Texas brownies

 

I had a fierce craving for chocolate cake -- with chocolate frosting.  So I looked through my Iowa cookbooks and found this recipe for Texas brownies.  I'm pretty sure most folks call this Texas sheet cake.  They're definitely cake-like, but brownie-like at the same time.  Not sure if that makes sense, but I'm going with it :)

The frosting was definitely the best part.  It was almost like a layer of fudge on top of cake!  Can't wait to make this again for family and friends when they come to visit.

Here's the recipe, if you want to give it a try at home.  Enjoy!

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Texas brownies

• 2 sticks butter
• 5 Tbl. cocoa
• 1 C. water
• 2 C. sugar
• 2 C. flour
• 1 Tbl. baking powder
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 C. buttermilk or water
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:

• 1 stick butter
• 5 Tbl. water
• 1 box powdered sugar
• 4 Tbl. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 C. walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and combine with cocoa and water. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Pour the butter/cocoa mixture over and mix well. Add eggs, buttermilk or water, and vanilla, beating well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting: Melt butter and combine with water, cocoa and vanilla. Add powdered sugar slowly until well combined. Stir in walnuts. 

Note: Frosting must be hot and spread on hot brownies. Cool and cut into squares.

Iowa recipe: Rhubarb Dream Bars

 

Wish I would have taken a better photo of these rhubarb dream bars.  But I barely remembered to take the photo before we gobbled them all up!

One of my Facebook friends, who is a farmer, posted this recipe for rhubarb dream bars. She said that she brought these bars to her husband and the guys out in the field this spring, while they were planting corn, and they ended up eating the whole pan.  With that rave review, I had to try them myself!

What's great about these bars is I had all the ingredients on hand.  I grow quite a bit of rhubarb in my backyard, so I'm always looking for new recipes to use it up. Seriously, one of the reasons we bought our house is because of the rhubarb plants growing by the garage!  I love rhubarb that much. And these bars are like a rhubarb version of lemon bars, which are my husband's favorite.

Here's the recipe if you want to give these a try at home.  As my friend said: "I'll bet you can't eat just one!"

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Rhubarb Dream Bars

• 2 C. flour
• 3/4 C. powdered sugar
• 1 C. butter

Mix together and press in jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

• 4 eggs
• 2 C. sugar
• 1/2 C. flour
• 4 C. diced rhubarb

Beat together eggs, sugar and flour. Stir in rhubarb. Pour over baked crust. Bake an additional 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool and cut into bars. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Blondies

My hubby's favorite bars are blondies, so he's always requesting them.  Only problem is, there are a lot of variations on the blondies recipe, and each one turns out a little different: either too dry or undercooked, too thin or too thick.  But my hubby really enjoyed this blondies recipe I found on the Taste of Home website.  They're a little thin, but they weren't too dry.  We ended up finishing the whole pan ourselves!

Do you have a favorite blondies recipe?  I'm still looking for the perfect one to add to my recipe box.

Iowa recipe: Honey peanut butter bars

When I was at the Iowa State Fair last year, I picked up a recipe brochure from the Iowa Honey Producers Association booth.  This recipe, from the 2011 Iowa Honey Queen Ellie Johnson, is very kid-friendly and easy to make.  The Honey Queen (yes, that's her real title), says her grandma used to make these bars when she stopped to visit.

I couldn't stop eating these bars, I loved them so much.  And with the Cheerios, honey and peanut butter, I think they make a good snack for adults, too, after a work out.  My husband, however, wasn't a big fan of these bars because he doesn't like Cheerios.  (I think his mom fed him too many sugar-free cereals as a kid.)

Give this recipe a try, and be sure to use local honey, if possible.  Let's support those beekeepers out there!

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Honey Peanut Butter Bars

From the 2011 Iowa Honey Queen

• 3 C. miniature marshmallows
• 2 T. butter or margarine

Microwave on high for one minute, then add:

• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 C. peanut butter
• 1/2 C. honey

Microwave on high 1 minute. Mix in 4 C. or more Cheerios cereal

Spread and pat lightly in an oiled 9x13-inch pan. Cut in bars when cool.

