Cookies, Biscuits and Sweet or Energy Bars

When you have a houseful of kids, 

cookies, biscuits, and sweet or energy bars always go down well. 

I have a delectable selection of these to share with you today. 

I'm sure they will bring out the 'kid' in you. Enjoy!

Chocolate Pecan Cookies

Coconut Cut Out Cookies

I want to Marry You Cookies

Cheesecake Cookies

Caramel apple cookies

Flourless Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Raspberry Breakfast Bars

Nutella Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Pineapple Coconut Chess Bars

Chocolate Coconut Blondies

Ginger Apple Upside Down Squares

Lemon White Chocolate Blondies

Broadway Brownie Bars

Ooey Gooey Spice Bars

Scotcheroos

Lemon Crumble Bars

Chunky Monkey Energy Balls

Coconut Cookie Dough Bites

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Biscuit Bars

Ingredients:
125g butter, softened at room temperature
80ml peanut butter
250ml (1 cup) soft brown sugar, pressed down
125ml sunflower oil
2 eggs
15ml vanilla extract
625ml (2 1//2 cups)  oats
500ml (2 cups) flour
60ml chopped nuts (walnuts, macadamia, nibbed almonds)
60ml desicated coconut
5ml  bicarbonate of soda
5ml salt
200g dark chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 9x13 inch baking tray with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter and sugar together until the sugar is all taken up. Add the oil and beat it together, before adding the eggs, one at a time and the vanilla extract. 

In a separate bowl mix together the oats, flour, chopped nuts, coconut, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter and egg mixture and mix until the dough comes together. The dough will be quite sticky and may seem heavy, but that is fine. Mix in about 2/3 of the chocolate chips until they are homogeneously spread through the dough. Reserve the rest of the chocolate chips for the top of the biscuits.

Turn the dough into the prepared baking tray, pushing the dough into the pan and spreading it to the sides. scatter the reserved chocolate chips over the top and push them slightly into the top of dough.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Allow the bars to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before cutting into squares.

These bars can be kept in an air tight container for up to one week.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

My grandson loves strawberry jam! If I need to get him to eat a sandwich I know if I make it with strawberry jam he'll eat it all, except for the crusts. 
I guess that's something about little children - they don't like chewing the crispy crusts. However, if I give him something home baked, he eats the lot, crunchy or not.
Cute!
These are seriously the most delicious crumbly fruit bars ever. 

They have so much flavour packed in but they only have 4 main ingredients. 

You can also use any jam you have on hand.

Ingredients:
1 (525g) pkg yellow cake mix
625ml oats
190ml melted butter
250ml seedless strawberry jam
15ml water

Method:
Preheat oven to 190ºC. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with cooking spray. 

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, oats and coconut oil so that it's clumpy.

Press ½ of the oats mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

In a separate bowl, mix the jam and water and spread over the crust.

Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture evenly over the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-23 minutes or until top is lightly browned. 

Cool before cutting into squares to serve.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Caramelitas

Ingredients:
375ml porridge oats
125ml dark brown sugar
250ml flour 
5ml bicarbonate of soda
180g cold butter
125ml caramel topping
30ml flour 
125ml chopped pecans
125ml semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180˚C. 

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar and bicarbonate of soda. Using a pastry blender cut butter into dry mix until the butter pieces are small.  If you don't have a pastry blender you can use a fork or your fingers, as long as you don't overwork the butter and make it warm.

Line an 8 x 8 inch (or 9x9) baking dish with parchment paper.  I cut my 15" wide paper in half and laid one piece one way and the other piece the other.  

Press all but 1 cup of the mix into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until it is golden brown. 

Mix together flour and caramel topping. Stir until smooth. The flour will help thicken the caramel as it bakes. 

Mix together chocolate chips, nuts, and rest of the dry oat mixture. 

Drizzle caramel onto the bottom layer. Spread carefully until it is close to the edges.  Sprinkle on the chocolate chip nut mixture.  Spread on evenly. Pressing just a little bit. 

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting.  If you are impatient as I was you can put it in the fridge to cool it faster. 

Sugar Glazed Lemon Bars

You can't but love these lemon bars, sweetly tart with a melt in your mouth shortbread crust and and a sugary lemon glaze on top. They're gooey sweet, with just enough tang from the lemon juice and zest to balance the sweetness.

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

250g butter, softened

125ml icing sugar

zest of half a lemon

500ml flour

For the filling:

4  eggs

500ml sugar

65ml flour

5ml baking powder

75ml fresh lemon juice

zest of one lemon

For the Glaze:

250ml icing sugar

30-40ml fresh lemon juice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C. 

To Make the Crust:

Combine the butter, sugar and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and beat for a minute or so until combined.

Add the flours and the beat until until the mixture is crumbly. 

Press the crust into the bottom of a parchment lined 9x13 inch pan.

Bake for 25 minutes, until light golden brown.

To Make the Filling:

While the crust is baking, in a large bowl lightly beat the eggs with a whisk. 

Add the remaining ingredients and beat with a whisk until combined. 

Remove the partially baked crust from the oven and pour the filling over it. 

Return to the oven and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes, until the top is light golden brown and starting to crack around the edges. 

Let cool completely for at least 1 hour.

To make the Glaze:

In a small bowl, stir or whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Add more lemon juice, by just a few drops at a time, until the glaze is a pourable consistency. 

Spread the glaze over the cooled bars and then let it set for at least half an hour before slicing. 

Cut into bars and store in the refrigerator. 

Bars can be served cold or returned to room temperature first. 

Enjoy!

