Chocolate Hazelnut Bars. Rich, fudgy chocolate topping over a buttery hazelnut crust.

Let’s talk recipe inspiration.  Most often mine will occur when I’m grocery shopping.  I’ll find a great price on something or find some type of food or ingredient that I HAVE to buy.  Other times the inspiration is out of necessity.  I’ll find ingredients in my pantry that somehow got lost or forgotten and need to get used pronto.  How on Earth does one forget about a brand new bag of hazelnut flour, I’ll never know.

That bag of hazelnut flour led to this recipe.  Nut meals make great crusts with delicious taste and texture for bars and pies.  Plus it’s simple as simple can be.  Combine ingredients, cut in butter and bake.

I’ve made this rich & creamy chocolate topping before for desserts and it never ceases to amaze me.  Throw together a few simple ingredients and it truly transforms.  Not quite a custard, nor a ganache, nor a fudge – it falls somewhere in between the three.  It’s a simple chocolate recipe that you can find plenty of other uses for.

You’ll think the chocolate layer looks rather thin when topping off the hazelnut crust – trust me – it’s plenty.  It puffs up a bit when baking and is plenty rich for the crust to topping ratio.

I used hazelnuts for the base of these bars.  Two reasons.  First, the European in me LOVES the chocolate and hazelnut combo.  Second, I had hazelnut flour to use up.  I’m pretty sure this would work well with almond or any other nut flour/meal – but have yet to try it.

This recipe is quick and simple and the finished bar is a rather impressive treat.  Not your average, everyday cookie bar or brownie.  Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Baking!

Amanda ♥

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Chocolate Hazelnut Bars

Chocolate Hazelnut Bars. Rich, fudgy chocolate topping over a buttery hazelnut crust. : Desserts Author: Amanda

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time55 mins

Course: Desserts

Servings: 9 -12 servings

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• For Crust:
• 1/3 cup hazelnut meal/flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons cold salted butter cut into pieces
• For Chocolate Topping:
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten

Instructions

• For Crust:
• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Grease/spray an 8" or 9" square baking dish.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together hazelnut flour, sugar and flour.
• Using a pastry blender, cut in cold butter pieces until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Press the mixture evenly into baking dish.
• Bake for 22 - 25 minutes or until edges are lightly golden brown.
• Cool on wire rack until topping is ready.
• For topping:
• In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together water and butter until melted and combined.
• Whisk in sugar, cocoa powder and salt until thoroughly combined.
• Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla.
• Let mixture cool down for a few minutes, whisk in eggs until blended.
• Pour/scrape chocolate topping onto crust.
• Bake at 350° until set - about 16 -20 minutes.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Cut into squares. If storing for a few days, I keep this in the fridge. Remove from fridge an hour or two before serving.

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ShareTheFlavor #CollectiveBias

Palmiers – A sweet French Pastry that’s fancy but not fussy. Buttery, flaky, delicate & delicious – perfect for every occasion ♥

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  I won’t dispute that, but I will add that coffee is the most important drink of the day.

Coffee is most certainly not just for breakfast.  A few good cups of coffee are a must to keep me going thru the day.  I’m not a fancy coffee drinker – I appreciate a good, rich, flavorful cup of coffee.

Hence why I’m in LOVE with Dunkin’ Donuts® coffees.  Dunkin’ Donuts Dark® is my go to – rich, smooth, dark and bold – it’s a cup of coffee perfection.

To top off my perfect cup of coffee I reach for Simply Pure®.  True to it’s name – it’s made with simple, real ingredients – milk, cream and sugar.  It comes in three perfectly simple flavors – I myself am a vanilla kinda girl.

Know what else pairs wonderfully with a good cup of coffee?  A nice sweet treat ♥ I have so many baked goodies that are wonderful with coffee, but the ever so fancy, yet simple French Palmier is one of my favorites.  This sweet, flaky, buttery pastry – also affectionately known as “Elephant Ears” – is a pastry treat for all occasions.

For reasons unknown, people think that Palmiers are an intricate cookie to make.  I promise you, they are not.  Roll out and up the puff pastry, slice, sprinkle or dip with sugar (add cinnamon or cocoa powder if you’d like) and bake.  You can get creative if you’d like – but I’ve fallen in love with the simply wonderful layers of puff pastry and the buttery crispy sugar coating.

Coffee & Palmiers are one of my favorite dessert pairings.  Perfect for a casual, sit around the table and chit-chat after dinner.  Perfect for anytime you want to enjoy a good cup of coffee with a sweet bite.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy baking ♥

-Amanda-

What sweet treats do you enjoy most with coffee?

