Peanut Butter and Jelly... It's not just for sandwiches anymore!

Property of Jessica Gordon Ryan and The Entertaining Kitchen

I saw this awesome recipe and then I had to totally change things because that's just what I do... and from it came another awesome recipe. These are really good... rich from all the peanut butter... and you'll need a tall glass of cold milk, unless you are like me and can't stand the stuff, in which case a nice cup of coffee or a cafe au lait or cappuccino compliments quite nicely as well!

Ingredients

2 2/3 cup oats
1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of lowfat milk

3/4 cup of peanut butter, your favorite brand. Here I used Skippy Chunky All Natural

1 jar strawberry jam. I used Smucker's seedless strawberry.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

In your mixer cream together butter, sugar and vanilla
Then add oats, flour and milk. Mix on low speed initially, then you can turn up the speed.

Spread mixture onto a greased 9x13 baking dish using a rubber spatula

Empty the contents of the jam into a small saucepan, turn on low to medium and stir, until the jam starts to liquefy, then pour over the bar mixture and using the rubber spatula, spread the jam all over the top.

Place the pan into the oven for about 25 minutes.

Remove and let cool thoroughly before cutting. The jam will be too hot and the peanut butter bar will be too crumbly. These need some time to set.

Perfect for an afternoon snack or even breakfast! 

Chewy Fruit and Oatmeal Bars -- The Lazy Mom Way!

I needed something in a snap yesterday. I just didn't have the time to go rummaging through recipes and mix all my ingredients together. Like all Lazy Moms I keep a stash of boxed bakery items in the pantry. I much prefer Betty Crocker's cookie mixes over Pillsbury's slice and bake or even, gasp, Nestle's. Betty's are that good. So good really, that you could pass them off as home made! Not that I have tried... Well, no one asked!

These cookies can be made and baked in 20 minutes. Can't beat that! And when I am feeling super lazy and really in a rush I make bars instead of cookies. No dropping and measuring cookies to ensure that each and everyone of them is the same size because Godforbid one is bigger than the next! I added dried fruit and coconut for a decadently sweet snack that was an immediate hit! You have to try these!

Ingredients:

1 package Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix
3/4 cup of raisins
3/4 cup finely chopped dried apricot
3/4 cup dried cherries
1 cup shredded coconut
2 Tbs water (package says 1 but the additional fruit and coconut require the extra tbs of water)
1 egg -- per directions on package
1 stick of butter -- per directions on package

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a large mixing bowl add mix, egg, butter and water and mix til well blended. Slowly fold in dried fruit until well blended. (You can take out or add other dried fruit if desired.)

Lightly grease (I use a non-stick spray) a brownie pan and add cookie dough to the pan. Evenly distribute mixture to all sides.

Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before slicing. Let cool another 10 minutes or so before removing bars.

These bars are the perfect combination of crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Quick, Easy & Fantastically Delicious Oatmeal Bars with White Chocolate, Almonds and Cranberries

You're in a rush and you need to come up with something sweet and filling for an afternoon snack as you know your kids are going to roll their eyes at you if you offer what's in your pantry-- rice cakes, pretzels, Goldfish crackers or what's in your fridge -- cheese sticks, yogurt and apples... "So sick of those!"

I keep packaged cookie and cake mixes on hand for various occasions. I am a huge fan of the Betty Crocker cookie mix. You can totally pull these off as homemade (and I think I am going to one day!) especially when you add your own fixins...

To the packaged oatmeal cookie I added butter and egg as the recipe indicated. Instead of water I added a couple of tablespoons of apple cider! Then I tossed in:

1/2 almond meal
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup of white chocolate chips and
1 cup of dried cranberries

I tossed all ingredients (in no particular order) into the KitchenAid bowl and mixed away until all was well blended.

I took a brownie pan, greased it up really well with non-stick spray and applied the cookie mix to the pan, making sure that it was all evenly spread out.

In my preheated (375 degrees) oven I baked the bars for about 30 minutes.

When they were ready I took them out to cool, and cut them into squares when they were slightly warmer than room temperature.

And then, when you are running late for school and don't have time to make the kids breakfast hand them a cranberry bar and make up some nonsense about them being good for you because they contain oats, nuts and cranberries!

(I have a recipe for an amazing crispy, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie... I thought it was on the blog. But it's not. I'll take care of that over the next couple of days. That recipe can be used for these bars as well.)

Chocolate Chip Cookie Exchange Cookie Recipes!

Every year at our December book club get together we all participate in a cookie exchange. It's a fun and festive addition to our meeting. This year, due to sick children (there have been a lot this winter) we cancelled our meeting. I opted to host again in February and to host a Chocolate Chip Cookie Exchange in celebration of Valentine's Day. And then February came and once again we had to cancel due to Children and Winter Illnesses. We finally managed to get together last week. Despite our small size we had 4 great Chocolate Chip Treats! (The only rule was that the baked items needed to have chocolate chips as an ingredient)

Susan's Chocolate Saltine Treats

This strange name does not do this salty-sweet treat justice! When you can not make up your mind as to whether you want something a little salty or a little sweet, these treats will sure to satisfy!

1 sleeve of Saltines
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/4 cup butter (2 1/2 sticks)
2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Spray cookie sheet with Pam (must be rimmed and I use a layer of parchment for ease of lifting)
3. Spread Saltines flat over cookie sheet
4. In sauce pan - boil sugar and butter for 4 minutes, stirring constantly
5. Pour evenly over saltines
6. Bake in oven for 4 minutes
7. Take out and pour the chocolate chips over top
8. Spread chocolate evenly as it melts
9. Place in fridge for 2 hours or overnight
10. Take out and break into pieces

Line's Cowboy Cookies

Recipe courtesy David Sutherland, Minot, North Dakota
Show: Food Network ChallengeEpisode: Challenge: Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup shortening (recommended: Crisco) - I used butter and it worked fine.
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 (6-ounce) package chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and the vanilla and beat until well blended. Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Add oats, nuts, chocolate chips and coconut, mix until combined. Spoon cookie mixture onto greased foil lined cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.

I would highly recommend undercooking vs. overcooking as they turn in to hockey pucks if you do! Much better slightly underdone!

Gretchen's Classic Blondies

In my opinon, Blondies but better! I love how these had just the slightest bit of crunch and chew. By far the best blondie I have come across!

· 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
· ½ teaspoon baking powder
· 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
· ½ teaspoon salt
· ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
· 1/3 cup butter
· 1 cup packed brown sugar
· 1 egg
· 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
· 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Measure 1 cup flour, then add powder, soda and salt and mix together in a large bowl. Add nuts, if desired. Mix well and set aside.
On the stovetop, melt the butter thoroughly, then add brown sugar and mix well. Cool slightly.
Add beaten egg and vanilla to the butter mixture and blend again. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, until mixture is thick and tough. Spread in a 9x9 pan and sprinkle chips on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

and I made my Chocolate Chip Cookie Perfected!

Thanks girls, for sharing your recipes!