Pecan Pie Bars

Ingredients:

For crust:

250g unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup packed soft brown sugar

2 2/3 cups flour

2.5ml salt

For topping:

1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar (I used dark)
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 cups chopped pecans

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 180º and line a 9×13-inch pan with baking paper, leaving enough for a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

First make the crust by creaming together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy with a mixer. Add in the flour and salt and mix until crumbly.

Press the crust into the paper-lined pan and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

 

While the crust bakes, prepare the filling by combining the butter, brown sugar, honey and heavy cream in a saucepan and stirring it over medium heat. Simmer the mixture for 1 minute, then stir in the chopped pecans.

Remove the crust from the oven and immediately pour the pecan filling over the hot crust spreading it to cover the entire surface.

Return the pan to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes.

Remove the pan and allow the bars to fully cool in the pan.

Use the paper overhang to lift out the bars and transfer them to a cutting board. Peel off the paper, slice into bars and serve.

Scandinavian Almond Bars

Ingredients:

210g cups cake flour*

10ml baking powder

1ml salt

250ml sugar

125g butter, room temperature

1 egg, room temperature

2.5ml almond extract

* For a Gluten Free version of this recipe, simply replace flour with:

250ml brown rice flour *

125ml tapioca starch *

60ml potato starch *

180ml oat flour *

2.5ml xantham gum *

The Gluten Free version required a full 20-22 minutes to finish baking.

Topping:

15ml milk

125ml sliced almonds

Icing:

250ml powdered sugar

1ml almond extract

15-30ml milk

Method:

Preheat the oven to 170˚C. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the egg and the almond extract and then mix until light and fluffy. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until combined. 

Press the dough into the bottom of a thoroughly buttered 9x13 inch pan. Press with your fingers or a pastry roller to smooth the top of the dough. The gluten free dough is a bit stickier than the traditional version. I found that it was easiest to place a sheet of parchment or wax paper on top of the dough and press it into the pan with my hands that way.

Using a pastry brush, brush a tiny bit of milk across the top of the dough. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and very lightly press them into the top of the dough. Bake for 16-20 minutes. Remove from the oven when they are just barely beginning to brown and they look dry around the edges. Do not let them actually brown at all. If they brown, they will be much more crunchy than desired, once they cool. The goal is a very soft shortbread texture.

Let the bars cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then cut into bars. If they are too soft to cut, let them cool for a few more minutes. Remove them carefully (they will be quite soft) to a wire rack to cool completely before icing. Prepare the icing, adding just a tiny bit of milk at a time. If the consistency is too thick, it won't drizzle nicely over the bars. If it is too thin, the icing will just melt into the bars. If you are unsure, test a bit of it on the edge of one bar before drizzling the icing over the entire batch.

Leave the bars on the wire rack until the icing is firm enough to handle. These bars store quite well in the freezer. I can usually fit 2 dozen in a gallon size ziploc bag, with a sheet of wax paper separating the layers. When you are ready to eat them, just set them on the counter about half an hour before hand. I typically plate them while they are still frozen, because they are easy to handle that way. Enjoy!

Cranberry Bliss Bars

These bars are topped with a white-chocolate-cream cheese frosting. They’re sprinkled with dried cranberries and drizzled with white chocolate squiggles.

The first layer is blondie-like- so sweet, soft-ish, but firm- and a great base for this bar. There’s white chocolate and dried cranberries mixed into the base too.

This recipe will make a total of 16 cake bars, at a fraction of the cost of the original.

Ingredients:

Cake

3/4 cup butter, softened

315ml packed light brown sugar

3 eggs30ml minced crystallized ginger

7.5ml vanilla extract

2.5ml salt

375ml flour

2.5ml baking powder

190ml chopped sweetened dried cranberries

100g white chocolate, cut into chunks

Frosting

100g cream cheese, softened

750ml icing sugar

20ml lemon juice

5ml vanilla extract

65ml chopped sweetened dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing

126ml icing sugar

15ml milk

10ml vegetable shortening

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.

Make cake by beating the butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder until smooth. Mix the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks into the batter by hand. Pour the batter into a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top. Allow the cake to cool.

Make the frosting by combining the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

Sprinkle 65ml of chopped dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

Make the drizzled icing by whisking together powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Drizzle this icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion with a squirt bottle or fill a small plastic storage bag with the icing and cut off the tip of one corner.

Cover the cake and let it chill out in the fridge for a couple hours, then slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times, making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.

Muesli Bars

These are great for breakfast on the run. With oats, fruit, nuts and seeds, they are nutricious and delicious, packed with essential carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Sunflower seeds are a super source of Omega 3 and Omega 6, necessary for good health, preventing heart desease, cholesterol problems and some skin conditions.

Pumpkin seeds are aslo packed with fibre, vitamin Bs, especially Niacin and Pyridoxine, minerals such as calcium, magnesium and selenium, and numerous health promoting antioxidants. Although their calorific content comes mainly from fats, pumpkin kernels are especially rich in mono-unsaturated fats, which help to lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.

All in all, a great way to start the day.

Ingredients:
65g butter
160ml honey - I like to use heather or lavender honey as they give such a wonderful flavour
50g dark brown muscovado sugar
130g wholemeal flour
200g rolled oats
50g desiccated coconut
100g sunflower seeds
50g dried pumpkin seeds, chopped
50g dried apricots, chopped
50g dates, chopped
50g raisins
50g chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, hazel nuts)
25g sesame seeds

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat. Add the honey and sugar, stirring to bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, then gradually stir in the prepared butter and sugar mixture.
Press into a greased biscuit tray and bake for 25 minutes or until golden on top. Cut into bars while still hot and leave to cool.