Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

A few months ago, I issued a call for help.

Two blog followers responded, and they responded in a yummy way :)

I made these bars for a coworker's birthday in November. Another coworker made peach cobbler, so it was a battle of the fruits in the office :)

The only problem I had with this easy dessert was that I refused to get my tiny food processor out to make the graham cracker crumbs. Instead, I used the old "pound a plastic bag with a rolling pin" method. When I asked Lisa, who provided the recipe, if she had ever had problems with the dessert being super crumbly (almost to the point that it seemed that this was a cobbler, too), Lisa said the only time she'd had a problem was when she hadn't used a food processor to get the graham cracker crumbs.

Lesson learned, and now shared.

These bars went fast - and I think they'll be a perfect addition to any gathering. I'm picturing a summer picnic ...

Ingredients

6 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups  graham cracker crumbs
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup  sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp.  vanilla
1 jar (10 oz.) blueberry jam or preserves
1 cup  blueberries

Directions

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Mix butter and graham crumbs in 13x9-inch pan; press onto bottom of pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Beat cream cheese in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla; beat until well blended. Stir jam in jar until softened; spread evenly onto crust. Top with berries, then cream cheese mixture.

Bake 30 min. or until slightly puffed. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Source: Kraft Recipes

Hello Dolly Bars

Here's another delicious recipe from my friend Darla (thanks, Darla!) She says these can be made in lots of different ways- with raspbery jam, butterscotch or peanut butter or white chocolate chips. She prefers them simple, with straight-up chocolate chips.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups crushed cinnamon graham crackers (about 8 graham crackers)
2 cups of chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups of shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups of chopped pecans
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of butter

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Pour melted butter into an 11x7 or 8x8 cake pan.
Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs into pan, and mix well with melted
butter to form a crust.
Layer on top of graham-cracker crust chocolate chips, coconut and pecans.
Evenly pour sweetened condensed milk over everything.
Bake in oven for 25 to 30 minutes, top should be light brown.
Let cool in pan for at least half an hour, cut into bars and serve.

Source: Darla via this blog

Heavenly Chocolate Layer Pie

I had a graham cracker pie crust leftover from Thanksgiving that I wanted to use, and when we decided to have a holiday potluck at office, I decided I'd find an easy, light pie to put in it.

I made a few modifications to this recipe, though. I couldn't find chocolate whipped cream (I've seen it before, but I didn't launch an all-out search for this recipe) and I used the graham cracker pie crust instead of the Oreo one. I think all of the extra chocolate would have been delicious, but I don't think it was necessary.

The pie was a hit at the potluck, and even though it's not overly fattening, it's very rich, and a little bit went a long way. And there are no photos, because it was *so* easy to make I didn't really have any time or need to photograph the steps. I wanted to get a photo of the finished product, but it was gone before I could!

Ingredients:
2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) Chocolate Instant Pudding
1 Oreo pie crust (6 oz.)
1 tub (8 oz.) Chocolate Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

Directions:
Pour milk into medium bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. (Mixture will be thick.)

Spread 1-1/2 cups of the pudding onto bottom of crust. Gently stir half of the whipped topping into remaining pudding. Spread over pudding layer in crust; top with the remaining whipped topping.

Refrigerate 3 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Source: Kraft

S'mores bars

It's been a dicey baking week for me. I've come out on top, but battered and bruised. I tried three new recipes this week, and two might never make it back in the baking rotation. The s'mores bar recipe is one of them.

It seemed so promising - easy, quick and s'mores-y. But alas, things went downhill. It started when I melted the chocolate chips in the microwave ... and the bag melted with them. Then, when I tried to use a different bag, the chocolate burned my hand. And then it didn't even "drizzle." It was more of a plop, plop, plop (see photo below). If I ever make these again, I think I will just use Hershey's syrup - it will be cleaner, yummy and not burn me or make a mess of my microwave.

After the melted chocolate fiasco, I followed the instructions and put the bars in the fridge. Then I made the colossal mistake of trying to cut them. Have you ever tried to cut melted marshmallow? The top, marshmallow-y portion kept separating from the bottom cookie-dough-and-graham-crackers part. The only thing I can think that caused this might be the fact that I didn't feel that 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs was really going to provide enough graham cracker taste to the s'mores bars. So I doubled it. And maybe the extra 1/4 cup prevented the marshmallow adhering to the cookie dough layer, so that the marshmallow simply stuck to the graham cracker crumbs and peeled away from the cookie dough. Or maybe melted marshmallow is just not meant to be cut. But back to the recipe ...

Ingredients:
1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (I used about 1/2 cup, which might have been problematic)
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips
2 teaspoons shortening

Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 13X9-inch baking pan. Press dough into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with graham cracker crumbs.


2. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Sprinkle with marshmallows. Bake 2 to 3 minutes or until marshmallows are puffed. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.


3. Combine chocolate chips and shortening in small resealable food storage bag; seal. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute; knead bag lightly. Microwave on HIGH for additional 30-second intervals until chips and shortening are completely melted and smooth, kneading bag after each 30-second interval. Cut off small corner of bag. Drizzle over bars. Refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes or until chocolate is set. Cut into bars.

Source: Favorite Brand Name 3 Books in 1: Cookies, Bars, Muffins