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5 from 1 vote

French Palmiers

Palmiers - A sweet French Pastry that's fancy but not fussy. Buttery, flaky, delicate & delicious - perfect for every occasion ♥

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time16 mins

Total Time36 mins

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: French

Servings: 1 dozen

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• 1 sheet of puff pastry 1/2 pound thawed but chilled
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• cinnamon or cocoa powder optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Dust your work surface (cutting board, butchers block or counter) liberally with sugar.
• Place thawed puff pastry sheet on top of sugar.
• Sprinkle top of puff pastry with a bit of sugar, gently spread and even out with your hand.
• Roll out pastry to a rectangle, about 1/8" thickness.
• Find the center of your pastry. Tightly, but gently, roll each long side to the center of the pastry. The two sides will meet in the center.
• Dust a plate or cutting board with sugar, carefully transfer rolled puff pastry onto it, and chill in fridge for about 15 minutes.
• While waiting, fill a small bowl with remaining sugar and a sprinkle of cocoa powder & cinnamon (if desired).
• Return pastry back to work surface. Cut pastry roll into 12 slices.
• Gently dip both sides of the slices in sugar and transfer to cookie sheet.
• Bake for 6 - 8 minutes, flip and bake another 5 - 8 minutes until golden brown.
• Let palmiers rest for a minute on cookie sheet then transfer to wire rack and cool.
• Enjoy!

I found a variety of flavors Dunkin’ Donuts® coffees & Simply Pure® creamers at my local Giant Foods!

Fun, sweet & unique Frosted Root Beer Cookies.

I woke up in the mood to bake.  Actually, I’ve been wanting to bake for days but ongoing kitchen renovations have kept my kitchen playtime at a bare minimum.  My kitchen is always a bit on the chaotic side – I work best that way – but the renovations have taken it over the edge for the past few weeks.

So I make some room and plan to bake.  Then comes the “bakers block”.  You want to bake but don’t know what you want to bake.  Cake, no.  Anything chocolate, no.  Anything peanut butter, no.  There went my list of the usual suspects.  Sigh.

Looking thru my pantry I saw a soon to be lost & forever forgotten bottle of root beer extract.  Inspiration struck.

It’s been awhile.  Many years ago an old neighbor of mine used to make root beer everything.  Not only did she make her own root beer, she made root beer cake, brownies, boozy treats, cupcakes, fudge and of course, root beer cookies.  It was her thing – people loved it and paid nicely for her root beer sweets.

Although my root beer loving neighbor wouldn’t share her own prized recipe – which of course contained her own homemade root beer syrup – she shared a recipe from her earlier baking days with me.

These cookies were the perfect bake to cure my “baker’s block”.  An out of the ordinary, cure all.

You’ll get a lot of cookies from this recipe.  I drop them by heaping teaspoonfuls and get over seven dozen.  You can easily cut this recipe in half if you’re not in the market for 80+ root beer cookies.

These are soft, cakey cookies with a little crisp on the outside.  They have a very subtle root beer flavor – it’s definitely there, but not in your face.  If you feel you’d like more root beer flavor I would suggest doing it in the frosting.  Perhaps omit the vanilla extract and add an additional teaspoon, or more to taste, of root beer extract.

I top these off with just a thin layer of frosting – anymore is just too much for me.  If you want a thick layer of frosting you’ll need to double the frosting.

These would be so cute topped with fine brown or white sprinkles – I was fresh out.  Always a day late & a dollar short 😉

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Baking ♥

-Amanda-

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5 from 1 vote

Frosted Root Beer Cookies

Fun, sweet & unique Frosted Root Beer Cookies. Soft & cakey with just the right amount of root beer flavor.

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr

Course: cookies

Servings: 6 - 7 dozen

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• For Cookies
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar packed
• 1 cup salted butter softened
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons root beer concentrate/extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• For Frosting
• 2 cup powder sugar
• 2 tablespoon salted butter softened
• 2 tablespoon heavy cream or half & half
• 1 teaspoon root beer concentrate / extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• For Cookies
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine both sugars, butter, milk, eggs, root beer & vanilla extracts.
• Beat until well combined.
• Add flour, baking soda and salt. Beat at low speed until combined and soft dough forms.
• Drop cookie dough by heaping teaspoons on a nonstick cookie sheet about 2" apart.
• Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until edges of cookie start to lightly brown.
• Let rest on cookie sheet for a minute then transfer to wire rack & cool completely.
• For Frosting
• In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, cream (or half & half) and root beer & vanilla extracts.
• Beat until smooth and mixed, stopping once or twice to scrape sides of bowl.
• Taste. If you would like more root beer flavor, add additional root beer concentrate and mix.
• Spread a thin layer of frosting over cookies.
• Store covered and enjoy 🙂

