homemade snickers.

What better way to jump back into posting recipes than with one as delicious as this? I made these for D back on Valentines Day. Snickers are his favorite candy, and this means a lot coming from the guy who would love nothing more than to eat candy multiple times every.single.day.

When I saw this recipe on How Sweet It Is, I knew it would be the perfect Valentines Day gift for my candy-loving boyfriend. The recipe is actually quite simple to make, it just takes some time and patience. Basically, you make the first layer (chocolate), pour it in the pan, let it cool, and then repeat for the other 3 layers. Nothing about this recipe was hard, it just took a little time.

The finished product was really beautiful and tasted just like real snickers. I had one tiny bite for um... quality control... and believe me, they are phenomenal! Do yourself a favor and treat someone you love to some homemade snickers. They'll thank you!

Homemade Snickers

Recipe from How Sweet It Is

Makes one 9x13 pan

2 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff

1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 (14-ounce) bag of caramels (the soft chewy kind. I used Kraft Caramels.)

1/4 cup whipping cream

In order to make cutting the finished product easier, I suggest using a disposable 9x13 baking pan (that's what I did).

To make the first layer (chocolate), melt half of the milk chocolate chips (1 1/4 cups) and a third of the peanut butter (1/4 cup) together on the stove or in the microwave until melted and combined. Spread evenly into the greased 9x13 baking pan (grease it well, I sprayed cooking spray all over the bottom and the sides). Let the layer cool and harden completely.

For the second layer (nougat), melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add the sugar and evaporated milk, stirring to dissolve. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, let the mixture cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Next, add in the marshmallow fluff, 1/4 cup of the peanut butter, and vanilla, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Turn off the heat, add in the chopped peanuts, and then pour over the chocolate layer and spread evenly. Because the mixture is hot, you'll want to work quickly to spread it over the chocolate layer because it will start to melt the chocolate if you take too long. Let cool completely.

For the third layer (caramel), simply combine the unwrapped caramels and whipping cream in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Pour over the nougat layer and spread evenly. Let cool completely. 

For the final layer (chocolate), simply repeat the steps outlined in the first layer. Combine the last of the chocolate (1 1/4 cups) and the last of the peanut butter (1/4 cup) in a saucepan to melt or melt in the microwave. Once combined and smooth, pour over the caramel layer and spread evenly.

Place pan in refrigerator for at least one hour before cutting/serving. If you used a disposable pan, you can simply cut the corners of the pan and peel it off of the finished product so that the whole giant bar of snickers can be set onto a cutting board and cut. You can see from the pictures that I cut them a little bit smaller than normal snickers size, but most people that ate them said they were still too big! Next time I would cut them into "fun-size" snickers size pieces.

As a final note, I used the same medium-sized saucepan to melt each layer. Because the layers have to cool completely before adding the next layer, I found I had enough time to wash my saucepan and utensils in between each layer before beginning the next one. That way, at the end of the process, I only had one saucepan, one wooden spoon, and a few measuring cups to wash.

 

Looking at these pictures makes me realize I need to make them again very soon.

chocolate-stuffed toffee chip cookies.

I "liked" the How Sweet It Is page on Facebook when I found Jessica's blog a few months ago. Every weekday morning when I wake up, there is always a link to her new blog post with a picture that makes my mouth water. (Seriously, even dinner foods look good at 8am when she's behind the camera)

So... I get a lot of inspiration from her. Not sure what I want to bake today? Oh, hey, Jessica just posted a to-die-for cookie. That'll do. 

So these cookies... Jessica claims they are the best cookie that she has ever created. Coming from someone who has made so so so so many delicious cookies (don't believe me? Click that link and see her "cookie" recipe page) that always get rave reviews, I knew these had to be fantastic.

Luckily for me, I already had all of the ingredients in the pantry (leftover Toffee chips from toffee chocolate chip snickerdoodles and a bag of chocolate chunks I picked up one day because they were on sale)!

I was originally planning on making double fudge oreo cookies today with Halloween Oreos, but uh... I'm out of cocoa powder. So I had to nix that plan and go with these. I'm so glad I did, because they are absolutely delicious. And fun to make!

I do have to say they are my favorite cookie I have tried from Jessica's blog, and I have tried quite a few (all being scrumptious, of course). The toffee chips give it the perfect chewy crunch and the chocolate chunks in the middle are all melty and dreamy. The brown butter that goes into the batter doesn't suck either.

Please, I beg you... just make them. Please? I promise you won't be dissapointed. Oh, and if you don't happen to have chocolate chunks.. just chop up a chocolate bar! (I'm sure you have one leftover from Halloween, don't you?)

Chocolate-stuffed Toffee Chip Cookies

Recipe from How Sweet It Is

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt 

1 cup toffee chips

chocolate chunks, baking squares, or chocolate bars cut into pieces (I put 3 chunks into each cookie)

Heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat and add butter. Whisk until butter melts, then continue to stir and whisk just until tiny brown bits appear at the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat immediately as the butter can burn very quickly. Set aside and let cool for about 10-15 minutes, until the butter comes to room temperature.

