Whiskey Caramel Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars

Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite. A simple, classic cookie that everyone instantly recognizes and loves. Perfectly soft, chewy, and super chocolatey. 

This is one of those someone-hide-these-from-me-immediately desserts. After quite a bit of quality control, I was able to send these packing to my mom and sister.

I may or may not have left a couple hiding somewhere in the kitchen.

I doctored these up by making them into bars, throwing in some crushed pretzels and toffee pieces...oh and of course adding some whiskey caramel to top it all off. The salted caramel just finishes the bar off perfectly and gives it the perfect level of gooeyness. I could seriously put this stuff on anything and it would be amazing!

These cookie bars on their own don’t taste super boozy. The caramel layer brings a nice kick of whiskey, but it isn’t over-powering, just a nice addition to the sweet, salty, and chocolatey flavor from the bars.

Whiskey Caramel Chocolate Chip Pretzel Bars
Ingredients
For the cookie layer:
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup crushed pretzels
1/4 cup toffee pieces (I used Heath)

For the whiskey caramel:
1/2 cup whiskey
1 14 oz bag of soft caramels unwrapped (I used Kraft)
1/2 tsp sea salt

For the chocolate layer:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tbs butter

For the topping:
16 whole salted pretzels

Directions:
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 baking pan or line with aluminum foil and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugars. Add the egg and yolk, mixing until smooth and well-combined. Add the vanilla.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt over the wet ingredients and use a spatula to fold together until just incorporated with no streaks of dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips, pretzels, and toffee.

Spread dough into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden and crisp and the inside feels set. Cool.

For the caramel:
While the bars are baking, combine the whiskey and caramels in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until caramels have melted completely and the whiskey is mixed in. Cook until you reach the softball stage (240 degrees F), which is about 5-7 minutes. The mixture should have reduced a bit. Spread over cookie bars.

For the chocolate:
Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 20 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. DO NOT OVERHEAT. 

Spread over the caramel layer and top with pretzels - sticking them into the melted chocolate. Let bars cool completely before removing from pan and slicing.

Cookie Butter Granola

I've been a huge fan of Trader Joe's cookie butter for quite awhile now, but since we don't have one close to our house I rarely can get my hands on it. Until recently, that is. We went last weekend and I made sure to grab a jar (or two) of this absolutely amazing stuff! 

It’s thick and creamy like peanut butter but with the spicy flavor of gingerbread, and just a slight crunch from the ground cookies. Seriously daaaangerous! My husband and I have gone through an entire jar in a matter of days. We love just scooping it out of the jar with a pretzel...so good.
I knew I wanted to use it in a recipe before it all disappeared, and this is by far one of the best things I have made. I wanted to try to and make it somewhat healthy, so I loaded this baby up with some goodies. The quinoa, almonds, and sunflower seeds gives it great crunch and it has a nutty and super cookie buttery flavor. 

It's the perfect little snack to munch on, or you could put it over some Greek yogurt. Either way, it's pretty darn delicious. 

Looks like I can have cookie butter as a snack, for breakfast, and for dessert...that's my kind of granola! Enjoy! :)

Cookie Butter Granola
Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 whole almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cookie butter
1/4 cup honey

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper,

In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, sliced and whole almonds, sunflower seeds, and quinoa. Stir until combined. Add cinnamon, allspice, ginger, and salt. Stir again and set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl add coconut oil, brown sugar, cookie butter, and honey. Melt for about 25-30 seconds. Whisk together until combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix until everything is coated. 

Spread onto baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, making sure to stir the granola every 10-15 minutes to prevent burning. Allow granola to cool for 20 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Pretzel M&M Cookies

If you haven't checked out Sally's Baking Addiction...I highly recommend you do! She is an amazing baker and has some of the most delicious recipes. I took her chewy chocolate chunk cookie recipe and added some colorful mini M&M’s. And since you know I'm obsessed with sweet and salty, I threw in some crushed pretzels too. They add the perfect amount of crunch and salt to the cookie.

People are always asking me, "what do you do with all those treats you bake?". Well, unless we're really in the mood for something sweet, most of the goodies end up gifts to my parents, in-laws, friends, neighbors, co-workers...anyone we can get them to! So needless to say, these were perfect for our Christmas lunch at work.

