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Magic Cookie Bars

1/26/2016

Tastē Tuesday~ As much baking as I have done, I have never made magic bars before (also know as as 7-layer bars, Hello Dollies, and Grizzly Bars). I wonder why they have so many names?! I saw a picture on the back of a graham cracker box and got the hankering to make them. I scoured the internet for the best recipe and was surprised to find that they were all basically the same with just a few variations in ingredients and one difference in methodology (where to place the sweetened condensed milk). I created my own way of putting the bars together, and will therefore call them Magic Bars as 7-layer bars aren't quite accurate. These are rich little treats, but quick and easy to make!

Magic Cookie Bars
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick salted butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup white chocolate chips (butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips are also an option)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 (14 -ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter in a bowl. Press into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. In a bowl, mix together the pecans, chocolate chips, and shredded coconut. Pour half of the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the graham cracker crust. Sprinkle the pecan, chocolate, coconut mixture on top. Drizzle the remaining sweetened condensed milk over the mixture and bake for 25 minutes or until coconut is just beginning to toast and the edges are turning golden. Cool completely and cut into bars.

I like mixing coconut with the other ingredients in order to ensure that the ingredients are evenly distributed across the entire 9x13. I also split the sweetened condensed milk whereas other recipes either poured it on after the crust and before the rest of the ingredients or on top of all of the ingredients. I used it as a binder to help the ingredients stick to the crust as well as each other. When you take a bite into these bars you won't lose any delicious toppings! If you have a variation to this recipe that is to die for, please share; I would love to try it.

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Special Needs Spotlight

1/22/2016

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While the East Coast was waking up in anticipation of a massive snow storm, I sat in the wee hours of the morning with little boy #3 with The Mamas and Papas lyrics, "California dreaming on such a winter's day" playing in my head....while I expect many Easterners are California dreaming, I had the wonderful idea last night of catching a flight with the family, finding a cabin, and enjoying being snowed in for the weekend. We miss the snow, but I can't complain about our weather. I am looking forward to playing soccer with little boy #2 this afternoon. For all of you reading this while watching snow drift outside of your window - stay safe and enjoy!

Fuel for Friday~ This post isn't my usual Friday post, but it is one that hits close to home. January is Sanctity of Human Life month. Nine years ago, we chose to continue a pregnancy that doctor's suggested we terminate. Despite the difficulties, pain, and heartache that we have experienced, little boy #1's life is just as valuable and precious as any other little human life. Yeah for a month that recognizes that each and every human life is of utmost importance and invaluable!

I have yet to cut all ties with our life from before our move and still receive emails from our previous church. This week I received an email that Focus on the Family was doing a two part interview with the pastor and his wife regarding special needs children and how the church can help. I wanted to share this for two reasons. 1) We were extremely blessed to have benefited from our pastor and his wife and the choice they made to turn the experiences they had/have with their special needs daughter into a beautiful outreach to special needs kiddos and their families in the D.C. area. 2) Families that have special needs children are plentiful. Church's that can accommodate them are not. If some type of disability has affected your family or friends, and this is an area that touches your heart, I encourage you to see if you can assist your church in reaching this special population.

Churches don't need to be mega churches to have a special needs ministry. Although it will definitely look different, small churches can come alongside these families and provide much needed support. We are immensely grateful to the four years of incredible ministry both we and little boy #1 received from a church of 15,000 before we moved. We are equally grateful for the church of about 50 we now attend! I haven't listened to both broadcasts yet, but plan to before the end of the weekend. If you are interested, here are the links: http://www.focusonthefamily.com/media/daily-broadcast/special-needs-children-how-the-church-can-help-pt1 and http://www.focusonthefamily.com/media/daily-broadcast/special-needs-children-how-the-church-can-help-pt2. The interview gives some keen insight to what many of these families go through and some practical ways to minister to them.

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Mascarpone Chocolate Toffee Bars

1/19/2016

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Tastē Tuesday~ This is one of those recipes that is not necessarily my favorite dessert recipe but one that I make at least once a year due to one ingredient: mascarpone. I have another recipe that I make that calls for mascarpone, but only 4 ounces of it, which is half of any container I have ever found of mascarpone cheese. I am inevitably left with 4 oz, and being a person who doesn't like to throw perfectly good ingredients out, especially when they are of the more expensive variety, this is my go-to "use the rest of my mascarpone" recipe. That being said, a little bit of cookie dough, a few morsels of toffee bits, and a creamy, decadent chocolate topping makes for a pretty tasty treat I am forced to occasionally make in order to use some leftovers!

I have slowly altered the recipe after making it a couple of times. This past week, I altered it a lot which proved it to be a flexible recipe. Check out the notes section at the end for modifications/ideas. This is a great dessert to end an Italian meal with, to turn to for something fancier than your every-day brownie but just as easy, or if you have some left-over mascarpone cheese!

Mascarpone Chocolate Toffee Bars
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Vegetable cooking spray
1/2 pound refrigerated sugar cookie dough (store-bought for ease or homemade if desired)
1 (1.4-ounces) chocolate-toffee candy bars, coarsely chopped, divided (Skor or Heath)
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup high quality semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 5-inch (or 8 x 4-inch) nonstick baking pan (your larger loaf pan) with vegetable cooking spray. Lay a piece of parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to overhang the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the cookie dough, 1/2 of the chopped chocolate-toffee candy pieces and vanilla extract. Using damp fingers, gently press the dough into the prepared pan. Using the tines of a fork, prick the dough all over. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for 15 minutes.

Place the chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a medium bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate has melted. Cool the chocolate mixture for 10 minutes. Whisk in the mascarpone cheese until the mixture is smooth. Using a spatula, spread the chocolate mixture over the cooled crust. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate-toffee candy pieces over the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until the chocolate layer is firm.

Peel off the parchment paper and cut into bars. Can be served cold or at room temperature.

Notes:
1) Use a spoon to mix the cookie dough, toffee pieces, and vanilla. Damp fingers work great for pressing the dough into the pan, but the dough is too sticky to mix with your hands.
2) Making sure the cheese is at room temperature prior to whisking into the chocolate mixture is important!
3) This recipe can easily be doubled. If so desired, us a 9" round tart pan.
4) Last week I doubled the recipe thinking for some reason that I had 8 ounces of mascarpone cheese only to find out that I did not. I did have 4 ounces of cream cheese on hand, so I used 4 ounces of mascarpone and 4 ounces of 1/3 less fat cream cheese. The cream cheese added a slight tang to the chocolate but due to all of the other sweet ingredients, the end product was still good.
5) If you really like toffee, the recipe could easily be modified to use 1 1/2 or 2 (1.4 ounce) toffee bars.
6) The original recipe calls for toasted, sliced almonds. I have made it with the almonds, however, have chosen not to recently.

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