Sweet & Salty Cookie Dream Bars

I’m sorry but not really.

These are so good I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I should start by telling you that this recipe is the reason I made you a tuna wrap last week. You’re going to want to bust that lunch out on the day you make these bars because you’ll find it very hard to not eat the whole pan in one sitting. Trust me.

I started with my very favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, tweaked it a bit and then piled a whole bunch of marshmallows (impulse buy) and pretzels on top. If you follow me on Instagram then you know that I bought these amazing Toll House peanut butter filled milk chocolate chips (also an impulse buy) and I just had to put them in these bars. They are really delicious and I would have used just those but I like the slightly bitter taste of the semi-sweet chocolate chips in combination with the sweetness of the milk chocolate ones. So I used both, problem solved. One of the things I love about this recipe is that almost every bite has different flavors, it’s impossible to get bored while eating these. Some bites taste like a delicious chocolate chip cookie, some bites you taste all the peanut butter, some bites are all about the toasted marshmallow and just when you think these might be too sweet you’re surprised by a salty, crunchy bite from the pretzel. You really need to make these.

Sweet & Salty Cookie Dream Bars
12 bars, (cookie layer adapted from this recipe)

2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup organic coconut oil, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup Nestle Toll House Peanut Butter Filled DelightFulls
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup crushed pretzels

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with enough foil so there is some overhang on the sides and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a stand mixer, beat the coconut oil and sugars until light and fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla extract. Slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until completely combined. Gently stir in both chocolate chips until evenly distributed making sure not to break the filled chips, you can do this by hand.

Put the dough into the baking pan and with your hands gently press the dough into a single layer.Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven and set to broil. Add the marshmallows to the cookie and place it under the broiler for 1 -2 minutes or until they’re toasted to your liking – be careful because they will brown very quickly!

Remove from oven and immediately press the pretzels into the marshmallows, you can do this with a spatula or your hands but be careful not to burn yourself. 

Allow the cookie to cool and rest for 30 minutes. Once it’s cooled, gently lift it out of the pan using the foil overhang. Cut into 12 squares and enjoy!

Really, though? Come on.

Healthy Deep-Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie

Okay, I haven’t posted in a little while so I bring you a peace offering in the shape of a cookie. But not just any cookie. This is a cookie you can whip up in 5 minutes, less if you don’t cook it, which is totally acceptable and basically eating raw cookie dough (minus the raw egg). And you don’t have to share.

Now, let me tell you why this is healthy. First, you’re going to swap butter for coconut oil (bonus points if you use organic). Second, you’re going to use whole wheat flour instead of white flour. And if you’re following a vegan diet you can use vegan chocolate chip. I’m giving you options, man.

Healthy Deep-Dish Chocolate Chip Cookie
Makes one deep-dish cookie (Adapted from Love From The Oven)

1.5 tbsp organic extra virgin coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
Chocolate chips to taste

Melt the oil in a small bowl, add the sugars and vanilla and stir. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips. Mix everything until it’s well incorporated. You can pretty much just, ahem, eat it at this point. I mean, why not? Or you can put the dough into a ramekin and cook in the microwave for 30 seconds.

New Favorite Cookie

I’ve been meaning to share this cookie recipe with you for so long! Every time I made these cookies I ended up eating them before I had a chance to take a photo. Well, I had time to take the photo but I’m just so lost in cookie bliss that I forget. Every single time.

But last night I thought of you! I thought about how much better your life would be with this recipe in it. Unless you like thin, crunchy cookies, this is not the recipe for you. But if you are in the soft, chewy, buttery, thick cookie-lover category, look no farther, this is THE recipe. I owe all the credit to Amy!

Chocolate Chunk Coconut Cookie
2 – 3 dozen, adapted from That Windome Girl

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp butter, melted & cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

Adjust an oven rack to lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325º F. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Mix in the chocolate chunks and shredded coconut until incorporated.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into even balls and lay them on the baking sheets, spaced about 1 inche apart. Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, about 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Don’t forget the ice cold milk!

Chocolate Biscoff Marshmallow Mess

Hear me out. I call this a mess because I can’t really call it a bar. Your fingers will be covered in chocolaty goodness and your taste buds will want to personally thank you for making them feel true purpose. Yes, really.

I used Biscoff spread but you can use peanut butter if you prefer. I also added some instant coffee but I wish I added more because the flavor wasn’t as intense as I wanted, so you really could leave it out.