Pretzel M&M Cookies
Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Ingredients:
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mini M&Ms

1 cup pretzels, broken in to pieces

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
• In a mixing bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and cornstarch; set aside. 
• In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter and both brown and white sugars.
• Add in the eggs and vanilla and continue to whisk until combined. 
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a large spoon until just combined.
• Fold in the M&Ms and pretzel pieces. Chill dough for at least one hour or overnight. 
• Use a cookie scoop to roll the dough into balls (about 3 tablespoons).
• Bake for 11-12 minutes and cool completely on a wire rack. 

Mini Peanut Butter Rolo Cookies

This is a super quick and delicious cookie recipe. I made them a couple of weeks ago for a Christmas dinner party at our house...and they disappeared!

This cookie is as easy as dropping your favorite candy into lightly baked cookie batter. My favorite candy of choice...ROLOS :)

You just drop a little ball of peanut butter dough into a mini muffin pan and bake them until they're just barely done. Take them out of the oven and immediately press a mini Rolo into the center. Soft and chewy peanut butter cookie meets melty caramel and chocolate yumminess.

Cookie + candy perfection.

This is the perfect Christmas cookie recipe – super quick, easy, and you can make a ton in no time!

Mini Peanut Butter Rolo Cookies

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. Mini Rolos

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with with cooking spray. 
• Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer combine butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. 
• Add in peanut butter and continue to mix.
• Add in egg and vanilla until combined.
• Slowly add in flour mixture until the dough just comes together. 
• Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place in muffin pan.
• Bake for 6-8 minutes, until they are just barely done. 
• Take the warm cookies out of the oven, and place a mini Rolo into each cookie, pushing down slightly. The warmth of the cookie will slightly melt the chocolate.
• In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate in 20 second intervals until smooth.
• Drizzle white chocolate over each cookie.
• Cool for about 10 minutes and gently remove the cookies from the pan. 

Cardamom Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches

I LOVE ice cream sandwiches. They are the quintessential summer dessert. Seriously, what is better than a cookie and ice cream all in one bite? What more could you ask for? 

So what is so great about these ice-cream sandwiches? Well, they're made with the most delicious Cardamom Snickerdoodle cookies. The cardamom gives it a bit of a grown-up twist to your typical cinnamon and sugar cookie. They are crisp around the edges with a chewy center. Pair that with some spiced banana ice cream and you have perfection!

Now, lets get to the "ice cream" part of this recipe. I was utterly shocked when I realized how easy this was to make. Just throw a couple of ingredients into a food processor and you have the most delicious and creamiest ice cream everrrr. It's like magic! 

Oh and did I mention that the best part is that it's guilt free?! Which means having ice cream for breakfast is totally acceptable! :)

Cardamom Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches

Recipe adapted from The Nest
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
• Cream the butter and ¾ cup of the sugar in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the butter mixture and beat until combined. 
• Sift the flour, cream of tartar, lemon zest, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until combined. 
• Mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom in a small bowl. Scoop the dough by rounded tablespoons and shape the dough into balls. 
• Roll the dough balls in the sugar mixture and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. 
• Bake the cookies for 13 to 14 minutes, or until the centers are set. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet.
• Place one cookie top side down. Scoop 1/3 to 1/2 cup of ice cream onto the cookie. Place another cookie top side up on the ice cream and press gently to flatten the ice cream between the two cookies. Serve the ice-cream sandwiches.

Spiced Banana Ice Cream

Recipe adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:

4 peeled medium bananas, sliced into coins and frozen until solid

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

Directions:

Blend bananas in food processor until they are the consistency of soft serve ice cream. (It will take a few minutes, just keep scraping down the bowl and keep blending!)
Blend in cardamom and cinnamon. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze until solid.

Mocha Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies

 Coffee + Chocolate = Heaven. 

These two ingredients were made for each other. I’ve always been a fan of a good chocolate and coffee duo. Evan's mother recently introduced us to Publix's Espresso Chip frozen yogurt and I am obsessed! It's a super rich, creamy, coffee-flavored concoction with a hint of coconut flavor, and sprinkled with chocolate-espresso chips. If you’ve ever tried this chocolate and coffee combo you know exactly what I am talking about!

This amazing combination of flavors was my inspiration for these Mocha Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies. These cookies are great with a hot cup of coffee in the morning, or a glass of milk as a late night snack! 

 If you're a coffee and chocolate addict like myself, you will love these!

