Salted Brown Butter Crispy Bars

We had snow here last weekend.  In October!  No one was prepared for it.  We made it through unscathed (except for the boredom that hit on Saturday afternoon) but my parents lost power and had to head to a hotel.  Oh, and did I mention that my mom’s birthday was on Monday (Halloween)?  I’ll have to bake her something special when we see them for her belated birthday celebration.

You’d think that being stuck indoors for that long would have inspired me to try something time-consuming. Instead, I found myself looking for something comforting and simple, yet different.  It didn’t take me long before I came across the perfect recipe, thanks to Smitten Kitchen.  Her take on the classic Rice Krispie treat is so crazy good that I couldn’t wait to try it.  The first change she makes is to brown the butter, giving the treats a slight nutty flavor.  This was my first time browning butter and her directions were spot on.  As soon as the butter started to turn brown I took it off the heat, then threw the marshmallows in.  Once the marshmallows melted into the butter, making an ooey gooey mess that I was tempted to eat on its own, you add in the Rice Krispies and a touch of salt.  These are perfect for to satisfy a sweet/salty craving and couldn’t be easier to make.  They’re a great improvement on a classic childhood treat.

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Bars (from Smitten Kitchen)

Makes about 16 2-inch squares

4 ounces (1/4 pound or 1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan

1 10-ounce bag marshmallows

Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) a 9-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Keep an eye on the butter, as it goes from browned to burned very quickly.

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, stir in the marshmallows and turn the heat to low.   

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. Press the bars down with waxed paper, sprayed with cooking spray.  Let cool, then cut and enjoy.

Shortbread Candy Bars

In the days following Halloween, it’s not unusual to work through the candy overflow by having a candy bar with every meal.  But after the initial euphoria and sugar high fade you’re still left with piles of leftover candy.  One way to ensure the candy isn’t still lying around by next Halloween is to make a batch of these shortbread bars.  The buttery shortbread crust is first baked, then topped with chocolate chips and the candy of your choice.  We tried it out with dark chocolate peanut butter cups, but any chocolate candy would work.  I asked Dennis for feedback and, in his words, you can’t go wrong with shortbread covered in chocolate and peanut butter.  It’s like adding bacon to anything.  Hmm, maybe that’s an idea for a future treat…

Shortbread Candy Bars (from Everyday Food)

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups assorted chocolate candies or roughly chopped candy bars (12 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour in three additions and beat until combined (dough will be crumbly). Press dough evenly into a 9x9 baking dish (a great way to do this is to press down through saran wrap so the dough doesn’t stick). Bake until golden brown and firm, 25-30 minutes.

Scatter chocolate chips on top of shortbread. Bake until soft, 1 minute. With the back of a spoon, spread chocolate evenly over shortbread. Scatter candies over top. Let cool on a wire rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate briefly to set chocolate, then cut into 16 bars.

Honey Corn Muffins

I apologize for my absence but Dennis and I took a much-needed trip to Europe where we traveled around Italy, Barcelona, and some other spots along the way.  We ate a lot of great food; I can’t understand why there’s not a gelato shop on every NYC corner.  The U.S. is really missing out!

Anyway, on to these muffins.  I grew up with Jiffy mix corn muffins, usually slathered with grape jelly and eaten for breakfast.  It wasn’t until I grew to love barbeque that I began to appreciate corn muffins as an essential part of a savory meal.  Eaten with a spicy chili they cut the heat and really help balance the meal.  I personally like sweet corn muffins – apparently that’s a Northern thing as Southerners don’t like theirs as sweet.  I won’t take sides on the debate, but I’ll just say that these were exactly what we were looking for.  Not only were they sweet and moist, but they were sturdy enough so they didn’t fall apart when dipped in chili.  I love it when I find a go-to recipe, and that’s exactly what this is.

Honey Corn Muffins (adapted from The Food Network)

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

1/2 stick butter, melted

1/4 cup honey (The best way to measure honey or any other sticky substance is to spray the measuring cup with cooking spray first.  Not only does it make it easier to clean the measuring cup but you’ll also get the full amount without any sticking to the cup.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Into a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the whole milk, eggs, butter, and honey. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Spray a 12-cup muffin tin and evenly divide the cornbread mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden. 

