I pinned this recipe for Salted Caramel Butter Bars to my “Want to Try” board on Pinterest a while ago, along with two other very similar cookies. I am a total sucker for non-chocolate desserts. Carrot or coconut cake? Yes, please! Pecan or apple pie? I’m there. I usually like less sweet treats, but these bars are super sweet and they were amazing.
We had a rare afternoon where A. was home and G. was not, and we decided to bake these cookies together. I was surprised he was willing to choose a cookie without chocolate chips, because my boys’ love of those semi-sweet morsels is well-documented on this site. The hardest part of the recipe was unwrapping all those little caramels… I’m sure we could have whipped up a batch of caramel from scratch in the time it took us to unwrap a whole bag’s worth of candy.
I only made a couple of changes to the original recipe. First, I reduced the butter by 25% and used 3 sticks instead of 4. I did this based on my experience making Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies, and as with that recipe you’d never know the difference. I hate when cookies turn out a little greasy, and since I am not great about keeping my butter super-cold while I work, that sometimes happens. Reduce the butter, and it happens less. I split the dough evenly and used half as the cookie base, and half as a topping. We did not sprinkle salt on top of the caramel; A. nixed it. It would have made the cookies that much more beyond.
This happens to be an egg-free cookie, which means I’ll be filing the recipe away for the future since we have a family member with an egg allergy. Overall it was an easy cookie that the boys enjoyed but did not clamor for. I liked it a little too much to make it for kids who could take it or leave it. Chocolate chip cookies and brownies? I can resist those. Shortbread and caramel, though, holds me in its sway.
A couple of months ago a mutual friend mentioned that Meri at The Food Yenta was thinking of making peanut butter & jelly cookies. I adore peanut butter and my favorite desserts don’t include chocolate (carrot cake, pecan pie…). I went home and immediately looked up some recipes, including Ina Garten’s Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars.
There was one problem: no one in my household eats peanut butter. In fact, they can barely stand the smell of it. And let’s just say it would not be safe to bake these bar cookies for myself!
Yesterday was my turn to deliver dinner to a local family through our PTA’s Caring Community committee, and I realized it was the perfect opportunity to try this recipe out. Plus, they fit in perfectly with my comfort food meal — Mrs. Jones’ Macaroni & Cheese with green beans on the side. I used grape jelly as a filling, because if you’re going to mimic a childhood sandwich you might as well go all the way.
If you are a chocolate person, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars will fall flat as a dessert. To me, they tasted exactly like a spoonful of peanut butter and jelly — there was nothing about the cookie that took that classic flavor combination to a higher level. So while they were very delicious, I can’t see making them again.
I wound up arranging a plate with 8 generous bars to give to the family. Thankfully, my friend and neighbor Sharon has a more peanut butter-accepting family, so she was happy to take a bunch. And I kept one for myself… oh come on, you know I did not eat just one. I did stop at two and a few nibbles, and the rest are going over to Sharon’s house, where she will safely freeze them for another day and keep me from temptation.
I followed her recipe for Beatty’s Chocolate Cake, and aside from what I think is an incomplete name, the cake was perfect. Calling this a chocolate cake is underselling it: there is a full cup of brewed coffee in the cake, though it more moderates the sweetness of the chocolate than being an assertive flavor itself. Plus, there is a tablespoon of espresso powder in the frosting, which really does shine through and makes it much more of a mocha finish than just chocolate.
The coffee is the reason I chose this cake for my dad’s birthday. He is a major coffee-lover, and thankfully loved this cake, as did everyone else that tried it. The crumb of the cake is big and fluffy, while still having plenty of structure so it can hold up to the heavy frosting. The frosting was so silky it spread easy, allowing me to do a crumb coat and then go back over the whole cake with ease. Other than omitting the egg yolk in the frosting, I followed the recipe as written and would definitely make it again for an event.
Poke, poke. I like any cake that gives me an opportunity to poke my boys or J., and that is what I did every time I said the name of this dessert, which I made for J.’s birthday.
“Poke cake” can be any kind of cake (homemade or from a mix) and any kind of Jell-O type filling (usually gelatin or pudding). The “poke” part is the way they come together: bake a cake (I used a Bundt pan), let it cool, and then poke lots of holes in it with the handle of a wooden spoon. Pour your liquid filling into the holes (mix it up just before you’re ready to pour), and then let it set. Turn the cake out of the pan, and frost or top with whipped cream.
I used a butter cake mix and chocolate fudge pudding for this cake. The boys helped me whip heavy cream as a topping — they were the official tasters, checking the consistency and sweetness of the cream until we got it right.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
Want to Try
Cheesy Kale Crisps: We rarely eat kale now that our farm share is over, and I want to fix that. I've wanted to try using nutritional yeast, and this recipe looks like a tasty way to do it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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