sweet inspiration & fun baking ideas

They’re cookies. They’re brownies. They’re brookies. Whatever you want to call them they’re good. They combine the taste of a chocolate chip cookie and with the texture of a moist brownie. The best of both worlds. Actually, they do have a name. They’re called Congo Bars. Wait… I think I just heard a bunch of you go “oh, yeah … I’ve had those before.”

Well, I had them for the first time the other day. My friend Lori gave me one to try and I subsequently held her hostage until she gave me the recipe

Sometimes I wonder where I’ve been and how I could have gone this long without tasting easy treats like this. What else am I missing out on?

Here’s all the ingredients. Simple stuff.

If you follow the directions in the recipe, you combine everything by hand, but I decided to use my mixer and let it do all the work. They were yummy, but not completely the same texture as Lori’s. So I made them a second time the very next day and did it her way. I like how they came out when stirring by hand better, but either way they’re really good.

Look at that beautifully thick batter.

Spread it all out in a 13 X 9 pan and bake for about 30 minutes.

Cool and cut.

These are from the first batch. You can’t really tell by the photos, but the texture is different from the ones below.

These are from the second batch and slightly… just slightly, more cakey when you sink your teeth in.

At first I thought it was just a difference in baking time, but Lori also made a batch using a mixer without knowing that was how I made mine and both of ours came out the same.

She likes the mixing by hand method better, too. Again, this is a subtle difference, just thought I’d share.

The great thing about these bars is that you can mix in different additions if you want.

How about butterscotch or peanut butter chips?

M&M’s maybe.

You could even cut up a few caramel candies into small pieces if you wanted a chewy surprise inside.

Customize, baby.

Here’s the recipe Lori uses. She’s tried several, but settled on this one she found somewhere on the internet. If you google Congo Bars, you should find a bunch of variations to play with.

Congo Bars

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 lb. light brown sugar (Oh my and thank you!)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

By mixer:

Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended.
Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition.
Add vanilla and mix.
Add flour and mix until combined.
Stir in chips and then pecans.

By hand:

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.
Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake.

Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!

UPDATE: Hey guys. Seems some of you are having mixed results. Most find these awesome, but some say they’re not done at 30 minutes. I’m starting to think my oven runs hotter than most. So, if the bars aren’t done at 30 minutes and the tops feel like they are getting too brown, then place a sheet of aluminum foil on top and bake a little longer. Use a toothpick to insert and check for doneness before removing from the oven. Also make sure you sifted the dry ingredients and used room temp butter, not melted. The batter should be thick like the photo above.

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I recently added a little section to the site called Pop Stars that some of you might find fun. Since I started making cupcake pops and then cake pops in different themes, I have received bunches of emails from readers that have made their own cake pops and have been sweet enough to share their photos and stories with me. And I wanted a way to share them with you.

I mean if it wasn’t for you guys, I would have never stretched myself to see what I was capable of. Your enthusiasm for all the cake pops I’ve made, makes me want to keep trying harder, so thank you.

Anyway, I hope these Pop Stars give you ideas on themes and color schemes, and maybe even the confidence to try them out yourself.

Here’s a glimpse of the first batch I’ve added to the site.

But there’s lots more to come. So from time to time, I’ll pick more Pop Stars at random and add them to the site. Some might be photographed really well, some might have a sweet story behind them and some might just be super cute. I hope you’ll have fun looking at all of them.

To view them, you can click on the Pop Stars link in the gray box found in the upper left hand portion of the site.

When you click on the link you’ll go to the Pop Stars Index Page where you can click on any thumbnail to go straight to the larger version of the image on its own page.

Once on the individual page, you can browse more Pop Stars by clicking on the “Previous Pop Star” and “Next Pop Star” links on each page.

Here’s a little visual illustration in case my wordiness confused you:

If you want to be considered for the next Pop Star, email your photo to the address on the contact page.

Add “Pop Star Submission” in the subject line and include your first name, state or country and a brief bit of info about the photo.

Photos should be around 500 to 800 pixels wide at 72 dpi.

Please don’t send hi-res images if possible. Keep in mind that not all submissions will be added and it may take some time for the ones selected to appear.

Thanks again. Love you guys.

> SEE THE POP STARS <

P.S. I baked something yummy this weekend. I’ll do my best to get it up soon.

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Wicked Good Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Cups. They’re from the book, Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids by Jill O’Connor and just as good as their name states. Jill sent me and my niece a copy of her book as a little thank you for a post I did inspired by her Cheesecake Pops. We had a hard time deciding which recipe to try first, but we kept coming back to these pudding cups. They were really fun to make and even more fun to eat. You’ll see what I mean in a minute. And the best part… I didn’t have to do any of the work. My little helper did it all.

