Chocolate Candy Cookie Bars

Spend quality time  with your children around the kitchen

and together you can easily whip up these sinfully delicious cookie bars

loaded with all (...or some) of your leftovers Halloween chocolate candies

I hope you had a fantastic Halloween, and a relaxing, sugar-free Sunday. I meant ... sugar-filled Sunday! We all know what really happens the day after Halloween. The kids go crazy with all the goodies they have collected, and want to eat them all.
The general rule in my house is to let the kids play, count, and compare their treasures. But they can pick only a few pieces to eat. I try to make the rest disappear. Well, not all of it! I would never get rid of chocolate candies. You all know that I LOVE chocolate. I could never say no to a melt-in-your-mouth piece of the finest chocolate, maybe filled with crunchy hazelnuts, and silky gianduia milk chocolate. Are you thinking about those fancy Italian baci too?!? So delicious!

Today I baked with one of my boy these fantastic cookie bars filled with leftover Halloween chocolate candies. This recipe is a great way to use those candies, and it's easy enough that your kids can do it by themselves, or maybe with a little help. You can let your kids decide which chocolate bars to use. From Snickers to Milky Way.Or Reese's Cups and M&Ms. Let them go wild! Just set the limit to about one and a half cups of candies cut in pieces for a batch of these cookies.

My kids love when they get to help in the kitchen.  It gets very messy, but it's so much fun. Cooking is a great learning opportunity, and an amazing way to bring the family together.  Sometimes it's hard to spend quality time with the children, when they are so busy with school, homework, sports and all that after-school activities.
After today's crazy baking experience I can honestly say that I need to bake more with my boys and work on their cooking skills. Neither of them could be the next MASTERCHEF JUNIOR. Not a chance, at least for the moment! Have you seen what the kids on the show can actually cook?!? Simply amazing!
In the finale of the last season, the remaining two contestants had to make a three course meal in only 90 minutes. One of the boys made an Italian inspired menu, starting with herbed homemade ricotta cheese, with roasted beets and pumpernickel bread. Yes, you heard correctly! Ricotta cheese made from scratch. I have never tried and never even thought about making it, until I saw this episode. If an 11 year old can whip up ricotta, I certainly can do it too. Well ... maybe  :)
Next on the menu, there was an impressive dish of beef cheek ravioli with pan gravy and shaved Parmesan. And for dessert a perfectly creamy sweet risotto (rice pudding style) with figs and verjus. Probably you wish you knew what  "verjus" is, right?! Not even my laptop spell-checker knows it really. But I do! And I learned it from the show, of course!
MASTERCHEF JUNIOR is super fun and exciting, for both adults and kids. And it's very inspiring, with all those impressive and mouthwatering dishes. I've actually decided I need to be one of the judges on the show! I can really see myself sitting next to Gordon Ramsey and sharing the fork ;)
So make sure to watch the new season of MASTERCHEF JUNIOR. It's starting this Friday November 6, 8/7 c on Fox.
Just one word of advice before the next show: make sure not to watch on an empty stomach. It will make you hungry,for sure!

Here is the recipe for these soft and gooey, rich and intense, dangerous cookie bars. Every bite is  exploding with everything you love about leftover Halloween chocolate candies.  You can make it as fun or as simple as you wish.

Ingredients: to make an 8x12 inches (20x30 cm) baking pan, cut in about 16 bars

• 4 oz (115 gr) of unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup packed (200 gr) of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2 cups (300 gr) of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 and 1/2 cups (about 200 gr) of Milky Way and Crunch bars, or other (Snickers, Butterfingers, Reese's cups, ...)
• 1/4 cup (40 gr) of M&Ms for decoration (optional)

Preparation time: about 40 minutes
Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). Melt the butter in a double boiler, or in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds. Let it cool, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. In a large bowl add the eggs and sugar. Mix well.

3. Whisk in the melted butter.

4. Blend in the flour, baking soda, and salt.

5. Stir in the two cups of chopped chocolate bars.

6. Press the dough to the bottom of a 8x12 inches (20x30 cm)  baking pan, covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with the M&Ms if you wish, to give a colorful twist to the bars. Press the  candies down a bit with your finger, so they won't roll around.