Chocolate Biscoff Marshmallow Mess
Adapted from these bars
Makes about 12 “messes” (the size of the baking dish you use will determine the size and thickness of your messes)

3/4 cups milk
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 Starbucks Via packet, or 2 tsp instant espresso
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup Biscoff spread or peanut butter, melted
4 cups mini marshmallows

Heat the milk and pour over the chocolate chips, stir until they are melted and smooth. Whisk in the coffee, Biscoff and powdered sugar. Allow the mixture to cool and stir in the marshmallows. Pour into a greased glass baking dish and allow to set in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Cut into squares and get messy.

Pretzel Peanut Butter Cups

It’s Wednesday and you need dessert. Trust me on this one.

I’ve made this recipe a few times and it’s awesome! But I went a little bit of a different route this time and whoa, it was uh-mazing. I don’t have the patience to make pretty peanut butter cups like these. No. These are messy and imperfect but perfect, you know? They hit the spot and they are made with natural ingredients so you can feel good about eating them all a few for dessert. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you store the finished product in the freezer. They are nice and cold when you bite in but then they slowly start to melt in your mouth. Heavenly.

Pretzel Peanut Butter Cups
Makes approx 9

1/2 cup peanut butter, I used Skippy Natural
6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, I used 1/2 bag of chips
2 tbsp milk
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp instant espresso powder, instant coffee will work
20 hard mini pretzels, crushed + more for topping, I used 5 more
9 cupcake liners *only if you are using a metal cupcake pan, I used a silicone pan so I did not use paper liners

Add the peanut butter, 2 tbsp sugar and crushed pretzels in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Stir until the peanut butter is melted the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the peanut butter mixture into the muffin tins/liners filling them about 3/4 of the way up. An easy way to do this is with a cookie dough scoop. Return the pan to the heat (nope – you don’t even need to clean out the pan) and add the chocolate, milk, espresso powder and remaining sugar. Stir until everything is melted together and the mixture coats the back of a spatula.

Pour the chocolate over the peanut butter.

Top with crushed pretzels.

Put the peanut butter cups in the freezer until they set, about 1 hour.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes with Chocolate Whipped Cream

Say that 5 times fast. Sheesh. Could I PICK longer titles? Please tell me there are some FRIENDS fans out there. I basically talk in FRIENDS quotes all day long. And don’t look at me like that. I see it in your eyes, you’ve got that oh no, she’s busting out the pumpkin already look. Starbucks has pumpkin spice now so I can do it, too.

So, I made cupcakes. But not just any cupcakes. These are soft and smooth and pillowy. And don’t forget the whipped cream all over the top. My mother-in-law shared a big secret with me a few years back. Sometimes, when she bakes a cake, she will add a packet of instant pudding to make sure it’s moist. Yes, I hate that word, too, but there’s no other way to describe it. Sorry. There is seriously, like, pudding swirling in your cake.

Anyway, I decided to make these into cupcakes so that I wouldn’t feel so guilty cutting into a large cake over and over again leaving evidence that I had been around. Instead, the cupcakes just start disappearing without a trace. Who knows, maybe I did only make 11, or 10… or 9. You get the idea.

Chocolate Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes*
Makes 12

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 package of instant pumpkin spice pudding
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter, melted at room temp

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, whipping cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Slowly, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth, if the batter is too stiff, slowly add the water to thin it out, you may use less than the 1/4 cup. Line a muffin tin with liners and add batter to each cup. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder

Add all the ingredients to a stand mixer and whip until soft peeks form. This frosting keeps well in the fridge and I wouldn’t recommend frosting the cupcakes until their are ready to be eaten.

OR you can do it the hard way like me. I didn’t want to use my mixer and so I just made it with a whisk. My arm is about to fall off. This is why electric mixers exist – duh! Well, tell that to my earlier stubborn self.

Funny story, I had to make mayonnaise from scratch as one of my finals while I was in school and my arm was in so much pain from all the whisking that I almost cried. Yep, I’m a big baby. I vowed to never do that again unless my grade depended on it. Well, well, well, what have we here? A crazy person. Please use your mixer. And no, I’m not missing part of my thumb, I just don’t want you to see all my peeling nail polish.

Please notice the two sneaks in the back scheming how to steal the cupcakes. These are so good I’m trying to forget that they are just sitting on my counter waiting to be eaten. Oy.

*You can skip this and use a boxed chocolate cake mix and add the instant pudding. You will have to add some water to thin it out. Also, this option will make more than 12. You don’t have to use pumpkin pudding. Try any flavor combination you like!

Raspberry & Chocolate Drop Scones

It’s no secret that I love scones. I could eat one every single day. My waist does not love them.

I decided to make a healthy scone. What? It has raspberries in it and fruit is healthy! The raspberries totally negate the flour and sugar and chocolate chips… and sugar. I was so excited to see raspberries on sale at the store this week!

