Peppermint Bark

It's Christmas time! And with Christmas comes Christmas baking! The first thing on my list year was to make this delicious peppermint bark. It was actually inspired by the peppermint Guiredelli Chocolate square.

Peppermint Bark

2lbs. white chocolate chips
about 1 1/2 c. crushed peppermint candy
1/2t. peppermint extract (optional)

Crush the peppermint candy. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes. If not done, heat for additional 15 seconds until the chips are just slightly melted. Add the peppermint extract and candy thouroughly. Pour over wax paper (or aluminum foil), and spread thinly and evenly. Allow bark to cool for about 30 minutes. When cooled, break into uneven pieces.

Bisquick Pumpkin Bars

So...It's a Tuesday night. THE Tuesday night after classes have ended for Thanksgiving Break. And where am I? I'm alone at home in the apartment, just enjoying movies and goodies. But, I told myself I  wasn't going to make anything tonight. At all. And I had a few reasons:

1. I'm leaving tomorrow to go to my friend Whitney's house for Thanksgiving, and I didn't want food to go to waste. (Well, then I realized I would just take them with me.)
2. It's a Tuesday night. Usually I try to wait until the weekend to bake. But, it feels like Friday anyways, and school's done for the week, so why not?
3. I didn't have enough flour. This was a no brainer, though. I have Bisquick. Problem solved.


I'm relatively new to the Bisquick idea, I was introduced to it this semester by my roommate Christine. However, I've quickly come to see that it is fantastic, and I don't want to live without it anymore...because you can use it to make so many things. Like pumpkin bars.




So here's the recipe I found on Betty Crocker:

Bars

2 cups Original Bisquick® mix

2cups granulated sugar1/2

½ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

4 eggs, beaten

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

½ cup raisins

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of 15x10x1-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray.

                         In large bowl, beat all bar ingredients except raisins with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in raisins. Pour into pan.

                        Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 2 hours.

                         In medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Gradually beat in powdered sugar on low speed until smooth. Spread over bars. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Makes 48 bars

Ok. So I made a few modifications to this recipe. First, I have a ton of applesauce that was given to me by a friend. And by a ton, I really mean a lot. And I haven't used much. So I substituted applesauce for oil. Also, I used 1/2 white sugar 1/2 brown sugar, just for kicks. And the fact that I find brown sugar delicious. Also, I decided that I just needed more cinnamon (about 1 teaspoon). I also found that the batter was still a little too bland, so I added about 1 teaspoon of ginger. And lastly, I don't have any raisins, and I simply love chocolate chips so much better, so I used those as well. 

Now, I was a little skeptical about this for a few reasons. First, Bisquick? Really? It's pancake mix. Also, the batter didn't taste the same as normal pumpkin bar batter. But it made the apartment smell delicious, so we will have to see in about 15 minutes when it comes out of the oven. Take that back, it actually needed about 50 minutes total in the oven.

The verdict?


Success! They are delicious and taste exactly the same as if I didn't make them with Bisquick.