^^^Because this was a “gift”, I couldn’t slice it and take better pictures…you’ll just have to trust me on this one 😉

I know- that title makes no sense! These treats are called Buckeyes because they apparently look like something from the buckeye tree. But I am suggesting you make them in bar form, which is nothing like the buckeye tree, or so I assume. What is a buckeye tree anyway? And what does that have to do with chocolate and peanut butter?

^^The peanut butter mixture pressed into the pan

Whichever way you decide to make it, it is delicious and super easy and fast! If you hurry you could be eating this delicious treat in about 15 minutes. If you stop reading my ramblings about buckeye trees that is.

Past Treat of the Month posts: Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Zucchini Bread, White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, Coffee Ice Cream Pie, Lemon Squares, White Chocolate Dipped Pretzels.

Buckeye Bars

1 stick butter

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups chocolate chips

Melt butter in large pan, stir in peanut butter until melted. Stir in sugar and crumbs. Spread in greased dish. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave and spread over the bars. Refrigerate, and then cut into squares.

Jordan

We were up in Big Bear a couple of weeks ago and we checked out a local bakery, which seems to be one of my favorite things to do whenever we take vacations. I think when I grow up, I’d love to own a bakery 🙂 One of the items we got was an apple pie bar. Our version was quite a bit different than the one we got in Big Bear, but still totally delicious. We started out with our Raspberry Bar recipe and just modified it a bit. We added cinnamon to the crust, substituted apples for the the raspberry preserves, and topped it off with caramel sauce. The result was delicious and very messy!

Apple Pie Bars with Caramel Sauce

For the crust and topping:

2 sticks butter, softened

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup old fashioned oats, or rolled oats

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

For the apple filling:

about 3 apples

2 T flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. apple pie spice

Sliced almonds, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. I just used the excess butter leftover on the butter wrapping, and smeared it around.

Add the flour, both sugars, oats, cinnamon and salt to a bowl in your stand mixer. Add in the butter and egg and beat at low speed. Stop the machine and scrape the bowl down a couple of times. Keep processing until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Keep 2 cups crumb mixture aside.

Press the remaining crumb mixture on the bottom the prepared pan. Spread the prepared apple pie filling (see below) over the top of the crust. Crumble the rest of the oat mixture over the apples and then sprinkle approximately 1/4 cup of sliced almonds over the top of that. I loved the addition of the almonds. They gave the bars a yummy extra texture and looked really pretty.

Bake until lightly browned, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely and drizzle with caramel sauce before cutting into bars.

For apple pie filling: Peel and slice the apples, mix in flour, sugar, cinnamon, apple pie spice.

Cindy

This cake is so simple but so delicious. If you have a party or potluck to attend, but not a lot of time, this is the dessert for you. When we make this cake, we use the ingredients listed below, but the recipe is really quite versatile. Wouldn’t it be delicious with chocolate sauce and mint chocolate pieces instead?

Dark Chocolate Poke Cake

recipe from: Iowa Girl Eats (with some of our own modifications)

Ingredients: 

Dark chocolate cake mix of your choice

1 – 10 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk

1 – 12 ounce jar of caramel sauce

1 -8 ounce container of Cool Whip

4 ounces (1/2 a bag) of milk chocolate Heath bar toffee bits

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (if desired)

Bake cake as directed on box. Allow to cool slightly then use the bottom of a wooden spoon to poke holes halfway through cake, all over. Drizzle sweetened condensed milk and caramel topping on top then let cake cool completely. Spread Cool Whip over cooled cake then top with heath pieces and mini chocolate chips, if desired.

Cindy & Jordan