7. Bake at 350° F (175° C) for about 20-22 minutes. Take the cookies out by pulling up on the parchment paper, and cut in pieces. To have perfectly cut bars, make sure to wait for the cookies to cool down a bit. Or if you don't mind... we didn't mind and couldn't wait to taste this - just go ahead, cut and enjoy!  I made 16 bars, about 2 by 3 inches each. You could also cut smaller portions and make 24 bars ( 2x2 in ).

Enjoy :)

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Rice Krispies Treats with Peanut Butter and Chunks of Snickers

Crunchy, gooey, chocolaty, and nutty rice krispies treats with peanut butter and chunks of Snickers bars

Anytime is a great time for a rice krispies treat if it's this delicious!

Are you planning a last minute party or a simple get together with lots of kids? Here is the perfect recipe for you.
As you know, all kids like rice krispies treats. And when you add a little something special, like creamy peanut butter, and yummy chocolate bars, then everyone will love them too. I promise!
This recipe takes less than 15 minutes from start to finish. And the only baking required is a couple of minutes in the microwave. That's all! Just perfect for hot summer days.
What's better, making rice krispies is so easy that your kids might want to help out, or prepare these themselves. Anybody can do it, really!

Here are a few words of advise: use an extra large bowl (as you see in my pictures), to avoid cleaning up gooey and sticky stuff off the bottom of your microwave. If you have never seen what happens to marshmallows in the microwave ... they grow and grow, just for a few seconds. But that's enough to mess up your oven.
Also, measure and prepare all the ingredients before you start with the recipe. You need to quickly mix all the ingredients and shape the mixture into the muffin tins, when the marshmallow mixture is still warm. Once it cools off, it will harden and turn into an unmanageable large sweet lump :)
Check out my video too:

Ingredients: to make 24 round bars

• 1 bag ( 10 oz, 280 gr) of mini marshmallows
• 2 oz (65 gr) of unsalted butter  
• 1/2 cup (150 gr) of peanut butter
• 6 cups (180 gr) of rice krispies cereal
• 1 cup (about 120 gr) of chopped Snickers bar (or 3Musketeers or similar)* 

*I used 16 mini bars

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Directions:

1. Cut the Snickers bars in pieces and measure all the other ingredients, so that everything is ready.
In a large bowl, add the marshmallows, butter and peanut butter. Make sure the bowl is much larger that the content because the marshmallows will inflate in the microwave.

2. Microwave for one minute on high. Mix with a spoon, and microwave for an additional minute.

3. Quickly mix in the rice krispies cereal and the chocolate bars

4. Spoon the mixture into 24 regular size muffin cups. I used silicone cups. If you are using regular cups, please grease with butter or spray.

5. Press down the mixture in the cups with the back of a spoon (or your fingers!) to pack the rice krispies.

Let them cool down for a couple of minutes,  remove from the mold and ...

Enjoy :)

Homemade Blueberry and Ricotta Bars

This fresh, homemade dessert combines a layer of soft and moist cake, topped with a rich and delicate ricotta layer,
bursting with fresh, organic blueberries.
Let's have a taste of summer!

This week I got blueberries. In the box of home delivered fruits that I receive once a week from a local farm. I really love this service! The fruit is delicious, locally grown, and organic. And what's even better, every week I'm sure I have enough yummy fruit for my family, even when I don't have time to run to the farmers' market. In my house, fruit is one of those things that, no matter how much I buy, it's never enough ... just like Nutella and ice-cream :)
So every Thursday it's feels like Christmas. Well, Christmas for foodies :) I never know exactly what's inside this box left at my front door. And I can't wait for the guy to drop it off, to open it up and find out!
Today I have a container filled with sweet blueberries. And here is what I made. This delicious dessert that combines a layer of soft and fluffy cake, topped with a moist and rich ricotta cheese layer, bursting with my fresh, organic blueberries. I bake it in a large, rectangular pan, I chill it after baking and cut in squares. Perfect size for a fancy breakfast, a fun mid-morning snack for the kids, or a delicious dessert ... any time of the day really!
You might remember that I posted a similar recipe before, several months ago. This time I made a few changes. As usual, I modify, experiment and try to improve myself. It doesn't necessarily always work. But this time I got a winner. A thicker and richer layer of ricotta that makes the whole bar yummier and moist-ier ;)
Be careful thou! You wont' be able to stop at just one piece. So please, when you bake this (and I know you will once you see how easy it is!) don't tell me I didn't warn you.

