Halloween Spicy S'mores Cookie Bars

It was just innocent at first, I came across the recipe for Smore's Cookie Bars at church; we all baked them for the men at church for Father's Day.  I should have known, Miss Tina, the lady we got the recipe from is a very good cook, and she always finds the best S'mores recipes.

I mean I don't even like the kind of S'mores that you eat as you sit around the campfire.  Chocolate and graham crackers yes, but no thank you on the burnt marshmallows!  Then when we were in Pennsylvania at our son's home, and we were talking about desserts -- as we always do -- they had been making them too, but as a pie.  We all agreed that the graham crackers in the crust made these bars special. 

So naturally, Zoulah wanted to put her spin (some might call it magic) on things and make them Halloween-y, and we loved them even more.  In fact our daughter said, we would never make them again without the spices.  Ooh-la-la the chocolate and the spices taste sooooo good together.

So here goes the recipe.

Halloween Spicy S'mores Cookie Bars

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 2/3  cups flour

1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs -- about 1 sleeve and use cinnamon ones for an extra punch of cinnamon-y goodness

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Orange food coloring

Hershey Chocolate Bars -- 24 snack-sized bars

1 container of marshmallow fluff -- not marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan.  Cream together butter and sugars until light.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmegs.   Add orange food coloring if desired -- use about 1/2 teaspoon gel coloring.  Add to butter mixture and mix at low speed until combined.  Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of prepared pan.  Place chocolate bars  over dough.  Spread chocolate with marshmallow fluff.  Wet your hands or use a wet spatula to ease in the spreading of the fluff.  Next, put the remaining dough on top.  This is easiest if you sort of flatten small shingles of dough and lay them out piece by piece.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely before cutting.  I like to cut them in 3 by 4 squares, so about 9 to a pan.

Thanks Tina for the original recipe, and thanks Zoulah for adding some Halloween magic to it.  I am sure there is an original source, but I do not know it.

Use 2 Packages of 12 Pack Snack-Sized S'mores Bar (or the equivalent)

Take a Deep Breath of the Chocolate Goodness

I know I am supposed to like European chocolate better, but I love Hershey's chocolate bars, especially with almonds in them!

The Bars Laid Out on the Bottom Crust

Marshmallow Fluff

Pat the Cookie Dough for the Top Crust in Thin Shingles and Then Piece it Together

The Bars Waiting to be Baked

I hope you make a batch soon.

Zoulah thanks you for stopping by!

Bats and Spiders and...Zoulah...Oh My Tablescape

I have been an extremely lazy blogger lately, but it wouldn't seem like Halloween, if Zoulah didn't get in her "Bewitchen Kitchen" and provide some Halloween magic in our home   She has been cooking around Halloween in our home for the last 7 years.  She is an old gal, and has seen some hard times her life, a couple of falls and some broken legs, but she still is able to swirl her spatula, like a wand.

]She began to howl and moan, so I brought her out today, and as I was setting the table, it was to be a bat and a spider table, she jumped to the middle of the table, and installed herself as the centerpiece.

We started with a white undercloth and laid a lacy spiderweb cloth.  The plates are square, one plastic, or plastique as Zoulah says.

Then we put the cute batty plates on the other plates.

For the spider part, we added these glasses with a jaunty Halloween straw.

We added another plastique  hob nail glass.

We added a bright orange napkin.

What Halloween dinner could be without candy, and these kisses are the cutest!  Stay tuned for more, when Zoulah gives a rundown of all the Halloween Candy that is out there this year.

 The little kisses say:

Boo!

Scary

Creepy!

Zoulah so loves them!

Just a full shot of the table.

Zoulah wishes you a Happy Halloween season, and she hopes you come back for more Halloween fun!

Some of Zoulah's work.

Ta-Ta for now!

Posted with Tablescape Thursday

Pecan Cookies with a Maple Penuche Frosting

I would like to share these little goodies with you.  We have made them a couple of times and they are delish!  I think it is the cooked frosting that makes them so good.  I fell in love with cooked frosting many years ago when I first came upon Texas Sheet Cake.  Cooked frosting has to be my favorite, and the soft cookie tastes so good with this cooked frosting.

I love the maple in these cookies, it just seems to say Fall is coming.  Maybe because it is starting to turn fall --I don't know-- the maple flavoring was delicious with this penuche-type frosting.

Pecan Cookies

Yield:  Around 30 to 36 cookies.

1 cup butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ cup finely chopped pecans

36 pecan halves, toasted

Cooked Brown Sugar Frosting

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup cream

1 tablespoon  butter
1½ cups powdered sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon maple extract (Mapeleine)  Do not use maple syrup.

Instructions for Cookies

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, put butter and sugars and beat until light and fluffy.  Add in the egg and vanilla and mix well. 

2.  Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt, and beat until well mixed.  Add chopped pecans and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.  Please do not skip this step, or you will have flat cookies.

3.  Shape into 1-inch balls and place on baking sheet (12 to a baking sheet, in a 350 degree oven  for about 8 to 10 minutes.  You do not want an overcooked cookie.  Set aside and cool before frosting.

Instructions for Frosting

1.  Combine brown sugar and cream in a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat.  Bring mixture to a boil, 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in butter.

2.  Stir in 1-1/2 cups powdering sugar into sugar and cream mixture, beating until smooth.  Work quickly.   If frosting is too thick, add some more cream and beat again until smooth.  If frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar.  You are looking for a frosting consistency that will not droop off the cookie.

3. Frost each cookie and  place a toasted pecan on each cookie.  Make sure you place the pecans on the cookies as you frost them, so they will stick on the cookie.  Make sure frosting is set before you store the cookie. 

I adapted these cookies from a recipe on Recipe Rebel's blog, and she adapted them from Southern Living, which is a favorite source of mine for recipes.

Thanks for dropping by the Couch.