Finally back and Frosted Banana Bars.....

Well, it's been forever since I've shared anything here. Lots have happened, some not so great (actually quite terrible) and some awesome.....isn't that life? I'm hoping to get back into posting here. I'm finally getting my creativity back and have lots of projects that I'm working on.

But for now, I'll share with you a recipe for an awesome dessert bar that I made today. This is one of those recipes that copies went around of when I was working several years ago. We used to have big pot lucks for lunch a couple of times a year and these bars were made one time. They are so good and I had some bananas sitting around that desperately needed to be turned into something yummy, so this is what I made. I hope you enjoy!

One quick note......this is supposed to be baked in a 15"x10"x1" baking pan and I don't have one, so I used my baking dish that was a bit smaller. Needless to say, when the 25 minutes of cooking time was up, my bars weren't even close to being done. I ended up cooking them at least 15-20 minutes longer. So, if you are using a smaller pan, be sure to add some time and just keep watching them until they are done. :-)

Frosted Banana Bars:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

Frosting:

1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

3-3/4 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add the creamed mixture. Stir in bananas. Spread into a greased 15"x10"x1" baking pan. Bake at 350F degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool.

For the frosting, in a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Gradually beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve desired consistency. Frost bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Yum.

Bake Sale Madness - Valentine's edition - pt 3

Here is the last thing that I made for the bake sale this past weekend. Cookie Pops. These were A LOT of work! lol It took me 3 days to finish these. I made the cookies one day, decorated them the next, then packaged them on the third. These cookies need a full day to sit after the glaze has been put on them. The glace icing needs plenty of time to dry, especially if you are going to package them in bags, like I did. But, WOW!!!! Oh my gosh! These are the cookies that I drool over whenever I go to our local bakery. I always buy an iced sugar cookie. ALWAYS! lol And, now I know how to make them. It's all in the icing, I tell ya. That's what really makes these cookies taste so awesome!

I used the recipes and instructions from the Our Best Bites website. I have to tell you that this recipe site is AWESOME!!!! Be sure to sign up to get their updates! The recipes and ideas shared here are the best!

Here are the links for you:

Valentine Sugar Cookie Pops Tutorial
Sugar Cookie Recipe
Glace Recipe and Tutorial

The biggest struggle that I had with making these is PATIENCE! lol I don't have much. Actually, my Mom has always told me that I inherited all of my patience from my dad and he didn't have any. lol But, you have to be patient with the icing, make sure it's set well, etc. I wasn't patient. I went around each heart with the thicker icing and didn't wait long enough for that outline to dry well. So, when I went to fill in the cookie w/ the thinner icing, it all ran off of the edges. At first I was really upset, but then I decided to just go with it and I started drizzling pink and red icing all over the cookies and off the edges, instead of trying to have the icing perfectly on top of each cookie. The other thing that I will do next time, is to use two colors that have a high contrast in them. I used pink and red and they looked pretty, but the two colors we so similar, the cookies just didn't pop like I wanted them to. While I used up some extra icing that wasn't colored, I covered the cookies in white and then drizzled red icing on top. Now that really popped and looks so awesome!!! You can see them in the bottom left corner in the picture above. You also need space for these to sit out and dry. I am lucky enough to have a long counter top in my kitchen, because those cookies were sitting out for quiet awhile!

My kids are begging me to make more of these, because I only save a few for us to try. The rest went to the sale. They didn't like that very well! lol St. Patrick's Day is coming up........I just might have to make some shamrock cookies w/ glace icing! I hope you try these.....they really are YUMMY!!!!!!

Bake Sale Madness - Valentine's edition - pt 2

How fun are these? This is another goodie that I made for the bake sale and perfect for Valentine's Day!

I found that the easiest way to press each layer into the pan was to lay a piece of wax paper on top of each mixture and then press. That way the cereal/marshmallow mixture doesn't stick to your hands. I tried buttering my hands and that didn't work as well as using wax paper.

Neapolitan Krispie Bars-

1 pkg (10 oz) large marshmallows - I just divided them up evenly into 3 piles
3 Tlbs. butter, divided
2 cups Cocoa Krispies cereal
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal, divided
1/2 cup strawberry jam
5 drops red food coloring, optional

In a large saucepan, combine a third of the marshmallows and 1 Tlbs. butter. cook and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Remove from the heat; stir in Cocoa Krispies and chocolate chips. Press into a greased 11x7 inch dish.

In a large saucepan, combine a third of the marshmallows and 1 Tlbs. butter. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Remove from the heat; stir in 2 cups of the Rice Krispies. Press into dish over chocolate layer.

In a large saucepan, combine remaining marshmallows and 1 Tlbs. butter. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until melted. Remove from heat; stir in jam and food coloring. Stir in 2 cups Rice Krispie cereal. Press into the dish. Cool. Cut into bars.

Here is how I packaged them up for the bake sale. I placed each bar on top of a square of wax paper before placing them in the bag.

Yummy!!!!

Bake Sale Madness - Valentine's edition - pt 1

Those of you who have been visiting me since October might remember my crazy bake sale frenzy. lol If not, be sure to go here to read (and see!) all about it here and here. ;-) Well, I did it again. I guess I need to just come out and say it. I'm a bake sale over-achiever. lol I just can't help it. The sale was being held to help my daughter's 8th grade class raise money for the gift that they will be giving to their school/church. So, this is a big thing and I wanted to help out as much as I could.....lol I can bake. So, boy did I ever bake! So, here we go w/ Part 1 of my Valentine edition of bake sale madness!!!!


Candy Cane Pops

I have two things to say about these. EASY and DARLING!!!!!! Oh my gosh. These were SO EASY!!!! I wish that I had more candy canes, but I only had enough stashed away to make about 14 of these. I had hidden a box of mini candy canes back in December and had forgotten about them. My little Gracie LOVES them, so I had to keep them out of her site or she would have been wanting one all of the time! lol I can tell you for sure that I will not forget about this recipe when December rolls around. I am planning on buying boxes and boxes of mini candy canes so that I can make tons of these. You could even use Christmas sprinkles and decorate them as Christmas treats! I just LOVE these!!!!! You can find out how to make them at the Pleasant Home site. I accidentally found this blog and I am in total love with it already!

So, this was the easiest thing that I made for this round of bake sale madness.....now on to Part 2! Stay with me! It keeps getting yummier and yummier!!!!