Nut Brittle Cookies #ChristmasCookiesWeek

These cookie bars are chock-full of nuts in the batter and on top.  They are sure to please the nut lover on your Christmas list.

Welcome to Christmas Cookies Week hosted by Jolene of Jolene's Recipe Journal.......

And that's a Wrap...the end of a year and the end of the Foodies Read Bingo Challenge on the 5th Day of Christmas

The very last category in my Foodies Read Bingo Challenge was A Book that had been on my To Be Read list for far too long.  Last Christmas I got the book Coffee and Cookies with God: 31 Devotions for December as a gift.  This year I pulled the book out and started each morning this month with a cup of coffee while I read the devotion, spent some time in prayer and thanksgiving, and found some calm in all the busyness of the season.  I finished my last devotion this morning.

This book was completed on the 5th day of Christmas, as a bonus, it completed my Foodies Read Bingo Challenge by completing my goal of a Coverall.

Fall=Campfires=S'mores=Fall Inspired Cookie Bars

We had a very mild Fall up until 2 days ago and now, KABLAM, winter has arrived.  But while that mild weather was here, I enjoyed daily walks and started thinking about how nice a bonfire would be.  Then I started thinking about roasting marshmallow and making S'mores.  I planned on doing exactly that last Sunday when the Angel Face was visiting.  Unfortunately, we had a snow squall and hail while she was here.

So when Fall gives you snow.....You make S'more Cookie Bars!

Magical Cookie Bars #SundayFunday

 Did your Mom make Magic Bars when your were a kid?  My Mom used to make them all the time.  These delicious bar cookies start with a graham cracker crust, topped with sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, pecans and coconut.  The end result is Magical.....hence the name.

It's time for Sunday Funday and what is more fun than ooey gooey cookie bars?

Red Velvet Cookie Bars #FantasticalFoodFight

Red Velvet Cookie Dough studded with M&M candies and baked up in a pan.  The result?  Fudge like brownie bars....YUM.

We are having our final round of Fantastical Food Fight this month with Red Velvet recipes.....

Strawberry Shortcake Bars #BakingBloggers

All the delicious goodness of strawberry shortcake in cookie bar form topped with glazed strawberries and homemade whipped cream.  YUM!!!

Join the Baking Bloggers today as we share recipes Baked with Summer Berries......

Lemon Cookie Bars #SpringSweetsWeek

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #SpringSweetsWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to help in the creation of the #SpringSweetsWeek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

Just the right amount of sweet and tart, these lemon cookie bars are sure to be a hit at all your Spring gatherings.

Welcome to the Thursday edition of Spring Sweets Week.......

Caramel Apple Cookie Bars #AppleWeek #BakingBloggers

This post is sponsored on behalf of #appleweek. Our generous sponsors, Swiss Diamond, Envy Apples, Imperial Sugar, Nordic Ware, Rodelle Vanilla, Flahavan's Irish Oatmeal, Nairn's and The Spice House have provided us with products for recipe creation and a giveaway for our readers. As always, all opinions are my own.

These ooey gooey bars have all the great flavors that you love about Caramel Apples but are transported to your mouth via cookie instead of a stick!

Welcome to Day 2 of Apple Week.......

Apple Raspberry Cookie Bars and A Book Review

I just finished listening to The Dry by Jane Harper.  This novel takes place in the Outbacks of Australia during a terrible drought that is affecting everyone in the small hometown of Aaron Falk.

This is a debut novel for Jane Harper and it left me happily anticipating her next.  Aaron Falk is a police investigator in Melbourne when he is called back home to the funeral of his childhood friend, Luke Hadler.  

Luke was found dead presumed by suicide after killing his wife and his son.  Luke's year old daughter was left unharmed.  Aaron and his father had fled their home twenty years earlier after Aaron's girlfriend was found drowned under suspicious circumstances.  Aaron was the prime suspect and would have been charged had it not been for Luke providing him with an alibi that they had been hunting together the afternoon of the girlfriend's disappearance.

Aaron had no plans of ever returning to that town until he got the letter from Luke's father.  "Luke lied, you lied.  Be at the Funeral."  What follows is the story of a twenty year old mystery interwoven with the disturbing facts of this recent murder/suicide.  

