Treats

Made a quick batch of Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip treats the other day. Under bake the treats by a minute or two for super chewy goodness.

Devilish bites of Heaven!

A few weeks ago we had our open house...there was good food...

Here are the Apple Cinnamon Chip Bars...(recipe at the end)...

Cream the butter and sugar together!

Once you add all the rest of the ingredients, spread the mix into the parchment lined pan.

Bake and cool.

Make your cream cheese frosting while the bars cool.

Remove the bars from the pan. With the parchment paper, it's super easy and all you do it lift; with no breakage!

I choose to cut my bars into small bites and then piped the icing on top.

The bars were presented on an old cheap platter.

And lovely close up shot for prosperity sake. Click on it...and lick your computer screen.

Frosted Cinnamon Apple Bars (Adapted from Land O Lakes)
from Culinary in the Country

For the bars:
1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
¾ tsp baking soda
12 TB unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
10 ounces cinnamon chips
1 cup chopped apples

For the frosting:
4 TB salted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

To make the bars:
Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, whisk together oats, flour, salt and baking soda.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in cinnamon chips and chopped apple.

Scoop the mixture into a 9" x 13" baking pan coated with nonstick spray; or lined with parchment paper - use an off-set spatula to evenly spread the mixture out. Bake until golden and a toothpick placed in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached, about 25 to 35 minutes. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting:
In a medium bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. Add confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth and creamy. Spread over the cooled bars.

Treats!

Shhhh, don't tell anyone, but I have a new blog crush! I visit regularly and there are always new recipes and treats posted! I don't know how I first came across Culinary in the Country, but I've been bookmarking and filing away recipes to try at a later time. The first recipe I made was a hit! So why not try one of the sweet treats.

I'm surprised how quickly these treats were assembled. It took me longer to do the dishes than it did for me to get this all moving along. After a cooling for an hour, we snuck a taste...YUM...after sitting and resting over night...I liked them even better! I brought most of the bars to work and they were eaten up in minutes! Score!!! Thanks Joe.


Peanut Butter Cup Bars
Recipe at Culinary in the Country

The recipe called for mini Peanut Butter Cups...mini mini, chocolate chip size, not minature. Since I couldn't find the mini's, I went with the minature's and cut them in quarters.

The shortbread crust.

The condensed milk and peanut butter chip mixture...OH!!! I just realized I forgot the vanilla!!! Ooops...I put a little vanilla in the shortbread, so it's there, just not in that mix...oops!

The final creation before it's time in the hot box.

My treats are done! And they were delicious.
PS: I used the recycleable aluminum pan...great for bringing to work; it doesn't have to come home!