I didn’t need any kind of frosting or whipped cream (see? healthy!) because the berries were perfectly sweet and smooth. This made a really sticky dough, almost too sticky, that’s why I ‘dropped’ them – there was no way I could have rolled this dough out on a floured surface. The juices from the berries just explode in your mouth.

These scones are the closest I’ve ever gotten to the BEST scones I’ve ever had from Starbucks. Their blueberry scone recipe from a few years ago was my addiction. Then they changed their recipe and broke my heart. No worries, though, I pulled through.

Raspberry & Chocolate Drop Scones
Makes 6, Adapted from How Sweet It Is

1 1/2 cups flour, plus 1/4 cup for dusting
1 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cups fresh raspberries, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Coarse sugar for tops

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder. Using your fingers, a fork or a pastry blender, cut in butter until it forms coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla, just somewhat combining, then fold in chocolate and cherries. Stir with a rubber spatula until a dough forms, using your hands to bring it together. This is where it gets tricky. The dough will be really wet and sticky. You can sprinkle the extra flour to help you turn the dough into a somewhat formed ball. Drop the dough onto a silpat, really in any shape you like. Sprinkle coarse sugar on top.

Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until the tops start to brown.

These smell amazing and go perfectly with coffee. They aren’t dry or crumbly like your average scone, that’s the best part! Notice there are only five scones up there. I ate one right when it came out of the oven. Obviously I have no self control when it comes to food. What else is new? I could live off of these for days so after I made these I went to meet a friend and forced her to take them home with her. I’m a great friend if you like to get fat treats.

Dark Chocolate + Toasted Coconut Scones

Sometimes I get bored after Eva goes to sleep. Like, 7:30 pm. It’s not like I have housework that needs to be done or sleep deprivation. I made these while ‘bored’ a few nights ago and uh, they are amazing.

I thought I could just make them and have them ready for breakfast the next morning. I’m so smart thinking ahead! Let’s be honest. I may have eaten one of these hot from the oven at 10:15pm because I didn’t actually get up to make them until 9:30pm. You know, for the sake of the blog. I had to be able to give a proper review.

Dark Chocolate + Toasted Coconut Scones
makes 6 – 8, adapted from How Sweet Eats

1 3/4 cups flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cups cold butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup toasted unsweetened coconut
4 oz shaved dark chocolate
course sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 425ºF. In large bowl combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until it forms coarse crumbs, I just use my hands. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Fold in the coconut and dark chocolate. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Pat into 7 inch round circle and cut into 6 or 8 circles or wedges. Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 425º F for 12-14 minutes.

Remember that coconut whipped cream frosting I made last week? I topped my scone with it. OHMYGOSH.

Biscoff Stuffed Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These are insane.

Not only are you eating two cookies at the same time, but there’s a healthy dollop of Biscoff cookie spread in the center.

Please, please, please tell me you have had a Biscoff cookie before. They are so delicious. You can actually taste the butter. For the longest time I thought you could only have them if you were flying Delta. Which was great because you fly, you have one, remember how amazing they are, and then forget about them a day after your flight. Not so dangerous when they serve, I’ll say it, possibly one of the best cookies every invented. But NOOOO, the geniuses at Lotus Bakeries had to make them readily available for everyone. Yep, they are right in your grocery store. And if that wasn’t enough, they had to go and make a cookie SPREAD. It’s like, cookies mashed up in a jar. YUM. Way to go, Biscoff. There’s no way I’ll be a size 2 now.

I found this recipe over on Jenny’s blog a little while ago and convinced my eyes and brain I had not just seen these cookies. But this just goes to show you when when a good recipe want to be made, nothing will stop it.

I swapped out the white chocolate chips for dark chocolate chunks because that’s what I had on hand. And because I find white chocolate to be a waste on perfectly good calories. With chocolate, the darker the better! I also cut the recipe in half because having 24 of these cookies laying around the house is dangerous.

The perfect cheerleader.

Dark Chocolate + Spice Breakfast Quinoa

You already know that I love Jessica’s blog and I must copy her. Well, this recipe is inspired by her post from today.

Dark Chocolate + Spice Breakfast Quinoa
Serves 1

1/4 cup dry quinoa
1/2 cup coconut milk + 1 tbsp
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp maple syrup
Dark chocolate chucks or chips, to taste

Add the quinoa and 1/2 cup of coconut milk to a small stock pot over medium heat. Put a lid on the pot and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the quinoa to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.

I actually put my bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds and the chocolate chunks melted a bit. It was glorious! I loved this breakfast. It was quick and easy to make and filling!