Loaded Cocoa Krispie Bark

People get soooo excited about chocolate bark, don't they?

One of the best things about it is how FAST you can make it.

I decided to make my own version, but instead of a smooth chocolate with stuff swirled or sprinkled on top, I decided that I wanted something like Nestle Crunch bars - you know those, right? With the crisp rice cereal? Yup, those.

And then I also put stuff on top. I just can't help myself.

I bought Cocoa Krispies instead of plain Rice Krispies, because I had other plans for the cereal where the chocolate made more sense. Feel free to use plain old Rice Krispies, or any other similar brand. I assume there's some sort of other brand out there.

Loaded Cocoa Krispie Bark

1 package (12 ounces) Nestle's Dark Chocolate Chips
1 cup Cocoa Crispies
1/2 cup Nestle's Peanut Butter DelightFulls
Peanuts (I used Planters dry roasted) as needed

Have a suitable silicone mold standing by - about 8-inch-square is good. I didn't have an actual bark mold the size I needed, so I used another square silicone container I had that was close to the right size. A silicone cake pan would work well.

Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe container. I used a large glass measuring cup. Melt in 30-second increments, stirring after each blast, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Fold in the Cocoa Krispies.

Transfer this to your mold, and level the top surface. It will be bumpy, but that's fine. Sprinkle the DelightFulls chips over the top, then sprinkle the peanuts on, filling in the gaps between the chips.

Press the toppings down lightly - you don't need to submerge them - just press them gently so they adhere to the melted chocolate.

Refrigerate until the chocolate firms up, then cut or break the bark into pieces.

I took a poll to see if people cut or broke bark, and most said they broke it. I opted for slicing, because I wanted to show the pattern that the insides of the DelightFulls made in that upper layer.

Note: I previously did a sponsored post for Nestle DelightFulls, but this particular post is not sponsored by Nestle or any of the other brands listed. I bought all this stuff.

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Chocolate Mint Bars with #DelightFulls

When a blogger friend posted a photo of Nestle Toll House DelightFulls, I couldn't wait to try them. So I bought them. When I got an offer to write a sponsored post about them, it motivated me to come up with a recipe for them.

These are similar to the chocolate chips you already love, with one major difference - they've got another flavor inside. I bought mint, peanut butter, and caramel. To be honest, I wasn't that exited about the cherry, so I didn't pick that one up.

While cookies are the obvious use for chocolate chips, I wanted to use them in something different - cake or cupcakes or brownies. I figured that not only would they taste great, but they'd also leave little splashes of color within the dark chocolate chips embedded in the cake.

And I was right. I love when a plan works.

These bars are moist but not gooey. They're a little dense, but not too dense. They could be a cake-like brownie, or they could be a rich, somewhat dense cake. You decide.

Whatever they are, they're pretty darned good.

While I used mint, you could use any flavor of the DelightFulls for the same result.

You want one, don't you?

Chocolate Mint Chip Bars

4 ounces Nestle dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 cups (9 ounces) all purpose flour
1 cup mint Nestle Toll House DelightFulls

Spray a 9-inch square pan with baking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium heatproof mixing bowl or glass measuring cup, combine the dark chocolate chips and water. Stir until the chocolate is melted and it's smooth.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, where you'll mix with an electric mixer), beat the white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and oil until it's well mixed.

Add the eggs and beat until well combined, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Add the melted chocolate and mix well, then add the flour and mix until blended. Add the DelightFulls.

If you prefer, you can add the entire bag, but if you add just the cup, you don't have to feel guilty about all the Delightfulls that disappeared during sampling. Quality control, you know.

Pour the batter into the prepare pan and bake at 350 degrees until the cake no longer looks wet on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Let the cake cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar for serving, if you like.

This post is sponsored by Nestle Toll House, but it's completely true that I bought the product before there was even a hint of sponsorship, and the recipe is entirely my own idea, as well.

Links in this post are sponsored, which means that if you click, I get compensation. So go take a look at the Nestle baking recipes and go bake something!

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Oatmeal Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies - allergen-free

I don't have any food allergies that I know about, but I'm always interested in trying recipes designed for restricted diets, because I think it's interesting to see how people work around the restrictions.

