S'mores Bark

It's finally summer here in the midwest (okay - kinda. It was only mid-50's the other morning... ugh)
The days do get warmer, thank goodness! I love love love summer. I love the constant sunshine, the heat, the leafy trees, flowers, blue sky, the heat, grilling, going for walks, the heat. 
The thing I don't like about summer: it ends way too soon here! :(


When I was pregnant with my daughter, the only thing I really craved was S'mores. I can't tell you how many times I made S'mores over my 9 month pregnancy. There's a small market here that sold S'more candy bars, a brick of chocolate covered marshmallow between two graham crackers. I had to have eaten at least 4 a week. They definitely made money off of this pregnant lady! I stuck them in the fridge and they were chilled and crispy and gooey and oh so good. 

If I only would have known then, how EASY it was to make S'mores bark I would have never spent another dollar on those bars! 

So since summer is in full swing, and nothing says summer like S'mores, here is my S'more bark recipe!

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What You'll Need:

- 2 bags of your favorite chocolate chips, divided; 1 cup for the bottom layer & 2 cups for the top layer (one 10 oz bag of chocolate chips yields 2 cups)

- Half of a bag of marshmallows, or 1 cup marshmallow fluff

- 4 sheets of graham crackers, divided; 3 sheets large crumbled & 1 sheet finely crumbled

- 1 Tablespoon corn syrup or butter (omit if you use Marshmallow fluff)

For my chocolate chips I love these from Ghirardelli. The 60% cacao (bittersweet) makes these a little less sweet than milk chocolate chips. Bittersweet is definitely the way to go! But, you can choose what kind of chocolate you want to use. Milk chocolate is more of the "traditional" taste of a S'more, but I think the bittersweet tastes better with the marshmallow and graham crackers! 

Start by prepping your graham crackers. In one bowl, crumble up 3 sheets in larger crumbs. In a smaller bowl, crumble up 1 sheet into fine crumbs. These will be used later when the marshmallows are melted, and you have to use them quickly! 

Melt 1 cup of the chocolate in a double boiler (You can make one using a glass bowl over a saucepan. The saucepan will have a little bit on water on the bottom. Once the water boils the steam will melt the chocolate. Make sure the bowl is NOT touching the water in the saucepan. Also make sure none of the water or steam get into the chocolate, or it will seize and you'll have to start over. Boo.)

Once it is melted, evenly spread onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Once spread evenly, but not too thin, set in freezer for about 10 minutes. 

Before you get the first layer of chocolate out of the freezer, start making your marshmallow layer. If you are using marshmallow fluff, heat it up in the microwave until it's easily spreadable. If you are using marshmallows, heat them either in a double boiler, or in it's own saucepan. I've tried both, and I prefer to melt them in a saucepan. It makes it easier to mix and melt. The thing with marshmallows is because it is mostly sugar, it will scorch easily so you have to be constantly stirring them. Once they start to melt, add in your corn syrup or butter (butter may give it a slight yellow color). Once the marshmallows are almost melted, get your chocolate layer from the freezer. 

When the marshmallows are fully melted, pour over frozen chocolate and spread. While the marshmallows are still warm, spread the 3 sheets of large crumbled graham crackers over and press in lightly. Put in freezer for about 10 minutes or until firm.

Melt your 2 cups of chocolate chips in the same bowl you melted the chocolate chips before (yay for one less bowl to clean!) 

When the marshmallow layer has firmed up, take it out of the freezer and spread the second chocolate layer on top.

When the second layer of chocolate is still warm, sprinkle on the fine crumbs of graham crackers over top. Put the bark back in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

After 2 hours, your bark will look like this! Slide the bark off of the baking sheet and onto a cutting board. Cut into pieces as small or big as you want.

There it is! S'mores bark! You can keep in the fridge for a more chilled bark, or on the counter for a warm, slightly messy bark. Both ways are the best ways. 

Butternut Squash "Pizza" Sauce

It's been about 5 years since I've had a slice of authentic, red sauce pizza. 

Turns out, My body can't handle the red sauce. I found out the hard way :-|

I don't miss it too much, because I know I definitely don't want to feel how I felt ever again. It was terrible! So, I swore off ALL PIZZA. People, I didn't eat one single slice of pizza for a LONG TIME.

However, after about 4 years of being off the sauce, I missed being able to put a cold piece of pizza in my mouth for breakfast (anyone else like cold pizza more than warm pizza??). The PNO's will do that to you with their Pizza Friday traditions.

I had a brilliant idea. What if I used a different kind of sauce? (duh.) The olive oil pizzas were too oily for me, and I'm not a fan of pesto (wow - I swear I'm really not that picky!) 

One day I came across a recipe for butternut squash sauce. I was intrigued. Squash for pizza sauce?? Now, I have an interesting palate (peanut butter and pickle sandwiches

 anyone??) So I was willing to give it a try - and I am so glad I did! 

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What You'll Need:

- 1 medium butternut squash (a 2 pounder will yield about 3 cups)

- 2 garlic cloves (or one if it's large)

- olive oil

- salt and pepper 

- about 1/2 cup chicken broth or water (for blending)

This was a large clove of garlic so I only used one

Peel Butternut squash with potato peeler (or knife if you are feeling adventurous) 

Cut the squash in half lengthwise & scoop out the seeds

Chop up butternut squash and put in a bowl. Sprinkle about a Tablespoon of olive oil over them. Then add salt and pepper to taste. Once the chunks are coated, lay on a single layer on your baking sheet. Peel garlic and place on baking sheet too. 

