Food

Baby Girl and I met with our playgroup a few weeks ago and one of the moms brought these yummy bars for us that she called Oatmeal Carmelita bars. I asked her for the recipe because they pretty much rocked my world and I HAD to make them again myself. I revised the recipe a tiny bit by adding a little more salt and by using the chunky sea salt instead of table salt (I like salt), and they were even more awesome. I also changed the name to Whoa Nellie These Things Are Amazing Bars because when I tried them, that’s the first thing I thought, but the name has been shortened to Whoa Nellies. If your taste buds want to experience some super deliciousness, you need to make these things. I don’t have a picture to post here, but if I make some sometime soon I’ll take one and update this blog. Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

Whoa Nellies

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon chunky salt
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9×9 inch square pan.
2. Combine the 1 cup flour, baking soda, oats, brown sugar, salt and melted butter. Mix to combine, mixture will be very crumbly. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes.
4. Let cool slightly then sprinkle over the crust the chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Mix the caramel ice cream topping with the 3 tablespoons of flour and drizzle over the chocolate chips. Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture. You will need to break it into small pieces to cover.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Let bars cool before cutting.

A few days ago I found this picture online.

YUMMY! I had to make them! So I did some Googling and found the recipe and went to work in my kitchen. Delicious and quite easy to make! But very rich. My husband loves peanut butter, but decided that he preferred the rice krispie squares without the fudge layers on top. Since I couldn’t have these little squares of high calorie yummyness in my house, I took them to work the next day, thinking they probably wouldn’t all get eaten. Nope! Within 2 hours they were all gone! And I got rave reviews. Here’s the recipe.

Oh, one more thing. Since I should give credit where credit is due, HERE is where I found the recipe.

Rice Krispies Treats

3 tablespoons butter
1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal (or any puffed rice cereal)

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or wax paper or wet hands, evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. (You may want to line your pan with parchment paper or waxed paper large enough to have flaps hanging over the sides. This will make it easy to pull the giant block of goodness out of the pan when it’s done. If you do this, be sure to also butter the paper so the treats will not stick.) Cool. Make Peanut Butter Fudge.

Peanut Butter Fudge
recipe from Alton Brown

1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar

Microwave butter and peanut butter for 2 minutes on high. Stir and microwave on high for 2 more minutes. Add vanilla and powdered sugar to peanut butter mixture and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. Pour over the Rice Krispy treats in the pan and spread evenly. Let cool in the fridge while you make the Chocolate Fudge.

Easy Chocolate Fudge

2 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 2/3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

Combine butter, milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil; cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallows, chocolate, and vanilla. Beat for about 1 minute, or until marshmallows melt and mixture is thoroughly combined. Pour over peanut butter fudge, spread evenly and place in the fridge to harden and cool. Cut into 1-inch pieces or smaller and serve.