Gooey Bars

Here is another recipe that is great for the holidays and would make a great gift for the person who has everything but is a lover of sweets. These Gooey Bars are very rich and decadent and so very easy to make. With a combination of chocolate, cranberries, and coconut, it is sure to please everyone. The best part, they are gooey and yummy!

Gooey Bars

1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 bag (12 oz) chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut

Combine the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs. Spray 13x9x2 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Pat down graham cracker crumbs into bottom of pan for the bottom crust. Pour sweetened condensed milk all over the crust covering all the crust. Add chocolate chips; then cranberries and nuts; finally top with coconut.
Bake in 350 oven (325 for glass dish) for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cool completely, then cut and serve. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Notes:
- Arrange these in decorative tins for a great gift giving idea.
- Substitute raisins for the cranberries if desired.
- Substitute any type of nuts for pecans; the pecans are my nut of choice.
- Also great with crushed chocolate cookie crust instead of graham crackers.

Peanut Butter and Jam Bars

If you like peanut butter and jam... this is a great dessert to make. It is very easy and tastes just awesome! I used my own homemade raspberry freezer jam to make this, but you can use any kind of jam with this recipe.



Peanut Butter and Jam Bars

1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. shortening
1/2 C. peanut butter
1 egg
1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C. raspberry jam (or other berry flavor that is your favorite)
Glaze (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugars, shortening, peanut butter, and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Reserve 1 cup of dough. Press remaining dough in ungreased rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches. Spread with jam. Crumble reserved dough and sprinkle over jam. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Prepare glaze and drizzle over bars. Makes 32 bars.

Glaze
2 Tbsp margarine or butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 tsp hot water

Melt margarine and mix in powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat in water, 1 tsp at a time until smooth and desired consistency.

Notes:
- For the glaze, I only added enough water to get a glaze that could be piped on rather than drizzled for a more frosting effect.
- For the glaze, I did not melt the butter first because I wanted more of a frosting consistency than a drizzle.
- The plate decoration is just heated raspberry jam until it is of a drizzling consistency used like a garnish on the plate. I just heated it until just warm so that it drizzles nice.