Cook in a 400* oven for about 20 minutes or until they are browned and a fork can easily go through them. 

Once they are cooled slightly, add them to your blender. Pulse. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth slowly and keep pulsing until desired consistency (you may need to add more, depending on your blender and the texture you are wanting)

The blender makes it look chunkier than it is. This has no chunks, but is a thicker consistency. YUM!

Out of the blender, I mixed it a little more to smooth out the consistency from the blades. This goes great on pizza! I'll have a pizza post soon. I've also used this for baked pasta which is also tasty! 

To store leftovers, I use this great baby food storage container. They portion, AND they pop out so easy so you can just pop as many as you want in a small kettle to warm up! It's perfect! I also freeze this to last longer, especially if I know I won't use this sauce for a bit! Definitely recommend this! 

Coconut Water Popsicles

There is nothing better than enjoying a nice, cold popsicle on a summer day! 

I remember when I was little and we would have Root Beer Float popsicles almost every day during the summer! The kind with ice cream in the middle... they were so good!

As much as I would love a Root Beer Float popsicle, I probably should have something a little more healthy :) 

When I lived in Boise, I drank coconut water infused with fruit daily. I thought there had to be a way to enjoy coconut water outside without it getting warm. So, I created coconut water popsicles! Coconut water is so refreshing and it has many health benefits too!

I've done a few creations: Strawberry & Kiwi, Blueberry, and Blackberry Strawberry. My favorite has been Strawberry & Kiwi!

I started with some popsicle molds. I got these from Amazon and have used them a lot! (Especially during my first trimester of pregnancy!)

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What You'll Need:

- Popsicle molds

- 16.9 oz coconut water

- Strawberries, sliced

- Blueberries

- (any fruit you would like to have in your popsicle!)

Start by washing and drying your fruit. Get your popsicle molds ready. If you have some like the one I linked above, put them in their slots without the top on.

Next, put as much fruit in there as you would like. You can go as little or as much as it holds. Or you don't need fruit in there at all, the frozen coconut water by itself is also delicious.

After the fruit is in the molds, shake the coconut water container so the flavor that has settled on the bottom gets distributed evenly. That way, all the popsicles will have coconut flavor (If you don't shake before pouring, some popsicles will have a very faint flavor, and others will have a strong flavor).

Fill each mold up with coconut water. One thing that I've noticed with these molds are if you fill them up too much, it's harder to get the popsicle off the bottom when you are eating them. I fill mine up until just about full, maybe 1/4 inch from the top. 

(You'll use the whole container of coconut water for this)

Once they are filled, place the tops on and freeze overnight. 

When they are frozen, pop them out and enjoy! Preferably by a pool... but anywhere will work :)

Rhubarb Dream Bars

My Rhubarb plant is in FULL bloom. Or do they say it's ready for harvest? I don't know. But it's HUGE and I could pick some Rhubarb every day for the next few weeks it seems! 

The first recipe I will be baking with my rhubarb is Rhubarb Dream bars. I have never made these before. That always makes me nervous... I don't want to mess it up! But, I need to use up this rhubarb, and since I have a plethora of stalks, I decided to try!

They have a shortbread crust with a custard-like filling. I'm not a huge fan of custard, but the chunks of Rhubarb made it easy to enjoy!

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What You'll Need:

- 2 cups flour

- 3/4 cups powdered sugar

- 1 cup butter

FILLING:

- 4 eggs

- 2 cups sugar

- 1/2 cup flour

- 1/2 salt

- 4 cups rhubarb, diced

My beautiful rhubarb. I cut off the leaves so I could store it in my fridge. I wasn't planning on using it right away, and this way the giant leaves weren't taking up space! *Also, rhubarb leaves are poisonous to dogs. If you have a rhubarb plant, make sure those pups don't eat those leaves! 

This is something my mom taught me. When you prep the rhubarb, trim off the part where the leaf was, and gently take off the stringy parts of the stem. You don't HAVE to do this, it just helps so the rhubarb doesn't get stringy in the bars. *Also, please don't cut your finger doing this. 

First, you want to start with the crust. Combine the flour and powdered sugar in a bowl. Cut the sticks of butter into cubes. 

Place cubed butter in the bowl with flour and powdered sugar. 

Take your pastry cutter and mix all together until you get crumbs.

Once you've made crumbs, press them into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* for about 15 minutes, or until it's lightly browned.

When that is baking, you'll want to make your filling. Blend together eggs, flour, sugar, and salt until smooth. 

Once your mixture is well mixed, fold in your rhubarb.

When your crust is lightly browned, pour the filling over it. Bake for another 35-40 minutes (depending on your oven - keep an eye on it!) until the filling is lightly browned. 

Cut the bars once they are cooled and enjoy! As you can see, I let them get a little bit more brown then they should have, but they tasted good! The tart rhubarb with the sweet filling was delicious. The custard-y filling wasn't too custard-y, and this would be delicious warmed up with a big dollop of vanilla ice cream!