Monday, July 23, 2012

S'more Granola Bars

One bite of these delicious S'more Granola Bars and you will be hooked. They contain all the necessary S'more components - chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers. But instead of sandwiching the chocolate and marshmallows between two graham crackers, we sandwich them between a yummy mixture of graham cracker crumbs, rolled oats, flour, coconut, ground cinnamon, butter, sugar, and maple syrup (or golden syrup). To keep these bars soft and chewy make sure to bake them only until lightly browned. Cut the granola bars into rectangles or squares while they are still warm. The S'More Granola Bars will be crisp and crunchy just after baking, but will soften when covered and stored. They can be stored at room temperature for about 10 days, if they last that long.   


Ingredients:
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) (84 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup (55 grams) light brown sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 ml plus 1 tablespoon) pure maple syrup or golden syrup
1/2 cup (65 grams) all purpose flour
2 cups (190 grams) old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup (100 grams) graham cracker crumbs (or crushed digestive biscuits)
1/4 cup (25 grams) sweetened or unsweetened coconut (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Filling:
1 cup (170 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups (90 grams) mini marshmallows


Preheat oven to 180 degrees and place the rack in the center of the oven.
Melt the butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup (golden syrup) in a medium sized saucepan, placed over medium heat. 
Once the sugar has dissolved remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the mixture to a large heatproof bowl. Stir in the flour, oats, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, salt and ground cinnamon, making sure all the dry ingredients are coated with the butter mixture.


Press about half of this mixture onto the bottom of the prepared pan and leave to cool (about 5-10 minutes). Once the mixture has cooled sufficiently, evenly sprinkle with the chocolate chips and marshmallows. 
Top with the remaining crust mixture and press it gently.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 20 minutes. Cut into squares while they are still warm =)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Deep fried Snickers Bars

If you are not one of the Minnesota State Fair's "everything deep-fried" menu fans already, let me tell you that this deep fried Snickers bar is much tastier than you think it is!
This is my SWEET day! :)


Ingredients:
Snickers bars (or any other candy bar you like)
1 egg
1 cup (200 ml) of milk
~1 cup (200 ml) of flour, divided
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tbsp of melted butter
a pinch of salt
oil for deep frying

Freeze candy bars in a freezer for at least 2 hours.
Whisk the egg and milk together, add melted butter and mix it well. Set a little bit of flour aside and mix the rest with baking soda and salt. Now mix wet and dry ingredients together until you get a nice smooth batter of sour cream consistency. Adjust by adding more milk or flour if needed. Put the batter into the fridge while the oil is warming up.
In a pot, heat oil (enough to cover the candy bar completely) -- don't make it too hot as the batter will fry too fast and the candy will be still cold inside, but also make sure that it is hot enough or else the batter will absorb too much oil. Test the oil by adding a drop of batter into it.
Dust the candy bar with the flour you set aside earlier making sure that it is evenly covered.
Next, dip the candy bar into the batter making sure that it gets completely covered with it and quickly but carefully put it into the hot oil.
Once one side becomes golden brown, turn it over and wait until the other side is done. Put it onto a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Eat it while it is warm!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Candy Cereal Treats

Trying to escape..trying to find another house. Thousands thoughts...baking would be better =)


Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups miniature marshmallows
For topping:
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 package fudge chips
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup salted peanuts
1 cup milk chocolate M&M's or Smarties


In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to the creamed mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (do not overmix).
Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.
Immediately sprinkle with marshmallows; bake 2-3 minutes longer or until marshmallows are puffed. Cool on a wire rack.
For topping, in a large saucepan, combine the corn syrup, butter and fudge chips.
Cook and stir over medium heat until chips are melted and mixture is smooth.
Remove from the heat; stir in the vanilla, cereal, nuts and smarties. Spread over crust.

Cool before cutting =)