Once butter has cooled, add to a large bowl. Whisk together with sugars until smooth, then add in the egg and egg yolk. Mix again until combined, then add in vanilla extract and mix. Add in flour, baking and soda and salt, and mix with a spoon until a dough forms. The dough may be crumbly but continue to mix – even using your hands if needed – until it comes together. Fold in toffee chips.

Roll about 1 tablespoons of dough into a ball, then press some chocolate (your choice) into the middle. Top with an additional 1 tablespoons of dough, and seal the sides, rolling the dough into ball. Place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until edges are slightly golden. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then gently remove with a spatula to a cooling rack.

You deserve these cookies. And a big glass of milk.

chocolate covered cherry cookies.

Let me tell you a story. One time when I was little (around 9 or 10), I remember going to the drug store with my parents and my little brother. It was after we had went out to dinner. A lot of times, we would go to the drug store and we would all get our favorite candy bar. (I always got either a Carmello or Mallow Cups. Um, yum.)

But this particular time, I specifically remember that we bought chocolate covered cherries. When we got home, my mom and dad sat in the dining room watching TV and my brother and I went into the living room to watch the VHS we had just rented. (VHS? Rented? Throwback.)


What did we rent, you ask? I remember it was You're Invited to Mary Kate & Ashley's Sleepover. Don't judge me, I liked them all and had them all on VHS back in the day. (Read: I may or may not have still watched Holiday in the Sun and Passport to Paris and When in Rome and all of the others well into my high school years. Okay, honestly I would totally watch one now. As in tonight. I'll have to check Netflix.)

ANYWAYS. That night, my brother and I opened the box of chocolate covered cherries and put them on the counter between the kitchen and the living room. For the rest of the night, we watched Mary Kate & Ashley (he may deny this part), played Chutes and Ladders (he may deny this part as well), and ate most of the box of chocolate covered cherries. Ok, I don't even know if he LIKED chocolate covered cherries. I just remember that I ate them that night.


Why is it that something as trivial as a drug store dessert can bring back a night that happened so long ago so vividly? So weird. I will never be able to eat a chocolate covered cherry without thinking of Mary Kate & Ashley or Chutes and Ladders. Whodathunkit.

Really, none of that has to do with these cookies (except that they have both chocolate and a cherry in them). Which are fantastic, by the way. D's mom made them around Christmas time last year and I fell in love with them.

With one bite, they immediately jumped into my top 5 favorite Christmas cookies of all time. Since my family always makes quite a lengthy list of cookies every year, that is quite a big deal. 

Make them. I implore you. They will complete you.


Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

recipe from Allrecipes.com

 1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries (strained, reserve cherry juice)

4 tsp cherry juice (from above)

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

With an electric mixer (bowl or hand-held), beat together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and mix until smooth. Roll into 1-inch balls and place onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the end of a kitchen utensil (I used the end of a whisk) or your thumb, make an indent into each cookie large enough to place a cherry. Place a cherry in each indentation. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

While the cookies are baking, combine the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, and cherry juice in a sauce pan. Heat over low to medium heat stirring constantly until smooth. When the cookies come out of the oven, spoon about a tablespoon of the melted chocolate onto the top of each cookie (so that the cherry is completely covered). If you felt like being fancy, you could drizzle the chocolate over the cookies instead of spooning it over them... but who doesn't love more chocolate? That's what I thought.

slight variation.

Hey guys!

Remember when I made Double Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies in July? Well, I made them again. Why? Because D loved them. And everyone at my work loved them. (As in, asked for the recipe) I also have a class full of hungry friends to feed tonight.

Another reason I made them again is because the ingredients are so easy! The only thing I need to pick up that I don't always have on hand is oreos.

So what did I do differently this time? I drizzled peanut butter over the top. Lets just say it was one of my better ideas. :)

It was my first drizzling experience, but I think they turned out pretty! I was honestly just doing the whole "peanut butter drizzle" thing for aesthetic reasons, but holy moly- it adds the perfect little taste of peanut butter.

I am going to make these cookies again in October- for Halloween- with the Halloween Oreos (with the orange filling). I'm excited! (Is that dorky of me?) Ooooh and then in December for Christmas maybe I could use red/green filled oreos! (Do they make those?) Sorry. Cute cookies get me worked up.


Double Fudge Oreo Crunch Cookies with Peanut Butter Drizzle(cookie recipe from How Sweet It Is)

makes about 30 cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I used Semi-sweet)
1 cup chopped oreos (I just cut them into small pieces with a sharp knife)

For peanut butter drizzle: 1/4 cup peanut butter

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until fluffy. Add flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined.

Fold in chocolate chips and oreos. Refrigerate dough for 2-4 hours or more. (I refrigerated mine overnight and it was fine!) When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees, roll into balls and set on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. When cookies come out of the oven, remove from baking sheet and put onto a cookie cooling rack with paper towels underneath. Heat peanut butter up in a microwave safe dish until liquidy. Using a fork, drizzle peanut butter over cookies. :)




Soo.. guess what I had for lunch?  A leftover hamburger roll with a piece of cheese and spicy mustard, some pringles, and a pickle. Clearly I spent more time this morning focusing on cookies than I did on making lunch. Priorities, people.