Chocolate Oat Squares

You may not want to turn on your oven just yet in this final Summer heat, but read on.  You might just be convinced to get up 30 minutes early in the cool morning to be able to try these... :)

This is one of my favorite desserts.  It's easy to make...which I have done on several occasions when needing a dessert for a crowd.  Besides those with nut allergies of course, I've never run into a person who didn't love the soft, slightly-gooey combination of chocolate and oats.

Plus, it was the first time I was able to use my cool new gadget from my sister - a spoon holder!  I love it and use it often. :)

Click here for the recipe.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies

I started preparing these way too close to the time we needed to leave the house the other evening that I was scurrying around like a crazy lady trying to get them into the oven in record time.  I probably did set a record!!

I literally pulled them out of the oven, put them where the rest of the family couldn't see them and left the house.  I didn't get to enjoy them till the next morning, but it was worth the wait!  I borrowed the recipe from here and adapted it slightly.  Here is my version:

Ingredients:
1/2 c. butter
8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
4 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 c. pumpkin puree
3 T. oil
1 1/4 t. cinnamon


Preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 9″x9″ cake pan with nonstick spray.

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chocolate and remove from heat. Let sit for a few minutes, then stir until smooth.

In a large bowl beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla for 3-4 minutes, until thick and pale yellow. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until just combined.

Put about a third of the batter into another bowl and stir the pumpkin, oil, and cinnamon into it. Stir the chocolate mixture into the remaining batter and spread a little more than half of it into the prepared pan. Top with the pumpkin mixture, then drop large spoonfuls of the remaining chocolate mixture on top. Swirl a toothpick through both to create a swirled effect.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, until just set and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan. Makes 16 brownies.

Frosted Pumpkin Bars

First on the Pumpkin agenda (besides the seeds, of course) was Frosted Pumpkin Bars!  I made these last year in Peru and remembered how much Mike and I liked them, so here they are again!

Ingredients Needed:
2 c. white sugar
1 c. oil
4 eggs
2 c. pumpkin
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. salt
2 t. ground cinnamon
2 t. baking soda
1 c. chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix together sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin.  Add combined remaining ingredients (minus the walnuts) and mix well.  Stir in walnuts.
Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake for about 25 minutes.  Cool and frost.

You can use any cream cheese frosting.  This is what I use:

8 oz. cream cheese
5 T. softened butter
2 t. vanilla
2 c. powdered sugar
Continue adding powdered sugar until desired consistency.

Saturday Morning Lemon Bars

Ahh, Saturday morning…my favorite time to bake.  This morning was particularly peaceful – whether it was because the Oregon rain and clouds had descended upon us or that most of my family was out of the house, I don’t know.  :) Maybe it was knowing that I don’t have to work today if I don’t want to.  Or that I was baking with LEMON.  That might have been it…I love lemon.

 I made these.  My first attempt at lemon bars.  Unfortunately, forgetting to set the timer, I let the crust cook a little too long.  I should never EVER depend on my memory; it always gets me in trouble.  Oh well.  They still tasted fabulous…at least I thought so!

Creamy Lemon Fudge

Today has been filled with many food-related activities.  We were invited to a BBQ tonight and asked to bring a fruit salad, and we were also invited to a BBQ tomorrow and asked to bring a dessert.  Both will appear later…

But first!

I am very excited to announce that I have mastered Taste of Home’s Creamy Lemon Fudge.  Many people have problems with it, as I most definitely did the first time I tried it.  The gooey icky mess I produced a few weeks ago did not get its photo taken…

Here is the simple bunch of ingredients (plus butter, and minus one thing) - I really have no idea how Mr. Vanilla jumped into the picture…

I’m transporting them to our friends’ house tomorrow night, so this is the final product before being fully wrapped up for the night.

  

Yea!  That was fun.

Turtle Bars

Also on Saturday, I decided on a dessert to make for the Easter Dessert/Kids’ Egg Hunt gathering we Extremies were having the next afternoon.  I found a recipe for Turtle Bars I had always wanted to try but never had and gave it a go!  It was super easy, but of course, I forgot to take the pictures I wanted to take of the final product.  Here is the first half of the product, going into the oven:

Here is my recently found substitute for chocolate chips, since you can’t get them here:

And here is the result of dropping the bars onto the counter for several minutes because they were so hard!

I asked our neighbor friends later on that night if they heard the booming noises and they just thought we were nailing something.  Our building is the opposite of sound proof and we practically all live together in the same apartment due to what we can hear of each other, so phew!  It didn’t bug them too much. J  

2009 Flashback: White Elephant Christmas Party

Goodies I made:
Scotch Shortbread Cookies
Cookie-Brownie Bars
Chocolate Oat Squares
PB Popcorn Balls
No-Bake Cookies
Sugar Cookies (iced in green and red)
Sugared peanuts
Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix

Other goodies I served:
Chocolate Covered Peanuts
Pretzels

Drinks I served:
Coffee
Tea
Hot Chocolate
Strawberry Juice (turns out, the most popular drink of the night - had to make more)
Inca Kola
Coca Cola
Coke Zero
Water

Other friends brought a few other dishes: salads, meats&cheeses, salmon dip. :)

We played several games and had tons of fun in Spanish and English!!