Saltine Toffee

Sorry I haven't posted anything new in a while. Its been crazy around here. Before I get to today's recipe, I just want to share a little something with you.

I pride myself in my cooking and baking. And I do feel that I am quite successful in it. I receive a lot of compliments on things I make and that makes me feel good about my abilities.

However, even people who love to cook and bake and are good at it can also fail miserably.

Last Thursday I was going to make Cherry Bars (recipe to come later) to take to a Baby Shower. Well, our plans changed last minute and I didn't have time to make them. So Friday I got home from work early and had *just* enough time to make them and get them cooled enough to add the frosting. Well, I was in too much of a hurry and decided to soften the butter in the microwave. Big mistake. Next thing I knew I had melted butter all over the turntable of my microwave. I had enough butter left in the fridge to be able to make the bars still. I had the butter and sugar sitting in the mixing bowl when I decided to grab the Almond Extract out of the cupboard. Come to realize that I have NO almond extract. And of course at the time, I did not think about the fact that I had a bottle of Amaretto in the closet that I could have used as a substitute. I have no clue when I actually ran out of the extract or why I never replaced it. Usually I keep a good stock of baking supplies.

By this point I was running out of options of things to make since I was really limited on time. Plus, my son was down for his nap so I couldn't run to the store. Anything I was going to make, I had to have all the ingredients in my house.

I remembered a recipe I found a couple years ago that I had wanted to try and just had never got around to. I dug it out and had just enough of the 3 main ingredients to make it. I had half of the chocolate chips it called for, but I figured that would be ok.

I hate taking new recipes I haven't tried before to social events....just in case it doesn't turn out or doesn't taste good. But several people complimented me on these bars and also asked for the recipe. My husband liked them as well.

So, I thought I would share this recipe. It is great to have just in case you ever find yourself in a situation like I was in and need something easy and fast.


1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Butter
1 sleeve Saltine Crackers
1 c. Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay a sheet of aluminum foil on a jelly roll pan (MUST have sides, do NOT use a flat cookie sheet with no sides for this). Lay Saltine Crackers in rows, with crackers touching each other to fill pan. Heat together Brown Sugar and Butter. Boil for 3-4 minutes. Pour over saltines. Bake at 375 for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle Chocolate Chips on top. After about 5 minutes or so, gently spread chocolate chips evenly over toffee. Let cool. Break Apart. Enjoy!

Fruit Tart

April is when I start to get excited about all the delicious Spring and Summer fruits. So I thought that today, I would share one of my favorite fruit recipes. It is simple to make and can be customized in a variety of ways.

Base:
1 box Lemon Cake Mix
2/3 c. Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 c. Chopped Nuts
1/2 c. Butter, softened
1 egg

Topping:
3 oz. Cream Cheese
1/3 c. Powdered Sugar
1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
Assorted Fresh Fruit

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first four "base" ingredients and beat with a mixer at low speed until crumbly. Blend in the egg. Press into ungreased 12" or 14" pizza pan. Bake for 15 mins. or until Golden Brown. Cool.

Beat Cream Cheese until fluffy. Gradually add in Powdered Sugar. Beat in whipping cream until soft peaks form. Spread on cooled crust. Arrange fruit as desired.

My favorite fruit combination is Strawberry, Kiwi, Pineapple. However, you can be as simple or creative with your fruit choices as you would like. You can just randomly place the fruit or you can choose to make a design out of the fruit. You could make it look like a rainbow or a flower by choosing fruits of certain colors. You can be fancy with the way you cut your fruits. The possibilities are endless when it comes to topping this fruit tart.

It is a nice light dessert that is perfect for Spring and Summer.

Fudge Oatmeal Bars

This recipe came from my sister-in-law. They are excellent! But make sure not to overbake them. Enjoy!

12 oz. chocolate chips
15 oz. sweetened condensed milk
3 T. margarine
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp. vanilla

Melt chocolate chips, milk and margarine in microwave. Add nuts and vanilla. Set aside.

1 cup margarine
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup oatmeal

Cream margarine with brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Sift flour with soda and salt; add. Stir in oatmeal.
Press 2/3 of this mixture into a greased 10x16 inch pan. Spread fudge mixture over dough and sprinkle remaining dough over this. Dough is very thick so you will not be able to spread it with a knife. You will not be able to cover the chocolate entirely, which is OK. Bake at 350 degrees 20 to 30 minutes. Do not overbake.

Note: Instead of using Walnuts in the fudge, I use Heath Bits-O-Brickle Toffee Bits. Both ways taste great. But personally I don't like nuts in fudge so the toffee bits added a nice touch