And of course, I made a video for you.

Ingredients: to make a 9 x 12 inches cake, cut in about 24 squares
For the bottom cake:                                                 

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup (150 gr) of sugar
• 3 oz (85 gr) of unsalted butter (soften)
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups (225 gr) of all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon (pinch) of salt
• zest of one lemon

For the top layer:

• 24 oz (1.5 lb = 680 gr) of ricotta cheese 
• 1/2 cup (100 gr) of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup (35 gr) of all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 12 oz (340 gr) of organic fresh blueberries 

Preparation time: 20 minutes to prepare, 50 minutes to bake and one hour or more to chill

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C). In a large bowl, mix the sugar with the eggs until well blended.

2. Blend in the butter (soften - at room temperature).

3: Blend in the rest of the ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

4: Grease a  9 x 12 in baking pan with butter and flour. Pour the mixture in the pan, and flatten it as well as you can with a spoon.

                                  

                                                                                      

5: In another bowl, blend together all the ingredients for the filling with the exception of the blueberries, which we'll add at the end.

Step 5: Pour the mixture on top of the first layer of the cake. Flatten it. Sprinkle with the blueberries.

Step 6: Bake at 350 degrees for about 45-50 minutes until slightly golden at the edges and set in the center.. Cool and then refrigerate covered for a few hours or overnight.

                                              

Cut into bars and enjoy!

Blueberry and Ricotta Cheese Bars

A delicious combination of soft cake, sweet blueberries, delicate ricotta cheese, with a lemony twist. 

I'd like to start this weekend with something sweet, fresh and summery!
These blueberry and ricotta bars are perfect! An easy, quick and wholesome dessert. Colorful and fun for the kids. A delicious combination of soft cake, sweet blueberries, delicate ricotta cheese, with a lemony twist.
I baked these bars for a barbecue/pool party at a friend's house. But they are also perfect for any occasion, from breakfast, to kids' morning snack or afternoon tea dessert. A huge crowd-pleaser!

Note: I have been asked about the design of this website. First of all, thank you all for the nice comments and positive feedbacks. And yes, I built it all by myself! I'm quite proud of it :-)
It is a free blogger account that, if interested, you can easily set up on blogger.com. Very user friendly! The template is Awesome Inc. with the blue/grey color scheme. Awesome, right?!?
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Have a delicious weekend!

Ingredients: to make a 9 x 12 inches cake, cut in about 24 squares
For the bottom cake:                                                  Printable Recipe

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 stick of butter (soften)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of one lemon
• 1/8 teaspoon (pinch) of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon of baking powder

For the filling:

• 1 lb of ricotta cheese 
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of flour 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• juice of one lemon 
• 2 cups of organic fresh blueberries 

Preparation time: 20 minutes to prepare, 50 minutes to bake and a few hours to chill

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix the sugar with the eggs until well blended. Blend in the butter (soften - at room temperature).

Step 2: Blend in the rest of the ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.

Step 3: Grease a  9 x 12 in baking pan with butter and flour. Pour the mixture in the pan, and flatten it as well as you can with a spoon.

                                             

                                             

Step 4: In another bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the filling with the exception of the blueberries, which we'll add at the end.

Step 5: Pour the mixture on top of the first layer of the cake. Flatten it. Sprinkle with the blueberries, and with your hand press them slightly into the mixture, so they won't roll around :-)

Step 6: Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. Cool and then refrigerate covered for a few hours or overnight.

                                              

Slice into bars and enjoy!