So, when my buddies at 37 Cooks tossed a copy of Sweet Debbie's Organic Treats at me, I knew I'd find something fun to make.

Besides focusing on organic, the recipes are also allergen-free and vegan. So, no gluten, nuts, dairy ... all those things that I bake with all the time.

Many of the recipes used coconut oil and coconut nectar, including the one I chose. I happened to have a jar of coconut oil, so that was good. I didn't have coconut nectar, and after some shopping, I couldn't find it anywhere. I did some reading and found that agave nectar and honey were both acceptable substitutes.

I had plenty of honey, so I chose to use that. Afterwards, I remembered that honey isn't a vegan product. But I wasn't planning on feeding any vegans, so I figured it would be fine - at least from a "will this recipe work" standpoint.

The recipe also called for 3/8 teaspoon of stevia powder, which I also didn't have. Since stevia is a sweetener and I had plenty of honey in the recipe, I decided to skip it. Many sources I looked at said that honey was sweeter than coconut nectar, so I figured I would be fine.

I didn't have guar gum and couldn't find it when I went shopping, but the book suggested that xanthan gum is an acceptable alternative, so I used that.

I was pretty happy with these cookies. I'm not a big fan of coconut, so I wasn't shoveling these into my mouth with wild abandon, but the chocolate flavor was definitely prominent.

For the gluten-free flour mix, I used the all purpose baking mix from King Arthur Flour; the book also has a recipe from making your own flour mix. For the chips, I used Nestle's, even though I'm pretty sure they're not organic.

You might be wondering about the gluten free oats. Here's the deal. Oats themselves don't have any gluten, but many oats are processed in facilities that process other grain products that do contain gluten. Because of that, they can't be labeled gluten free. So if you're cooking for someone who needs to avoid all gluten, you need to buy oats that are processed in a facility that's gluten free.

The book has recipes for making your own dark chocolate chips, if you prefer to do that, and you need to control absolutely every ingredient in your baking.

Oatmeal Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Sweet Debbie's Organic Treats by Debbie Adler

1 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour mix
1 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup coconut nectar (I used honey)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/8 teaspoon stevia powder (I omitted this)
1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cups gluten-free rolled oats (I used Hodgson Mill)
3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper. These don't spread much, so you might be able to squeeze all the cookies on one sheet, but I found it was easier to just use a second sheet.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour mix, cocoa powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt.

Put the coconut oil and nectar (or honey or agave) in a microwave-safe measuring cup or small bowl and heat for 20-30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and the stevia (if you're using it) and stir well. The coconut oil should melt.

Add the coconut oil mixture to the flour mixture, along with the water. Stir until all the liquid is absorbed and the mixture is evenly wet. Add the oats and the chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Portion the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. I made about 20 cookies. Flatten the cookies with your palm or with the bottom of a measuring cup or glass.

Bake at 325 degrees until the cookies are set and the oats look dry, about 13 minutes. If you're baking more than one sheet at a time, or if your oven doesn't bake evenly, rotate the pans in the oven partway through the baking time.

Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the cookies cool for about 10 mintues before removing them from the pan and letting them cool completely on a rack.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher through 37 Cooks.

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Chocolate Not-Chip Cookie Bars

Cookies: Success!

So, I kind of fell in love with the silicone bark molds from Good Cook.

At Christmas, I used the Christmas-themed ones to make cashew brittle, peanut brittle, and peanut butter shale candy.

Then, I got the spring-themed mold and made polenta.

Yup, it's not just for sweets. I was thinking about making a frittata as well, but changed my mind.

I wanted cookies.

My first try was fair, but not great. Not the fault of the mold. The cookies were edible, but not blog-worthy.

Then I started thinking about chocolate chip cookies. I mean, you can bake those as bars, so why not use the mold?

Then I thought about taking the chips out of the cookies and using the chocolate a different way.

So, I started with the basic Toll House Cookie recipe that's on the back of every bag. But I left out the chocolate chips. And I didn't add nuts.

Here's the spring bark mold from Good Cook.

I suppose I could have added the nuts to the batter, but ... well, I just didn't. Which is crazy because I love nuts.

Birds of a feather, and all that stuff.

I baked the whole batch of cookie dough in the mold. All went well, except that there was a little bit of run-over as the cookie dough rose a little too far and spilled over the edges of the pan. I'm not sure if that would happen at sea level, but here at high altitude, sometimes baked goods have attitude.

