Snickerdoodle Cream Cheese Blondies

oh WOW..... These cookie bars are awesome! These would sure be a nice treat on a hot summer day, I put mine in the fridge and eat them cold.  The cream cheese and cinnamon sugar are a good combination.  It is a small treat with a big punch.

Lemon Cheese Bars

This has been one crazy week.  On Friday June 29 and Sunday July 1 we had 2 of the worst storms I can ever remember.  It has been so hot here one day this week our house thermometer said it was 109 degrees, and these storms popped up and the wind was blowing at what seemed like 100 mph.  We were without electric with both storms but the worst on Sunday we had electric back on within 8 hours.  But I had already emptied the fridge out and had thrown away a lot of stuff that I did not have room for in my 2 coolers.  Guess it was a good way to clean out the fridge.  We ended up with roof damage on the house and barn. My ceiling in the kitchen is wet. The fascia was torn off the barn and my Holland grill took a flying leap off of the deck.  The insurance adjuster was out yesterday and the claim is underway.  Tomorrow the weather man is saying the heat is suppose to break, I just hope that does not mean more storms when the humidity breaks.

My best friend in the whole world, Cindy, text me this morning to tell me she was baking banana bread, oh that sounded really yummy at breakfast time! That put me to pondering what I was going to bake today to put on the blog.  Well it has taken me all day to decide.  But I finally remembered these Lemon Cheese Bars from the blog Sweet Treats and More.  Lemon is one of my favorite flavors so when I saw these a few weeks ago I knew I would eventually make them.

They were really easy to make.  I love recipes that start out using a cake mix, when you see that in a recipe you know it is going to be an easy and fast recipe.  I have tried them both at room temperature and out of the fridge cold.  I prefer them cold.  They remind me some of lemon bars but with the crust being lemon and then the creamy lemon filling and the dry lemon topping covered with powdered sugar they are way better than lemon bars!

Lemon Cheese Bars
Sweet Treats and More

crust:
1 lemon cake mix
1 egg
1/3 C oil

filling:
1  (8oz) cream cheese, soft
1/3 C sugar
1 egg
1 T lemon juice

Mix dry cake mix with egg and oil until crumbly.  Set aside 1 C of the crumb mix and pat the rest into a greased 9 x 13 in. pan.  Bake for 10 minutes

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and egg until creamy and spread over the baked crust.  Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top and bake another 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Let cool then cut into bars and serve.

Snickerdoodle Bars

Wow...these were better than snickerdoodle cookies and I love snickerdoodle cookies.  They were gooey and chewy.  We ate them a little warm.  Billy even commented that these bars are so good.

Things are starting to slow down a bit now that the party has past.  I am still putting stuff away and packing stuff away for the next time we have a party.

Cally and I went to her orientation at Shawnee State University this week.  We had a nice time as we were fortunate that our friends Bobbi and Morgan were also there.

Cally is so excited and can not wait for school to start.

Snickerdoodle Bars
Miss in the Kitchen

1/2 C butter
1 C sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 t soda
2 T sugar
1 t cinnamon

In a large mixer bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat until combined.  Add flour and baking soda and combine.

Spread batter into a 8 X 11 1/2 inch pan ( I used a half of a sheet cake pan 13 X 9.625 so mine are a little thin)

Combine 2 T sugar with cinnamon and sprinkle over dough

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees or until wooden pick inserted comes out clean

Blonde Brownies

Sorry I have not posted lately...whew I am just beginning to catch my breath after our exciting weekend we had.  Round 1 done and now onto round 2 with the graduation party.  Been busy the last couple of weeks buying tableware, table cloths, food and we have gotten the chicken and pork bought and in the freezer.  This weekend I am working on getting the announcements and invitations in the mail.

Now back to the blonde brownies.  These are one of Bill's favorites.  He loves the pieces on the outside of the pan because the have a harder edge on them, works out good for me because I would rather have the inside pieces with no edge.  These remind me of chocolate chip cookies without the chips. They are crunchy on the outside but gooey on the inside and best to eat warm.

Blonde Brownies

adapted slightly from cooks.com

1 1/3 stick butter, melted
2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla

In medium bowl stir all ingredients, blend well.  Spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Cut into squares.

