Cereal Crunch Bars

December 8, 2020

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

While celebrating the holidays has kind of an odd feeling around it this year, I’m destined to still make it as fun as possible not only for our little 10-month-old, but for my husband and I as well! I took out the decorations as early as possible, started listening to Michael Bublé and John Legend’s Christmas albums on repeat, even found some amazing mint mocha dairy free creamer—we are READY in this house!

I will say that most of this is for me and my sanity. I am obsessed with this time of year, so I’m not holding back one bit. Oliver really just wants to play too aggressively with the nutcrackers, climb on the gifts under the tree and just point to all of the ornaments hung up—so I’m waiting for next year for his excitement to be as high as mine! That being said, this little dessert is also more for me than him…oops.

While I would have given this boy chocolate the day he was born (exaggeration, but, I mean, another true love of mine!), I’m of course holding off until he’s at least one—and I read that usually around 2 is when it’s “acceptable” to give kids chocolate?! Yes, waiting until he’s at least 1 sounds better to me! Okay, back to it… I found this little chocolate bar/dessert to be this beautiful hybrid of no bake cookies + brownie batter + a Crunch bar, which is honestly kinda perfect! Your gal LOVES chocolate bars, but I never eat them, so I figured why not make some?! The peanut butter Panda Puffs cereal adds the most amazing texture and crunch to these cake batter/brownie-esque bars! This cereal was a true love of mine in high school, so we are bringing it back!

Sure, is this recipe “healthified?” A bit. But is the flavor all there and will you be hiding them in the fridge, so no one steals any of them?! Absolutely! I cannot wait for little O to be the age that he loves chocolate as much as his mom, but I’m totally cool not sharing these homemade Crunch bars for at least a few more months!

ingredients

Coconut Oil—1.75 oz, or ¼ C

Brown Sugar—6.5 oz, or ¾ C

Oat Milk—4 oz, or ½ C

Cocoa Powder—2.25 oz, or 2/3 C

Peanut Butter—6.5 oz, or 2/3 C

Vanilla Extract—1 TBL

Cereal [Panda Puffs]—4.5 oz, or 3 C

Salt—¾ tsp

process

In a medium saucepot, combine coconut oil, sugar, milk and cocoa powder on the stove. Allow to all combine together and lightly boil for 1-2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add in the peanut butter and vanilla extract.

With your cereal of choice in a large bowl, pour the chocolate peanut butter mixture over it, mixing to combine and coat evenly.

Sprinkle with salt.

Pour into an 8”x 8” pan that is either lined with parchment or a nonstick spray.

Press down evenly.

Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 1-2 hours.

Once firm remove from the fridge and cut into desired size!

Best stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Bon Appétit!

Thick Mint Cookie

November 23, 2020

“When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace.”

— Unknown

My idea behind this was short and sweet—I love Thin Mints, I love all things chocolate and mint, it’s the holiday season, why should I have to wait for it to be Girl Scout cookie season, so let’s make a thin mint! But then, I was like OH NO, let’s make a THICK mint. A big, big cookie, single serve if you want, so instead of sitting down to eat an entire sleeve of Thin Mints, you can just eat one cute little skillet cookie!

As my husband isn’t the biggest fan of the chocolate-mint combination (crazy, right?!!??) and my 10-month-old son is too young to eat chocolate (I just read that it is recommended to wait until they are TWO to eat chocolate…), I got this baby all to myself! There is just something about the way that anything chocolate and mint tastes in the winter, as you listen to holiday music for 2 months, wishing snow was trapping you inside instead of a pandemic… it all sounds so dreamy. Unfortunately, it’s still in the 60’s here in Atlanta and the only reason we aren’t going anywhere is because it’s too dangerous to!

BUT! Let’s just enjoy these moments that we are forced to stay home, watch all of the cheesy Christmas movies on Hallmark and Lifetime, eat delicious food, light all of the balsam scented candles, listen to Michael Bublé Christmas for the millionth time, and eat a giant single-serve cookie because why the hell not! If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s that enjoying a THICK MINT cookie to myself is MORE than okay, as there will be zero guilt here in the KBemBakes household! Now back to dancing to my regularly scheduled holiday music with my son while my husband both laughs at us and looks like we are slightly nuts!

ingredients

Butter, room temperature—4 oz, or ½ C

Brown Sugar—6 oz, or ¾ C

Eggs—1

Vanilla Extract—1 tsp

Peppermint Extract—1 ½ tsp

Flour—6 oz, or 1 C

Cocoa Powder—2.25 oz, or ¾ C

Baking Powder—2 tsp

Salt—½ tsp

Chocolate Chips—3.75 oz, or ½ C

process

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the butter and brown sugar, cream until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes.

