; add to batter bowl. Drain artichokes and water chestnuts in colander; chop with Food Chopper. Add artichokes, water chestnuts, feta cheese and garlic pressed with Garlic Press to batter bowl; mix well.

Spread spinach mixture evenly over crust. Using Deluxe Cheese Grater, grate Parmesan cheese over filling. Bake 10-12 minutes or until heated through. Remove from oven; cut into squares with Utility Knife. Serve using Mini-Serving Spatula.

Yield: 24 appetizers

Nutrients per serving: (1 square): Calories 150, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 10 mg, Carbohydrate 12 g, Protein 4 g, Sodium 360 mg, Fiber 2 g

Cook's Tip: One-half of a 1.7-ounce envelope dry vegetable soup and dip mix can be substituted for the .9-ounce envelope, if desired.

Source: Pampered Chef




They will look like this once you get them all cut up and ready to serve. This is not my picture, it was found on a Google search so credit goes to that person!

Dessert Time! Chocolate Brownies!

I've had an obsession with brownies lately, I hadn't had them in a long time so now I've already made 2 batches lol. I barely got any out of the first one!
This is a super simple recipe, makes the brownies moist, not dry or chewy like some are.

You need...
1/2 cup butter or margarine -- softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups chocolate syrup
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

And the steps:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
2. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar.
3. Add syrup, eggs and flour. Beat well.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of
7. pan.
8. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.


Enjoy!!

(Picture from apartmenttherapy.com)

Monday Recipe- Strawberry Banana Bread

We made this bread over the weekend and it was delicious. There are also some variations of the recipe where you can take a shortcut and buy pre-made strawberry muffin mix, but to me, it tastes better to use real strawberries, if possible. It's really easy and SO yummy, either for breakfast, a treat at night, or just anytime you want a snack!

1 c. fresh strawberries
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 c. sweet butter
1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar
2 eggs
2 very ripe bananas, mashed

Toss strawberries with 2 tablespoons flour and set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in small bowl. Cream butter slowly adding sugar, beating at medium speed; add eggs, beating well. Add flour mixture and bananas. Mix until dry ingredients are moist. Gently fold in strawberries. Spoon batter into loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.


{{Picture from the Culinary Infatuation blog}}