But no big deal. While the dough was warm, I sliced off the extra. And, well, I ATE those pieces. Have you ever baked a chocolate chip cookie without the chips? They're a pretty good cookie. And those slightly-overcooked bits that I cut off were crisp and had a wonderful caramel flavor. Oh yeah. That's a snack!

If you're planning on doing this, you might consider not filling the mold as full as I did. Bake a few cookies. That way, you're sure it won't overflow the pan. It wouldn't hurt for them to be a little bit thinner than what I made. I mean, you can always just do what I did and cut off the overflow, but you could also just bake a few cookies and hide those for yourself, too.

So I let the baked, trimmed cookies cool completely in the pan, then turned the whole thing out onto a cooling rack for holding. I didn't care about the design baked into the cookies - the only reason I baked them in the mold was so I could put them back into the mold after I added the chocolate.

I melted 2 cups of chocolate chips and spread that evenly in the pan, then I put the baked, cooled cookie-bar thing back on top of the chocolate.

I let that sit around for a couple hours to make sure the chocolate had hardened, then I popped it out of the mold, cut the bars into pieces, and that was that.

Easy peasy.

Although the chocolate-to-cookie ratio is the same as you'd get in a regular chocolate chip cookie, since the chocolate is in a thick layer it seems like a much bigger punch of chocolate. Whether or not you think that's a good thing is totally up to you.

If you wanted to, you could use a bit less chocolate. But who's gonna do that, huh?

If you want to get a spring bark mold of your own, or any of the other Sweet Creations spring cooking tools, you can get 25% your order with the promo code SpringFling.

I received the bark mold and spatula as part of the Kitchen Experts program. This post was not required. I just wanted cookies.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Chocolate Pine Nut Cookies

Maybe it's just me, but pine nuts remind me a little bit of mint, so it seemed natural to put them into a chocolate cookie - I love chocolate and mint together.

These cookies also include some chocolate chips. Or, actually, I used some red, white and green chips along with the chocolate. They don't show up very much on the outside of the cookies, but you'll see them when you bite into them.

I suppose I could have sprinkled a few chips on top to make them more visible, but I don't mind that they're little hidden gems.

I got the pine nuts from my friends at Frieda's Specialty Produce and right now there's a coupon on their site for $1 off, AND you might find some specials at your local King Soopers or Kroger store. If you haven't tried pine nuts before, might as well give it a go while they're a little bit cheaper, right?

Chocolate Chip and Pine Nut Chocolate Cookies
Makes 5 dozen cookies

2 cups (9 ounces) all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder*
2 teaspoons baking powder
10 tablespoons shortening (I used the butter flavored)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3 ounces (about 1/2 cup) pine nuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (white, dark, or colored chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line several baking sheets with parchment paper

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl, using an electric mixer), cream the shortening, sugar, and salt until it's light and fluffy.

Add the vanilla extract and beat until it's incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined.

Add the flour in thirds, alternating with two additions of the milk, mixing well between each addition. Stir in the pine nuts and the chocolate chips.

With a 1 1/2 inch cookie scoop, portion cookies onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving space between them for expansion. Bake at 350 degrees until the cookies are set and no longer shiny on top - about 15 minutes.

Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Whole Foods Feasting: Kitchen Sink Cookies

If you're looking for a different sort of cookie, this is it.

Sure, there are chocolate chips and nuts - that's pretty normal. But then there are chopped graham cracker that add texture and bits of pretzel that adds crunch and salt.

You can bake these right after mixing them, but I think the texture improves with an overnight rest. The dough can be held for several days in the refrigerator, so you can bake a few cookies at a time, rather than baking them all at once.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
1/2 cup graham crackers, cut it rough 1/4 pieces
1/2 cup pretzel sticks, chopped or broken into smaller pieces

Cream the butter, and sugar together in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the salt, baking powder, vanilla, and egg. Beat until well combined.

Add the flour and mix until well combined. Add the chocolate chips, nuts, graham cracker pieces and pretzel pieces. Mix until the ingredients are well distributed in the dough.

Gather the dough and wrap it in plastic or place it in a plastic bag. Refrigerate overnight.

