Baking has always been my favorite pastime. I make treats to help celebrate friends and family on their special days. I also bake treats for myself after hard assessments or at the end of the trimesters. During my Spring Break staycation, Serena Chon ’19 and I made Seven Layer Bars, Monster Cookies and Chocolate Chip Cookies. We decided to share our recipes with our readers!
Seven Layer Bars:
· 1 stick unsalted butter
· 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
· 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
· 1 cup butterscotch chips
· 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
· 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
· 1 1/3 cups shredded coconut
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Step 2:
Melt a stick of butter in a bowl. Pour the butter into your 8x8 inch pan, and coat the pan with butter.
Step 3:
Crush your graham crackers, and spread them evenly at the bottom of your pan to mix the crumbs with the butter. Layer the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips and walnuts over the graham cracker crumbs. Pour the condensed milk over the nuts. Sprinkle coconut shreds over the top.
Step 4:
Bake until the edges and coconut shreds look golden brown (about 20-25 minutes). Let the bars cool before you cut them.
Our reviews:
Caroline’s mom walked into the kitchen and exclaimed, “They smell like seven heaven bars!”
Serena commented, “The seven layer bars have always been one of my favorite desserts since I was a kid. You can taste every layer melt into your mouth. It’s so sweet and crunchy. The graham cracker gives it enough saltiness/crispness that helps balance the bar.” Caroline said, “It is a perfect balance of sweet and salty. They are as enjoyable right out of the oven as they are two or even three days later.”
Monster Cookies:
· 3 eggs
· 1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· ½ teaspoon salt
· ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
· 1 12 – ounce jar creamy peanut butter
· 1 stick butter, softened
· ½ cup M&M’s
· ½ cup chocolate chips (I do a ¼ cup milk chocolate, ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate)
· ¼ cup raisins (optional)
· 2 teaspoons baking soda
· 4 ½ cups quick-cooking oatmeal (Do not use instant. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t work. Trust me I have tried…)
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat.
Step 2:
In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar and your eggs. Add in the salt, vanilla, peanut butter and butter. Mix it all well. Then stir in the chocolate chips, M&M’s, raisins (if you are using them), baking soda and oatmeal.
Step 3:
After your cookies are completely mixed, use a teaspoon or a small ice cream scooper to form the cookies. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto your prepared cookie sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. Make sure they are just the right shade of golden brown. After taking the trays out of the oven, let the cookies cool for 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack or plate. After the cookies are completely cool, store them in a resealable plastic bag, Tupperware or air tight container.
Overall Review:
These are very different from chocolate chip cookies because they crumble in your mouth and do not have much of a structure to them. If you like peanut butter or oatmeal cookies, you should definitely try these out!
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies:
· 1 stick of unsalted butter
· ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
· ¾ cup sugar
· 2 eggs
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 1 (12-ounce) bag of semisweet chocolate chips or 6 ounces milk chocolate, 6 ounces semisweet chocolate
· 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon salt
· ¾ teaspoon baking soda
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick mats.
Step 2:
Melt the butter, and let it cool slightly. Whisk in both types of sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla in a mixing bowl until the mixture is smooth.
Step 3:
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Then slowly add it into the butter and egg mixture. After all of the dry ingredients are incorporated, stir in the chocolate chips.
Step 4:
Scoop the cookie dough into heaping tablespoons. After wetting your hands slightly, roll the dough into balls, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake until they are golden brown around the edges (about 12-16 minutes). Cook them longer for crunchy cookies or for less time if you want something chewier.
Overall Review:
The cookies are your perfect classic chocolate chip cookies! They are made from scratch, so they have a great buttery flavor. If you press the cookies down during the baking process, they will become more chewy or more crispy, depending on how long you press them down. If you are a chocolate lover, you can double or triple this recipe and make chocolate cookies by adding ¾ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder into the cookie mix.
Rocky Road Bars:
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF
Step 2:
Use the cookies dough from the chocolate chip cookie recipe above, and add ¾ cup of walnuts into the mixture.
Step 3:
Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan.
Step 4:
Bake for 25-30 minutes (until golden brown on top)
Step 5:
Take the pan out of the oven, sprinkle 1 ½ cups of milk chocolate chips on top and let them melt. After the chocolate chips melt, use a butter knife to spread them evenly on the top. When the chocolate is spread into an even layer, stick marshmallows on top (about ¾ of a bag of big marshmallows).
Step 6:
Place the pan back into the oven, and toast the marshmallows until they are brown (about 5 minutes on 350ºF). Make sure you keep watching them so that they do not burn or get over cooked. Cool for about 10-15 minutes, and then cut and serve them (if the chocolate still runs too much after 15 minutes, put the bars into the refrigerator for 15 minutes or the freezer for 5-10 minutes).
Overall review:
These bars have similar taste to a s’mores. We recommend that people eat the bars the same day they make them because they are hard to save and are best warm.