The facts don't add up for Luke's mother, who was the closest thing that Aaron had to a mom when he was growing up.  Nor do they add up for Aaron and the newly assigned police chief in town.  How do you find answers in a town buried so deeply in secrets??

This novel, being set during a terrible drought did not have a lot of food on the pages but there was some.  Sheep farmers serving lamb, sandwiches bought at the market, rabbits being hunted and Aaron's memories of Mrs. Hadler's dinners and home baked goodies.  Aaron having no memories of his own mother has fond memories of the cakes and cookies provided by Mrs. Hadler.

I decided to bake up some cookies myself after reading this novel.  I give both the novel and the cookie bars a solid 4 stars. Since I did make a recipe inspired by this novel I will be sharing it with Foodies Read 2017.

With a shortbread cookie crust, a layer of fresh apples and raspberries, topped by a shortbread cookie crumble these bars perfect for serving up to family and friends when they come home from a tough day of school or work.

We had been invited to our daughter's new boyfriend's family's house for dinner one evening and I brought these for dessert.  They were a big hit.  

Apple Raspberry Cookie Bars

slightly adapted from My Magazine by Kroger

1 c. flour

1 c. almond flour

pinch of salt

1/2 t. baking powder

1 c. sugar, divided + 1 T. for sprinkling

1 stick butter, melted and cooled

1 egg

1 t. lemon zest

1/4 t. almond extract

3 asst. apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced (I used Honeycrisp, Pink Lady and McIntosh)

6 oz. fresh raspberries

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg

Combine both flours, salt, baking powder and 1/2 c. of sugar in a large bowl.  Combine the butter, egg, zest and almond extract in a small bowl.  Add the wet mixture to the dry and, using clean hands, combine to make a soft dough.  

Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of a 9" square baking pan that has been treated with baking spray.  Prick the dough all over with a fork. Bake in a preheated 375* oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Toss the apples and raspberries with the remaining 1/2 c. of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  When bottom crust is removed from oven, sprinkle the fruit evenly over the crust.  Crumble the remaining 1/3 of the dough over the fruit and sprinkle with 1 T. of sugar.  Return to the oven and bake for half an hour, until golden brown.  Print Recipe

Cherry Pie Bars #FilltheCookieJar

Last month our daughter, Nicole, and her husband, Pierre, blessed us with two gallon size bags filled to the hilt with tart cherries from the tree in their backyard.

I went to work and the first thing I made was a wonderful Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream. Then I made this delicious Cherry Cheese Braid.  

I turned the rest into Homemade Cherry Pie Filling, returned them to one of the bags and stored them in the freezer.

When it came time to Fill the Cookie Jar this month, I remembered those cherries sitting in the freezer. The only problem was....the theme for this month is Grandma's Cookies.  

My Grandma never made cookies using cherry pie filling and if I wanted to make cookies like my Mom used to make for my kids, I would have to go to the refrigerator section of the grocery store and get busy cutting up prepared dough and putting it in the oven.

Then, I thought, "Hey, I'm a Grandma".  I think I can make my own cookies and they are going to count.  And if they don't.....oh well, I would rather apologize afterwards than ask permission before hand LOL.

I had made Cherry Pie Bars  a couple of years ago and still remembered them fondly.  I knew that I wanted to do something similar this time around, changing it up a bit to make it my own.

I made a shortbread to use as the bottom crust or bar part of the recipe.  Reserving some to sprinkle on top as a streusel.

I combined the reserved shortbread batter with some roughly chopped raw almonds.   I love the cherry/almond flavor profile and always use almond extract in my cherry confections rather than vanilla.

I spread the cherry pie filling over the shortbread crust, using about 3 cups to cover it completely.

Then I sprinkled the entire surface with the Shortbread/Almond Streusel, placed it in the oven and let it bake until golden brown.

I had lined the baking pan with foil for easy removal.  I allowed the cookies to cool right on the foil before drizzling them with an easy peasy glaze.

When the glaze was set, I cut them into bars and placed them on a platter to serve up as a wonderful dessert to my family who had been visiting from out of town.

These are a perfect cookie to take to your next pot luck or to pack in your child's lunch box.  They are easily made with canned cherry pie filling.  They look like they take a lot of work but they are easy and only take a few minutes of active participation on your part. 

