I've never had a fluffernutter sandwich. It sounds like something that would be right up my alley, but I think I may have missed the window of time where making a sandwich out of marshmallow fluff and peanut butter was acceptable. It's possible I missed out on some essential part of youth. On the other hand, I've had enough peanut butter sandwiches and recipes with marshmallow fluff to have a pretty good idea of what it would taste like. 

So, when I saw these Chocolate Chip Fluffernutter Bars on Back for Seconds I was all for it. As I've said before, I prefer cookies to bars because a lot of bar recipes are dry and crumbly. Not this one. I obviously couldn't wait long enough for them to completely cool before digging in (you can tell by looking at her photos versus mine), but they were still the perfect consistency even the next day. I couldn't tell you how they fared on day three due to the fact that only an empty pan remained. Whoops.

I added semi-sweet chunks instead of the chips which took the chocolate factor up a notch. I used to use the Nestle Chunks all the time until for some reason they disappeared from the shelves of my local grocery stores (just like Rainbow Chip Icing - RIP). Thankfully there is a small corner store by my house that still has them, so I grabbed a bag for these bars. One of my roommates usually hates peanut butter desserts--strange, I know--but even she liked these. I think I managed to have 10 different taste-testers in the 36 hours after I made them, and everyone gave them a thumbs up.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Fluffernutter Bars
Slightly adapted from Back for Seconds

Serves 32

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (softened) 
3/4 cups creamy peanut butter 
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks
1 3/4 cup mini marshmallows

Directions
Preheat oven to 350
In a mixing bowl cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing briefly after each. Add in vanilla. Slowly mix in salt, baking soda, and flour until just incorporated.
With the mixer on low or with a spatula, gently mix in marshmallows and chocolate chips for just a few seconds until they are distributed throughout the batter.
Spread into a greased 9x13" pan and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. You will think it needs more time because the center will slightly jiggle, but rest assured, it's done! It will set after cooling completely. Do not overbake.
Cool completely and cut into squares. Store in a tightly sealed container. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)

• 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter

• 1 cup brown sugar (packed)

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

• 1 1/2 cup mini marshmallows

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 In a mixing bowl cream together the butter, peanut butter, and sugars. Add the eggs and mix again. Gradually mix in salt, baking soda, and flour just until incorporated. Gently mix in marshmallows and chocolate chips. Spread into a greased 9x13" pan and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. The center will jiggle slightly from the marshmallows but it will set after it cools - do not over bake. cool completely and cut into squares. Store in a tightly sealed container.

Read more at http://backforsecondsblog.com/2014/03/fluffernutter-chocolate-chip-bars/#Dxj3G4h0kvAITkKt.99

 

I've never understood coffee cakes that skimp on the crumb topping. That seems to me one of the most essential parts of a coffee cake. Then again, when I come across a recipe that doesn't seem to have enough topping I just double it, so it's not like I let those crumbless cakes interfere with my high crumb standards anyways.

This recipe takes the topping to a whole new level. It is piled on there to the extent that it ends up being about 2/3 cake and 1/3 crumb. I guess that's what makes it New York-style? I'm from the south, so that's just my best guess based on the title. Per usual, I tried pieces at all temperatures over the course of the time it was on my counter (just so I could report back, obviously), and my favorite was heated up for about 15 seconds. The cake itself is relatively dense when it's just room temperature, though not in a bad way. Heating it makes it seem much lighter and the cake flavor came through stronger as well.  That's just my personal preference for this recipe. That's not to say I didn't like it room temperature. I ate it that way day one and two, and heated it after that to combat the inevitable drying out that usually occurs as coffee cakes sit out. All-in-all, this is a delicious coffee cake, and I highly recommend everyone trying it out!

As a side note - sorry for the delay in posts. I was out of town for a few weekends, moved to a new house which meant everything was a bit chaotic in the kitchen realm for awhile, and then my computer decided to start moving at a snail's pace, which in turn meant I couldn't go through my pictures without wanting to smash it into a million pieces. The computer issue hasn't been resolved, but I'll work on my patience or stop being lazy and take it by the Apple Store. The good news is my new house has plenty of light so hopefully you'll start getting pictures that look much better than these (...which were taken in a basement apartment that was pretty much void of sunlight).

New York Style Crumb Cake
Recipe from Kitchen Meets Girl
Ingredients

For the crumb topping:
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 3/4 cup cake flour

For the cake:
• 1 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

For the glaze:
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons Green Mountain Vanilla Iced Latte (I just used

Instructions

1. Place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 8x8 pan with baking spray and then line with parchment paper, allowing a few inches of excess to hang over the edges of the dish.
For the topping:
2. Whisk both sugars, cinnamon, salt and butter in a medium bowl. Add flour and stir until the mixture resembles a thick dough. Allow to cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
For the cake:
3. Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed. With the mixer running, add in butter pieces one at a time. Beat until mixture resembles moist crumbs and no butter pieces remain. Add the egg and egg yolk, vanilla and buttermilk. Beat until light and fluffy.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Break apart crumb mixture and spread it evenly over the batter, starting at the edges and working in towards the center. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then remove cake from pan.
For the glaze:
5. While the cake is cooling, whisk together powdered sugar and the Green Mountain Vanilla Iced Latte. If the glaze is too thick, add in more liquid until desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over cooled cake.