Bready or Not: Maple-Glazed Cinnamon Chip Bars
Most of the sweet treats I make go with my husband to his work. These Maple-Glazed Cinnamon Chip Bars left everyone there dazzled and amazed.
I confess, they turned out even better than I anticipated, too, though I knew from the start they combine many of my favorite things: soft and chewy blondie bars, cinnamon chips, more cinnamon and sugar on top, and a touch of maple glaze.
I actually debated whether or not the glaze was necessary. Would it be too sweet?
I soon found out that no, the glaze was not too sweet. It adds just a little extra oomph to complement the existing sweetness in the bars.
The bars travel keep and travel well, too. I kept them chilled in the fridge–I live near Phoenix, after all, my kitchen tends to be warm year-round–in sealed containers, with waxed paper between stacked layers. We found the bars were amazing after three days, but it’s kind of a miracle they lasted even that long.
These things are GOOD. Really good. Even by Bready or Not standards.
Modified from Taste of Home 13×9 Holiday Special Issue, 2015.
Bready or Not: Maple-Glazed Cinnamon Chip Bars
Ingredients
Bars
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, softened
- 2 cups brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup cinnamon chips
Topping
- 1 Tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Glaze
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 13x9 baking pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar, followed by the eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Fold in the cinnamon chips.
- Spread batter in the pan. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle them all across the top of the batter.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and the middle passes the toothpick test. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
- To make the glaze, combine all three ingredients in a small bowl until smooth in texture. Drizzle over top of bars and let set for fifteen minutes.
- Use foil to lift contents onto cutting board. Slice into bars. Store in an airtight container between layers of wax paper, either at room temperature or refrigerated.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Healthy Breakfast Cookies [Redux]
Cookies for breakfast. Healthy cookies. No refined sugars. Vegan. Also gluten-free, if you use GF oats.
Even better: they taste delicious.
This is one of my favorite breakfast recipes, one I’ve made at least once a month for the past five years. In fact, I posted it on Bready or Not back in 2014. Delicious as the cookies are, I couldn’t finagle the lighting then to do the recipe justice. Now, thanks to my Shotbox, I can.
I customize these cookies based on my mood and what I have on hand. I’ve used macadamia nut butter, cashew butter, and almond butter–and combinations thereof. I’ve used apple butter, pumpkin butter, and date butter–and in a pinch, I’ve used applesauce and doubled the cinnamon.
For the dried fruit, I often use a mix of golden raisins and dried cranberries, but I’ve thrown in dried blueberries, too. If you don’t have pepitas, use sunflower kernels or other chopped nuts.
I usually whip up a batch and freeze 2/3 of it right away. The cookies keep perfectly fine in a room temperature sealed container for over a week. Two or three cookies make for a great breakfast prior to exercising!
Did I mention they are also delicious?
Bready or Not: Healthy Breakfast Cookies [Redux]
Ingredients
- 2 cups quick oats not whole or old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup nut butter
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
- 3/4 cup fruit butter apple butter, date butter, etc
- 1 cup dried fruit raisins, cranberries, etc
- 1/2 cup pepitas shelled pumpkin seeds or other seeds or nuts
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats, or use seasoned stoneware.
- Combine all of the ingredients into a large bowl.
- Using a tablespoon or tablespoon scoop, drop dollops of dough onto cookie sheet. Note that it won't spread. Use fingers to gently tamp down top and press in stray oats on the sides; it will be a little sticky.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are just set. Cool for several minutes before transitioning them to a rack to finish cooling.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Lemony. Fresh. Perfection. Those words are the best way to describe these incredible bars.
Not only are these delicious, but they are easy to make. A food processor is especially handy as you can chop up the nuts and then add in the rest of the crust ingredients, too.
To soften the cream cheese for the filling, leave it at room temperature for a bit, or do what I usually do: place the cheese on a plate and microwave for like 5 seconds. Then flip it over and zap again, if needed. It just needs to be soft enough to blend, not cooked.
I confess, I sometimes get nervous when I do dessert bars with bottom crusts. Because sometimes, no matter how I compress them into the pan, they fall apart when the bars are cut apart. Not so here! They were surprisingly cohesive. (Here’s hoping you have the same experience.)
That cohesiveness makes these dangerously easy to eat. These bars have it all going on. Buttery crumb. Nutty crunches here and there. Vivid lemon flavor in the creamy filling.
I’d like to report how long these can last in the fridge, but I don’t know. I make these bars, and they are suddenly GONE. Poof.
Bready or Not Original: Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks , softened
Filling
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 16 oz cream cheese 2 boxes, softened
- 2 lemons zested and juiced
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Prepare a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and nonstick spray. Preheat oven at 350-degrees.