Add the egg and both extracts. Mix until combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.

Slowly add this to the creamed mixture in the mixer, making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add in the chocolate chips.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Butter a small cast iron skillet.

Press the cookie dough evenly into the pan and allow to firm up slightly in the fridge while your oven preheats.

When ready to bake, bake for 15 minutes, rote the pan 180˚, and then bake for 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Optional Topping: melt together about ¼ C of chocolate chips with 1 TBL of coconut oil for about 30-45 seconds in the microwave (stirring every 15 seconds), drizzle on top of cookie skillet.

Dig in with a spoon for maximum deliciousness!

If you want to make individual drop cookies, bake for 7 minutes, rotate, 7 minutes.

Bon Appétit!

Tahini Chocolate Chunk Cookies

October 16, 2020

“The present is the only thing that has no end.”

— Erwin Schrödinger

This may be a little crazy to say, but these cookies deserve an award! They honestly taste like fudgy brownie cookies, and I am shook.

When I made them for the first time, I immediately texted my old roommate, apologizing for turning down tahini all of those times that we lived together. She tried to get me to try it in every form, even the wonderful chocolate halva bars—I always turned it down. But now, many years later, I’m in LOVE! The flavor is never too strong for me, but it adds this richness that I simply cannot explain, taking anything from good to outright insane and necessary and mouthwatering.

The wonderful thing about these little bites of deliciousness is that they do not need a mixer, there are no fancy baking steps involved, just mixing the wet ingredients together, the dry together and combining the two for a rich and decadent batter, which makes an unreal cookie. As we know, I’m all about the speedy yet worth it desserts or treats these days, as my little one is on the go when he’s awake! He’s also still not eating chocolate or sugar or any of my specialties yet as he is still only 8-months-old, SO it’s not like he can take part in all of this fun because he also puts everything into his mouth!

Anyways, these cookies are worth going to the store to get a HUGE jar of tahini if you don’t keep some in your fridge or pantry at all times! It’s hard to believe that these taste like brownie batter but in cookie form, but they do—trust me. Hell, you can even make them vegan if you want to sub in a banana for the egg, make them GF if you swap out the flour, these are quite friendly to any changes that you feel necessary to make. Just know, these won’t last long, and if you think that the 1 dozen that this recipe makes is enough for the week, HAH (!), think again, my friends!

ingredients

Tahini—5 oz, or ½ C + 2 TBL

Eggs—1

Vanilla Extract—1 tsp

Honey—1.75 oz, or 3 TBL

Coconut Oil, melted—1.75 oz, or 3 TBL

Cocoa Powder—2 oz, or ½ C

Flour—1.5 oz, or ¼ C

Salt—1 ½ tsp

Maca Powder—2 tsp

Baking Powder—½ tsp

Dark Chocolate—3 oz bar, or ½ C

process

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, maca, and baking powder

In another bowl, whisk the tahini, egg, vanilla and honey

Add in the coconut oil once it has been cooler slightly so that it doesn’t cook the egg

Combine the wet and dry ingredients, folding together with a spatula

Fold in the chocolate, this can either be chips or a chopped up dark chocolate bar

Scoop into about 2 TBL sized balls either onto your baking tray or into a container to allow to firm up in the refrigerator for at least an hour

When you are ready to bake them, preheat the oven to 350˚F

Place on your baking pan that has either been sprayed with nonstick spray or is lined with parchment or a Silpat

Bake for 10 minutes

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes on the tray before transferring them onto a cooling rack

Store in a sealed container in the fridge

Bon Appétit!

Salty Crust Peanut Butter Fudge

October 11, 2020

“I am certain that everything will work out.”

— Rochelle Fox

I’ll come right out and say it: there’s nothing like a good seasonal nut butter to get me even MORE jazzed about the season that we are in! We all know how much I adore the fall season, and how much I am in love with Christmas and all of the magic that surrounds these upcoming months! When Wild Friends’ seasonal butters came out a few weeks ago, I was just filled with so much excitement!

This will be Oliver’s first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas!! Sure, will an almost 1-year-old fully grasp what’s going on? Most likely not. Will his mom be over the moon excited about the decorating, the baking, the music, the entire vibe (yes, I said it) of the last 3 months of the year? DUH! For the past 8 months, Oliver’s entire life, the world has been weird. We haven’t seen family as much as we’d like, we haven’t been able to go to any of the places around Atlanta that we love to relax, no traveling, nothing that we had planned for Oliver’s first year, but we are rolling with it. With the holidays coming up, that’s one thing I will definitely make sure we do in full force!

