Bake or Break

Caramel-Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

On my refrigerator, there is a little card from Penzeys that reads, “Love people. Cook them tasty food.” With all the things I bake, sometimes I like to come up with something especially for a particular person. In the case of these bars, my intention was to make something for Quinn.

I incorporated a few of his favorite things, like caramel and chocolate. If I had been making these for anyone else, I would likely have included some chopped nuts. When given the choice, he opted to leave those out of the equation. In this case, I have to admit that he was right.

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Lemon Ice-Box Bars

I’m sure at least a few of you are thinking that lemon bars are not exactly ground-breaking material. But, these are not your typical lemon bars. No, these are far better. They’re like lemon bars for grown-ups.

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Cookie Dough Billionaire Bars

Remember the Cookie Dough-lympics I told you about last week? I made this no-bake cheesecake using Lindsay’s eggless cookie dough from her new book, The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook.

I also couldn’t resist making one of the recipes from the book. These bars, with their shortbread crust and caramel and cookie dough and chocolate just called to me. It wasn’t subtle. They were practically begging to be made.

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Salty Chocolate Chunk Blondies

As you’ve probably noticed, I adore the combination of salty and sweet. From cookies to brownies to cake, a little salt with your sweet just elevates some desserts to magical levels.

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Snickerdoodle Bars

A few years ago, I made Snickerdoodles for the first time, overcoming my strange childhood aversion to them. Since then, however, I don’t recall baking them another time. That’s certainly not due to any dislike of those lovely, cinnamon-y cookies. It’s really just a consequence of having a baking blog. Recipes rarely get made multiple times.

While I may not have made Snickerdoodles again, I did find this recipe for them in bar form. If you are fan of all there is to love about Snickerdoodles – all that brown sugar and cinnamon – then you’re sure to love these, too.

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Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

New York seems to be having a seasonal identity crisis. We had a few days of spring-like temperatures, and then fell back into something resembling winter again. No matter the weather, this time of year always has me thinking of light, fruity desserts.

This recipe came about as I was contemplating how to make a lemon dessert without it being so lemon-y that I wouldn’t like it. I’m more of a citrus-in-small-doses fan. I decided to add blueberry to the mix to make things a bit more interesting.

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