Your IT guy knows how to make monster cookie bar strips

He’s been holding out on you. No, it’s not about monster (strip) bars, your IT guy knows how to bake! His secret is out – and from one big, bad batch, you can make a 10-pound pan of golden brown monster bars and at least two dozen Monster cookies easily mistaken for small pizzas jammed with M&M’s, oatmeal, peanut butter, and chocolate chips.

For the sake of privacy, we’ll call him Rich. Ok, maybe it wasn’t his idea to cut the bars into strips and triangles, but Rich was the one who brought these to work in 2007. And I’ve only used his monster cookie recipe since.

I recommend you use a sturdy, wooden spoon toward the end of the mixing process in this recipe. If you try to whip these up with nothing but your electric mixer, it’ll start smoking like a hot summer night’s fire pit.

I like to make a pan of bars and roll the rest of the dough into big cookie balls and put them in the freezer to bake another day. (Use a cookie scoop so you are making similar sizes.) Line the balls of dough on a large cookie sheet(s) and put them in the freezer. Don’t let the cookies touch each other. Once they are frozen, you can put the cookie balls in plastic containers or plastic freezer bags. When you want fresh-baked Monster Cookies, grab how many ever you want from the freezer and thaw. Then bake as usual at 350° for approximately 12-16 minutes, depending on how large they are.

Monster Cookies, Bars and Strips

2 sticks softened butter

2-1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

2 cups white sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 teaspoons baking soda

6 eggs

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

1 Tablespoon vanilla

9 cups quick-cooking oats

2-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

3-1/4 cups plain M&M’s

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare pans. If you want to use all your cookie dough at once, you can make one 13×9 pan of bars (baking time takes about 20-25 minutes) and at least two dozen large cookies (baking time takes about 12-16 minutes). Or, you can make two 13×9 pans of bars. Or, if you only want cookies, you can make at least six dozen large cookies or even a few more dozen if you make them smaller.

1. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream softened butter and peanut butter together.
2. Add white sugar and brown sugar, beating until well combined.
3. Add baking soda.
4. Add eggs and beat well.
5. Pour in the corn syrup and vanilla. Continue mixing until everything is incorporated well.
6. At this point, you should be able to add at least a few cups of the oats and still use your mixer. But once the dough gets too heavy, stop using the mixer and continue adding oats stirring the batter with a wooden spoon. Use your sexy arm muscles.
7. Stir in the M&M’s and chocolate chips.

If you are making bars, spread half of the dough into a 13×9-inch pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until nice and golden brown. If you take the pan out before they turn golden brown, the middle will not be done.

For cookies, baking time depends on how large you make them. Place on cookie sheet. Using the back of a spoon, gently push down the dough a little but so that they spread out instead of baking in one mound. Bake at 350° for 12-16 minutes, or until golden brown. I like to sprinkle just a tiny bit of pink Himalayan salt or sea salt on mine when they come out of the oven.

That’s it! Now you’ve got enough monster cookies, bars, and strips to share with your favorite IT guys. And gals.

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Minty Cream Cheese Cookies

It’s a cookie that swerves completely off the track from traditional chocolate chip cookies. You’ll grab a cookie thinking you’ll eat just one. You take a bite, roll your eyes back in delight as you chew the lightly crisp edge. With the next bite comes the soft, dense center that’s dotted with minty chocolate chips. A few more bites and you don’t even realize it but your hand is reaching for another.

1 cup butter-flavor shortening

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-3/4 cups mint chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add shortening, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until well combined.

About half a cup at a time, mix the flour into the cream cheese batter on low speed just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. The cookies don’t spread so they are about the size that you place them on the pan.

Bake 8 minutes or until just lightly browned. Don’t overbake. Cool a few minutes in the pan and then transfer to a cooling rack. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

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You know how most cookies are best warm out of the oven? These are good then too, but they seem even better after they’ve been sitting around a few hours or a day or so. What’s even better is if you make the dough, refrigerate it a day or two and then bake them. But keep your eye on the dough. Once the kids find out it doesn’t contain eggs, they’ll be sneaking spoonfuls when you’re not looking.

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{So What if I’m a Rebel | Dark Cherry Chocolate Cookies}

Is there a “rule book” in food photography that says you can’t eat bites of your photo subject? Even if it is oozing warm chocolate? Because I just realized that I do it a lot, and after taking a quick surf through the cookies section on the Food Network and Betty Crocker websites, it doesn’t appear that those people are hungry when they shoot photos of their sweets. Hmm. I guess I’ll have to publish my own cookbook – with pages of scrumptious recipes and nicely lit pictures of scattered crumbs and dirty dishes. Just like at home. I’ve never been one to follow rules anyway.