That being said, I almost screamed when I saw that Wild Friends was having their seasonal nut butters come out. I am OBSESSED with these flavors—I never knew I needed their Gingerbread or Sugar Cookie peanut butter until a few years ago, and now I stock up! A spoonful of sugar cookie?! Yes, please! And adding it to both the crust AND the fudge was a no brainer. Sugar cookie for the crust, gingerbread for the fudge, damn. I don’t really know where or why or how this recipe came about, I was craving something salty and sweet, honestly!

A pretzel crust has got to be one of my new favorite things, blended with some dates, some honey, nut butter—you’ve got yourself the perfect salty, sweet, crunchy crust. Then a a3-ingredient fudge? YES PLS! I threw in my favorite jam of all time: fig jam that I discovered many years ago at Whole Foods and only purchase when I go there maybe once a year. A creamy, nutty, slightly sweet fudge on top of a crunchy, salty crust, all topped with large flakes of salt—honestly, leave THIS out for Santa this year, my friends!

crust ingredients

Pretzels—2 oz, or 1 C

Peanuts, dry roasted + unsalted—4.75 oz, or 1 C

Dates, pitted—3 oz, or 8

Nut Butter, seasonal Wild Friends—3.75 oz, or 5 TBL

Vanilla Extract—1 tsp

Honey—3 TBL

process

In a blender or food processor, pulse until all ingredients are crushed into pea-sized pieces

When you squeeze a handful of the crust, it should hold together

Press into the bottom of an 8” x 8” pan, freeze

fudge ingredients

Chocolate—12.5 oz, or 2 C

Nut Butter, seasonal Wild Friends—12 oz, or 1 C

Fig Jam—3 TBL

Salt—large pinch

process

In a heatproof bowl or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate

Stir in the peanut butter and jam until homogenous

Pour this mixture over the crust, and even out with an offset spatula

Sprinkle your salt over top—I love a chunky salt for this, but any will do!

Allow to set in freezer for 30 minutes-1 hour until the fudge has firmed

Remove from freezer, cut into squares and store in a sealed container in either the fridge or the freezer!

Bon Appétit!

Frozen Berry Slice

July 6, 2020

“Pour yourself into each moment. By immersing ourselves in a song, we become part of the music.”

— Tamara Levitt

Guess what, y’all? It’s SUMMERTIME. And guess what that means?! ICE CREAM! Also, guess what this gal can’t have? Ice cream… You’ve heard me preach about my dairy free life (eye roll!), but I still try to get in a sneaky bite of it if my husband ever brings home a Ben & Jerry’s pint, heavily regretting it later. Anyways—I have made quite the dairy free and vegan ice cream slice for you today! It’s so refreshing. so magical. so necessary!

What is even MORE exciting is the chocolate hazelnut base! I’ve partnered up with Wild Friends Foods to make this kick ass chocolate hazelnut cookie-like raw crust. But who am I kidding, I consume Wild Friends nut butters so often, it’s not like this jar wouldn’t have been in our cupboard anyways! What do I love so dang much about their spreads?! They’re no BS, that’s what. They aren’t loaded with refined sugars and oils, just good old whole ingredients. I mean, take this chocolate hazelnut spread, for example. It has got some hazelnuts, some cocoa, a bit of sugar, and boom. THAT’S IT! It’s so simple, which makes for baking with, and consuming by the spoonful, so dang easy!

Okay, so let me get back to this recipe! I love nothing more in the heat than some fruit, some popsicles, anything that will allow me to cool off from the 90+ degrees and the 100%+ humidity that is Atlanta in the summertime. I’ve been consuming popsicles like NO OTHER for my late-night snack, yet still craving some ice cream, so that’s where this berry slice comes in. It’s got fruit, it’s got chocolate, it’s got that popsicle/ice cream feel—woof, this baby is perfect! It is truly sweetened by the fruit, nothing crazy added, which is alllll that we need these days!

Does this go over my one-nap time limit? Sure! But that’s really inactive time, if you will. At this point, Oliver loves chilling in his highchair, playing with all of the toys, so he’s totally content doing that while I quickly whip this baby up and throw it in the freezer to set! Did I mention that he has started to eat FOOD!!?? This encourages me to make even more things with whole ingredients so he can join me! Sure, we are in the single food per week, all mashed up phase, but soon he can get his own piece of this frozen berry slice!! *Instant smile*

Enough rambling about my FIVE-month-old baby’s eating habits, get yourself started on this thing so you can have a slice by afternoon snack time!!