Peanut Butter Bars

It all started out on a drive one night with my husband. We were reminiscing about school lunch, and for me, particularly the treats that my Mother would pack. She always made delicious homemade baked good, cookies, cakes, bars and more. I remembered one treat in particular, peanut butter bars. That sweet, sweet combo of peanut butter and chocolate seriously just hits the spot. Then with addition of oats in the batter, it is also quite satisfying.

A couple week's passed by and I didn't make them. Then one night I was reading, Emily's post about her favorite Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies and thought about that darn pb and chocolate combo again. To top it off, Camille commented saying how she was going to have to make chocolate peanut butter bars.

I'd had it. I had to get this craving off my mind and make the darn Peanut Butter Bars!

So late that evening I searched online for a recipe to make peanut butter bars. (I wasn't able to get my mom's so this was my natural solution...) I found one that looked similiar to what I remember our family recipe being and went for it. The result:



I only made one change to the recipe I found, and that was in the frosting. I did not add peanut butter. Make some peanut butter bars today! They are perfect for your kid's brown bag lunch, as an afternoon snack, or for you to snack on anytime of the day.

So crazy note and randomness: I googled the recipe when I made them and now I can't find it. I can't remember the name of the blog I found it on and I'm super frustrated. You'd think it would be somewhere on the search page, and in my iPad's history, but I can't find it. So I found this other recipe, that is pretty similiar. Check it out here.



And while I have your attention. Do you have a great recipe for peanut butter bars? Please share.

Emile Henry Bakeware {Love}

How can you not be happy when you look at Emile Henry bakeware.

It's just so darn pretty and fun.

Oh and it's really nice.

I want.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

I have to come out and say it. I had no interest in making this bundt cake. In an ideal world I commit to making each TWD recipe each week. But reality sets in and I sit down and rank the chosen recipes and decide which ones will make the cut.

This Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake absolutely did NOT make the cut.

But then I started thinking about my life in two or so years. I joined Tuesdays with Dorie with the plan that when the group is done I would be able to hold up the freaking twenty pound cookbook with pride and say that I've made every stinking recipe. Then I minorly panicked. I don't want to get to the end of this journey and be like 100 recipes behind try to play catch up. So I went to the grocery store and bought that orange I was missing and made the darn thing.



I buttered and buttered my beautiful bundt cake pan. I whisked the dry ingredients with care and I chopped that sinful dark chocolate with skill. Oh how I love baking.



The result was one of the most delicious bundt cakes I've ever made. The orange zest was the winner. And that swirl, though with its scares and very different instructions were a bit frightening, mine turned out great! It unmolded perfectly! Some sections had their own tube of filling and others had pretty swirls up and down each slice.

My bundt is a bit naked in these photos, but I did dust it with confectioner's sugar before sharing with my coworkers at Shirley J.

I love TWD, I love how it forces me to go outside my usual dessert interests and helps me discover new delectable loves like this Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake.

See how the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers like the bundt cake, here. And get the recipe from Jennifer's blog, Cooking for Comfort.

Next week: Great Grains Muffins
Last week: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Pretty & Functional Things I Want for My Kitchen

Just a few items to add to my wish-slash-I-will-buy-soon list!

1. Porcelain Salt Pig from Williams-Sonoma
2. Extra Stainless Steel Kitchen-Aid Mixing Bowl
3. Cookie Jar from Crate & Barrel
4. Two-Tier Fruit Basket from Crate & Barrel
5. Wüsthof® Aluminum Magnetic Knife Holder
6. Utah Plyboo Cutting Board by Aheirloom.com
7. Salter Designer Digital Scale from Williams-Sonoma
8. 10-Piece Glass Bowl Set 

What's on your kitchen wish list right now?

Black Ceiling Lamp Love

it's barely the middle of the month. and I think I've hit the January blahs. 

the fact that half my month was spent in bed puking and dealing with fevers, chills and sweats might have something to do with it all. 

I've lost my appetite, which is nice for the waistline, but not for the cook and baker in me.

 

thank goodness everything in life that excites and inspires me isn't just about food.

that is where this lamp comes in.

i love it and i feel inspired in a wonderful way.

i love this lamp.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Muffins oh muffins. I love cupcakes, but I think I'm quickly discovering a growing love for this cousin of the cupcake.

I have had a horrible, no good, terrible past 9 days. I was struck with the flu and seriously stuck in bed dealing with horrible flu symptoms. I'd go into detail, but I today we are talking about delicious lemon poppy seed muffins and I don't want to spoil your appetite.

So along with trying to recover from the flu, I can't find my darn DSLR camera cord. So I hope you are enjoy my little iPhone photo.

I was so happy this week's recipe was a muffin one. Muffins are so quick and easy to make and so simple. I adored these lemon poppy seed muffins. They were everything a lemon poppy seed muffin should be. The icing really completed the lemon flavor. These were so moist, and the texture was so perfect.

