Nutella Crumble Bars from Lemons and Zest

Nutella Crumble Bars - made October 3, 2022 from Lemons and Zest

1 1/2 cups oats

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, melted butter, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Stir together until combined.
3. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of prepared pan. Spread Nutella evenly over bottom layer. Crumble remaining dough over the Nutella. Bake 25 minutes or until top is lightly golden. Remove from oven and cool completely.

These are exactly what the title says they are: bar cookies, Nutella in the middle, sandwiched between an oatmeal crumble layer.

They're also quite good, especially if you like Nutella and oatmeal. Most recipes put oatmeal together with peanut butter or chocolate but Nutella works well in these bars too. Plus they were easy to Halloween-ize with the Halloween mix of M&Ms.

Be warned to take the "crumble" part of the title seriously as the oatmeal does make them more of a crumbly texture. I liked the heartiness from using old-fashioned oats and they cut the sweetness from the Nutella and the M&Ms.

All in all, a quick and easy bar cookie you can make. You can omit the M&Ms and keep them plain or garnish them in the holiday colors of your choice for a little pizzazz.

Drop Sugar Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction

Drop-Style Sugar Cookies - made dough October 2, 2022 from Sally's Baking Addiction 

1 1/2 cups (188 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sprinkles

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until creamed, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla extract; beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to keep mixture even textured.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; mix on low until combined. Beat in 1/2 cup of sprinkles. Portion into golf-ball-size balls and dip tops into remaining sprinkles. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls and bake for 12-13 minutes, until edges are golden brown and middles no longer look raw. Cool on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

I used a different set of Halloween sprinkles for these drop sugar cookies. The original one from Sally's Baking Addiction made them Christmas-themed with red and green sprinkles. I had already done something with black and orange sprinkles so I mixed it up with this "monster mash" set of green and purple sprinkles with white skull and black spider sprinkles.

You have to peer a little closely to make out the white skulls and black spider shapes but I promise they're there. I liked the sugar cookies themselves but - you guessed it - given I'm not a sprinkles fan, I think these cookies would've been better without them. I didn't care for the crunch or the slightly messy look they gave to the cookies, particularly the sprinkles that bled their colors into the dough. But they all went in as part of Halloween care packages so at least I kept on theme.

Peanut Butter Monster Cookies from Kroll’s Korner

Peanut Butter Monster Cookies - made dough September 24, 2022 from Kroll's Korner 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup mini M&Ms

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 heaping cup quick oats

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Whisk together flour, cake flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add in the creamy peanut butter, then egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract, mixing briefly after each addition to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients on low speed in two additions, mixing until just combined after each addition. Mix in the M&Ms, chocolate chips, oats and chopped peanuts until just combined.
5. Form dough into 6 large dough balls and place on a cookie sheet. Flatten each dough ball slightly and press a few M&Ms on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until tops of cookies are golden brown. Cool on baking sheet for 15 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Continuing with the Halloween theme by using Halloween add ins, in this case, Halloween mix of M&Ms. The original recipe called for making these behemoth cookies and normally I'd do at least one big one and make the rest normal sized. But since I didn't feel like eating a huge peanut butter cookie, I made them all small. These don't spread so make them as big or small and as thick or thin as you want the final product to be. It's a good peanut butter and oatmeal cookie and keeping them thick ensures they're less likely to crumble in mailing. I didn't have peanuts on hand so I didn't include them. Instead I just added more chocolate chips and M&Ms.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Bars - made September 25, 2022 from Inquiring Chef 

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup M&Ms

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together melted butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in oats. Fold in chocolate chip sand M&Ms.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Press in additional chips and M&Ms on top if desired. Bake 24-28 minutes or until edges are set and golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting and serving.

This is an easy, straightforward bar cookie that's not only perfect for mailing in care packages but also lends itself well to any holiday or theme you need, just by virtue of what kind of M&Ms you add in.

These went into Halloween care packages so it was easy to use the M&M Halloween mix. Flavor-wise, they're made hearty by the oats and the chocolate adds a nice touch. If you're mailing these, bake on the lower end of the recommended time to keep them soft and moist. The toothpick test doesn't work as well after 20 minutes because the oats aren't going to be raw batter on the toothpick. I only baked these for 24 minutes and they were fine. 

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction

Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough September 23, 2022, modified from Sally's Baking Addiction

1 1/4 cups (156 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups (190 grams) yellow or vanilla boxed cake mix (not the whole box and you just need the dry mix)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cake batter extract (sub vanilla extract if you don't have cake batter extract)

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup sprinkles

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, dry cake mix, baking soda and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until well combined and creamy, about 1 minute.
3. Add the egg and mix to combine. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
4. Add dry ingredients in two additions, beating on low speed after each addition until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips and sprinkles on low speed until evenly dispersed. Do not overbeat.
5. Cover and chill dough for 2 hours then portion into dough balls making them taller than they are wider, cover and chill or freeze.
6. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly place dough balls. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and let rest on baking sheets for several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely. 

Can you believe it's already October? Yeah, me neither. I love this time of year so it can never come fast enough but I'm almost always surprised when it does arrive because it signals the slide into the end of the year. Already??

