Im Back!!! Pumpkin Crumble Bars

Wow it has been WAY TOO LONG!  I have totally fallen off the blogging bandwagon and I have missed it SO much!!!  So much has happened in the past couple of weeks.  We moved into our new apartment that we will be in for the next year till we move home to Utah for good :)!  

Also, we found out that we will be expecting another little one in May and we couldn't be more excited!!!!  I'm just hoping that I don't get sick with this one, cause I couldn't cook a thing for months when I was pregnant with Lily!  Everything except for chocolate milk, apple juice, and cheese made me sick!!! Plus, even blogger has changed since I've blogged last :)

So since it is September and pretty much starting to be fall everywhere except here in Houston :), I decided to make one of my VERY favorite desserts, Pumpkin Crumble Bars.  I could eat these babies in the middle of the summer they are so good!  I am totally one of those people though that don't feel that it has to be a certain holiday or time of year to enjoy good food.  If you like it then make it whenever you feel like it if you have access to all of the ingredients!

Recipe:

1 box yellow cake mix

1 stick butter (divided)

1 (16 oz) can pure pumpkin (Not pumpkin pie mix)

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon for topping

1/3 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to *350.  Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Measure 2 cups of the cake mix and 3 Tbsp. of chilled butter into a bowl and using a pastry blender (or a fork) cut in the butter to the cake mix till it becomes a crumbly mixture.  Press firmly into the 9x13 baking dish.

Next, mix together the spices, eggs, milk, and pumpkin until well incorporated.  Pour over the crust.  

Next using a measuring cup, measure cup by cup, the remaining cake mix into a bowl.  For every remaining cup of cake mix, you will use 3 Tbsp. of melted butter to pour over the top to make it crumbly when it bakes.  (I had about 1-3/4 cups remaining cake mix so I used a total of 5 Tbsp. of butter, the rest of the stick)  Add the 1/2 tsp. cinnamon to the cake mix and stir till well mixed.  If using nuts, add the nuts also.  

Sprinkle the mix over the pumpkin.  Melt the butter and pour over the top of the mix and bake for 40-45 minutes.  Serve with whipped cream.  Enjoy!!!

(recipe source: Our Best Bites)

Mud Hen Bars

I should seriously change the name of this blog to Muriel Bakes! Gosh, I sure do bake a lot don't I!  I hope that once we get moved into our new place that I will get the motivation to start cooking again.  

Anyways, I was browsing through Pinterest the other day, when I came across this delicious looking bar recipe that I knew at once I HAD to make!  These were AMAZING!  I know I say that about everything, but I'm really not messing around this time.  These bars are good!!!  I had all the ingredients on hand too which worked out perfectly for my crazy craving :)  So here my friends, is one delicious recipe that you can all whip up for those get togethers you may have planned for the weekend!  Enjoy!

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, divided (1 egg, 2 yolks, and 2 egg whites)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I added this)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
1 cup chopped nuts (I left these out)
1 cup light brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 pan and set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together butter and granulated sugar until creamy. Beat in 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks (put aside the whites for later.) Beat in the vanilla extract.

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Blend until just combined. Spread mixture into 9x13" pan. Sprinkle with marshmallows, chocolate chips, and nuts-if using.

4. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the brown sugar. Spread mixture evenly over marshmallows and chocolate chips. Bake for about 30 minutes or until bars are a deep golden brown. Let bars cool completely. Cut into squares and serve

(Recipe Source: Two Peas & Their Pod)

Amazing Ooey Gooey Chocolate Brownie Bars

We have been having so much fun these past couple of days!  It was the LO's first Gymnastics class!  We had so much fun watching her run around all crazy and excited, wanting to try out every area of the gym!  I swear she was born to be a little gymnast!  This little girl has been doing the splits, somersaults, and dancing all over the place since she was about one, so it was about time she started a gymnastics class.

  

Also, over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to try and use up every thing in my cupboards so we have less stuff to move, so you can bet that the first thing I made was a treat!  I know hard to believe right? :)  I came across this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, and it worked out perfectly.  I used up 3 things that I now won't have to move :)  And can I just say these pictures really don't do these bars justice! They were so chocolatey, and gooey, and absolutely Delicious!  The perfect treat when you get a chocolate craving.

 Recipe:

1 box Chocolate Cake Mix

3 whole eggs, divided

1 cup butter (melted), divided

8oz cream cheese (softened)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2-1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to *350.  In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix, 1 egg, and 1/2 cup melted butter.  Batter will be thick.  Press firmly into a buttered 9x13 baking dish.

Next beat cream cheese till fluffy.  Mix in the powdered sugar, 2 eggs, cocoa powder, 1/2 cup melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla.  Pour over the cake layer.

Place into the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Center will be gooey.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  ENJOY!

Frosted Banana Bars

Many of you have probably had or even tried bars similar to these ones, but you know what, well, you can never have to many banana bars or be reminded of making them again. Cause lets be honest, we all have those brown bananas sitting on our counter tops just screaming at us to make these delicious bars or even this delicious bread.

