Homemade Twix Bars

These were delicious!! This recipes has been adapted from a recipe on My Kitchen Cafe. Melanie over at My Kitchen Cafe has an incredible blog full of recipes. If you are looking for some great additions to your recipe box, start there! On to the recipe...

Homemade Twix Bars

*Makes one 9X13-inch pan of bars*

80 club crackers (I used multi-grain)
1 cup butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup fimrly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels

Line an ungreased 9X13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an extension of foil on either end. Line the foil with 1 layer of club crackers, cutting to fit if necessary (in my 9X13-inch pan, the crackers lined up evenly without the need to trim).

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, milk and sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. (Begin timing 5 minutes from when you see the first bubbles.) Remove from heat and spread half of butter mixture evenly over crackers. Place another single layer of crackers evenly over butter mixture, cutting to fit if necessary. Spread remaining butter mixture evenly over crackers. Top evenly with remaining crackers.

In a small saucepan (or in the microwave), combine peanut butter, semi-sweet chocolate morsels, and milk chocolate morsels. Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Spread evenly over top of crackers. Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour. Lift foil overhang and remove bars from pan. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator. Eat as many as you can before the rest of the family discovers them. :)

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Looking back six or seven years ago, I can still remember making this cheesy bread on my very first day of Food Prep 101 in college. It's warm, cheesy and just plan delicious. All it requires is a cheap loaf of french bread and a few simple ingredients and you have the perfect bread to accompany a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

1 loaf french bread, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 cups mozzerella cheese
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. oregano

Stir the mayo, cheeses, garlic and oregano together in a bowl. If needed add more cheese if it seems to wet and more mayonnaise if the cheese isn't sticking together. Spread the cheese mixture evenly on the two halved of french bread. Broil on high for 2-3 minutes, watching VERY carefully. When the cheese is bubbly and just starting to brown, it's ready!

Double Chocolate Cookies

Wow... it has been almost six months since I have posted a recipe. That is just crazy. Any readers I may have attracted with the fabulous wheat bread recipe I posted in January have probably thrown in the towel on this blog. The excuse I usually give myself is that I don't have a photo to go along with my yummiest recipes. A photo really is worth a thousand words. Well, photos or no photos, I am ready to recommit to posting more often. Once a week? Once a month? I am not sure. We'll see. For now though, I do have a delicious recipe for you to try...

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Time Out for Women. The car ride to the conference was almost two hours. I knew that there would be at least seven ladies in our vehicle and that we would definitely need sustenance. This recipe called out to me. It fit the bill perfectly. Chocolaty, gooey, chewy goodness. I give you...

Photo By: My Kitchen Cafe

Thick and Chewy Double-Chocolate Cookies
from My Kitchen Cafe

**Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear underbaked at first but will firm up as they cool.**

2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ cup (1 ½ ounces) baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or melt the equivalent of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
1 ½ cups (10 ½ ounces) packed light brown sugar
½ cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips)

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (50% power for 2 minutes, then stir and microwave in 20 second intervals until chocolate is melted - be careful not to overheat or chocolate will sieze). In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork; set aside.

Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Finally add the chocolate chips. Do not overbeat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners (this is pretty important - if the cookies are baked on a greased baking sheet only, they will probably stick). Roll the dough into 1 ½ inch balls and place them on the cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 ½ inches apart.

Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets about 5 minutes or until set and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Wonderfully Fluffy and Soft 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Fluffy and Soft 100% Whole Wheat Bread

This bread was FANTASTIC. I used fresh ground white wheat flour and it was so yummy. This is my new favorite bread recipe. I can't wait to make it again because it was so easy! I didn't know whole wheat bread could be so yummy and quick. This bread is incredibly light and fluffy, perfect for sandwiches or simply slathered in butter. Enjoy!

Makes 2 loaves.

Mix:
3 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1 1/4 T. instant yeast

Add:
2 1/2 cups steaming hot water

Add:
1 T. salt
1/3 cup oil
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/3 T. lemon juice

Lastly, Add:
2 1/2 cups wheat flour


Mix together the first three ingredients in your mixer with a dough hook. Add water all at once and mix for 1 minute; cover and let rest for 10 minutes (this is called sponging). Add salt, oil, honey or sugar, and lemon juice and beat for 1 minute. Add last flour, 1 cup at a time, beating between each cup. Beat for about 6-10 minutes until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. This makes very soft dough. It may not pull away from the sides of the bowl until the end of the kneading process. You may add a little bit more flour if necessary.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to lukewarm and turn off. Turn dough onto oiled counter top; divide, shape into loaves place in oiled bread pans. Let rise in warm oven for 15 to 30 minutes until dough reaches top of pan. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 F and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks. Brush crust with butter for a soft crust.

* For a sweeter loaf, add slightly more sugar or honey and slightly less salt.

**Another tip..when the dough is put into the bread pans, squish the dough softly into the corners of your bread loaf pans. This will make your bread cook more evenly and not have the large lump in the middle of your loaf.

Recipe found at: http://myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/search/label/Food%20Storage%20Recipes

Fun with Food Storage Network

Check out a cool new website all about food storage!!

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Nutella Truffles

It has been so long since I posted, I thought it was high time to post a really yummy recipe! Try this one on for size.

Nutella Truffles

1 c. Nuttela
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. crisp rice cereal, crushed
8 oz. powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients until well blended. Form into 3/4" balls. Chill

Melt in the microwave:

2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4c. shortening

Carefully dip each chilled ball into the melted chocolate. Place on waxed paper to harden. Refrigerate if necessary to keep them firm. Enjoy!

This Week's Adventure: Sweet Potatoes

Round One:

Sweet Potato French "Fries"

4 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into fry strips
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 c. olive oil
1 egg white

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Beat egg white in a small bowl until nice and frothy. Add spices and mix again. Mix sweet potato fries with the seasoned egg white in a ziplock bag and shake until the potatoes are completely coated. Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray and then evenly arrange the potatoes on the cookie sheet. Bake for 30-45 mins, turning every 15 minutes. Serve with ketchup or eat them plain. Yummy!