Better-than-BYU Mint Brownies

My married daughters keep asking me to post recipes, but I'm hesitant because I don't have pictures of any of them. I'm like any other non-professional blogger/baker/chef, which means when I cook, I am usually cooking with a specific purpose OTHER than sharing on the web. These brownies, however, have been my MOST REQUESTED recipe of those who I've made them for, so I'm posting to have an easy place to send recipe-seekers to.

The past two years my youngest daughter has participated in her high school musical. When it's tech week (the week prior to the show), the kids start running the show immediately after school until 9 or 10 at night. During this week the parents of the participants bring in dinner for the cast and crew. Last year I signed up for "2 dozen hand-held treats" on 3 or 4 evenings, and I made a double batch of these brownies the first night. My daughter came home that night and said that the kids loved the brownies and hoped I would bring them again, which I did. They were a hit (no pun intended haha), so I also signed up to make them for the cast party. This year they were requested before tech week even began. It's safe to say I've made a double batch recipe at least a dozen times in the past year... and I've never taken a good picture of the finished brownies. I snapped these pictures of some that were left over from a neighborhood party my husband and I hosted last week -- these are actually half of a brownie, but I'll explain about brownie sizes after the recipe.

Better-than-BYU Mint Brownies

Brownie:
1 cup butter, melted (2 sticks)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1-1/2 cup flour

Mix butter, cocoa, and sugar; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Stir in flour. Spread into a greased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

Mint Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 to 3 Tbs. milk
2 tsp. mint extract
Green food coloring

Mix butter and powdered sugar. Add only enough milk to make a smooth consistency. Add mint extract and enough food coloring for a light green color. Frosting will be fairly thick. Spread over brownie layer and refrigerate until firm.

Chocolate topping:
1-1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Melt chocolate chips and butter in microwave for 2 minutes on 80% power, stir to combine. If more time is needed, microwave in 20 second increments, then stir, until smooth. Pour over frosted brownies, covering mint frosting completely (an off-set spatula is your best friend). Refrigerate until topping is set and hardened. Let brownies sit at room temp for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting. Cut into 24 squares (I use a paper towel to wipe my knife with each cut for clean edges).

**Notes: I have primarily made these by doubling the brownie recipe and using a half-sheet pan. I generally only 1-and-a-half times the mint frosting and chocolate topping when doubling the recipe. In the pictures included with this post I fully doubled the mint frosting and chocolate topping, and they were REALLY rich. I think I like them better with the 1-1/2 recipe. If you love those thick layers, then by all means, fully double all recipes. IF you are only making a single recipe, you will have thicker layers unless you do the math to decrease the recipe size of toppings. That makes sense, right?

The half-pan doubled recipe can be cut into 48 servings... or 96 if you cut them in half again, which is perfect when there are other selections of treats. Those half servings also fit nicely into cupcake papers, as you can see from the second picture.

For full disclosure, here, I've never had a BYU mint brownie... I have heard about them. I have, however, had people who HAVE had them tell me these are better. I made them for my daughter Shilo's high school graduation party, and since she would be attending BYU that fall, just for fun I called them "Better-than-BYU Mint Brownies."

Mom-made is always better, right?

Britt's {back-of-the-box} Graham Cracker Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was in Utah last week, my daughter Britt made these little yummies. She had found the recipe on the back of a Kroger graham cracker box, and said they were super good... and they were. Maybe even some of my favorite cookies of all time.

Therefore, even though I don't have a picture {yet}, I am posting the recipe.

Actually, I do have a picture haha:

If you don't want to have to squint to read the recipe, I'll type it out here, too!


BRITT'S {BACK-OF-THE-BOX} 
GRAHAM CRACKER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1-and-1/2 cups graham crackers, finely crushed (about 1 sleeve + 2 full crackers)
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts (optional... she didn't add them to the batch she made when I was there)
1 cup flaked coconut (optional... she DID add this. So so yummy if you are a coconut lover)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together graham cracker crumbs, flour, and baking powder.

In another bowl, beat sweetened condensed milk and softened butter until smooth. Add vanilla extract. Add crumb mixture and stir until smooth. Add chocolate chips, coconut, and I would assume the walnuts (if using -- funny thing the recipe doesn't mention them in the directions).

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned.

Let cool 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.


If I had graham crackers at this moment, I'd be making these RIGHT NOW. But I don't.
Soon... very soon.

