Saturday, March 10, 2012

Cake Batter Bars





Cake batter is all the rage, didn't you know?
I've know this ever since I got hooked on cake batter ice cream but now there is so many things that you can make and buy that are cake battered and delicious.
I made Funfetti Cookie sandwiches last summer so I wasn't worried about the outcome of using the cake mix again, since everyone loved them.

I had a bit of an interesting time making these bars.
Everything was baking as usual and then I went to take them out of the oven and they had risen and were al the way to the brim of the pan! So I decided to just cut them into really small pieces to make up for how tall they were, simple solution, right? Well when I went back into the kitchen an hour later, the middle had sunk back down and the edges were still as tall as before! Just my luck. I brought them to work cut and hoped that no one would notice the difference.
I really don't know what would be the solution to my problem, any ideas?

I got the recipe from my favorite cooking blog, Lovin' From the Oven
The bars were still pretty amazing even with my mishap.
Jump on the cake batter wagon and take a bite.

Cake Batter Bars

1 1/2 cup funfetti cake mix
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tablespoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, (melted & slightly cooled)
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
5 heaping tablespoons sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 8x8 pan.
Cream together the sugars, butter, vanilla, egg and egg yolk.
Gradually mix in the flour, cake mix, and baking soda until just mixed.
Stir in the sprinkles.
Spread batter evenly into greased pan.
Bake 30-35 minutes, until top is lightly browned and middle jiggles slightly.
Cool completely before cutting.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Protein Bars



My mothers birthday is on leap year so she go to have a real birthday this year!
Don't feel bad for her though, when it isn't leap year, she celebrates her birthday the whole last week of February.
I really wanted to bake her something special for her birthday, but both my parents have been on a health kick for a while, working out all the time, watching what they eat; so I wanted to make something that she wouldn't feel guilty about eating later.
While looking through Crazy About Cookies by Krystina Castella ,(can be found at Kohl's  for 5 dollars), I found this recipe for protein bars and knew it was perfect for my moms 44th birthday.
She said that they were good, but I made the mistake of not realizing to get sunflower seeds without the shell and apparently that's hard to eat whole. Now we know!

Wild Honey Bran Protein Bars

1 1/2 flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups bran or bran oat multi-grain cereal, (uncooked)
1/2 cup golden raisins, (chopped)
1/4 cup dried apricots, (chopped)
1/4 cup dried cranberries, (chopped)
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 sesame seeds
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 tablespoon honey, (heated in microwave for 15 seconds to thin)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9x13 inch pan with vegetable oil.
Combine the flour, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda, salt, and bran in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine the rasins, apricots, cranberries, almonds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Beat the oil, brown sugar, egg, applesauce, vanilla and honey until combined.
Gradually add the flour mixture until just blended, then stir in the fruit mixture until combined.
Spread the dough into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden.
Let cool in the pan, then cut into bars.