If you’re looking for something a bit different, cut the muffins in half, spread some butter on each side, then grill, butter side down, in a skillet.  Once they’re nice and brown they’re good to go.

Peanut Butter (or Caramel) Mini Brownies

At a library book sale recently I saw The All-American Cookie Book languishing on a shelf.  I couldn’t believe no one had grabbed it yet and snatched that puppy up for myself.  I’d heard of this book and its author before, but hadn’t yet tried any of its recipes.   A quick flip through it and it wasn’t long before I had dozens of recipes that I wanted to try.  This week, though, I was going for something that wouldn’t make too many treats as we’re heading on vacation at the end of the week.  There’s nothing sadder than cookies or brownies that don’t fulfill their purpose.  This recipe made 24 mini brownies, just enough for us to keep a few and my co-workers to finish the rest.

This recipe might be a great one to make after Halloween when you have some leftover candies and are looking for something to do with them.  Why not stuff them into the middle of a brownie?  Be careful when you’re baking them as I slightly over-baked them.  Keep an eye on them - it’s probably better to slightly underbake them then keep them cooking for too long.  Another heads up – you definitely want the candies to be well-chilled.  Inserting them into the brownies will cause them to melt very quickly if they’re not cold enough.  Okay, enough with the fine print.  Bake these up and you won’t regret it.

Peanut Butter (or Caramel) Mini Brownies (adapted from All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett)

5 T. unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped up

2 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped up

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 T. smooth peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

24 Reese’s mini peanut butter cups or Rolos, chilled and unwrapped (I threw them in the freezer for about an hour before I baked)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Coat mini-muffin pan with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, microwave butter and chocolate on 50% power for 1 minute.  Stir well, then continue microwaving at 50% power at 30-second intervals.  Stop microwaving before the chocolate completely melts.

Stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture until well blended.  Let cool to warm.  In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.  Beat the egg and peanut butter into the chocolate mixture.  Add the vanilla and stir vigorously until the mixture is smooth and shiny.  Stir in the flour mixture until incorporated.  Spoon the batter into the mini-muffin cups, then set on a baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 10-14 minutes, or until almost firm when pressed in the centers.  Immediately press 1 peanut butter cup or Rolo candy into the center until flush with the surface of the brownie. 

Transfer the muffin pans to a wire rack and let stand until the brownies are completely cooled.  Remove from pans gently.

Makes 24 mini-brownies.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

I wasn’t even planning to bake this Sunday as I already whipped up a batch of these for a Jersey Bites bbq on Saturday.  (Have you checked out Jersey Bites yet?  If not, definitely do so as it covers all food-related things going on in the Garden State and even has some articles by yours truly!). 

But this past Sunday was the first full day of football which meant that by 5 o’clock I’d been subjected to nearly 4 straights hours of pigskin prowess.  In an attempt to maintain my sanity I decided to see if I could find an easy muffin recipe so I could send Dennis off to work on Monday with a breakfast goodie.  My husband is the worst when it comes to breakfast.  His usual breakfast at work ranges from a granola bar to a cupcake from Crumbs.  I decided to straddle those two extremes with these muffins.  They want to be a doughnut, but they’re not fried so bonus points there.  I also subbed in some white whole-wheat flour in an attempt to make up for all of the sugar they’re covered in.  And they’re covered in a lot of sugar.  So if you’re looking for a (somewhat) healthier alternative to your normal morning doughnut, definitely give these a try.  You won’t be disappointed.

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins (Adapted from Culinary in the Desert)

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ cup white whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg -- lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk

To top the muffins
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar (I used a mix of regular sugar and vanilla bean sugar from Savory Spice Shop)
1 t. ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, mix sugar, oil, egg, and milk; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fill greased muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Place melted butter in a small bowl; combine sugar and cinnamon in another bowl. Immediately after removing muffins from the oven, brush muffins with melted butter and roll in the sugar mixture.

Makes 9 muffins.