Browned Butter Rice Krispies Treats

I have sadly neglected my recipe blog. I will try to improve, once things have settled down (I'm in the process of listing my home for sale and moving PLUS I've had a daughter return from a mission for our church, a granddaughter born and in the NICU for 3 weeks, and a whole lot o' life going on ALL. THE. TIME.)

I have needed to post this recipe since my sister and I created it (it's modified from this recipe)... which I think was about a year ago when I was visiting her in CA. Since then I have made too many batches to count (9 batches for my nephew's wedding back in June, 9 batches for concessions at my daughter's school musical... plus all those single batches made to share... or to consume).

Finally, I'll post it, so I won't have to keep looking up the recipe and explaining my modifications to those who request it.

I know I call everything "the best," but these truly are. I'm serious.

BEST EVER BROWNED BUTTER RICE KRISPIES TREATS

10 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup (2 cubes/sticks) real butter
2 (10oz) bags mini marshmallows + extra*** (optional, but yummy)
1 Tbs. vanilla
1/4 tsp. sea salt (other salt is fine, too, I just think sea salt has a bit stronger flavor)

Measure 10 cups of rice cereal and place in large bowl. (NOTE: I discovered that 1 cup of cereal = 1 oz., so that makes determining how much cereal you need easier, especially if you are making large quantities.)

***IF YOU ARE USING EXTRA MARSHMALLOWS IN YOUR RECIPE... put 3 cups of cereal in the bowl, then add 1/3 to 1/2 of your EXTRA (10oz) bag of marshmallows to the bowl, then add the remaining 6 cups of cereal on top. (The reason to put the marshmallows in the center of the rice cereal is so that they don't melt completely while you are mixing in the hot marshmallow mix... you want to see pieces of marshmallow in the finished rice krispies treat.)

Line a 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Melt butter over medium heat in a large pot. Once the butter is melted, continue cooking it until it starts to foam and turn brown. Watch carefully, stirring occasionally, for this process to happen as you don't want to BURN the butter. Once the butter has turned brown, remove from heat and pour in 2 bags of marshmallows, stirring to coat with butter. Add vanilla and salt, then return to heat and stir constantly until marshmallows are melted. Don't keep this mixture over the heat any longer than needed, as the longer it "cooks," the less chewy and soft your finished treat will be.

Immediately pour mixture over the cereal (+ extra marshmallows, if adding) and stir thoroughly to combine. Dump mixture into prepared foil-lined baking dish and press/smooth into place (I use a large metal spoon coated with butter to make this process easy). Let treats cool to room temp uncovered. Once cool, remove from pan by lifting up on the edges of the foil, then cut into 12 squares (if you desire perfection - which I try occasionally - you can trim the curved edges off before cutting, then use a ruler to make your squares a consistent size). Wrap in saran or waxed paper.

Note: if you are not cutting them for a while, cover with saran once they are cooled.


Here's a few pics of the process:

Butter starting to foam...

...then starting to brown...

...and removed from the heat.

Marshmallows, vanilla, and salt added to the butter in the pan.

When I want to make them extra special I use this vanilla... other vanilla works great, too, though.

Back on the heat to melt (the little black specks in this mixture are from the vanilla bean paste... if you're using regular vanilla it won't have those).

See the bits of marshmallow? Slightly melted, but still intact ;-)

This is my favorite spoon to use when pressing the mixture into the pan and smoothing the top...

Coated with butter, of course.

This was the 9 batch day in preparation for my nephew's wedding luncheon. I didn't have (9) 9x13 pans, so after a batch had cooled a bit, I was able to remove it carefully from the pan to finish cooling and setting up.

Seriously, these are the best.

Judy's {Flourless} Monster Cookies

I have made several attempts at monster cookies in the past. My daughter had a friend in high school whose mom always made them, and she LOVED them. I kept telling her I needed the recipe, because anytime I would attempt a recipe found elsewhere, they just weren't as good. I never, however, actually got her friend's mom's recipe, so I pretty much gave up on monster cookies in general.

I was visiting that same daughter not too long ago, and she had some monster cookies sitting on her kitchen counter. Yum. They were soooooo good. She told me it was her mother-in-law's recipe, included in a book of recipes she gave Britt for her wedding. I asked to look at it, and started snapping phone pics of some of the recipes. The thing I noticed about this particular monster cookie recipe in comparison to the earlier recipes I had tried: no flour. I seriously questioned if they would actually turn out.

Yep, they did. This recipe is definitely worth keeping... and sharing!