When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line several baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a small scoop (#40 is perfect) or a spoon, portion the dough into approximately 2-tablespoon balls an place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving space between them.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges, about 18 minutes.

Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool.

This post is sponsored by Whole Foods.

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Yopa! - It's yogurt

I love yogurt. Particularly Greek-style yogurt. Getting my husband to eat it is a whole other story. If it's in a recipe, he's fine with that, but otherwise, he's not so interested.

Since his recent release from the hospital, I've been trying to get him to eat more "healthy for your tummy" foods. His poor abused digestive system needs some special attention, but trying to convince him to eat yogurt was an uphill battle until I said the magic words.

"Honey, I need to write about this Yopa! yogurt, and I'd like you to sample it."

He's always willing to try samples of foods that I'm writing about, even if it's something he's pretty sure he doesn't like.

I offered him some of the vanilla yogurt with chocolate chips. He tried it without the chips, and then with the chips added in. This is kind of a cool feature - the add-ins are in a separate part of the container, so you can add them in or not. Munch them alone or stir them in.

And ...

He liked it!

Well, then, that's interesting.

Since he still can't eat large portions of food at one sitting, I make sure there are plenty of snacks around, so he can have a little something between meals. The little containers of yogurt in the 4-pack are perfect for that, although I might pick up a few of the larger single containers for hungrier days. Because, seriously, the guy needs to put on some weight. Although the Yopa! yogurt is fat-free and lower in calorie than some of the snacks we've got around here, it's a healthy snack that'll be good for his tummy.

What I also like about the smaller packs is that they're a snack without being half a meal. You know what I mean - you're hungry between meals and the next thing you know you're eating lunch an hour early and sometimes that's just a bad idea.

Or I'm home from running errands, and I want something NOW. A little container of yogurt is just enough to keep the snacking demons away so I can prep for dinner without eating half of the mise en place. And since I'm not a fan of super-sweet foods, a little container of vanilla yogurt with dark chocolate chips is just sweet enough for breakfast or dessert.

And for me, the lower-calorie feature is a bonus, because I'm not looking to start putting on weight along with my husband. So it's great that we have one snack that's good for both of us, and makes this a good fit in a balanced diet.

And besides, Yopa! is kind of fun to say. Yopa! Yopa! Yopa! Bonus points for that.

If you're not into vanilla yogurt with chocolate chips, there are also fruit flavors with granola, and a vanilla yogurt with almonds. I think I'm gonna try that one next. I'm kind of nutty.

So tell me, are you a yogurt fan? What flavors do you like best? Do you like mix-ins?

Speaking of balance, gold medalist Gabby Douglas is an expert, and she's challenging you to take the Yopa! Taste Challenge where you can win a variety of prizes, including $10,000! Just "like" Yopa! on Facebook for a chance to win and to grab a coupon for $.50 (or more!) off one cup of Yopa! Authentic Greek Yogurt.

I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.

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Say "Cheese (cake) for #SundaySupper

I love cheesecake, but I don't want a huge cheesecake sitting around. Many cheesecake recipes make behemoth cheesecakes that serve a small army. There are only two of us here. I don't want to eat cheesecake every day for a week.

So that meant that I only made cheesecake for parties, potlucks, or when I knew I could give most of it away.

As a result, most of the cheesecakes I ate were from restaurants.

Recently, though, I've been playing around with little cheesecakes, made in 4-inch pans. They're adorably cute, and you can have a realllllly small slice. Two or three bites.

The last time I published a mini cheesecake was near Thanksgiving, when I made a pumpkin cheesecake
This time, I went for peanut butter and chocolate.

These cheesecakes are small in diameter, and they're also fairly thin. In theory, you could put all of the filling into one cheesecake tin - it should fit just about perfectly.

But let me warn you - this cheesecake isn't the fluffy type. If peanut butter fudge and cheesecake had a transporter accident, this might be what you'd end up with. So a thinner cake with a thin layer of crust is a nice bite. A thicker cheesecake layer might be a little too dense. But that's up to you.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

For the crust:
3 graham crackers
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon butter

For the filling:
8 ounces softened cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Wrap the outside of two 4-inch springform pans with aluminum foil.

Crush the graham crackers. Mix the crackers crumbs with the salt and sugar. Melt the butter and mix it with the crumbs until they're evenly moistened.

