My mind was blown at the supermarket the other day. I was wandering the baking aisle looking for inspiration when I stumbled upon the best thing ever. As a single gal, I rarely have a need for two dozen cookies. So when I saw this on the shelf, I was ecstatic. No more baking for an army when I’m took lazy to not use boxed!
And would be perfect for making cookie bars!
I have a weakness for chocolate chip cookies, I go weak in the knees for brownies, and I’m pretty sure I’d sell my first child for something delicious with peanut butter (especially when I’m on a diet). As you can tell from this post, I’m either not on a diet, or I’m trying to fatten everyone in my vicinity so I feel better about myself.
I came up with this recipe when I was wandering the supermarket. I pretty much was holding a box of brownie mix and a cookie mix and wondering which was the better of two evils, if I had to eat one or the other. And I realized I didn’t want one or the other, I wanted both. (I also had a hankering for peanut butter, but that was just not going to happen unless I spooned it into my mouth since I ran out of bread the other day and didn’t want to buy a new loaf.) So in an effort to kick my diet out the window and succumb to sweets, I bought it all and decided to make these bars. (Which are delicious!! And possibly deadly.)
Yes, I used boxed, but you don’t have to. It was 11 at night and I was being lazy, so I thought this would be quicker to just make them boxed. I ended up making the brownie part first. I lined the 8 x 8 tray with wax paper, because 1) I know the tray is old and gross (s0rry, guys, it’s true), and 2) I needed to lift it out of the pan so I could use it later for the cookie layer.
I baked it at 350 for 50 minutes… making it then midnight by the time these puppies came out. However, they were perfect and I let it cool enough that I felt I could pull it out by the wax paper and onto the cooling rack (making sure it was still in the wax paper.)
So I mixed up the cookie mix and kept the oven at 350. Relined the pan with wax paper.
Then I put it in the tray, making sure to leave some room at the edges. Baked that for about 20 minutes. Just keep an eye on it, I originally thought it would take only 15 minutes, but being as thick as it was, it took a few more minutes before perfection. I let that cool and then went to work on the bottom layer. You really want these layers to cool, believe me.
So I put a layer of peanut butter on the brownie layer. Took about half a cup of creamy peanut butter, put it in a bowl in the microwave for 20 seconds and make it all melty and smooth. Then, making sure not to get it over the edges, I covered the brownie. But I was missing something, it felt…
Of course! I needed to add mini chocolate chips. It was only a handful and just wanted a small sprinkling. Then I made sure the cookie layer was completely cool. I even put it in the fridge for a bit so it could get hard enough for me to successfully pull off of the wax paper and flip onto the brownie layer. Believe me, this was actually very hard to do since it was after midnight and I was already exhausted. Why, again, did I want to make these in the middle of the night??
Took the whole thing, once it was together and put it in the fridge over night. Then I took a bread knife and cut it into bite-size (as bite sized as I could get) pieces. Now, to hold myself back from eating them all.
So I had a party to attend at my friend’s house. He’s celebrating one year of owning his home. Way to go home ownership! So, in lieu of this accomplishment, we pulled out the big guns and started making food for everyone. We had our easy Buffalo Chicken Dip, cake, cookies, pasta salad, my noodle coleslaw, and mini pizza rolls. I will get that Buffalo Chicken Dip and other recipes up in the following weeks. But for now, you’ll have to deal with just the mini pizza rolls. So easy, so good, and way better than the Little Cesar’s box of greasy pepperoni that came in the door. Sorry, guys. Having to dab grease off my pizza before I eat it is kinda of a turn off.
So I came across the idea of making stuffed croissants that resemble pizzas. I’ve done those stuffed croissants before, usually it’s with chocolate chips, or this one time I made them with feta and spinach (to die for!). So I took the easy way out and got pepperoni, string cheese and croissant rolls.
The next steps are increasingly hard. I’m just kidding, do you really think I would do something that was difficult to make? I’m lazy, remember? Unroll the dough, place on cookie sheets and dash some garlic powder and ground pepper on the rolls. I would have added Italian seasoning, but it has gone missing from the cabinet. Uh-oh!
I then placed two pieces of pepperoni on each triangle. Okay, I really put two pieces on each and had at least eight slices for myself. Two for the croissants, one for me. Two for the croissants, one for me.
Then sliced the mozzarella sticks in quarters. First in half and then halfed those lengthwise. Seemed like way too much cheese with half a stick per croissant.
Rolled those puppies up and shoved them into the oven. Just follow the directions on your croissant roll directions. Mine were in for 12 minutes and came out perfectly! Believe they were on 350.
Would have gotten a picture of one of them by themselves but I started eating them and by the time I remembered to do so, everyone had already dug in. They came out awesome! And way less messy than pizza and much yummier than those frozen pizza rolls you have when you’re a kid and your parents are just too lazy to make something.
Now, off to figure out what else to make!
I had about four minutes to get out of the house this morning. I thought, oh hey, I can totally make myself breakfast,. And then I realized I wouldn’t be able to inhale a bowl of Cheerios or make myself waffles in time to get out of the door. (No, I don’t eat frozen waffles. I have a waffle maker!!) So I checked the fridge real quick and thanked the gods (you know, like Paula Deen and Giada de Laurentiis) that I had some eggs in the fridge and some tortillas (almost always on hand). Brilliance struck! I kinda was hoping for lightning for something, but i’m not that cool. Quick eggs!
Then pulled out my handy mini egg frying pan
Microwaved the tortilla during this time for 10 seconds to loosen it up, then placed some cheese and fresh tomatoes on the tortilla. The waiting (not long) for the egg began.
Rolled up that baby and tossed some hot sauce on it. I was ready to eat that thing up!
See, it’s perfect for on the go, too! Don’t worry, I wasn’t eating and driving, just took the picture in the car before I gobbled it up.
