No Bake White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies for SRC

Time for Secret Recipe Club again! This month seems to have been another busy month, even though I have been expecting life to just slow down a bit. No such luck though!! This is one of those months I wish I would have had more spare time because the blog I was assigned, Veronica's Cornucopia is such a great blog! There were so many great recipes and so many creative ideas. I will definitely be visiting again in a month I have more time to experiment, because there were a lot of great looking recipes to try. Go have a look around for yourself - I'll still be here when you come back. :)

I didn't really go too crazy due to my lack of time, but I was super impressed with how quick, easy and delicious the recipe I selected was! I made Veronica's Cow Pie Cookies - but changed them up to be made with white chocolate and peanut butter because that's what I had on hand!

White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe adapted from Veronica's Cornucopia

Ingredients:

• 12 oz white chocolate
• 4 tbsp peanut butter
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• chopped marshmallows (I used about 1/2 - 1 cup)

Method:

1. Melt the white chocolate and peanut butter on low heat in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Stir in the oats, coconut and marshmallows. Drop by spoonfuls onto parchment paper. Let set at room temperature until firm - approximately 1 hour. Enjoy!

Yep! Thats it - easy, and delicious. Veronica says you can mix in whatever you want! I think next time I make these I'll mix in pretzels for that sweet and salty combo that I can't get enough of.

Thanks for stopping by - Happy Baking my Friends!

What I've been up to this week

Happy Friday peeps! You may have noticed I've been more absent than usual the past week. Well, that's cuz I've been working on something super special that is wayyyyy out of my comfort zone - I made and decorated a cake for my friend's hubby's 40th birthday!! Here's some pics for those of you who don't follow my Facebook page. Recipes to follow next week!!

The cake is a decadent chocolate buttermilk cake - 3 layers of it filled with an Oreo cream filling. Frosted with chocolate buttermilk frosting. Cake decorations (except the guitar picks) made from white chocolate.



Cake with crumb coat





Another view of crumb coat





Guitar made out of white chocolate



Finished cake! Not perfect, but I'm pleased with how it turned out :)



Tiger Butter Fudge

If you stop by regularly, you may have noticed I haven't been blogging a whole lot. Well, thats because I haven't been baking or cooking much the last little while. I try to make a couple things on the weekend and make sure they hit the blog, but I'm definitely not posting as often as I would like to. But that being said, I'm trying to make sure the things I actually do post are special and extra delicious. This recipe, is extra special and extra delicious. Trust me. You've just gotta make it!

 I found inspiration for this recipe on Pinterest (surprise, surprise!!)!! Come follow me! I LOVE new followers. The original recipe came from Bakers' Royale who I've heard a lot about in the blogosphere, but never really stopped by to check out the recipes... well, that was a mistake! I will most definitely be frequenting Naomi's blog in the near future for other inspiration and recipes to try. Check it out if you get a chance - I guarantee you'll be drooling after only a couple minutes.

Tiger Butter Fudge
Recipe adapted from Bakers' Royale

Ingredients:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk, portioned in half
• 10 peanut butter sandwich cookies (I used Pirate brand)
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup peanut butter chips

Method:

1. Prepare a rectangle loaf pan by lining with tin foil. Divide the sweetened condensed milk between two microwave safe bowls. Set aside. Roughly chop up the peanut butter sandwich cookies and set aside.
2. Add white chocolate to one of the bowls of sweetened condensed milk. Add butter. Melt in microwave at medium power stirring often until completely melted. Fold in the chopped cookies and stir gently to combine. Pour into prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
3. Add the peanut butter chips to the remaining bowl of sweetened condensed milk. Microwave at medium power stirring often until completely melted. Pour onto white chocolate layer in prepared pan. Refrigerate at least one hour or until set.

Then taste this delicious fudge!! I guarantee you won't be able to stop til the whole pan is gone. It is so delicious. I recommend sharing so you don't consume the whole pan (while it may sound like a good idea, you may regret it when a) you feel like you're in a sugar coma and/ or b) your favorite skinny jeans no longer zip up... just sayin!! Feel free to share with me! ;)

Happy Baking my Friends! Hope you're looking forward to a lovely long weekend coming up in just a few days. I know I am.

Macaroon Madness Bars

After yesterday's "healthy" post, I have to catch up by posting something extra un-healthy today! Just kidding! I'm trying to post one healthy recipe per week going forward as I've had a number of requests from my readers for healthy recipes including - low fat, low sugar, diabetic friendly, gluten free and dairy free! I'm going to do my best to try to post a variety of these recipes over the next year. If there is anything you'd like to see me make, or you have a healthy recipe you'd like me to feature, by all means, please leave me a comment or send me an email.  I would love to hear from you!

I found this recipe on Jen's blog Food & Whine. She has a great online recipe box full of amazing recipes - so if you haven't already, do check her out. She doesn't post every day but whenever she does post I'm always excited to see what new recipe she is sharing because they're always good!! I made these macaroon madness bars and they're so delicious I just have to share them with you. If you love coconut, you'll fall hard for these little beauties. Jen notes that you should leave them overnight in the fridge before slicing them and she's right. I let them soften a bit to room temperature prior to slicing and they were a little messy to slice.

Macaroon Madness Bars
Recipe minimally adapted from Food & Whine

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup salted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can sweetened, condensed milk (14 oz)
• 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
• 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
• caramel syrup (I used store bought, but you can find a good recipe on Jen's post)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. For the base, line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Leave an overhang of parchment on each end to lift out of the pan easily after baking. Combine butter, flour, cornstarch, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Mix until mixture is well combined and crumbly. Press into bottom of prepared pan (use the bottom of a glass to really pack in the crust). Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. For the filling, over low heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in eggs. Fold in coconut and oatmeal until well combined. Pour over crust in prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown (center will still be a bit jiggly). If the center is too wobbly, cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Cool completely. Cover, refrigerate overnight.
4. Drizzle bars with caramel syrup. Place back in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. Then melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the bars. Refrigerate another 10-15 minutes. Finally, melt the chocolate and drizzle over the bars. Refrigerate another 10-15 minutes or until chocolate is firm. Remove from pan and slice into squares or triangles. Keep left over bars in the fridge, or freeze for later use.

Hope you enjoy these bars! I know we sure did. I've actually saved some of the leftovers in the freezer (and by freezer, I mean my patio - its -8 again today, so no need to take up valuable freezer space when I have a big one outdoors!!) for a girls get together I'm having at my place on Sunday. Oh its going to be a good time - we're going to get a valentines card making tutorial from one of the ladies and what kind of girls get together would be complete without a friendly chocolate tasting competition?! I'll let you know how it goes and obviously give you the DL on what kind of food I make next week.

This post has been linked up with Whatcha Baking Wednesdays over at Cajun Sugar Pie. Head on over to check out what other delicious desserts have been whipped up this week by fellow food bloggers.

This post has been linked up with Jane Deere's Fusion Fridays! Please stop by the Fusion Friday's link party to check out what everyone else was cooking up this week.

Happy baking my friends!