I don't like warm fruit. There's something about mushy out-of-the-oven produce that I don't enjoy. Therefore, I don't particularly like pie. Now, I shouldn't say that I don't like any kind of pie or that if it was the only dessert I could find in the house that I wouldn't eat it (because I would, just with a big dollop of ice cream on top). I do enjoy pumpkin pie, chocolate silk pie, or some variety of pudding pie, pretty much anything that is served cold and involves little to no fruit (yes, I know, pumpkin is technically a fruit, but pumpkin pie is different. It doesn't count. At least taste-wise.).
Now why, you might ask, am I featuring an apple crisp recipe? It involves fruit and is typically served warm. Aha! That's where the title of my post comes in. Ratio. In this particular apple crisp recipe (which has been my mom's favorite for years), there is a ratio of about 1 part apples to 3 parts streusel topping. The 1:3 ratio pretty much makes this recipe, in a word...perfect. At least for my taste buds. But of course I can't just eat it like that! The warm apple taste might seep through to my taste buds! So just to cover up any remaining warm fruit flavor, I add a scoop of ice cream (I use a frozen yogurt/ice cream blend) and drizzle some extra caramel on top. Yum! I do make sure the crisp is warm just so the ice cream gets all melty and delicious. The apple crisp is pretty much just a great excuse to eat ice cream. And you just can't beat the smell of apple crisp baking in the oven. It smells so fantastic that it takes all your self-control not to eat half of it right then and there. If they could package that smell in a candle, I'd purchase it. (But it might make me hungry...)
Not only are these brownies delicious, but each layer of these decadent bars uses a pre-packaged ingredient. Yes, pre-packaged, as in "out-of-the-box". And trust me. The lucky people you serve these brownies to will not believe you. They taste gourmet but are insanely easy to make.
1. Use any brownie mix you have in your cabinet that can be baked in a 13x9-inch pan. Yes, any. Chocolate chunk, the ones with the syrup pouches, plain fudge, dark chocolate, anything. Bake as directed on the box for the 13x9-inch pan.
2. After letting the bars cool for about 10 minutes, spread your favorite preserve, jam, or jelly on top. I like to use seedless strawberry jam, but raspberry or blackberry would taste just as wonderful. I eyeball just enough jam to cover the brownies with a thin layer.
3. After letting the bars cool completely, mix together some white chocolate chips and a full container of pre-packaged frosting. I like using the creamy vanilla frosting, but you could easily make these double chocolate brownies by using chocolate frosting too.
That's it. And the best part, you can pretty much substitute any of the ingredients to fit your personal tastes or just what you happen to have in your pantry. Try using the strawberry jam and chocolate frosting with chocolate chips to make a "chocolate-covered strawberry" bar. Try combining orange marmalade and chocolate frosting. If you're a blueberry fan, some blueberry preserves and white frosting would taste wonderful as well. Regardless of which combination of ingredients you choose, you can put together an easy, elegant, and down-right delicious dessert using pre-packaged ingredients you probably already have in your cabinet. And your guests don't have to know our little secret...
One thing I have not tried when baking is using yeast. I know, I know, for as long as I've been baking, you'd think I would have used it at least once. I guess it's one of those irrational baking fears but I'm worried that I'll somehow anger all those little micro-organisms in there, which will result in a baking disaster. This is probably why I'm a big fan of quick breads, especially dessert ones. The recipes do not involve yeast and therefore, go together much quicker even though the loaves still have to bake for about an hour.
When making this pumpkin chocolate chip bread, I used a container of canned pumpkin that I had froze a couple weeks earlier while stocking up due to the never-ending canned pumpkin shortage. Yes, believe it or not, the canned pumpkin shortage is still occurring. So just a heads up that if you plan to make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, start looking now. When I actually found canned pumpkin I reacted as if I was planning for the apocalypse or some sort of fall-out shelter. I walked out of the store with four giant cans of it, which is now being loving stored in my cabinets for any pumpkin recipe I happen to crave. But anyway, my frozen canned pumpkin was actually more finicky than I had planned for. It was the first time I had tried to freeze pumpkin and what comes out of your freezer does not look like the stuff in the can. It's much more flaky and separated and also involves draining off excess liquid that was attained in the freezer. But don't freak out too much (like I did), while it looks different, it tastes and bakes the same (phew!).
Now since this is a bread recipe and not a dessert recipe specifically, it is not as sickeningly sweet as maybe I would like. Both my husband and I thought a piece of this bread would be perfectly topped with a dollop of Cool Whip for dessert. But don't let me stop you if you want to add the Cool Whip anyway even if you eat it for breakfast. You know that's what I would do. :-)
I just don't think you can go wrong if a recipe involves both chocolate and peanut butter. I mean, come on. Puppy Chow, Buckeye Candies, Peanut Butter Brownies, etc, all amazing, including these Layered Peanut Butter Bars. There's just something about that glorious combination that makes a dessert a sure fire hit, unless of course someone is allergic to peanut butter and in that case, please don't serve these to them.
These bars have become a staple in my household not only because of how easy they are (they're made using a prepackaged peanut butter cookie mix) but also because of how great they taste. Especially when you keep them stored in the refrigerator! I've taken them to both my work and my husband's and there are never any left overs.
I chose to make these bars with creamy peanut butter since I don't like nuts and therefore, crunchy or extra crunchy is out for me, but if you like nuts, I'm sure you could substitute it in. I've also been curious to try some other types of "butter". Not dairy butter, but rather nut and/or fruit butter like almond, apple, pumpkin, even white chocolate peanut butter. I guess it's the culinary part of me trying to get out since I've never tried anything past the basic peanut butter and I feel like there's a whole new world of taste possibilities out there. Just food for thought...
That's what this dessert is made of! One of my favorite things about fall is the return of my beloved Honey Crisp apples, which you can only find for a limited time once a year. A cross between the Macoun and the Honey Gold apples, the sweetness of Honey Crisp surpasses any other variety in my opinion. And the sweeter something is the better it is! At least that's what I think. I usually don't even use them in any recipes because they taste so good just on their own they don't need any extra sugar or spices to make them taste good. I did use them in this recipe for Applesauce Spice Cake since I already had them on hand, but normally, I would use a Gala or Cortland since there are so many additional ingredients compared to the one fresh apple the recipe calls for.
As I described to my husband while preparing the cake, "This smells like fall in a bowl!" The cake uses fresh apple, prepared applesauce, cinnamon, and raisins in the batter and bakes into a very dense cake. And I like dense. None of these wimpy, airy, light desserts for me! The frosting complements the cake well since it also uses cinnamon in the frosting which ties the flavors together nicely. It was supposed to be a browned butter frosting, but I don't usually stock butter in my fridge, I'm more of a margarine girl, so it kind of turned into a basic butter(margarine)cream with cinnamon flavor. But it still tastes wonderful! And going the extra mile for the homemade frosting totally makes all the difference! Trust me!