Divide the crumbs into the bottom of two 4-inch springform pans. Set aside.

Cream the cream cheese and sugar together in a medium bowl. Add the peanut butter and beat until combined. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extra and beat until thoroughly combined. Add the mini chocolate chips and stir until well combined. Divide the mixture between the two springform pans.

Place the springform pans into a 9-inch square cake pan or other ovenproof container. Add about an inch of hot water to the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until the cheesecakes are mostly firm. It's fine if they have a little jiggle to them, but they shouldn't be sloppy wet looking, and definitely not overbaked and cracked.

Take the pan out of oven (carefully! You've got really hot water there!), remove the springform pans, and let them cool for about 15 minutes, Then remove the aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before removing the cheesecake from the pans and slicing.

If you want to guild the lily, a little drizzle of chocolate sauce would be nice.

This post is part of #SundaySupper - go check out all the other amazing cheese, cake, or cheesecake recipes this week!

Say Cheese!

Garlic and Goat by Supper for a Steal
Quick and Easy Homemade Cottage Cheese by The Meltaways
Homemade Velveeta Cheese by Juanitas Cocina
Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Parmesan Crisps by BigBearsWife
Irish Cheese Soufflés by girlichef
Paneer Tikka Masala by Kimchi Mom
Creamy Meyer Lemon Pasta with Homemade Ricotta and Broccoli by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
Ricotta Croquettes by Basic N Delicious
Cheeseburger Soup by Dinners Dishes and Desserts
Cherry Blossom Crescents by The Ninja Baker
Saag Paneer! Golden Roasted Ricotta In Savory Spinach Sauce by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
Sourdough Cheese Crackers by Curious Cuisiniere
Basil Balsamic Strawberries & Whipped Feta Grilled Cheese by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
Lox and Cream Cheese Mini Omelettes by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Buffalo Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken by In The Kitchen With KP
Baked Mozzarella Sticks by Mama’s Blissful Bites
Paneer Indian Cottage Cheese Pancake by Masala Herb
Crepes with Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Filling by Soni’s Food
Roasted Pears with Pecorino by Happy Baking Days
Pan-Fried Halloumi Cheese Salad by The Catholic Foodie
Chevre Torte with Mango and Sweet Pepper Salsa by Noshing with the Nolands

Let the eat ... Cake!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Hezzi D’s Books & Cooks
Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake by Gourmet Drizzles
Dairyfree Ice Cream Cake by Galactosemia in PDX
KitKat Chocolate Cake by The Urban Mrs.
Old Fashioned Caramel Cake by There and Back Again
Peanut Butter Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Chips by Gotta Get Baked
Flourless Chocolate Bean Cake by Vintage Kitchen
Dense Chocolate Cherry Cake by What Smells So Good?
Tequila Lime Cupcakes by Mama Mommy Mom
Almond Polenta Cake by Shockingly Delicious
Salmon Cakes by Family Foodie
Banana Split Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze by NeighborFood

Put it all together and you have ... Cheesecake!

Kit Kat Cheesecake Brownies by Chocolate Moosey
Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake by Daily Dish Recipes
Nutella Cheesecake Brownies by The Foodie Army Wife
Individual Strawberry and White Chocolate Cheesecakes by Small Wallet Big Appetite
Grasshopper Cheesecake Bars by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cheesecake by Magnolia Days
Mini Toddler Cherry Cheesecakes by In the Kitchen with Audrey and Maurene
Mocha Cheesecake by The Lovely Pantry
Lime Cheesecake Bites by Peanut Butter and Peppers
No-Bake Banana Sundae Cheesecake by The Messy Baker
Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes with White Chocolate Crusts by Cupcakes and Pearls
Savory Shrimp Cheesecake with Herbs and Garlic by Food Lust People Love
Cheesecake au Baileys by Baker Street
Tiny Turtle Cheesecakes (No Bake) by Cravings of a Lunatic
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes by Cookistry
Chocolate Cheesecake Bites by Mom, What’s For Dinner?

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter each Sunday. We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. This week we will be sharing our love of Cheese, Cakes AND Cheesecakes! Our weekly chat starts at 7pm EST!

Follow the #SundaySupper hash tag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat.

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