I started making Halloween-themed treats even before October though since I was mailing these in care packages for Soldiers Angels and had to account for mailing time. The first week of October is the very latest I want to make anything Halloween-related if I want them to arrive by or before Halloween.

These Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction seemed like a good one to go with for the season. I'm not a fan of sprinkles but they are the easiest way to add to any holiday theme, depending on which colors you choose. It was simple enough to Halloween-ize these cookies.

I also still had cake batter extract from the Crumbl Copycat Birthday Cake cookie recipe so I did a 1:1 substitution for the vanilla extract in the original recipe. My palate isn't sensitive enough to tell how much of a difference that made, especially since I didn't make the original recipe as is for a control point but I like to think it helped add to the cake flavor along with the dry cake mix in the recipe.

Although, to be honest, this seemed like a chocolate chip cookie with a little cake batter flavor in it. I think I'd prefer a straightforward chocolate chip cookie with milk chocolate chips but I wasn't making these for me and I think they'd appeal to both chocolate chip cookie traditionalists and cake batter flavor consumers. Plus, sprinkles make them festive and perfect for care packages.

Giant White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies

Giant White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Cookies - made September 16, 2022 from Baking with Blondie

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and sliced into tablespoons

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 whole eggs, cold

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (can use half cake flour and half all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped and lightly toasted and cooled

1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until light and fluffy. Add in the brown sugar and granulated sugar and cream together for 3 minutes on high speed.
3. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to keep mixture even-textured. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt in two additions, mixing on low speed, until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Reserve 1/8 cup of chocolate chips and macadamia nuts before stirring the rest gently into the dough. Portion dough into 8 dough balls and place 4 cookie dough balls on each cookie sheet. Flatten very slightly and hand press the macadamia nuts on top. Bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and press reserved white chocolate chips over hot cookies. Let cool in baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

yes, yes, I could

Another solid cookie recipe from Baking with Blondie and, as you can tell from the pictures, I mean solid. This ain't no airy, light textured cookie. 

But if you like your cookies with some heft (I do), moist and chewy (raises hand) and has amazing texture (still here), her cookies are for you. They're almost like baked cookie dough where the outside is baked and provides a "shell" for the almost-cookie-dough-like texture on the inside.

They may not be for everyone but they sure are for me. I like the macadamia and white chocolate combination as well (one of the few times I like white chocolate). Next time though, I might make them more like discs than rounded mounds for easier biting and eating. These don't spread much so they'll bake and hold the shape you make them into. 

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies from Just So Tasty

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies - made September 16, 2022 from Just So Tasty

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup quick oats

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and peanut butter until fluffy.
2. Mix in the egg and vanilla. 
3. On low speed, add in the flour, baking soda and salt, mixing until just combined. Mix in the oats.
4. Portion dough into balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw or shiny.

I actually first tried this recipe during the early months of the pandemic but never blogged about them as I wasn't in the right headspace to keep baking and blogging at the same time. Back then, along with the rest of the world, I did whatever brought comfort and didn't "make" myself do anything I didn't want to. It was enough to get through the day without mishap.

But I did keep a draft of the recipe so I could get back to it "someday". And someday has arrived. I was doubling up on the care packages I've been baking for Soldiers Angels as there are currently a lot of deployed military service members who've signed up for packages and, for the moment, there doesn't seem to be enough supply to meet the demand.

That's where it comes in handy to have easy cookie recipes to make. Although chocolate chip cookies are the most requested in care packages, I tend to vary the types of cookies I send and I gravitate to the hearty ones that have peanut butter and/or oatmeal. 

Not that that makes the cookies healthy, thanks to the butter and sugar, but hey, it gives the illusion, right? I don't have a picture of the inside of the cookie since I didn't eat one but I remember these being a good combination of peanut butter and oatmeal, moist and chewy. They don't spread too much. The ones you see were only briefly chilled and I only left them in the freezer for as long as the oven took to preheat. 

Espresso Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Espresso Chocolate Chunk Brownies - made September 14, 2022 from Baker by Nature 

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons

3 teaspoons instant espresso powder

2 cups granulated sugar

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and cocoa powder.
3. In the top half of the double boiler set over hot water, combine semisweet chocolate, butter and instant espresso powder. Whisk until completely melted and combined. 
4. Turn off the heat and add the sugar, whisking until completely combined. Remove the top half of the double boiler and wipe bottom free of moisture.
5. Add the eggs to the batter and whisk until just combined. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined and mixture is glossy. Do not overbeat. Fold in chocolate chunks.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Another good care package brownie, especially if you like coffee or espresso flavor amping up your chocolate. I'm not a coffee drinker myself but I love the smell of coffee and don't mind the flavor of it in baked goods.

We're getting into cooler temps where I live, although "cooler" is relative and just means it isn't triple digit temps anymore. Still not cool enough to risk ordering unsweetened chocolate through the mail but we're getting close. In the meantime, I'm still trying out more cocoa-powder-based recipes.

This one is good. It's nice and fudgy although a bit softer than my favorite recipe. The espresso isn't overwhelming but pairs well with the chocolate. It's a bit sweet so if you want more chocolate rather than sugar in the flavor profile, substitute a few ounces of unsweetened chocolate instead of the semisweet chocolate melted with the butter and espresso powder.