Did you know there's a surefire way to make any treat better?  It's called caramel...and chocolate...and pecans; otherwise known as turtles!
Turtle Rice Crispy 
Treats
Yield: 12 bars   Printable Recipe

4 tbsp salted butter
6 cups mini marshmallows
1 tsp vanilla
5 cups rice crispy treats

Caramel:
2/3 cup salted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup milk

Topping:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the marshmallows and stir until the marshmallows have melted. Add the vanilla extract. Stir in the crispy rice cereal, one cup at a time, until well combined. Press the mixture into a greased 9x9 baking pan.

Make the caramel: In a small saucepan add the butter, brown sugar, and milk. Bring to a boil and cook until caramel begins to thicken and pull away from the pan.


Pour the caramel sauce over the rice crispy treats. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the caramel, followed by the chopped pecans. Place in the refrigerator until the chocolate sets back up. Serve and try not to drool. Enjoy!


What did you all do this weekend? Did you make any taste treats? Drop me a comment below, I'd love to hear what everyone was up to!

I have a confession. I may or may not have eaten an embarrassing amount of Hershey's candy cane kisses yesterday.

Oh come on.  Do you really think I ate all those by myself? No, wait...don't answer that. But let's just say I had, can you blame me?


While I did eat one or two, ahem, let's just say an indeterminable amount. Most of them went into making these puppies. I call them Candy Cane Kiss Shortbread Bars. A buttery shortbread crust, a layer of toasted macadamia nuts and melty candy cane kisses, make these bars delicious.




Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. In an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt. Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 pan. Spread the chopped nuts evenly over the crust.

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Place the unwrapped candy cane kisses in a blender or food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Spread the candy pieces evenly over the hot crust/nuts layer. Allow to sit until the heat from the crust has melted the candy. You may need to use a spoon to evenly spread the melted candy. It doesn't need to be smooth, just make sure all of the crust is covered.


Allow to cool in the refrigerator until the candy has hardened and set back up. Cut into bars. Eat and enjoy!

Recipe Notes:
I experimented with several ways to spread the candy on the crust. Spreading the blended pieces was the best way to keep the pretty swirly effect of the candy cane kisses, while getting even coverage. Melting the candy beforehand then pouring over the crust will result in a solid pink candy layer, rather than the swirled effect. Also, when cutting the bars, make sure your knife goes all the way to the pan and your cuts are clean. Otherwise the candy layer will separate when trying to remove the bars.

Good morning! How's your Monday so far? Mine has been hectic. Thanks in part to a forgotten show-and-tell day at my sons school - which resulted in a mad dash back to the house to stash a bag full of toys for him to pick from. Because you know if I had brought just one, inevitably that one would have been the WRONG one.

Yes, my six year old is becoming a big boy. Gone are the days when everything Mommy did was perfect.

Sniff.

Anyway, crisis averted and I made another mad dash back to the house to get this post up. What's the rush you ask? Well, because this post is part of a recipe contest! If you have a soft spot in your heart for dear 'ol Amber, I'd reeeeeally love for you to vote for me.

Hypothetically, I'd come to your house and do all your laundry forever and ever. Hypothetically, of course. That counts...right?

Recently, I was asked to be a part of a Sweetest 16 Baking Recipe Contest, featuring 16 food bloggers. Since I'm a baker at heart and I love experimenting in the kitchen, how could I say no?

THE MISSION: Choose at least one ingredient from a box of goodies I was sent, create a delicious recipe with it. Go head to head against the other great bloggers in a March Madness style sweet 16 contest.

THE RESULT: One of the products I received was a Raspberry Cake and Pastry filling, so I decided to work with that. After rummaging through my cabinets to see what I had, I zeroed in on a fat bag of heaven's nectar - a.k.a white chocolate chips. What goes better with raspberry than white chocolate? So I threw them together and made a pan full of delicious babies that I like to call White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Bars.

They are gooood!

Each blogger will advance by popular vote in a March Madness-style tournament, and voting begins today!! The first round ends at 9:00pm on 12/12, so if you fee like it, pretty please, head on over and vote for my White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Bars!

White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl Bars

Yield: 12-16 bars   Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup Solo Raspberry Cake and Pastry Filling


Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and dry milk. Stir in the eggs and oil.. Press two-thirds of the mixture into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Set remaining cake mixture aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the condensed milk, white chocolate chips and butter. Heat uncovered until chips and butter are melted. Stir until smooth. Pour over the crust.

Drop tablespoons of raspberry filling evenly over the white chocolate layer. Using a knife, drag the knife through the raspberry dollops, creating a swirl effect.

Drop teaspoonfuls of remaining cake mixture over the raspberry layer. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting.

Optional: Garnish bars with drizzled melted white chocolate.

I've got another tasty recipe of my mom's here. We just got to visit with them for a week, and she made these bars for us that were so good. 

Of course, anything with chocolate in it gets a thumbs up at our house, so these were destined to be a hit. They are so chewy and gooey right out of the oven, and the next day after they had set up a bit more, they were still chewy and delicious.

I adapted the recipe to suit my own tastes, and I love how simple they are.



Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and dry milk. Stir in the eggs and oil.. Press two-thirds of the mixture into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Set remaining cake mixture aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the milk, chocolate chips and butter. Heat uncovered until chips and butter are melted. Stir until smooth. Pour over the crust.

