DOUBLE-CHOCOLATE ROCKY ROAD COOKIE BARS

I’m not a huge fan of cookie or cake mixes, but I’ll admit they are convenient; and, between Pillsbury and Betty Crocker, there are so many good recipes on their websites  that it makes them hard to ignore.  These delicious fudgy bars won honorable mention in Betty Crocker’s 2007 Cookie Mix Contest and could make me a regular buyer of the Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix.  Really.

Okay, so I made a few changes, nothing big.  I added some coffee flavor to the cookie base and frosting to enhance the chocolate.  I reduced the sugar in the filling, increased the mini marshmallows, and toasted the nuts.  These are so so good, and they don’t taste like they’re made from a mix.  Maybe because most of the bar is not from a mix. 

Double-Chocolate Rocky Road Cookie Bars Adapted from Betty Crocker Rating:  9 out of 10 PRINTABLE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS: Cookie Base:  1 pouch Betty Crocker Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 Tbsp. coffee or water 1 egg Filling:  1 (8 oz.) pkg. Neufchatel or cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. vanilla 1 egg 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 cups miniature marshmallows Frosting:  1/2 cup butter or margarine 1/4  cup unsweetened baking cocoa 1/3 cup milk 1 tsp. instant coffee granules 3 cups powdered sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup chopped toasted pecans 1. Heat oven to 350F (325F for dark or coated pans).  Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. 2. In large bowl, stir cookie base ingredients until soft dough forms.  Press dough in bottom of pan.  Set aside. 3. For  filling, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar,  butter, flour, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Stir in pecans; spread over cookie dough base.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips. 4. Bake 26-28 minutes, or till filling is set.  Sprinkle evenly with marshmallows.  Bake 2 minutes longer. 5. For frosting, in 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Stir in cocoa and milk.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  With wire whisk, gradually stir in powdered sugar till well blended and smooth.  Stir in vanilla and pecans*.  Immediately pour over marshmallows, spreading gently to cover.  Cool 30 minutes. 6. Refrigerate about 2 hours, or until chilled.  For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows.  Store covered in refrigerator. *I did not stir the pecans into the frosting.  Instead, I poured the frosting (minus pecans) over the marshmallows, then sprinkled the pecans on top of the frosting.  Either way works.

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIE CUPCAKES & ROCKY ROAD SQUARES

Today was all about experimenting in the kitchen with my fave yogurt, Stonyfield Farm. It’s the only yogurt I use, because it’s organic and because of the great taste and texture. And, FYI, their website (click on the link above) has coupons you can download. Stonyfield Farm makes Oikos Greek yogurt which I love, but for today’s recipe, I used the low-fat 6 oz. container of vanilla.

Those wonderful cream cheese people, Kraft, published a popular recipe back in the early 70’s for Marbled Cream Cheese Brownies. It was a cakey, milk chocolate brownie with swirled cheesecake batter sprinkled with chocolate chips. I tweaked the recipe, adding Kahlua; and for years, it was my signature dessert for many of our casual family/friend gatherings. People actually requested it. Everyone, but everyone loved this recipe.

But times change. Dark chocolate fudgy brownies are now in. So I decided to update my old fave for the new millenium. The old Kraft recipe is made in a 10x15 pan. For experimental purposes, I made half of the updated recipe in a 9x9 pan, and half as cupcakes. The 9x9 pan had a rocky road topping. Half the cupcakes were topped with a chocolate frosting and sprinkled with toasted walnuts; half were topped with mini marshmallows, then covered with chocolate frosting. I made some frosting with Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa, and some with Hershey’s regular cocoa. I liked both.
This is one experiment that did not go awry. Everything, but everything, was good. Actually, not just good. More like over-the-top great! Most were given away, not just so I can stay on my diet, but also so I can sleep at night. I only ate one cupcake the afternoon I baked them, and I didn’t sleep well that night. Yes, I’m sensitive to chocolate, and these babies are loaded, not to mention the coffee (though I did use decaf). If there’s nothing else you try on this site, you must try this recipe.
Almost forty years later, I have a new signature dessert. And I’m already getting requests for more.

