Deluxe Marshmallow Bars

When I saw these on Good Eats 'n Treats I knew I had to try them. They are worth making. Next time I will add more peanut butter to them.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional (I omitted these)
4 cups miniature marshmallows

Topping:
1-1/3 cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter (1 1/2 cups peanut butter)
3 tbsp butter
2 cups crisp rice cereal

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in nuts if desired. Spread in a greased 15 x 10 x 1" pan.

Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over cake; return to oven for 2-3 minutes. Using a knife dipped in water, spread the melted marshmallows evenly over cake. Cool. (I did not spread them, when I took them out of the oven they seemed fine the way they were. )

For topping, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted and well blended. Remove from heat; stir in cereal. Immediately spread over bars. Chill.

Yield: 3 dozen

AppleSauce Coffee Cake With Caramel Sauce

Today was my co-worker's Birthday. Last night I made a cake for her. I was going to bake a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, but, after going to Cookie Madness blog decided to bake her Quick Applesauce Coffee Cake. And it was worth baking. Everyone loved it. The Applesauce.. I made from scratch and my son made Caramel Sauce to go with it. This recipe is included as well.

Applesauce Streusel Coffee Cake

Cake:
1 2/3 cups cake flour or 1 ½ cups all purpose
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
3/4 cup applesauce**
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg

Streusel:
1/4 cup cake or all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash fresh nutmeg (1/8 tsp)
4 tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans (don’t need to toast)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 9 inch round spring form pan or an 8 inch square metal pan with flour-added cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, soda, cinnamon, allspice and brown sugar; set aside.

In a large bowl, mix melted butter, applesauce, sour cream, vanilla and egg. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and stir until mixed. Pour into pan.

Make streusel. In a mixing bowl or food processor, mix together all dry ingredients then cut in butter.

Sprinkle over top of cake. Sprinkle nuts over top of streusel.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown around edges.

Cool slightly. Remove sides of pan and cut into triangles.
Serves 6

I have included the site I found the Caramel Sauce Recipe.

Caramel Sauce

1 cup of sugar

6 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1. First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

2. Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir slowly with a whisk or wooden spoon.

3. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4. Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

5. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.