You guys have got to try these muffins. Snag the recipe from Betsy's blog, A Cup of Sweetness. Be sure to check out the Leave Your Link post on the Tuesdays with Dorie site, some group members tried the 'playing around' option and filled the muffins with jam and other goodness.

Utah Locavore 100: #10 Tin Angel Bread Pudding

For my birthday last fall, I went to Tin Angel. It came with some great recommendations for dinner (I loved their house salad, rissotto cakes, and tapas), especially their famous bread pudding!



A big warning though, you better share it because it is a huge dessert.

Tin Angel offers a different bread pudding each day. Mine that day was Blueberry and Lemon. I love how they switch the flavors with the season.  Their bread pudding is firmer-than-usual and cut into triangles. Each edge is crisp and buttery.  Tin Angel's bread pudding is served in a pool of crème anglaise with warm an accompanying sauce. 

Seriously friends, you've got to try this dessert. So delicious!



You've got to try Tin Angels bread pudding of the day ($5). Share it.

Tin Angel Cafe
365 W. 400 South, Salt Lake City
801-328-4155.
Monday to Thursday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; 5-9 p.m.
Friday to Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; 5-10 p.m.

Other Utah Locavore 100 Posts:
Tomato Soup at Trio
Nielsen's Frozen Custard
Utah Locavore 100 List

White Plates Search

I'm on the hunt for new plates. I want 'em white and I want 'em simple. Here's some I found online.

Everyday Restaurant Porcelain Dinner Plates from Williams-Sonoma

Apilco Tradition Porcelain Dinner Plates from Williams-Sonoma

PB White Dinnerware from Pottery Barn

Caterer's 12-Piece Dinnerware Set from Pottery Barn

Obviously I haven't looked around too much and would love your help. Any recommendations?

Tuesdays with Dorie: Midnight Crackles

Holy, Happy New Year! It's 2011 and this blog is still baking up weekly treats from the almighty, Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. 


Today mark's the official 3rd Year Anniversary for Tuesdays with Dorie. I can't believe it. Besides my teenage years of dance and cheer, the young women's personal progress program and a bachelor's degree; I don't think I've committed to something for so long. But baby, I'm in it for the long-haul! I will complete every stinking, lovely recipe from this cookbook.




To kick off year three, the founder of TWD, Laurie of Slush and Jules of Someone's in the Kitchen decided we should make Dorie's Midnight Crackles.


This chocolate cookie recipe turned out so much better than I ever thought it would. I didn't doubt it. I just didn't think I'd be so in-love with the result, which was the most delicious deep chocolate cookie with the neatest texture. The outside was firm and had a crunch to it, while the inside was soft. It was such a cool combination.


I spoiled myself and used my favorite Amano's Madagascar chocolate. Oh how it makes a difference! I also received a spice grinder from my sweet sister-in-law for Christmas and was able to grind some brand new spices I had. The clove was unreal! And Dorie was right. The clove adds a lot and people wonder what you put in it! My coworkers and family loved these cookies. 


To see what the other Midnight Crackles made by my fellow TWD members look like, visit the Leave Your Link post. If you would like the recipe, visit the official Tuesdays with Dorie blog, or purchase Baking From My Home to Yours.


And, since we are celebrating here. I'd like to share our favorite Dorie recipes from this year.

Adam's Top 10 TWD Recipes for 2010

- Chocolate Armangac Cake*

- All-American, All-Delicious Apple Pie*

- Fold-over Pear Torte*

- PB Criss-Crosses

- Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart*

- Chewy Chunky Blondies

- Tart Noire

- Raisin Swirl Bread * 

- Apple-Apple Bread Pudding*

- My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies*

Becky's Top 10 TWD Recipes for 2010

- Not Just for Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread

- Peach Raspberry Upside Down Cake

- Gingered Carrot Cookies

- White Chocolate Brownies (We ate the whole pan...yes, just the two of us!)

- Burnt Sugar Ice Cream* (MY TWD PICK!)

- Dulce de Leche Duos*

- Toasted Coconut Tart

- Honey Wheat Cookies*

- Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars*

- Tarte Tatin*

* = we both loved this recipe and consider it a favorite.

It was so hard to narrow these down. We scrolled through each recipe made this year and holy cow, delicious! Do you ever just look at the Dorie recipes you've made and think how hog-wild you would go if the dishes were actually sitting in front of you? Holy cow. I can't look at these anymore. Time for the treadmill. :)

Last but not least. I have to thank Lindsay from Cafe Johnsonia and Holly from Phemomenon. They were some of the first bloggers I followed who participated in TWD and they are the reason I joined Tuesdays with Dorie. I can't thank you ladies enough. You still inspire me with each post. Seriously. My life has changed for the better because I joined this group.