Homemade Samoas

...to be typed in later...

Peanut butter chocolate layer bars

This recipe was adapted from a 7-layer brownie recipe. I was worried about it being too overly sweet or peanut-buttery, but when the bars disappeared within 24 hours, I realized maybe it was just right. They are intense, but very tasty!

Ingredients

1 box Ghiradelli double chocolate brownie mix

1 stick butter

Streusel (recipe below)

1 cup mini peanut butter chocolate cups/1 cup chopped Reese's cups

1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1 cup peanut butter cups

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

Peanut butter icing/drizzle

Streusel:

1/2 cup white sugar

6 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp peanut butter, melted

Directions

1. In a 13x9 pan (or a Baker's Edge pan) melt 1 stick of butter, then sprinkle brownie mixture over top.

2. Layer chips, cups, and streusel over top.

3. Drizzle condensed milk evenly over pan.

4. Bake at 350 for 30-40min, until bubbly and golden brown on edges.

5. Let cool *completely* before cutting; drizzle peanut butter frosting/drizzle over top for decoration.

Double Chocolate Ginger Cake

I got the inspiration for this recipe from Coconut and Lime but I was short on time and simplified it with a (gasp) cake mix. If you like ginger this is a great cake!

1 box Swiss Chocolate cake mix
eggs, oil, and milk (sub milk for water) according to cake directions
3/4 cup chopped crystalized candied ginger
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip mini-morsels

vanilla/chocolate frosting/glaze of choice
coarse sugar crystals for decoration

Mix cake ingredients in large bowl, fold in ginger and mini chips.
Bake as directed according to pan type/size.
When cool, frost by drizzling frosting or glaze on top, sprinkling with coarse sugar to finish.

PB and chocolate swirled, flaked, and streusel'd cake

A few tweaks to the black/white chocolate cake from a few weeks ago:

1 package (18.25 ounces) yellow cake mix (butter recipe if possible)
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs

1 cup peanut butter chips
3/4 cups chocolate chunks/chips, both chopped into *very* small pieces (think almost flakes) in food processor

Streusel:
1/2 cup white sugar
6 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp peanut butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease bundt pan.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, milk, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. After scraping sides of the bowl, increase mixer speed to medium and blend 1 1/2 to 2 min­utes more-- the batter will look thick but well combined. Gently stir in 1/2 cup of the peanut butter chip flakes until uniformly mixed.
3. Make streusel topping, stirring in remaining peanut butter/dark chocolate flakes.
4. Pour 1/3 of the batter into pan. Sprinkle ~1/3-1/2 of streusal mix on top, cover with 1/3 more batter, then more streusel. Spread remaining batter on top and sprinkle with remaining streusel.
5. Bake until cake is golden and fork comes out almost clean, about ~45-50min.
6. Place pan on a cooling rack for at least 15min.
7. To frost, you could make peanut butter and/or chocolate drizzle from chocolate chips, or feel free to use store-bought icing, put it in a ziploc bag, warm in microwave, cut of teeny-tiny opening at corner of bag and drizzle over cake in lots of thin lines. Enjoy!

As an added bonus, I filled the hole in the bundt cake with mini chocolate PB cups from Trader Joes and drizzled frosting on that too...decadent...but so tasty :-)