Recipe:

For the Bars:

1/2 cup butter (softened)

2 cups Sugar

3 eggs

1-1/2 cup mashed banana (about 3 ripe bananas)

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp. baking soda

Pinch of salt

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8oz) pkg. of cream cheese

1/2 cup butter (1 stick softened)

4 cups Powdered Sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs, bananas, and vanilla. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda and stir into the creamed mixture just until blended.  Now take a greased (I like to use Bakers Joy for this dish) 15-inch x 10-inch x 1-inch jelly roll pan and lightly sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on to the bottom of the greased pan. Now pour the batter onto the pan and Bake @ *350 for 18-22 minutes. 

For the Frosting, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Slowly mix in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over the cooled bars and serve.  Makes about 3 dozen bars.

(Recipe Source: The Sister's Cafe)

Smore's Bars

I have been craving summer lately... Even though where I live, the weather would have you believing that it was summer right now,  I have been craving things like boating, hiking, and camping. You know, summer things!  So since I can't have the campfire and camping right now, I thought I would bring it to us! These smore's bars seriously might just be my new favorite treat! And that's saying something considering what a sweet eater that I am! These bars along with my tin-foil dinners (recipe to come tomorrow) had us all singing around the kitchen table (ok, not really. But that would have been fun!)

Recipe:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick softened)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5-6 regular sized Hershey bars (or for a more prominent chocolate flavor use 2 king size Hershey bars)
1 (7oz) jar Marshmallow Fluff (next time I am going to use 2 jars to make it more marshmallowy)

Preheat the oven to *350.  Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish.

Cream together the butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Beat till well incorporated.  Next, mix together the flour, graham cracker crumbs (to get crumbs, I chopped mine in the food processor) salt, and baking powder. Slowly add to the creamed butter mixture.  Press half of the mixture into the prepared pan.

Next, lay out the chocolate bars (you may have to break them apart to fit in the pan) On top of that, evenly spread the marshmallow cream. Now this next part can be a little tricky. I just used my hands and flattened the remainder dough to fit over the top of the marshmallow.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Let cool completely.

(recipe source: The Girl Who Ate Everything) 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Ok, Ok, so I have been Baking alot! A real lot! I really don't know what my deal is other than I've been coming across some pretty darn good looking recipes and I really just can't help myself!  I really need to learn to control myself and just stick to drooling over the pictures instead of the actual dessert... 

Anyways, enough about my large waistline, lets get back to the recipe.  These beauties are so simple to make and REALLY simple to eat.  Oh and did I mention they are chocolate and peanut butter; pretty much one of the best combinations out there!

Recipe:
For the crust and topping:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (melted)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs

For the chocolate filling:
1 (12oz) pkg chocolate chips ( I used semi-sweet but milk chocolate would work great too)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. vanilla

For the crust, combine all ingredients and press into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish, reserving
1 1/2 cups of the mixture to crumble over the top.

Over low heat, melt the choco chips, milk, and butter. Once melted stir in the vanilla.  Pour chocolate mixture over the crust  and crumble remaining cake mixture over the filling.  Bake @*350 for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely before eating.  (I liked the flavor of the bars best when they were completely cooled)

(Recipe Source: Christy@The Girl Who Ate Everything Blog)

Rocky Road Brownies

All this packing is making me crazy! I wish I could snap my fingers and it would all magically be done! Anyways back to what makes me happy... Baking! I was craving something chocolate, which is normally not the case for me, I'm a cheesecake and pastry kind of girl, but I wanted something chocolatey and sweet and by golly did these get the job done or what! I cut the recipe in half and made them in a 8x8 pan, because lets be honest with ourselves, if I would've made a larger pan I would've eaten the whole dang pan they were so yummy! 

Recipe:

For the Brownie:

1 cup Butter (softened)

1/2 cup cocoa

2 Tbsp. Honey

4 Eggs

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup marshmallows

For the Chocolate Frosting:

4 oz. Butter (softened)

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. Cocoa Powder

1 tsp. vanilla

Couple Tbsp. of evaporated milk (I use about 1-3 Tbsp depending on the consistency I want)

Preheat the oven to *350. Mix together all the ingredients for the brownies, except for the nuts and marshmallows and pour into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans over the top of the brownie mixture and lightly press them into the batter. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. As soon as they are done baking sprinkle 1 cup of mini marshmallows over the top and lightly press them into the hot brownies. Make up the frosting and spread over the top of the brownies. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.

Serve with a cold glass of milk!

(Recipe for Brownies: From my friend Mal  Chocolate Frosting: Mine)

Lemon Cream Bars

To be honest, I can't quite remember where I got this recipe and I feel horrible that I can't personally thank this person because these bars are just divine! Now, I love me some good ole lemon bars and these are lemon bars taken up a notch! These bars have a delicious streusel bottom with a lemon cream filling, then more delicious streusel on top. Seriously, you can't go wrong with these little babies. (Well, unless you don't like lemon like my poor little sister who has no idea what she is missing out on!) Anyways, I highly suggest you go make yourself a batch of these cause they are yummy!

Recipe:

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
2/3 cup melted butter
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to *350. Combine milk and lemon juice. Mix well. Mix remaining ingredients until crumbly.  Press half of the streusel mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour the lemon mixture over top. Finish by sprinkling remaining streusel over the top of the lemon filling. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Cool completely then store in the refridgerator.