JUDY'S {FLOURLESS} MONSTER COOKIES

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 + 1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 + 1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 + 1/2 cups oatmeal (regular old fashioned)
1 pkg. chocolate chips
1 bag M&M's

Cream together sugars and butter, then mix in eggs and maple syrup. Add peanut butter, then mix in baking soda and oatmeal. Add chocolate chips and M&M's.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Notes: Britt's tip ~ use peanut butter M&M's. I also like to add in various types of chips (peanut butter, white, etc), so I typically will add half a bag of 4 different types of chips and M&M's. I also just mix everything in my KitchenAid stand mixer with the cookie dough attachment... easy peasy.

My Favorite Lemon Bars

I've used this recipe forever. On occasion I have tried other lemon bar recipes and then wonder why I did. These, in my humble opinion, are the best. Flat out. No need to search any longer.

Here is where the original recipe came from:

My mom gave this to me when I got married... pert near 27 years ago. It's been well used and well loved, can you tell? (That cover page isn't actually ON the cookbook - I just keep it because I'm an obsessive compulsive memorabilia keeper on a sentimental journey - haha.)

Here's a glimpse of the actual recipe:

Have I mentioned I'm a messy baker? If not, I confess. I am. Did the cookbook page give it away?
A big THANK YOU to Ida and Nyla (don't you love those names?)!

Here is a slightly modified, simpler-to-read recipe for

MY FAVORITE LEMON BARS

2 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup (2 cubes) butter (I have NO IDEA what "oleo" is!), slightly softened
Pinch of salt

Blend well together (I use a pastry blender) and pat into a foil-lined 9x13" pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.

4 eggs, slightly beaten
6 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
grated rind of 2 lemons (or more)
2 cups sugar
5 Tbs. flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix eggs, lemon juice, and grated lemon rind in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, sift together sugar, flour, and baking powder. Add the egg and lemon mixture to the flour mixture, then pour on baked crust and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, lift out of pan, and cut into bars.

Notes:  (1) A friend of mine mentioned that she puts the lemon rind in the crust mixture. I have tried it, but felt like the rind adds more flavor in the filling. If you have plenty of lemon rind, you could add some to both. I love a TART lemon bar, so might try that the next time I make them.

(2) This recipe is oh-so-similar to Paula Deen's, which is where I learned about the foil-lined pan. The foil totally makes cutting them into perfect bars so much easier (and the delectable edges don't get stuck to the sides of the pan). That's a hot tip.

(3) I can't tell you how many times I have burned myself on the pre-baked crust pan. Remember that it just came out of an oven. It's hot. Once you've pour on your cold-ish filling it's easy to forget. Just sayin'.

Enjoy a mouth full of sunshine!

The Best S'mores Bars EVER

I work with a fabulous baker in the Young Women organization at my church. She seriously makes the best treats EVER. A few months back she made these for one of our Priest/Laurel activities and I couldn't get enough of them (not good for my not-really-a-diet-but-I-need-to-lose-weight regime). I had texted her for the recipe, then asked her in person a week or two later, and finally sent a text a week or two later that I wanted it NOW, if possible (obviously my first two attempts were too gentle).

It was a Sunday evening, and I was craving something sweet, and Bill wanted to take some treats to a couple of families in our ward. My friend Kristen responded in a very timely manner (so sweet of her to take time out to do it for me), and I started to whip up a double batch. Since she has an iphone and I have an android, the texts came in all jumbled (could somebody fix that, please?), so I was trying to decipher the recipe while using what I had on hand.

They still turned out seriously so good!

These went a little long under the broiler, but my family thought they were more "s'mores-y" with some dark brown anyway (thankfully no BLACK). YUM!

I told Kristen I was posting the recipe so I could share it with my family and friends (and, selfishly, so I can access it wherever I may be at any given moment without having to figure out the text puzzle).

Here it is:

Kristen Jorgensen's S'mores Bars

1 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used salted)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (I used regular brown)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (very close to 1 full sleeve of graham crackers)
1 bag of mini marshmallows (I only had large, so cut them in fourths)
3 to 4 full-size Hershey chocolate bars broken into pieces (I used Guittard milk chocolate chips)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. Add the vanilla, salt and baking soda; mix well. Mix in the flour and graham cracker crumbs until the dough comes together.

In a 9x13 pan, press the dough evenly on the bottom of the pan. Bake for 13 minutes. Take pan out of the oven and spread enough mini marshmallows to cover the top of the dough. Stick small pieces of the Hershey chocolate bar all over the top in between the marshmallows. Bake for an additional 3 minutes. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before attempting to cut into bars.

