Coconut Cookie Butter Bars

Found this luscious, yummy dessert on the internet. Sounds wonderful and can't wait to try it. We found some great desserts in Tastes & Treasures cookbook also including a favorite, Chocolate Peanut Treats on page 162.

Coconut Cookie Butter Bars
Ingredients:
Sugar Cookie Layer:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour OR gluten-free all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum (only if using GF flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups organic sugar (we used coconut sugar, which is why our batter is slightly browner than usual)
1 cup coconut oil or vegan butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 mashed, ripe bananas (medium sized)
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Cookie Butter Layer:
1/2 cup coconut oil or vegan butter
1 cup cookie butter

Chocolate Layer:
1/2 cup coconut oil or vegan butter
1 cup chocolate chips or chopped bar chocolate

Directions:
Sugar Cookie Layer:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine flour, xantham (if using), baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, beat together sugar and coconut oil (or butter) until whipped, about 1 full minute on high speed. Add in vanilla and bananas, and continue to mix until combined. Add in dry ingredients and mix again, until a batter forms. Toss in shredded coconut and mix one last time to distribute it throughout the batter. Pour batter into a greased or lined 8x8 glass baking dish (for thinner bars, feel free to use a 9x13 inch pan), and bake for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes clean. When finished, let cool on the counter for at least an hour (but up to overnight), or in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to set. While cooling, make cookie butter mixture.

Cookie Butter Layer:
In a small saucepan, combine the coconut oil or vegan butter and cookie butter over low heat. Stir frequently, until mixture melts together, then promptly remove from heat and let cool and thicken. Once thickened to the consistency of slightly thinned cookie butter, pour/ spread mixture over cooled cookie base. Immediately store in the fridge or freezer, to set cookie butter layer, for about 30 minutes. While setting, begin chocolate layer.

Chocolate Layer:
In a small saucepan, combine chocolate and coconut oil or vegan butter over low heat, stirring frequently until mixture melts together. Remove from heat and pour chocolate mixture over chilled cookie butter layer, immediately placing bars back into the fridge or freezer for about 30 more minutes to set completely.

Once the entire cake has set, remove from fridge or freezer, and cut. If frozen, allow cake to warm slightly to room temperature so the chocolate doesn't crack. Cut into 12 (or more) squares, and serve. Saves well in a covered container in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer indefinitely. Enjoy!

Some helpful hints:
1. This recipe is a little time consuming, with all the refrigeration. To make it easier on yourself, cook the base the night before, and prep the rest in the morning when the cake has had all night to set.
2. This is a seriously decadent dessert. It makes 12 large squares, but they can be cut into smaller squares.

Cookie Dough Balls

Want to leave a special treat for Santa? If he is anything like me, he will love these with a glass of milk.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted cashews
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup oat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1.5 tbsp natural cane sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp pure maple syrup (or a bit more if dough is too dry)
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions: In a food processor, add the cashews and oats and process until it forms a fine crumble. Now add in the salt, sugar, and flour and process for a few seconds more. Add in the maple syrup and vanilla and process until combined. It will be sticky, but this is normal! Add in your chocolate chips and stir by hand or process. Form into balls. Store in freezer.

Yield: 1 cup packed cookie dough

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/03/18/chocolate-chip-cooke-dough-blizzard/#ixzz2neH0G1ky

Cookie Bowls

Haven't tried this myself but isn't this a great idea? Put the cookie dough on the outside and make cookie bowls. Once they are baked... you can put Ice Cream inside of the bowl.

It should work with brownie recipes too. 

Tastes & Treasures cookbook has several recipes that would work with this. Can't wait to try it myself.

Brownie Cookie Dough Delight

Fast and Fantastic - for that chocolate lover in you.

Tastes & Treasures cookbook has a recipe for  Espresso Brownies page 163. (Or try a box mix for a short cut). When you have more time, also try Chocolate Peanut Treats on page 162.

Brownie Cookie Dough Delight
Preheat oven to 350;
Smoosh refrigerated cookie dough into the bottom of each well.
Place Reese cup upside down on top of cookie dough (or an Oreo).
Top with prepared box brownie mix, filling 3/4 full.
Bake for 18 minutes and enjoy warm or cool.
YUMMMMM.

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

Email buddy Diane Houser knows my weakness for chocolate chip cookies. That is probably why she shared this fabulous recipe when we did a recipe exchange.

Also try page 191 in Tastes & Treasures for a slight variation of this recipe using old-fashioned oats and a touch of cinnamon.

For less calories, place your cookies on parchment paper lined cookie sheet before you bake them. What a difference in clean up too.

Giant Double Chocolate Cookies

½ c shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ cup sour cream
1 ½ teasp vanilla
3 cups ghiradelli semi sweet chips
1 ¾ c unsifted flour
½ teasp salt
½ teasp baking powder
½ teasp baking soda

Cream shortening with sugar. Mix in egg, sour cream, vanilla. Melt 1 ½ c chips and blend with creamed mixture. Sift flour with salt, baking powder, baking soda, add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, stirring until smooth fold in remaining chips. Chill dough ½ hour. Use ¼ c dough for each cookie. Place on greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes or until slightly soft in center.

Who doesn't like Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Warm from the oven or chilled, these cookies are the best.

Special Chocolate Chip Cookies

From Tastes & Treasures cookbook, page 191

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups (12 ounces) cholcolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs once at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Mix in the oats and fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a nonstick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with baking parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute and remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 3 to 4 dozen.

Who invented chocolate chip cookies?

The Chocolate Chip cookie

is America's most famous cookie. It was invented in 1930 by Ruth Wakefield, who was the owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. The story goes that one day she decided to add small chunks of a Nestle's Semisweet Yellow Label Chocolate bar to her butter cookie dough. The chocolate chip cookies were an instant hit with her customers and word of their popularity reached the Nestle company. Nestle must have realized that adding small chunks of their chocolate bar to cookie dough would appeal to the mass market because by 1939 Nestle had already developed and was selling small chocolate morsels (or chips) in a yellow bag. Nestle went on to buy the rights to the Toll House name and Ruth Wakefield's chocolate chip cookie recipe. They called her recipe "The Famous Toll House Cookie" and printed it on the back of the Yellow bag of chocolate chips.

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateChipCookies.html#ixzz0lkSxPbeL

Tastes & Treasures page 191 Special Chocolate Chip cookies
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Combine the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl of a stand mixer and beat until creamy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Mix the oats and fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a non stick cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with baking parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute and remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 3-4 dozen