Pecan Squares, Delish!

For a dinner party this weekend I couldn't resist making the Barefoot Contessa Pecan Squares. These squares are so decadent and delicious you'll want to make them over and over. I'm addicted! I halved the recipe and it still called for 5 sticks of butter, so if you're on a diet, these are NOT the squares for you. For the rest of us, easily tempted folk, give these a try. They come together pretty easily and if you have some extra time, dip the ends in melted chocolate for an even grander finish! You can find the recipe HERE.

Yum Yum Yum

With my 30th birthday one day away, I decided to make myself (and family) some of the best looking brownie treats I had seen in a long time. I took this recipe from Peabody and I believe she adapted it from Buttercup Bakes at Home by Jennifer Appel. These are some of the best tasting bars I've had. They start with a layer of brownie, then have a layer of marshmallow, followed by a layer of chocolate, peanut butter and Rice Krispies. Finger Licking Good!

Recipe for Marshmallow Crunch Brownie Bars:


Brownie Ingredients:
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients:
7 ounces mini marshmallows
1 ½ cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup Jif peanut butter
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1 ½ cups Rice Krispies

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.


In a medium saucepan, melt the chocolate, butter, and ¾ cup of the semisweet chocolate chips on medium heat. Stir occasionally while melting. Set aside and cool for 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set Aside.

In a large bowl, place the eggs and whisk thoroughly. Add in the sugar and vanilla.

Stir the melted ingredients into the egg mixture, mixing well. Stir in the dry sifted ingredients and mix well. Fold in the remaining ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and even with a spatula. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the corner of the pan comes out with moist crumbs.Remove the brownies from the oven, and immediately sprinkle the marshmallows over them. Return the pan to the oven for 3 more minutes.

While the brownies are baking, place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until melted.

Remove from heat, add the cereal,and mix well. Allow this to cool for 3 minutes or so.

Spread the mixture evenly over the marshmallow layer. Refrigerate until chilled before cutting. Makes 12 3×3-inch bars.

These were belly aching good! I highly recommend.

Blueberry Peach Crisp

Okay, so here's another picture of a partially eaten dessert, can you tell I can't wait to dive in when it comes to dessert?? This is an adapted recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. Her recipe is a Peach and Raspberry Crisp but I used blueberries instead of raspberries. I made this for a dinner party Sunday night. The peaches at the store were slightly on the under-ripe side, but we left them in a brown paper bag overnight with a few bananas to hopefully improve the ripening process...although not much changed. Oh well, the crisp turned out great (looks a little soupy in the picture but that might be because it was hot out of the oven). I served it with a little vanilla ice cream. It was a hit! If you're looking for a quick summer time dessert recipe give this one a try. Thanks Ina!

Lemon Cake

Okay, so this picture is of a half eaten loaf of Lemon Cake. It was so tasty that we had to cut right into it before I remembered to take a picture.

We had a BBQ this afternoon and after much dilemma on what to bring we decided on the Barefoot Contessa Lemon Cake from Barefoot Parties. This is quite possibly the best tasting lemon bread. The glaze on top is sweet and lemony while the syrup poured over the bottom adds just a slight touch of sugar. I could easily eat this entire loaf! We kept one loaf (above) for ourselves and gave the other to the BBQ hosts wrapped in parchment paper tied with kitchen string. Very simple.

Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated lemon zest lightly packed (6 to 8 large lemons - Use only fresh lemon juice and zest)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans.

Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, the key to great cakes is beating the butter and sugar until the mixture's until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed add the eggs, (break the eggs into a dish before adding to the batter to avoid a bad egg or shells in the batter) 1 at a time, and the lemon zest. Sift together the flour, to make sure there are no lumps, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Separately, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cook 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, cool for 10 minutes, invert them onto a rack set over a tray and spoon the lemon syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides. To freeze these cakes, prepare them except the glaze. Wrap them well in plastic wrap and freeze. When you're ready to use, defrost and glaze.