- Use a food processor (or knife and cutting board) to chop up pecans to small pieces. Add flour, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, and butter to bowl, and blend with pecans until crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mix; press the rest into the prepared pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until it's just turning golden.
- As the crust bakes, combine all of the filling ingredients until fairly smooth.
- Pull the crust out of the oven. Pour filling over the top and smooth to the edges. Crumble the reserved crust across the top.
- Bake for another 30 to 35 minutes, until the edges are golden and the middle is set.
- Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes to an hour, then place in the fridge to completely chill.
- Use the foil to lift the bars onto a cutting board for easy slicing. Store in a sealed container in the fridge.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Sugar Cookie Bars
Frosted sugar cookies are awesome, but let’s be honest–they are kind of a pain. Individual cookies that need to be frosted individually. It’s time-consuming and messy.
Simplify the process! Make sugar cookie bars. Bake up the whole pan in under 25 minutes. Let it cool. Frost. Slice. EAT.
The cookies are like shortbread in texture, buttery and firm. The frosting layer is just the right thickness and sweetness.
Color the frosting however you wish; I like to use Americolor dyes. And sprinkles. Sprinkles make everything better, right?
The end result is a basic and delicious frosted sugar cookie. They’re easy to pack for a party or potluck, too–stack them in a container with wax paper between the layers!
Modified from Lauren’s Latest.
Bready or Not: Sugar Cookie Bars
Ingredients
bars
- 1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks , softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
frosting
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, softened
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 - 4 Tablespoons milk or half & half
- food dye
- sprinkles if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 9x13 baking dish with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and white sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and both extracts, then the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
- Evenly compress the dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Completely cool.
- To make the frosting, beat together the butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, two tablespoons milk, and a few drops of food dye. Add more milk to reach a spreadable consistency. Lift the uncut cookie bar out by the foil, then spread frosting on top. Add sprinkles. Slice bars. Store in a sealed container, stacked between wax paper layers.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Apple Butter Oatmeal Cookies
If you love apples and oatmeal cookies, this unique recipe combines those loves in a delicious new form!
These Apple Butter Oatmeal Cookies are thin and super chewy. Don’t substitute applesauce here. You need real apple butter, homemade or store-bought.
The dough can be finicky to work with. I use well-seasoned stoneware for my cookies, and I was surprised that my first batch completely stuck to the pan. After over a decade of seasoning the stoneware, that almost never happens!
The solution is simple: parchment paper. Keep it on the paper to bake and to cool, allowing the cookies to completely set. That doesn’t take long.
The end result is a thin, chewy oatmeal cookie with a rich apple flavor. I’ve never had anything quite like them!
Modified from Apple Butter Cookies in Best Loved Cookies & Bars by Taste of Home.
Bready or Not: Apple Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter half stick, softened
- 2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons apple butter
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
Instructions
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, oats, and apple butter.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Gradually mix them into the butter mix, followed by the pecans and raisins. Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper; note that the paper is a necessity, as this dough is very sticky. Scoop dough by teaspoonful, with lots of space between each dollop to account for spreading.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Use parchment paper to lift the cookies onto a rack to cool, and put fresh paper on the cookie sheet. Prepare the next batch. By the time the next cookies are baked, the previous batch should be set and ready to move off the cooling rack.
- Pack cookies with parchment or wax paper between layers, as they might stick together.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not Original: Vanilla Granola Cookies
Vanilla Granola Cookies! Because granola makes everything healthier, right?
The clearance aisle at the grocery store bequeathed me with super-cheap vanilla granola with a close expiration date, so I decided to make cookies with it.
Weirdly enough, there weren’t many granola cookie recipes out there–and certainly none that appealed to me. I decided to greatly modify a couple oatmeal cookie recipes to get what I wanted.
I was most worried about getting the balance of sugar just right, since granola is already sweet on its own. Keep that in mind when you make this, too–granolas vary a lot, so tweak the sugar as necessary!
These cookies have a great, unique texture. I tried not to break up granola clumps too much, and the mix of granola throughout creates sporadic crunchiness in otherwise soft cookies.
Notice the different backdrops for my food pictures? That’s my new Shotbox in action! Most of my new recipes from here on will include at least some pictures from the Shotbox. It’s a cool, collapsible, and portable photo light studio.
I love my Shotbox. (And no, I’m not being paid anything to say that. I bought this during a Kickstarter and I had to wait a long time for the product to arrive. Totally worth the wait.)
Bready or Not Original: Vanilla Granola Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups vanilla granola
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the soft butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and two eggs until the mix is light. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Gently blend in the granola, trying to not break apart all of the clumps, and the white chocolate chips.
- Place tablespoon-sized dollops of dough on the ready sheet, spacing them out to allow for expansion. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes, until the edges are slightly brown and the middle is still soft. Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Cookies keep for days in sealed container at room temperature.
- OM NOM NOM!