From separating the egg yolks, to the measuring and mixing.

She cooked the pudding.

And mixed in the peanut butter… (thank you, Jill) … and the extra chocolate chips … Oh my!

Let the pudding chill for at least four hours before eating.

Here’s a link to the Pudding Recipe so you can print it out.

Now, here’s the best part.

It involves balloons to make bowls.

Okay, I did help a little bit here. We blew up regular size balloons about halfway so they were still small, but found that water balloons worked best. They are a perfect size for this project, just hard to fill with air instead of water. I about busted a lung.

After you blow up the balloons, wash them off and let them dry. And before you use each one, spray a little non-stick cooking spray on each. Just a little.

Okay, here’s what you do.

Melt some semi-sweet chocolate, white chocolate or confectionery coating. I used the same candy coating I use for cake pops. Let it cool slightly before using. It doesn’t need to be super hot.

Spoon a small amount on a wax-paper-covered baking sheet.

Then take one of your prepared balloons and dip it in the chocolate. Dip it in enough so the chocolate makes a bowl shape around the balloon.

Remove from the chocolate and place the balloon gently on top of the chocolate waiting on the baking sheet.

And repeat.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It’s as easy as one…

two…

three!

And like I said earlier … just fun.

She was so proud. And so was I.

You can place the tray of balloon bowls in the refrigerator to speed up the drying time.

Then it’s time for the really fun part.

Pop them all with a pin.

Gently remove the balloon carnage from the inside of the cups and they are ready to go. If you want, you can also serve other treats in them like ice cream.

But we had wicked good pudding waiting in the fridge. Fill each cup as full as you want.

Then you can top them off with whipped cream.

Lots and lots of whipped cream.

To make Jill’s Sweetened Whipped Cream, just chill a metal bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 15 minutes (to help whip the cream faster). Then combine 2 cups heavy cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat on medium-low using a mixer until the cream starts to thicken. Then increase speed to medium-high and beat until firm peaks form.

And yep, my niece made that too. Tired arms and all.

Finally, you can add some sprinkles. As few…

or as many as you like.

Want some?

Come on… you know you do.

And when you’re all finished, you can eat the bowl, too.

Enjoy making a mess!

And, check out Jill’s book. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids

and the original…

Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey

Here’s a link to the Pudding Recipe so you can print it out.

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Earlier this year I posted a cute candy button display that my friend Julie made following a tutorial on a website called Bake it Pretty. And even though I had heard of and seen their site, I had not really looked around it all that much… until recently.

**Warning… enter their site at your own risk or else you might just leave it with a whole bunch of stuff you didn’t know you had to have…

… like these superty-duperty cute baking cups.

They sell lots of fun designs you probably won’t find in your local craft or grocery store…

… unless you can read this.

or know where to find these.

If you visit them, you might be tempted by shiny things.

Or these. I was forced to buy them in several colors…

… and sizes.

The website made me do it. I promise. I mean if I just bought one color, which one?

Red? Of course, but what about black? How often do you come across black gingham print baking cups? Or orange? Or blue?

You know… I didn’t even need any more baking cups. Like for the next couple of years … I’m good.

But, then there’s these. I mean how cute can you get?

It’s funny – right before I found them I was wanting to make some popcorn bucket cupcakes, but figured I would have to make my own wrappers because I knew I would never find any with stripes. So instead I made these flat brownie popcorn bags. Then, right after making them, voila – perfect little cups.

And now, I can’t bring myself to even bake in them. They’re so cute I don’t want to be without them. I just want to look at them. Is that weird?

Don’t answer that.

And the cute little poem doesn’t hurt either.

More baking cups. These, like the striped ones stand up on their own. You can place them right on a baking sheet and go.

However, I haven’t used these yet either. I have a problem.

I worked my way through all the sections of the site and couldn’t leave without having these tapes and twine in my life.

And look at these cute little twist ties in pink, purple and tiny hearts.

Adorable.

But they don’t hold a candle to these…

Dying over here. Plus, they’re kinda perfect for packaging cake pops.

You can even make your drinks look cute. Love these straws.

If you want to see them in action, check out how good they look with Tartelette’s ice cream sandwiches. Not that her pictures aren’t already perfection.

And look, a button mold.

I had to have one of these, too. You know – just in case I ever want to make my own candy button display like this one.

P.S. – I may or may not have also purchased these not exactly kid friendly candies. But, if I did – the website made me do that, too.

Want to pick out your own stuff?

Want me to foot the bill?

