Fudge-Filled Peanut Butter Bars

These bars are amazingly delicious. This recipe came to me from my sister-in-law, Jen, because they are one of her mother's favorites. When Sharon (pictured here with Richard, Delilah, and Lorelei) recently passed away, I offered to make some of Sharon's favorite cookie recipes for the celebration of her life gathering. My nieces, Lorelei and Delilah, called Sharon "Cookie Grammy" because Sharon was known for making cookies. Now, whenever I enjoy these bars, I will think of Sharon what a wonderful life she lived.

When making this recipe, it is best to make it a day ahead. After the bars come out of the oven, let them cool and then slice the bars but leave the bars in the pan. To get the fudge layer to truly set, put the pan in the refrigerator overnight. The fudge will set, and the pre-cut bars should come out nicely. Jen also recommended using Duncan Hines coconut pecan frosting as a shortcut for making the fudge layer. I could not find it, so I just followed the recipe as is. And you could easily leave out the pecans and coconut because they disappear in the strong flavors of peanut butter and fudge.

Fudge-Filled Peanut Butter Bars 

Crust and topping

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs

Fudge layer

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mx together the crust ingredients. Press about two-thirds of the crust into a greased 9x13 inch pan. set aside the remainder of the crust for the topping. Prepare the filling in a medium saucepan, melting the chocolate, milk, and butter over low heat until smooth. Stir in the coconut, brown sugar, flour, and pecans until well-mixed. Spread the fudge filling over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the filling. Bake at 350 fro 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool. Slice into bars. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Sticks

I recently made this recipe for Mothers' Day, and it was a hit. This recipe is a brownie with a layer of mint frosting and a layer of chocolate fudge frosting. I am not sure why this recipe uses sticks instead of bars; I suppose they could be cut into rectangular sticks. Whatever you call them, they are delicious.

This recipe is easy to make, but does require a little more time because the brownies need to cool before frosting, and the mint frosting needs to set before the chocolate frosting is added. The recipe calls for using unsweetened baking chocolate squares, which are easy enough to find, but I usually just substitute one tablespoon of butter and three tablespoons of cocoa powder for each square. Also, when I made this recipe, I increased the chocolate frosting amounts and added some powdered sugar to have a thicker chocolate frosting layer. The increased amounts are listed below. I also left out the nuts, but I am sure the recipe could be just as good with the nuts. 

Chocolate Mint Sticks 

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 - 1 ounce square unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Peppermint Frosting

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp. milk
• 1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

Chocolate Frosting

• 3 - 1 ounce square unsweetened chocolate
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Blend in eggs. Stir in chocolate. Add flour and nuts. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool completely. Blend together ingredients for peppermint frosting and spread on top. Allow to stand until firm. Prepare chocolate frosting by melting the chocolate and butter, then blend in the powdered sugar. Spread evenly over the peppermint frosting layer. Chill for 30 minutes until chocolate is set. Cut into bars. Enjoy!

Ham & Noodle Cakes

After Easter, I had plenty of ham leftovers. This recipe from Mom's recipe box, like the many casserole dishes that use up ham, is a great use of ham leftovers and very easy to make. I especially like how the grilling brings out a nice caramelized flavor.

When I made this recipe, instead of using noodles, I used a leftover baked potato that I mashed a bit before blending into the mix. I am sure that the noodles would have been just as delicious, but I was looking to use up leftovers. This recipe is also easy to increase or decrease based on the amount of ham you have left over, so give it a try sometime.

Ham & Noodle Cakes 

• 8 ounces fine noodles, cooked and drained
• 1 1/2 cup finely diced ham
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine ingredients; drop by spoonfuls onto a hot, lightly buttered griddle. Bake to golden brown, turning once. Enjoy!