Drop teaspoonfuls of remaining cake mixture over top. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting.

Do you like cranberries? I think they're one of those love 'em or hate 'em foods. For me, I can't have a holiday meal without my precious cranberry sauce.

There's just something about the sweetness mixed with the tart, that makes each bite of turkey, stuffing, and whatever else you have piled on your plate, taste infinitely better.

In my humble opinion at least. I even sneak into the fridge to grab spoonfuls of the sauce - all on it's own. That's my relationship with cranberry sauce.

Anyway, enough about my love of sauce - the cranberry kind.

I also love cranberries in my desserts, and when I came across this Tasty Kitchen recipe for Cranberry Orange Bars, I just had to give them a try. I love how simple they are, and with just a few ingredients, you can have a great dessert to add to your holiday meal in no time. This also a great way to use up any leftover cranberry sauce you have from your turkey day meal!

You can snag the printable recipe and see my full post over on the Tasty Kitchen blog. So go check it out!

What's your favorite Thanksgiving leftover? Leave a comment below and let me know. :)

My child is not graceful.

So as I was laying in bed, trying to go back to sleep - not an easy task when 40 pounds of knees, elbows and flailing limbs has you in his grasp - I began thinking of food. I've been throwing around variations to my Blackberry Crumble Bars for a while, and last night I really wanted to turn these into a chocolate lovers best friend.

It was simple really. Just swap the berries for chocolate chips, and voila! Chocolate Chip Crumble Bars. These turned out so good. I'm talking lick the pan good. Good thing we have company coming tomorrow, otherwise I would be in trouble if I had these sitting around all to myself.

Chocolate Chip Crumb Bars
Servings: 9 squares   Printable Recipe

Crust & Topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt 
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, chilled

Filling:
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup sour cream 
6 tbsp flour
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk chocolate chips, plus 1 tbsp flour

Directions:

For crust/topping: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, and add to the flour mixture. Using a fork for pastry cutter, cut the butter in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture to use as the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan, and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cool for 10-15 minutes.

For filling: Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then add the white and brown sugar, sour cream, flour, salt and vanilla extract.  Toss the chocolate chips with the tablespoon of flour, this helps prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom. Gently fold the chocolate chips into the batter and pour the mixture over the crust. Scatter the remaining flour mixture evenly over the filling, and bake 35-45 minutes.

I bought a pint of blackberries at the store. Every time I opened the fridge, they stared at me. “Eat me”, they called. Their sweetly tempting faces were urging me to throw my plans to the wind, and shovel handfuls of juicy berries into my face.

I did not give in.

You see, I had plans for those babies. Plans that involved crust and crumble, brown sugar and orange zest. I had told my son I would make him a special snack today, since he seemed to be getting bored with what we had in the house. When I found a pile of half-eaten animal crackers on my living room floor, and was told they weren’t good anymore…because he farted on them….I figured it was a good time to whip these bars up.

Can’t have my child eating fart dusted animal crackers.


Blackberry Cobbler Bars
Servings: 9 squares   Printable Recipe

Crust & Topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, chilled

Filling:
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
6 tbsp flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8-oz  fresh blackberries, rinsed and drained

Directions:

For crust/topping: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, and add to the flour mixture. Using a fork for pastry cutter, cut the butter in until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture to use as the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan, and bake for 10-12 minutes.  Cool for 10-15 minutes.

For filling: Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then add the white and brown sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, orange zest and vanilla extract.  Gently fold in the berries and pour the mixture over the crust. Scatter the remaining flour mixture evenly over the filling, and bake 35-45 minutes.

Cool for 1 hour before cutting into bars. Serve with fresh whipped cream, cold ice cream, or just eat straight from the pan!

I’m a sucker for anything on a popsicle stick – no pun intended! Okay, maybe a LITTLE bit intended. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what I wanted to do for my next post, and a tiny idea formed that turned into a decidedly tasty outcome.

I’m sure you’ve seen the multiple sugar cookie bar recipes floating around the blogosphere, and since I hadn’t tried them yet myself (gasp!) I decided this was a great time to dive in. I wanted to add my own twist to it though – enter the popsicle stick.  After baking the cookie bars, I cut out flower shaped bars, impaled the poor little guys with a popsicle stick, and them drowned them in a candy coating.

My son and his friends LOVED these treats. Of course, what little boy doesn’t love something that’s green?

Note: I intended to use a shamrock shaped cookie cutter for St. Patrick’s Day treats, but I couldn’t find one, so let’s imagine they turned into more of a springtime themed treat.

Sugar Cookie Bar Pops
serves 8-10 pops | printable recipe


1 stick of butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

candy melts

sprinkles/decorations

food coloring (optional)


Directions:
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each. Add vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, mixing just until combined. Spread the dough onto a greased sheet pan (I used a 9x12 pan ).

Bake at  375 F for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely. Using a cookie cutter or knife, cut out your desired shape. Insert a popsicle stick into the bottom of each bar.


In a microwaveable bowl, cook the candy melts on low until they are melted. If desired, add some food coloring to make them festive! Spoon the melted candy coating over your cooled sugar cookie bar, then sprinkle with your decorations. Allow the candy coating to set. You can serve as is, or for something a little different, pop the sugar cookie pops into the freezer for about an hour. Now you have a frozen sugar cookie pops. Yum!