CREAM CHEESE BROWNIE CUPCAKES OR SQUARES Adapted from Kraft Foods Rating: 10 out of 10 Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS: 8 oz. cream cheese or Neufchatel, very soft 1/3 cup sugar 3 eggs, room temperature, divided use Dash of sea salt + 1/2 tsp. sea salt, divided use 1/2 cup butter or Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend 2/3 cup water 1-1/2 oz. unsweetened chocolate 1 tsp. instant coffee 1-3/4 cup Ultra-Grain flour (30% wholewheat) or all-purpose, if preferred 1/4 cup cocoa powder 2 cups light brown sugar 6 oz. low-fat vanilla yogurt (I used Stonyfield Farm) 1 tsp. baking soda 1 (11.5 oz.) bag of chocolate chips of choice (I used Hershey Special Dark) 3 cups mini-marshmallows (approx.) Heat oven to 375F (350F for dark or coated pans). In small bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 egg and a dash of sea salt using low speed of electric mixer. Set aside. In a large, covered microwaveable bowl, heat the butter and water on high till butter is melted. Stir in chocolate and coffee granules and let sit till chocolate dissolves. Add flour, cocoa, and brown sugar, beating on medium speed of mixer till well combined. (No need to clean beaters, either.) Stir in remaining 2 eggs, yogurt, baking soda and 1/2 tsp. sea salt and mix on low speed just till combined. For cupcakes: Line about 20-24 wells of muffin tins with paper liners. Using a scant 1/4 cup of batter, fill liners 3/4 full. Drop about 1 Tbsp. cream cheese batter onto each cupcake, swirling through with a knife to make a marbled pattern. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, trying to leave a spot in the center open so you can test for doneness. Bake about 17 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted near center returns almost clean. (If you hit chocolate chips, reinsert toothpick.) Cool cupcakes on wire racks. When completely cool, frost with chocolate frosting and sprinkle with toasted walnuts or pecans. Or, first place about 6 mini marshmallows on top of cupcake, then spread chocolate frosting over, sealing marshmallows in. For Rocky Road Brownie Squares: Grease and flour a 10x15 (jelly roll) pan. Pour chocolate batter into pan, spreading evenly. Drop cream cheese batter by spoonfuls over top and swirl with knife for a marbled effect. Sprinkle half the chocolate chips over all. Bake about 25 minutes, or till just about done. Remove from oven. Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips, about 2 cups mini marshmallows and 1 cup toasted broken walnuts. Place back in oven for about 5 minutes, or till marshmallows puff up and chocolate chips begin to melt. Transfer pan to wire rack for about 20 minutes, then frost with chocolate frosting. Chocolate Frosting: In medium covered microwaveable bowl, melt 1 stick butter on high till almost melted. Stir in 1 tsp. instant coffee granules, 2/3 cup cocoa, 3 cups confectioner’s sugar and 1/3 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed till frosting is of desired consistency, adding more confectioner’s sugar or more yogurt as needed.

BLUE RIBBON ROCKY ROAD CARAMEL BARS

YYou can thank the nice Land O'Lakes people for this super-easy, super-good recipe. The only problem with these bars is that you want to just have one more since they're so small.... Land O'Lakes says the yield is 25 bars, but I don't know how they got 25. I got 16 (4 across, 4 down) and they're not big; and I used a 9" pan. Other than that, this recipe is great, especially if you like milk chocolate. I'm a milk chocolate lover, but I mixed semi-sweet chips in and I'm glad I did. I don't think I would want this to be all milk chocolate. Remember, when you're baking, you're the boss. Put whatever chips in you like. If you don't like peanuts, change the nuts to what you like. Custom make your treat. These bars are crunchy from the nuts, and chewy from the marshmallows and caramel. What else can I say? These are prize winners in my book.

Blue Ribbon Rocky Road Caramel Bars
Prep time: 15 min.; Baking time: 30 minutes; Cooling Time: 2 hours
CRUST INGREDIENTS:
1 cup all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur whole wheat flour)
3/4 cup uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sugar (I used 1 Tbsp. Stevia + 1 tsp. molasses)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt (I used sea salt)
1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts (I used honey-roasted peanuts)

TOPPING INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup chopped salted peanuts (again, I used honey-roasted peanuts)
1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 of a 7-oz. milk chocolate bar, cut into chunks (I used 3 oz. of a Hershey's Symphony bar and a nice handful of Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350F. Combine all crust ingredients except peanuts in large bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/4 cup peanuts. Reserve 3/4 cup crumb mixture.

Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of well-greased 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Meanwhile, place ice cream topping in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until warm (about 1 minute). Drizzle topping over hot, partially baked crust. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup peanuts, marshmallows and chocolate chunks. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Continue baking for 15-20 minutes or until marshmallows are lightly browned. Cool completely. Cut into bars. These are yummmmy.