Lovin' From the Oven

Chunky Monkey Bars & Winner

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Before we get to the bars, I’m sure you guys are all wondering who the winner of the Shabby Apple giveaway is! Well, with some help from random.org, the winner is….

Tree! Congratulations! Keep an eye out for an email from me so I can get your contact information and size for the dress. 🙂

I was craving Ben & Jerry’s “chunky monkey” one night and didn’t want to drive all the way to the grocery store at one o’clock in the morning. Since I had the three main ingredients on hand, I decided to whip something up (not to mention my family somehow has a never ending amount of ripe bananas). Of course these aren’t as good as the real thing, but paired with vanilla ice cream, they’d give them a run for their money. This recipe does make quite a bit, so cut it in half if you’re not feeding a family of twenty.

These bars are very light– they’d make a great breakfast or brunch snack to take on the go. The walnuts can be omitted, and the chocolate can be changed to white or milk… whatever floats your boat.

  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 1 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 very ripe, mashed bananas
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 8 oz chopped dark chocolate
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. Grease a rimmed cookie sheet with butter or oil.
  3. Cream together the butter and both sugars. 
  4. Mix in the eggs, bananas, and vanilla until well blended.
  5. Mix in the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until incorporated.
  6. Stir in chocolate and walnuts. Spread into prepared cookie sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats

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Let’s just say: Whoa mama.. I can always count on you guys for some drama (not all of you, mostly just the anonymous posters).

Let’s lighten the mood a bit, shall we?  We all need that from so many people believing in killing off dogs at the first chance. Yeeeeesh. Let’s focus on the sprinkles, now… bright and happy thoughts.

I’ve always been a fan of rice crispy treats. My mom never really baked, so this is the closest she got to making dessert. Even so, these were probably made twice a year in my house when I was growing up. The moment I realized how simple the recipe was, I started making rice crispy treats on my own (maybe 7th grade?).

I saw the idea for cake batter rice crispy treats floating around on Tastespotting and Foodgawker. Could rice crispy treats really taste like cake batter? The idea was so simple.. just mix cake mix in! So I gave it a go. The first time I tried, the treats weren’t nearly as cake battery as I’d hoped for. So, I gave it another go with three times the amount of cake batter I put in the first time. Perfect!

Original recipe from Rice Krispies

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 10-ounce bag of mini marshmallows (4 cups mini marshmallows)
  • 3/4 cup Funfetti cake mix
  • 6 cups rice krispies cereal
  • 6 heaping tablespoons of sprinkles
  1. Completely melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
  2. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted.
  3. Next, stir in the cake mix until dissolved. 
  4. Stir in the cereal until it is evenly coated with marshmallow. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix and continue stirring. 
  5. Press the mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with remaining sprinkles. Cut and enjoy!

Dulce de Leche Brownies

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My DB and I are both in workout mode recently to get into shape for our Hawaii trip coming up. How’s that going, you ask? Better than I expected. We’ve been taking leisurely four mile walks, hiking, and I’ve been jump roping/ab-rolling it up. As far as food goes, I seriously suck at that. I just can’t give up sweets for the life of me. How can anyone do that when you’ve got brownies like this in the kitchen? Not me.

Oh dear lord. These brownies are yummalicious. They’re dense, chewy, and have the perfect blend of dulce de leche to kick it up a notch. I can eat dulce de leche by the spoonful, you know. The added walnuts make the brownies dangerously close to tasting like fudge, but I’m not complaining. I cut them into itty bitty bite size strips so you don’t feel as bad eating ten. The Dutch-process cocoa powder is a must for brownies, in my opinion.
Thank you David Lebovitz for introducing this goodness to me (who adapted it from The Sweet Life in Paris).

  • 1/2 cup salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup (25g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup (200g) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (140g) flour
  • optional: 1 cup (100 g) toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup Dulce de Leche (or Cajeta)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C).
  2. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
  3. Melt the butter and chocolate pieces together in a medium saucepan until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, then the flour. Mix in the nuts, if using.
  4. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan.
  5. Drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then swirl through it with a knife. Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Slightly marble the dulce de leche with a knife.
  6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

P.S. Sorry for the delay, FAQ post coming up later this week!

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