BYU Mint Brownies

Happy St. Patty's Day.... We had another nice spring day in Ohio.  This week the trees have bloomed and boy has my allergies gone crazy.  If you have allergies and live in Ohio you are probably miserable right now.

Bill and Billy worked on the new landscaping today.  They got the grass planted and the flower bed is all done too.  Hopefully soon I will be showing you pictures of grass.

We are going to build a fire pit in the center of this area.  I can not wait for it all to be done so we can build a fire in the evening and just sit out back and relax!

Cally said she was the supervisor today.

Back to these really minty brownies.  This recipe came from the blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything.  The green center icing is mint flavored and then chocolate brownie on the bottom and chocolate icing on the top.  And they were oh so good!

I did make a change in her brownie recipe as I added 1 tsp vanilla and then I also made my own chocolate frosting.  You can make your own frosting or as she said you can use can icing as well.

BYU Mint Brownies

adapted from: The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 C butter, softened

1/2 C cocoa

2 Tbsp honey

4 eggs

2 C white sugar

1 3/4 C flour

1/2 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 C chopped walnuts or pecans (I used walnuts)

Melt butter and mix in cocoa.  Allow to cool.  Add honey, eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well.  Add nuts.  Pour into a greased 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cool

Mint Icing

5 Tbsp butter

dash salt

3 Tbsp milk

1 Tbsp light corn syrup

2 1/3 C powdered sugar

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1-2 drops green food coloring

Prepare mint icing: soften butter.  Add salt, corn syrup and powdered sugar.  Beat until smooth and fluffy.  Add mint extract and food coloring.  Mix.  Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.  Spread on top of the brownies.

Chocolate Icing

2 C powdered sugar

1/3 C milk chocolate chips, melted

1/3 C cocoa powder

6 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Melt chocolate chips.  Mix together powdered sugar, melted chocolate chips, cocoa powder, vanilla and milk until smooth.  Spread on top of mint layer and enjoy!

shared on Gooseberry Patch

Pumpkin Bars

Fall is in the air.  I love this time of year.  Cool weather, football games, homecoming and Halloween, oh what fun.  I made these pumpkin bars for the golf match tonight and they were a crowd pleas er.  They were like pumpkin bread with icing on top.  Super moist and just the right sweetness.  The only thing I would do different next time is maybe add some pumpkin pie spice.  I especially like them because they make a whole cookie sheet full.  These would be good for a bonfire or potluck.

Pumpkin Bars

adapted from cooking for compliments

4 eggs

1 2/3 C sugar

1 C oil

16 oz canned pumpkin

2 C flour

2 t baking powder

2 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in the oil and pumpkin .  Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour into a greased 10x15 jelly roll pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Cool then ice the pumpkin bars with the following glaze

Glaze-
2 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon butter (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla 

Mix all ingredients together with whisk and pour over bars smoothing out with a spatula.

Sugar Cookie Bar

This sugar cookie bar is out of this world delicious.  I have made these to take to church and everyone loves them.  They even look like I put a lot of trouble into them and that is far from the truth these are super easy and make enough for a crowd.  I will be making these for the Golf Team's pizza party on Tuesday night.  These cookies come from the blog The Girl Who Ate Everything  Christy received this recipe from a reader and she also gives these cookie bars an awesome review.  Christy did change her icing on half of her bars to an almond icing.  I used vanilla in mine.

Thanks Christy (The Girl Who Ate Everything) and Monica (Lick The Bowl Good) for inspiring me to do this blog.  I am sure if you head on over to their blogs you will fall in love with them too and maybe you will decide to start blogging.

Sugar Cookie Bars
source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda and stir with a whisk to combine. Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined. Spread on a greased baking sheet (use a 13 x 18 pan). Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean (they won't look done so do the toothpick test). Cool completely and frost.

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese (1/2 of an 8 oz block) softened
1 tsp vanilla (Christy used almond extract for half of the frosting)
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
food coloring and sprinkles (if desired)

For frosting combine butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments until combined, then add milk a little at a time and mix until smooth and spreading consistency. You may not need all the milk! Spread over cooled cookie bars.