A soft, chewy & DELICIOUS sugar cookie bar. Topped with a rich buttercream frosting. Prepare to fall in love ♥

It’s no secret.  I LOVE baking.  I bake year around – usually a few times a week.  I would bake every single day if I could and share my baked goodies with all, just for smiles ♥

Then the holidays roll around and it is nonstop baking.  Cookies, breads, cakes, pies, pastries and more cookies – for friends, family, events and charity.  As much as I love baking, I’ll admit, holiday baking can get exhausting.

But the show must go on…..

I bake from scratch about 90% of the time.  On occasion, I try baking mixes and such.  On this occasion I tried Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes and must admit I was quite impressed!

Sugar cookies were on my mind.  More specifically, frosted sugar cookie bars – they’re a family favorite.  I decided to swap out my “from scratch” recipe and use Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix.

Everyone LOVED them.  No one noticed the difference and raved about their favorite sugar cookie bars as usual.  Wow.  I don’t know if I should be happy, relieved or a little insulted.  Lol.  The feelings are bittersweet.

These sugar cookie bars are super simple to mix up.  Baking time will vary a little depending on the type of pan you use.  I used a 8″ square tin lined with foil and they were ready in about 17 – 18 minutes.  They will take a bit longer in a glass baking dish.  Keep an eye on them and pull them out when they just start to get a light golden brown on the edges and top.  These bars should be super soft & chewy.  Over baking will result in hard or crunchy bars – definitely not what we’re after here.

I use a simple buttercream to top these bars off.  It might feel like too much frosting – but trust me – spread it all on!

I decided to try a few other Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes.  I must admit, we enjoyed them all!  Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Spice – delicious!  Seriously, it took about 15 minutes to get the first batch into our bellies.  I’m definitely keeping a few bags of this stuff in my pantry for all my last minute holiday baking needs 🙂

These Frosted Sugar Cookie Bars are absolutely a must try!  Perfect for the holiday season or anytime of the year!

Thanks so much for stopping by…Happy Baking!

Amanda

Want more cookie goodness?  Need some cookie inspiration?  Getting crazy just thinking about holiday baking?  Find everything you need with Betty Crocker ♥

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5 from 1 vote

Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookie Bars with Buttercream Frosting

A soft, chewy & DELICIOUS sugar cookie bar. Topped with a rich buttercream frosting. Prepare to fall in love ♥

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: baked goods, cookies

Cuisine: American

Servings: 16

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• For bars:
• 1 pouch of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix 17.5 oz
• 1 stick 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• For buttercream:
• 1 stick 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• food color optional
• sprinkles optional

Instructions

• For bars:
• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Prep a 8" square baking pan. Spray/grease or line with foil (greased) or parchment paper.
• Stir together cookie mix, softened butter, egg & egg yolk until soft dough forms.
• Spoon & evenly press dough into baking dish.
• Bake until corners are just golden brown - 17 - 25 minutes. Lower times will be for a metal tin, longer times for a glass dish.
• Remove from oven & cool on wire rack.
• *Note* I line baking tin with aluminum foil (lightly sprayed with cooking spray) and let extra hang over the edges. Once cooled, you can lift the foil and bars straight out of the tin. Works wonderful with parchment paper as well. It's not necessary - but it makes bars/brownies neater & easier to frost & cut.
• For buttercream:
• In a large mixing bowl, cream butter with electric mixer.
• Beat in vanilla.
• Mix in sugar, one cup at a time. Beat well on medium speed, scraping sides and bottom of bowl.
• Icing will be dry when all sugar has been mixed in.
• Add in milk, beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.
• Mix in any colors if desired.
• Frost top of cooled sugar cookie bars. Cut into 16 pieces.
• Enjoy ♥

I found all these Betty Crocker goodies plus all my other baking supplies at my local Walmart.

BIG, thick, jumbo chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  This Chocolate Chip Cookie reigns supreme in the cookie game!  

Everyone has a favorite chocolate chip cookie.  If you’re not much of a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur then you might think they’re all pretty much the same.  You would be mistaken, though.  There’s crispy, chewy, crunchy, soft, flat, thick, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside – so many varieties.  Ahh…the magic of baking.