Mocha Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon instant coffee powder, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

3/4 cup Nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper.
2. Mix the cake mix, oil. eggs, and coffee mixture in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until blended.  
3. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart, onto prepared cookie sheets.
4. Bake 8 to 11 minutes or until just barely set at center when lightly touched. Cool 1 minute on sheets, then remove cookies with spatula to wire racks to cool completely.
5. Spread flat side of half of cookies with Nutella spread, then sandwich with remaining cookies.

Oreo Cupcakes

Oreo are my weakness. You could probably tell from my Oreo Brownies and Chocolate Oreo Cake recipes. So what's left? Cupcakes of course!

When my aunt volunteered me to make 100 cupcakes (yes, 100!) for the youth group at church, I figured these would go over pretty well. The frosting is rich and creamy, and very yummy! Plus, what kid (or adult) doesn't love Oreos?? You really can't go wrong with these cupcakes and they are simple to make...enjoy! :)

Oreo Cupcakes

Ingredients: 

Cupcakes:

1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix

1 cup Greek yogurt, fat free

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper bake cups, set aside.

Stir together cake mix, Greek yogurt, coffee, and water. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 20-24 minutes, or until tooth-pick inserted comes out clean. Cool cupcakes completely before frosting.

Oreo Frosting:

1 (2 sticks) cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

1-2 Tablespoons milk

4 cups powdered sugar

15 Oreos, finely crushed (I used my food processor)

Directions:

In a large bowl cream butter, vanilla and milk. Slowly add in powdered sugar until creamy and fluffy. Mix in crushed oreos until well combined. Frost cupcakes and top with half of an Oreo cookie. 

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

When it comes to cooking, I am so incredibly thankful for my mother and future mother-in-law! These ladies know how to cook. I'm always asking them for new recipes...and they are always sending us home with extra food! :) We are super lucky to have such amazing parents! 

Yesterday we went over to Evan's parents house for Father's day. After cooking up a delicious Thanksgiving-esque lunch for everyone, his mother whipped out this amazing cake! This simple frozen dessert was a huge hit. It was delicious, decadent and quite impressive! This would be a perfect dessert to take to a summer cookout.

Who doesn't love a good ice cream sandwich? This was (and still is) probably my most favorite dessert growing up. We ALWAYS had them in the freezer. The best thing about this cake is you can change it up in so many different ways. Switch up the ice cream sandwich flavors, ice cream toppings, and use tons of different types of candy.

*Please excuse the photos, I had to use my cell phone. But you still get the idea of how incredibly delicious this cake was! :)

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake (Recipe adapted from Taste of Home)
Ingredients:
17 miniature ice cream sandwiches, divided
1 jar (12 ounces) caramel ice cream topping
1 carton (12 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
 

Directions:
Arrange 14 ice cream sandwiches in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. dish. Cut remaining sandwiches in half lengthwise; fill in the spaces in the dish. (You could also create two layers of sandwiches with some extra caramel sauce in the middle!)

Spread with caramel and whipped topping. Drizzle with chocolate syrup. Cover and freeze for at least 45 minutes. Cut into squares.

Chocolate OREO Cookie Cake

The only word for this cake is heavenly. No other word could possibly describe it. It's just...everything I could ever want in a cake. 

chocolate. 

oreos.

cool whip.

cream cheese.

 Are you drooling all over your keyboard yet??

I made this cake for father's day and it was quite a hit. The best part is that I even tried to make it somewhat "healthier" and it worked! I don't know if you can really make a chocolate covered oreo cookie cake healthy, but at least I didn't feel that bad eating a slice...or two. 

I will probably never make a boxed cake with eggs and oil again. I substituted Greek yogurt and it turned out to be the most amazing cake. I also added some coffee to boost the chocolate flavor! Moist, velvety, and rich. Seriously good. Shout out to Dr. Oz for sharing the cake recipe on his show! :) 

I promise this cake will not disappoint!

Oreo Cookie Cake (Recipe adapted from Kraft)
Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix
1 cup Greek yogurt, fat free
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened, reduced fat
1/2 cup sugar
1 pkg thawed cool whip topping, fat free
15 Oreo cookies, coarsely crushed, reduced fat

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine cake mix, Greek yogurt, coffee, and water. Pour batter evenly into to two greased 9 inch round cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Microwave chocolate and butter in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 min. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Gently stir in COOL WHIP and crushed cookies.

Place 1 cake layer on plate, spread with cream cheese mixture. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread top with chocolate glaze; let stand 10 min. or until firm. Keep refrigerated.