Bready or Not: Biscoff Fluffernutter Bars
Air conditioning is what makes Phoenix habitable, but even that has limits. We keep our air set at 82-degrees. This keeps us comfortable but is still not quite cool enough for some stuff in our kitchen.
The chocolate chips in my pantry go soft. Miniature candy bars, stockpiled from holiday clearance sales, goes outright melty. Marshmallows and caramels begin to fossilize. I keep some things in the fridge but I can’t get all of it in there.
This means I obviously need to start baking and use up the stuff while it’s still good.
Traditional fluffernutter bars use peanut butter. You can certainly do that here–or use any nut butter–but I used my good ol’ Biscoff spread because, as you all know, I’m obsessed with the stuff. It makes everything taste like cookie dough. What’s not to love? I also used half a bag of mini marshmallows (you’ll find out what I did with the other half in another recipe) and a bag of chocolate chips.
You know what’s cool about using marshmallows in a recipe like this? CAVERNS. It creates pockets of invisible sweetness. Look! See?
My husband took this to work and it was, um, popular. The whole 9×13 pan’s worth of bars just kinda vanished and he had recipe requests.
I don’t believe in secret recipes. Share the love. If that love happens to involve chocolate, Biscoff spread, and marshmallows, all the better.
Recipe greatly adapted from Back for Seconds.
Bready or Not: Biscoff Fluffernutter Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 3/4 cups creamy Biscoff spread or nut butter
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 5 ounces mini marshmallows half bag
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Prepare a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil or parchment and apply nonstick spray.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, Biscoff spread (or nut butter), and sugars. Add the eggs and blend in, followed by all of the dry ingredients. Gently fold in marshmallows and chocolate chips. It'll be thick.
- Spread the dough into the pan and even out. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges. The center will jiggle slightly from the marshmallows but it will set after it cools.
- Cool completely and cut into squares. Store in a tightly sealed container.
OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Glazed Maple Blondies
I’m ripping off recreating my own recipe.
Last fall I shared Maple Truffle Blondies. It consisted of three layers: maple blondies, cream cheese and pulverized maple cookies, and a maple glaze.
So I wondered, hey, those blondies are really good. I have more maple creme cookies to use up. I do have cream cheese, but I don’t want to use it right now. Let’s knock this down to two layers and see what results.
The result: WOW.
Maple goodness, let me tell you. The blondie is chewy and not overly sweet, so that glaze is perfection. Sweet, but not cloyingly so like some frostings are. If you want, you could also mix nuts (pecans would be great, I imagine) into the blondies or sprinkle them on the glaze.
Before the glaze…
The maple creme cookies are a Christmas seasonal thing in some areas, but I can find them year-round at Fresh & Easy or Sprouts Farmers Markets. If you can’t find them, just sub in Golden Oreos and add more maple flavor, or omit entirely. It would make for thinner bars, but they would still be awesome.
If you love maple, you gotta make this.
Bready or Not: Glazed Maple Blondies
Ingredients
For maple blondies:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 Tablespoons butter melted
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 maple creme cookies box
For glaze:
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar sifted
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tb butter melted
- 3/4 tsp maple flavoring vanilla will do in a pinch
- 2 + Tb milk almond milk works!
Instructions
- Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
- Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Set aside. Coarsely chop the cookies. Reserve 1/4 cup of the finer crumbs.
- In a mixing bowl, blend the butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Add the eggs and vanilla. Pour in the flour mix until just combined, then stir in the chocolate chips and cookie pieces.
- Spread batter in the pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the blondie layer cool completely. Place in fridge for a while, if necessary.
- Combine glaze ingredients in bowl. Add enough milk so that the icing is spreadable but not runny. Immediately dollop over blondies and smooth it out. Immediately sprinkle on the reserved crumbs. Use fingers to gently press in.
- Place pan in fridge to set for hour or two before slicing. Store in fridge.
OM NOM NOM.
Bready or Not: Cardamom Toffee Coffee Blondies
My modified version of this recipe came about because I misread the original name on Pinterest. It was “Cardamom Coffee Blondies,” but at first glance I thought it said “Toffee.” Which sounded really good.
Once I read the recipe, I knew I had it in my power to make these with coffee and toffee. That’s because I had a bag of Heath Bits with Milk Chocolate stashed in my fridge.
The flavors here play very well together. You have the lovely flavor of cardamom, the sweetness of toffee, the touch of chocolate, and the incorporated espresso powder. It sounds like a lot, but it works.
The texture is amazing, too. These are soft, chewy, and keep well for several days at room temp or in a closed container in the fridge (a necessity in Arizona, alas).
Bready or Not: Cardamom Toffee Coffee Blondies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder heaping
- 1 Tbsp ground cardamom heaping
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 bag of Heath bits with chocolate or chop up some Heath or other toffee bars
For the top
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Prepare a 9x13 pan by lining it with parchment or aluminum foil and apply butter or nonstick spray.
- Cream the butter, espresso powder, cardamom and sugars together until fluffy; this takes several minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet, mixing just until combined. Add the bag of Heath Bits last.
- Spread the thick batter into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips across the top and gently press in.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges are set and the middle passes the toothpick test. Don't over bake! Let cool a while before cutting.
OM NOM NOM.