In my home, one chocolate chip cookie reigns supreme.  It’s a thick and chewy cookie.  Oh, and it’s a BIG one.  Jumbo, to be exact.

I found this recipe almost 5 years ago on Cookpad (formerly “All The Cooks”).  The recipe was shared from a fella named Sarge.  I made these cookies one time and there was no turning back.  From that moment on, all other chocolate chip cookies paled in comparison.

It’s a pretty basic cookie dough recipe – it’s just a larger batch.  Oh, and you’re dropping the dough by 1/4 cups instead of the standard measly tablespoon.  I’ll forewarn you, I burned up a stand mixer with this cookie dough.  Lesson learned – I now use a handheld mixer to cream the butter and sugars and stir the flour in by hand.

This makes 2 dozen of thick, chewy, jumbo, delicious chocolate chip cookies.  I have never eaten more than one cookie in a sitting.  I’m like a cookie monster – so seriously, it’s one BIG cookie.

Give it a try – if you’re a fan of chewy chocolate chip cookie then this is for you!  If you’re a fan of those thin & crispy chocolate chip cookies, well, it’s about time to come to the other side 🙂

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy Baking!

Recipe from Cookpad – Check them out if you haven’t already!!

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4.82 from 16 votes

Jumbo Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

BIG, thick, jumbo chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Course: cookies

Servings: 2 dozen

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup butter softened (3 sticks)
• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined and creamy.
• Stir in flour, 1 heaping cup at a time until everything is combined and there is no more dry patches (check bottom of bowl)
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop dough by 1/4 cups on ungreased cookie sheet - 6 cookies on a sheet.
• Bake for 10 - 12 minutes or until cookies just start to get light golden brown on tops.
• Let cookies rest for a minute or two on cookie sheet and transfer to wire rack to cool.
• Enjoy 🙂

Chewy chocolate cookies with a creamy cool mint center.  These Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cookies need to be added to your Christmas cookie bake list! 

I had these cookies for the first time last year.  My neighbor, one of the sweetest ladies in the world, brought us over a plate of beautiful homemade Christmas cookies.  Every cookie was delicious – but there was one cookie that we all wanted and didn’t want to share.  They were chocolate cookies with a peppermint filling.

After eating a few of them, it was decided that the centers had to be (or could be) peppermint patties.  It was also decided that I was nominated to bake these cookies in the near future….

Crazy how I forgot about these cookies for almost a year.

After doing a recent shakedown of my pantry, I found a bag of peppermint patties.  I had bought them months ago to make these cookies and totally forgot about them.  Perfect timing!

I’ll admit, I almost didn’t share this recipe.  These cookies are delicious but they’re a bit fussy to make.  Not hard, just fussy and a little messy.  I can handle messy, but fussy annoys me.  I only have so much patience to go around.

What’s the fussiness about?  You’re basically forming the soft, mushy and sticky cookie dough around the peppermint pattie.  Sounds easy enough, right?  It probably is.  Just pay attention to making sure that the patty is completely covered in cookie dough.  I wasn’t so attentive and had a few oozy messes.

The cookies sat around for a day.  My annoyance wore off.  I ate a few and I realized I had to share these cookies.  They’re simply too delicious to be left unshared.

I hope you enjoy these Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cookies.  Go ahead and decorate them if you’d like!  I sprinkled a pinch of crushed candy cane on the tops but they’re just as brilliant without any toppings!  Happy Baking!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Amanda-

Recipe adapted from Hershey’s Kitchens

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5 from 3 votes

Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cookies

Chewy chocolate cookies with a creamy cool mint center. These Chocolate Peppermint Pattie Cookies need to be added to your Christmas cookie bake list!

Prep Time1 hr 10 mins

Cook Time12 mins

Total Time1 hr 22 mins

Course: cookies

Cuisine: American

Servings: 18 cookies

Author: Amanda

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 18 - 20 small peppermint patties unwrapped

Instructions

• In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar.
• Add egg, milk and vanilla, mix well.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture,stirring with spoon until well combined and no more dry patches.
• Refrigerate dough for 1 -2 hours or until chilled and firm enough to handle. Dough will be a little soft.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
• Scoop out tablespoon of cookie dough. Roll dough into a ball. Flatten slightly and press peppermint patty into dough. Mold dough around patty so that it is completely covered. It's important that the patty is completely covered - it will melt and ooze out if it's not.
• Place on prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake for about 12 minutes or until cookie is set.
• Let cookie rest for a minute or two on cookie sheet and carefully transfer to wire rack. Cool completely. Store in sealed container.
• Makes approximately 18 cookies.