Crunchy No-Bake Cookies

27 August, 201426 August, 2014Marissa

I have perfected the no-bake cookie!

Okay, perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration, but these are seriously good. My previous no-bake recipe (a rather standard one using cocoa powder) typically resulted in a sticky, fudge-like mess that tasted good but wasn’t much like a cookie. These are more substantial, and hold their cookie shape once they’ve set.

You could make it with creamy peanut butter, but I prefer having the crunchy peanut pieces. That’s also the reason I use full-size chocolate chips — they’re large enough not to melt completely, so there are chunks of chocolate in the finished cookie. If you’d rather have the chocolate all melted in, just stir it longer or use mini chocolate chips.

Crunchy No-Bake Cookies

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 cups rolled oats

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine sugar, milk, butter, and crunchy peanut butter in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. As soon as the mixture boils, remove from heat.

Stir in vanilla and oats. Add chocolate chips and stir just long enough to mix them in, but not long enough to completely melt the chips. Drop from a spoon onto cookie sheets covered with wax paper. Chill and serve.

Fruit and Seed Granola Bars

26 March, 201425 March, 2014Marissa

My brother has been begging me to come up with some kind of healthy, filling snack that he can munch on when he feels hungry (which seems to be all the time). Enter the Healthy Homemade Granola Bars from Beth at redandhoney.com. They are amazing, though you do have to keep them chilled to prevent melting, which makes them a bad choice to stuffing in a backpack or purse … not that we would know this from experience.

Fruit and Seed Granola Bars marissabaker.wordpress.com — Granola bar add-ins

There are many variations on these bars depending on the nut butter and add-ins you choose, but the version I’m posting today is my favorite. I’ve decided dried cherries are an essential ingredient. So are pumpkin seeds — I like the flavor and the green color looks great with the red dried fruit.

As an added bonus, these granola bars are unleavened, so they will still be perfect for snacking once the Days of Unleavened Bread start next month.

Fruit and Seed Granola Bars

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2/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup honey
2 cups oats
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries and/or cherries)
1 cup seeds and nuts (peanuts, pumpkin, flax, chia and/or sunflower seeds)

Mix first three ingredients together, microwaving in 15 to 20 second bursts and stirring until the coconut oil is melted.

Stir-in the oats, dried fruit, seeds and nuts. Press the granola bar mixture into an ungreased 13×9-inch baking pan. Place granola bars in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

Once granola mixture is cooled and set, cut into bars. Wrap individually or package in snack bags. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Variations
You can replace the peanut butter with almond butter if you prefer the taste or have an allergy.

The two cups of dried fruit, seeds, and nuts can be substituted for a wide variety of add-ins, including chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and almonds. My sister prefers her add-ins to be 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup coconut flakes, and 1/2 cup peanuts. Just keep experimenting until you find a few mixtures that you love.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut Bars

19 February, 2014Marissa

There are few foods I like better than warm oatmeal walnut bars fresh from the oven, oozing chocolate when you cut into them. The only problem is that they are so tasty — and just as addictive as my blond brownies — that is is hard to save enough to take to whatever event I decided to bake them for.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut Bars

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1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dash salt

1 (12-oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Combine oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well-blended. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Spoon and spread dough in greased 15x10x1-inch pan. Bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to counter and let cool.

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Apple Crisp

18 September, 201316 September, 2013Marissa

I’m particularly fond of this recipe. I’ve tweaked the original recipe so much that I consider this wholly mine. My family refers to it as “Marissa’s perfect apple crisp”. My dad likes it so much that he picks out the best apples that fall from our trees and brings them in so I can bake with them. These pictures are from first one I’ve made with this year’s fresh apples. You can also use thawed-out frozen apple pieces. Just reduce water in the filling to 1 or 1-1/4 cup (depending on how much liquid is in the apples when you unthaw them).

Perfect Apple Crisp

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Filling

6 cups apples

¾ cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 ½ cups water

Topping

1 ¼ cups brown sugar

¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 ¼ cups quick oats

10 tablespoons melted butter

Place chopped apples in a greased 9” x 13” glass baking pan. Spread dry ingredients over the apples. Pour water over the filling, and mix thoroughly.

Mix all toping ingredients in a bowl until crumbly. (I usually melt the butter in a large, microwave-safe bowl and then mix the dry ingredients into that.) Spread topping over the apples.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350°F, or until heated through and bubbling.

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