Okay, you talked me into it.

Enter to win a $50 gift voucher to BakeItPretty.com

• Leave your comment on this post.
• Just tell me what stuff you can’t stop yourself from buying. Anything. I’m curious.
• Deadline to enter is Tuesday, April 27 at 5 pm ET. TIME’S UP. Winner announced below.
• Three (3) winners will be chosen at random and announced sometime Tuesday evening.

Good luck.

And the winners are…

YAY guys! Have fun shopping. And thanks everyone for sharing your shopping compulsions. I’m in good company.

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I made Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls this weekend. Sinfully sweet rolls of cinnamon, sugar and butter. Lots of butter. The kind of deliciousness that makes your eyes roll back in your head. And I learned something along the way. Dough is not my friend. Cookie doughs, yes. Pastry and bread doughs, not so much. If you need further evidence, you can read this doughnut post. I’ve only worked with rolling dough a few times, but after making several pans of rolls, I think I know what part of my problem is. I don’t think I generously flour my surface enough. It’s like I’m afraid of flour or something. Well, no more. Next time, the flour will flow.

I started out making a half batch of PW’s recipe since 50 rolls seemed a little much for breakfast.

To do so, start with 2 cups milk, 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup sugar.

Note: In this picture, you may notice that this is one cup of sugar instead of a half. Yeah, I didn’t realize the mistake until I was all done. I hate it when I do that, but I think the extra sugar made them even more delicious.

Mix them all together in a saucepan over medium heat, turning it off before it begins to boil. Let it cool until lukewarm (around 45 minutes) and then add 1 package of active dry yeast (for a half batch, that is).

Active dry yeast. This is the first time I’ve ever used this stuff.

Sprinkle it on top of the lukewarm milk mixture and then let it sit for one minute.

After that add four cups all-purpose flour. Stir until just combined…

Then cover with a towel and let sit in a warm place for an hour to let rise. After an hour, add another 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir together until thoroughly combined.

Then you can roll out the dough. Roll it into a large rectangular shape around 30 X 10 inches.

Spread 1 cup melted butter, sprinkle 1/8 cup ground cinnamon and shake about a cup of sugar right on top.

Then, starting from the edge farthest from you, carefully roll the dough towards you tightly. Once you have the dough in a nice, long roll, you can cut 1 1/2 inch slices and place in a melted butter-coated pan.

Here comes trouble. I have no pictures of a nice, long, round roll because mine was rather flat and when baked, produced…

Now, don’t laugh…

promise…?

My flimsy roll produced these…

Quite possible the ugliest cinnamon rolls I’ve ever seen.

Luckily, looks can be deceiving because they were some of the most delicious things I’ve ever put in my mouth. And definitely the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had.

My mom was over and we ate them straight up, sans icing. They didn’t even need it.

But I wasn’t satisfied. I wanted pretty little swirls like Pioneer Woman’s rolls had.

Swirls. I must have swirls.

So I went again later in the day. This time, I made a full batch (deciding I could freeze any uneaten rolls for later) so I would have even more dough to practice with and also, since I used twice the amount of sugar for the dough in the first round I thought that might have something to do with it.

This time, before rolling I chilled the dough for a little while in the fridge and I generoooooously floured my work surface.

So here we go again, more melted butter.

Spread it.

Cinnamon. Sprinkle it.

Sugar. Shake, shake, shake it.

This time, I was able to shape it into a decent roll.

Not perfect, but decent.

And, look… swirls of cinnamon.

These bake for about 13-17 minutes in a 375 degree oven.

While they are baking you can whip up the icing.

It calls for a little coffee. I don’t own a coffee maker, so I used one of PW’s favorites.

Whisk together 2 lbs. powdered sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 6 tablespoons melted butter, 1/4 cup coffee and a dash of salt.

Then add 1 tablespoon maple flavoring and stir it all together.

You’ll die from how yummy this smells if you haven’t already passed out from the scent of the cinnamon rolls.

When the rolls are ready, remove them from the oven.

And hope for pretty little swirls.

Like these.

And these.

Swirls. Thank you.

I don’t think my hips could afford any more attempts.

While the rolls are still warm, you can pour on the icing.

That’s right. Pour it all over the top, covering up all your hard work. Swirls or not.

It’s perfect for disguising any batch of less than swirly cinnamon rolls.

I ran out of aluminum pans, so I placed a few leftover dough slices in a buttered muffin tray to bake.

Cinnamuffins. I think they look pretty cute like this.

And of course, these were covered in icing, too.

If you’re lucky you might even get a cute little swirl.

Read Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Roll Recipe for the full how-to.

Enjoy!

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