Kristen's notes:  It is better to let it cool before cutting into bars. (My note: if you are serving out of the pan, they are divine served warm!!) I also put mine under the broiler for just 30 to 60 seconds for a little browning of the marshmallow. If they don't start browning quickly, pull them out before they start getting melted completely. Also, when you pull the bars out after 13 minutes (before putting the toppings on), it will look jiggly in the middle but set up around the edges - that's how it should be.

I only had these cake pans to make the bars in that we were giving away, so I divided the dough in half and baked everything at the same time. I think they worked out perfectly. Obviously I didn't broil at the same time, and didn't intend to get our pan so dark, but they were still delicious either way.

If you like s'mores, I promise you will LOVE these!

Sugar Cookies

I am not as successful at regularly posting recipes as I had initially hoped.  Life is busy, and my ZEST has all but disappeared.  I am hoping to reclaim it in the near future.

I managed to eek out some sugar cookies for my VT ladies (AND my family) last week.  I started with the grand idea of making home-made chocolate-covered marshmallow eggs (which I will most likely NOT post the recipe for, as I have determined it was my first and last attempt - too many steps, too much mess, not as amazing as I had hoped). I realized that I was NOT going to have enough finished product on it's own to take to my two sisters and Bill's HT family, so I whipped up a batch of these little babies.

I got the recipe from a friend back in my YW days.  The icing/glaze recipe changed my life.  Soooooo much quicker and easier than spreading or piping buttercream, just enough sweetness to make the cookie perfect.


Julie Williams' Sugar Cookies and Glaze

1-1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill cough for at least an hour (I usually don't chill and the cookies turn out fine).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutter. Place cookies 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Cookie Glaze

1 to 2 cups powdered sugar (enough to make it stick, but not so thick it's globby)
1 Tbs. light corn syrup
2 Tbs. water
Food coloring
Flavoring (if desired)

Stir powdered sugar, corn syrup, and water together in a small bowl. Stir in food coloring and flavoring, if desired. The glaze must be stirred each time you use it. If it is not stirred before each use it may dry with a mottled look instead of a solid color.

Note: This glaze is pretty forgiving.  You can add drops of water if it gets too thick, a little more powdered sugar if it gets too thin.   If you want to add sprinkles, you must sprinkle IMMEDIATELY or the glaze will start to harden and not-a-thing will stick. Once the cookies are glazed, let them dry for an hour or two. The glaze will harden and the cookies will be stackable (I LOVE that). Cookies with the hardened glaze also freeze well.


My Super-Fast-Sugar-Cookie-Glazing Technique

This is not how I usually glaze (for a solid glaze I usually just use a regular spoon, scoop up a spoonful of the glaze, drizzle it around, then spread with the back of the spoon to fill it in), but needed something  that was even FAST(ER). I decided to try putting the glaze (two colors, for fun) in quart-sized ziplocs, then snipped the corner and drizzled.  As you can see, I tried some crosshatch style, which turned out looking sort of PLAID, and others one-directional.

My intention was to swap out the cookie tray underneath the rack of cookies being iced, but I was in too much of a hurry. (BTW, cookie decorating is NOT fun when you A) do it by yourself, and B) are in a time crunch.  I just wanted to git 'er done.)  I think the results were great considering the amount of time I devoted to it. Let's just say it took longer to clean up than it did to glaze.

I really liked the technique for a quick solution, but would definitely take the time to rotate the cookies to the pan to save on clean-up. I would probably also make one more batch of glaze to drizzle, just to give each cookie a little more glaze.

Easy peasy.

Those marshmallow eggs, on the other hand, not so much.

Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies

I'm beginning the process of transferring recipes posted on my other blog, just so things can all be in the same place.  Even I use this handy reference for recipes - if I only had time to get ALL my recipes on here. SOMEDAY.

Here is the recipe for some of my favorite quick and easy sweet-tooth-satisfying treats.

PEANUT BUTTER CORNFLAKE COOKIES
Super easy.

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup (I use the cheap GV brand from Walmart)

Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved (less than a minute).

Stir in 1 cup peanut butter.

Pour over 6 cups of cornflakes.  

Gently stir to combine, then drop by spoonfuls onto foil (or do the dump... I promise... just as good, although not as aesthetically pleasing.  If you are making them for guests, by all means, take the time to spoon them).  

In an effort to make them even slightly healthy, you may be able to notice the Bran Buds in the cookies.  A little fiber can't hurt, right?  You might even get away with eating them for breakfast when they have so much fiber.  Warning:  flatulence possible.  Just sayin'.

Here's the dump method (you could call them "pull-aparts"):