Cherry Pie Bars II

3 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 t. almond extract

3 sticks butter, chilled and cut into tablespoon pieces

3 c. cherry pie filling

1 c. raw almonds

1 c. powdered sugar

2 T. milk

1/4 t. almond extract

Place flour, sugar, salt, 1/4 t. almond extract and butter in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until crumbly.  Remove and reserve 1 cup of this mixture.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of a 9"x 13" pan that has been lined with a 18" piece of aluminum foil.  Crimp the ends of the foil that extend past the pan into handles.  Bake in a preheated 350* oven for half an hour.

Meanwhile, add the almonds to the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.  Combine with reserved shortbread mix.

Remove bottom layer from the oven.  Cover with the canned cherries.  Sprinkle the streusel over the top and return to the oven for another 40-45 minutes, until golden brown.  Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.  Lift out by using the handles of aluminum foil and let cool completely.

While bars are cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and almond extract.  Drizzle over the cooled bars.  Let glaze set before cutting into 24 pieces. Print Recipe

More Amazing Cookies

• No Bake Date and Nut Cookies by That Recipe 
• Cherry Pie Bars by A Day In The Life On The Farm 
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies by Cindy's Recipes and Writings 
• Molasses Cookies with Whiskey Buttercream by Cookaholic Wife 
• Hermit Cookies by Palatable Pastime

Clean the Cupboard Cookie Bars #FilltheCookieJar

Our theme for this month's Fill the Cookie Jar is Back to School cookies.  Didn't summer just start? The kids around here have only been out of school for 2 weeks and don't go back until after Labor Day.

Evidently, some of the other States have year round school and the kids are getting ready for the upcoming school year already.  I'm not sure how I would have felt about that as a parent of school aged children.  I know that many parents have to work and it is probably easier for them to have school year round with smaller breaks throughout the year instead of having the entire summer to worry about finding daycare for the kids.

Are your kids still in school?  How do you feel about year round classes?  I was lucky enough to be a stay at home Mom until my kids were old enough to stay home without me.  I liked having them home during the summer but I think I would have equally liked having them home more throughout the year.  It will be interesting to see if this trend comes to Michigan and how it works out.

Okay.....enough of the rambling.....so anyhoo, the theme is Back to School cookies.  This is a pretty broad field so I opened the cupboard to see what I had on hand.  And found this.........

Does your cupboard look like this? Half a bag of this, quarter of a bag of that, couple Tablespoons of something else.....ridiculous.  Faced with this and the task at hand, I decided to make some bar cookies and just dump all my odds and ends into the mix.

I had some milk chocolate morsels, some white chocolate morsels, some peanut butter morsels and some mini M&M's.  I had just enough butter flavored coconut oil on hand for these but you could use plain coconut oil or butter or margarine.  Whatever floats your boat makes your cookie crumble.

I know my kids would have loved to find one of these cookie bars in their lunchbox.  It would have been packed right next to their PBJ sandwich.  Of course, I understand that those are no longer allowed.  Probably not my cookie bars either with the peanut butter chips, maybe you should leave those out.....or just save these cookies for your kids to have as an after school treat before homework. My kids were always famished when they got home and while much has changed in this 20 years, I'm pretty sure that hasn't.

Make sure you stop by and see what the others are sending with their kids back to school.....I'm going to enjoy mine, with my Little Miss, poolside and say a prayer of gratitude that she is not yet in school.

Clean the Cupboard Cookie Bars

2 1/4 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 cup coconut oil

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar, packed

1 t. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. assorted chips and candies (whatever you have in the cupboard)

Place the flour, baking soda, salt, coconut oil, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs into the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat on low speed until combined.  Add the chips and candies and stir in until evenly distributed.

Spread into a 9x13" pan that has been treated with baking spray.  Bake in a preheated 375* oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cookie removes cleanly.

Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Print Recipe

More Lunch Box Favorites

• Giant Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies by Family Around the Table 
• No Bake Brownie Energy Bites by Join Us, Pull up a Chair 
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies by Jolene's Recipe Journal 
• Teachers Rule Cookies By Palatable Pastime  
• Clean the Cupboard Cookie Bars by A Day In The Life On The Farm 
• Trail Mix Cookies by Home Sweet Homestead 
• Orange Anise Cookies By This and That
• Monster Reese's Pieces Cookie Bars by Cookaholic Wife 
• Oatmeal Blueberry Cookies by Organized 31 
• Apple Date Cookie Bars by That Recipe 
• Cherry Pie Tassies by Cindy's Recipes and Writings 
• Sesame Balls by Feeding Big

Peanut Butter Bars with Oatmeal and Chocolate for #FoodieExtravaganza

This month's Foodie Extravaganza is brought to you by Sneha of Sneha's Recipe.  Sneha went over to The Nibble and discovered that November is National Peanut Butter Lover's Month.  I am a huge lover of peanut butter so this event has me very excited.  If you are a peanut butter nut, as well, you are in for a great treat this month as we all share our favorite peanut butter recipes.

My first thought when given this ingredient was Thai food.  Oh, how I love Thai food.  Just writing this makes my mouth water.  I noticed that I have yet to share any Thai food on this blog so it would have been perfect.  Alas, it was not meant to be but it will be made and shared on another day. Hopefully, very soon.

We celebrated Peanut Butter for Foodie Extravaganza two years ago.  At that time, I shared a recipe for a Chinese Dessert, Peanut Butter Filled Steamed Buns.  They were delicious and there were 19 peanut butter recipes shared in all.  Good thing that there are thousands upon thousands of Peanut Butter Recipes so we could celebrate every November for years and not run out of things to share.

One of my favorite recipes that I made were these Peanut Butter and Jelly Cakewiches that I made for my friend, Kirsten's, birthday one year. This Chocolate Peanut Butter Trifle  and Tagalong Bundt Cake were huge hits.  Then, of course, is everyone's favorite, the Peanut Butter Cup, I made mine in the shape of Eggs for Easter.  You are going to LOVE this recipe,

So, you can see why I first thought to go savory with today's recipe but I ended up making another wonderful Peanut Butter dessert to share with you.

I was cooking dinner for a church meeting and knew that these gooey, peanut butter bars would be a huge hit.  And they were.  The tray came home empty.  It is very hard to photograph brown foods...one of the tragedies of being a food blogger....sigh.

Trust me when I tell you that these looked much better than they photographed and tasted much better than they looked.  It is a quick and easy recipe that I found on Taste of Home.  Just knowing that they came from Taste of Home should be all the convincing you need to know that they are wonderful!

I made a couple of very slight adaptations to this recipe.  I used mini chocolate chips because that was what I had in the cupboard.  I only had a 1/4 c. light brown sugar so I added a 1/4 c. dark brown to it.  I used old fashioned oats instead of quick cooking oats.  They turned out amazing and I was proud to serve them at our meeting.

Peanut Butter Bars with Oatmeal and Chocolate

slightly adapted from Taste of Home

1 stick butter, room temperature

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c light brown sugar, packed

1/4 c. dark brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 c. flour

1/2 c. oats

1 t.  baking soda

pinch of salt

1 c. mini chocolate chips

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 T. creamy peanut butter

2 T. milk

In large bowl of stand mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugars and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Add the flour, oats, soda and salt. Beat on low speed until incorporated.  Increase speed and beat until well blended.  Reduce the speed to low and stir in the chocolate chips.  Spread into a 9x13" baking pan that has been treated with baking spray.  Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Remove to a cooling rack.

Combine the powdered sugar, 2 T. peanut butter and milk in a 2 cup measuring cup, whisking until smooth.  Pour over the bars and spread with the back of a spoon to cover.  Cool completely and cut into 36 bars.  Print Recipe

 Check out these great Peanut Butter submissions!

• Homemade Peanut butter Cups from Fearlessly Creative Mammas
• Cold Noodles with Asian Peanut Sauce from Hardly a Goddess 
• Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Bars from Palatable Pastime 
• Peanut Butter Bars with Oatmeal and Chocolate Chips from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peanut Butter Cookies from Basic N Delicious 
• Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from Sneha's Recipe 
• West African Peanut Soup from Caroline's Cooking 
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Bread from Making Miracles 

 Foodie Extravaganza is a monthly food fest, where a group of bloggers all create and share a recipe around one of the monthly food 'holidays' as detailed in The Nibble.  Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.