Chocolate chip caramel bars

OK.  Here's one last chocolate-caramel recipe for the month.  I think all the Valentine's Day chocolate recipes on the Internet were too good to not to try.  I found this recipe for chocolate chip salted caramel cookie bars from Two Peas and their Pod.  It was super easy; the hardest part was taking the wrapping off the caramel candies!  My husband said he liked these bars, but he didn't think the caramel was necessary.  But I think the caramel is what makes these bars so unique.  They're not just your ordinary blondie.  Again, these bars would be perfect for a church coffee or treat day at work.  Give them a try next time you have a chocolate craving!

Carmelitas

I've been on a caramel-chocolate baking binge lately.  And it started with these carmelita bars from Brown Eyed Baker.  I had never heard of carmelitas before, but then after I baked these, I saw them for sale at the cafeteria where I work.  Strange coincidence!

These bars are excellent and fun to make.  And they gave me an excuse to buy a bag of caramel candies at the grocery store!  My husband isn't a huge fan of chocolate, but he does like oatmeal desserts, so he ended up eating quite a few of these carmelitas.  I'm planning to make these for our Super Bowl party at the office.

Iowa recipes: Caramel Apple Bars

Nope, I'm not done with apple recipes yet.  I made these caramel apple bars for my husband the other day, and he loved them!  This recipe is a keeper.

I found the recipe for caramel apple bars in an Iowa ag newspaper. Just goes to show, farm women know how to bake!

These bars actually turned out more like a coffee cake.  My favorite part was pouring the caramel sauce on top, of course.

My husband loved the coconut on top of these bars.  Who knew that apple and coconut were a perfect pairing?

Here's the recipe if you want to give them a try.  Enjoy!

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Caramel apple bars

• 1 C. pecans, chopped
• 2/3 C. brown sugar
• 1 C. coconut
• 2-1/2 C. flour
• 1-1/2 C. sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 C. evaporated milk
• 1/3 C. water
• 2 C. apples, peeled and finely shredded or chopped

Topping:

• 2/3 C. brown sugar
• 1/2 C. evaporated milk
• 4 Tbls. butter, softened

Combine pecans, brown sugar and coconut in bowl and set aside. In mixing bowl, combine the next six ingredients.  In a small bowls, combine egg, milk, water and apples. Add to flour mixture. Mix well. Pour into a greased 10x15-inch pan and sprinkle with nut mixture. Bake 40 to 45 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. In a heavy saucepan, combine topping ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture thickens slightly, about 8 minutes. Poke holes with fork in top of hot bars. Immediately spoon topping over bars. Cool.

Cookie Friday: Apple brownies

I don't know about you, but I can't resist a good apple recipe, especially when Iowa-grown apples are in season in the fall. I found this apple brownie recipe in a recent issue of King Arthur Flour's Baking Sheet. I'm not sure why they are called "brownies," instead of "blondies."  There isn't any chocolate in this recipe.  Yet these apple "brownies" are still excellent.  I've baked up these brownies twice now because my husband liked them so much. The recipe is below, if you want to give them a try.

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Apple Brownies

From King Arthur Flour

• 1-1/4 C. King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 C. unsalted butter
• 1 C. sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2-1/2 C. (3 medium) apples, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 C. cinnamon chips (I left these out)
• 1/2 C. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. melt the butter, either in a saucepan or the microwave. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Cool the mixture to lukewarm, then stir in the egg. Once incorporated, add the flour mixture, mixing to combine. Fold in the apples, chips and nuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes. Yield: 16 brownies.

Iowa Church Cookbook Recipes: Banana Bars

I've officially declared this the summer of bananas.  I've baked up three different varieties of banana bread, and then I followed it up with these banana bars.  I remember eating these little bars with their rich cream-cheese frosting at our after-church gatherings when I was a kid.  These bars are so easy to bake, I'm not sure why I don't make them more often.

Well, I've remedied that this year.  My husband and I enjoyed these banana bars so much, I made another batch the following weekend, which we shared with the neighbors.  Hope you enjoy this recipe as much I as we do.

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Can't Be Beat Banana Bars

Bars:

• 1-1/2 C. sugar
• 1/2 C. margarine (I used butter instead)
• 2 eggs
• 1 C. sour cream
• 3 ripe bananas, mahsed
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt 
• 2 C. flour

Frosting:

• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 6 T. butter
• 1 T. cream
• 2 C. powdered sugar

Bars: Cream sugar and margarine.  Beat in eggs and sour cream.  Mix in bananas and vanilla.  Sift baking soda, salt and flour.  Add to banana mixture.  Bake in greased 10 x 13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.  Frosting: Mix all frosting ingredients together well. Spread on cooled bars.