The only thing I ever knew to use cherry chips for was my mom’s recipe for Cherry Bing Bars (I’ll share the recipe with you soon). So last year, I created a recipe for cupcakes using cherry flavored baking morsels (chips) and black cherry soda. (Yum!) And now I have a new cookie to share with you.

{Dark Cherry Chocolate Cookies}

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1-1/4 cups brown sugar (I like to use dark but light is fine, too.)

1 teaspoon cherry extract

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons corn syrup

2-1/4 cups flour

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped cherry flavored baking morsels (I grate them finely in my cheese grater.)

1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chips (I use Ghirardelli because they melt nicely into the cookie.)

Powdered sugar to sprinkle on cooled cookies if desired

Preheat oven to 375˚. *Or prepare dough and let sit, covered in the refrigerator.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, soda, and salt. In a large bowl, cream together softened butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and cherry extract until creamy. Beat in eggs until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in corn syrup. Gradually beat in flour mixture until combined. Stir in the chopped cherry chips and the cacao chips.

Drop by extra-large teaspoons full onto a baking sheet. (Makes 6 cookies at a time on regular sized cookie sheets.) Bake at 375˚ for 15 minutes or until the edges are crispy and the middle is just set. Cool on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack. When completely cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

*I read a cookie baking study last year but I don’t know where I saw it. Here’s what I remember though – if you mix up a batch of cookie dough and bake them right away, they will taste good. If you stick that dough, covered, in the refrigerator for a day and then bake them, they will taste even better. But if you stir up a batch of cookie dough and let it sit covered in the refrigerator for two or three days, the cookies will come out more flavorful, more delicious than ever. After about four days or so in the fridge I think, they just don’t get any better so you might as well bake at day two or three.

What recipes do you use that call for cherry chips?

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Noir Bars | Luscious Chocolate with a Hint of Espresso

I hope you are enjoying your winter so far! I’m on a week-long holiday, the kitchen is overflowing with homemade sweets, and after years and years of trying to like wine, I’ve finally found two that I love. All is merry and bright!

My Christmas baking this year included Noir bars. It’s the first time I’ve made them. It won’t be the last. I can’t open the refrigerator this week without eating one.

If you aren’t a coffee or espresso drinker, don’t shy away from this recipe — the espresso simply intensifies the chocolate flavors. The filling includes a frothy, creamy combination of cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon and chocolate.

The recipe is from one of my Betty Crocker^® magazines. Click here to view the Noir Bar recipe.

What new recipe(s) did you try this holiday season?

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{Chocolate Explosion Cheesecake with Caramel Shots}

Friday was National Cheesecake Day! This calls for a sinful and chocolatey celebration of caloric sort. I’ve been wanting to try this cheesecake from the Paula Deen’s Chocolate Celebration 2008 Special Issue, pretty much since I bought the magazine. Knowing that 30 July is “the big day” I decided to finally try it. And based on my “test kitchen” reviews (a.k.a. shared  it at work and with family), it was a hit!

Chocolate Explosion Cheesecake

Crust:

2 cups crushed chocolate graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Chocolate Layer:

6 (1-ounce squares) semisweet chocolate

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Cheesecake Layer:

1/2 cup caramel ice-cream topping

1 (16 1/2 ounce) package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sour cream

Chocolate Ganache:

3 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 300˚.

To prepare crust: In a medium bowl, combine cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted butter, stirring to combine. Press crust into bottom and up sides of 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 6 minutes; let cool.

  

To prepare chocolate layer: In a medium saucepan, combine chocolate and butter and melt over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. Whisk in sugar, eggs (at room temperature)  and flour until just combined. Pour into bottom of cooled crust; bake for 15 minutes; let cool.

To prepare cheesecake layer: Spread caramel topping evenly over chocolate (leave about an inch from the side of the pan or the caramel edges will become hard). Cut cookie dough crosswise into 1-inch slices. Place slices in an even layer over caramel, pressing gently together to seal edges.

What? No way, I was NOT drinking this amazing caramel from a shot glass. I don’t know whose that is…

 It’s my friend Caitlin’s fault for introducing me to this amazing “sauce” from her Better Than Sex Cake recipe. {She’s an enabler.}

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese (at room temperature) and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs (room temperature), one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and flour just until combined. Stir in sour cream. Pour over cookie dough layer and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven, and gently run a knife around edges to release crust from sides of pan. Let cool completely.

To prepare chocolate ganache: In a small saucepan, combine chocolate and whipping cream, melt over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. Spread over cooled cheesecake. (I prefer to decorate the cheesecake with the ganache so I put it in my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator and pipe the ganache on the cheesecake. I also couldn’t resist drizzling more of the gooey caramel on top. You may also find me serving each slice with a shot of caramel. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.

 

You will definately want to pair this with a cup of hot coffee or an ice-cold glass of milk. Do you like rich chocolatey cheesecake or do you prefer the lighter vanilla cheesecake with fruit topping?

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