Hershey's Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

I was on the quest in September to make a yummy cookie bar that my family would love (mostly so I could stop the madness in making cookies because the batches took so much longer to cook).  I was reading this great blog who kindly made them for a Daddy and kids camping trip and didn't even get to have any.  Of course, she also got that time at home to relax by herself so I guess it was a good trade off.  Check out My Epicurean Adventures and her camping preparation cooking adventure because there are a bunch of great recipes there.

I decided that they had to be on my list long before I even saw the recipe (which you can find here).  These were easy to make and made a huge portion because they used a jelly roll pan instead of a 9 x 13 baking dish.  I was a little afraid that they would spill over but they plumped up and didn't go over the edge so don't worry.  Check out how I made them and see if this is something you want to make too!!  I promise you if you tasted them, you would already agree that these are a tasty treat and they would be the next on your list to make.  Especially since they are easy ingredients that most people have around the house.

First step, cream the butters and sugars together.  Add the vanilla, if you have any, but I didn't have any and they were fine without it.

Add the eggs and mix until combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the mix.  I try to move the mixer top up so that the blade gets out of the way.... hoping that it leads to me being a neater baker but it never seems to work that way.  How do you make sure all of the flour ends in the bowl and not on the counter or mixer?

Mix all the ingredients together.  This was an action shot which with my old point and shot (now broken) would have shown you but my husband's fancy camera that I am now using takes the picture so quickly that is looks like the blade is still! 

After the dough is formed and all the dry ingredients are incorporated, add the chocolate chips.  This is a Hershey's recipe so they suggest the Hershey's milk chocolate chips.  I mixed those with the Nestle semi-sweet chips.  Can you see the difference?  The Hershey ones are a little smaller and lighter and the Nestle are a little bigger and dark.

I used the last of the chips that I had in the house!!  Don't panic, my parents stopped at Sam's Club and picked me up a big bag which is now waiting in the freezer for more taste test chocolate bars.  When they are all mixed it, you can make cookies or this nifty bar cookie recipe and save pans and time!

The best way to save on cleaning later is to put parchment paper on the bottom of a jelly roll pan.  Do you know what a jelly roll pan is?  I didn't know until I got married and registered for things that there was a difference between a cookie sheet and a jelly roll pan because my mom spent my childhood years calling her jelly roll pans cookie sheets.  She often makes up words so I guess I am lucky that at least she used a word that didn't make me sound silly if I said it to other people.  More stories later on how my mom makes up words later and back to the recipe.

If you don't have parchment paper, don't worry because you can just extra grease your pan and they should come out fine.  But if you do, pull it out and rip to fit the jelly roll pan. 

Then with your saved butter packages from the recipe, spread the butter on the pan. You don't have to do this but it helps the parchment paper stay down and not slide all around.

 Add the parchment paper.  If you mess it up like I did, put a little scrap in the corner to cover where you didn't rip straight.  Don't worry because no one else will see this part unless you take pictures and post it on your blog :) It is great if the paper sticks up a little on the sides because it will give you something to grab onto after the bars are cooled to remove from the pan.  Run your hand over to press the parchment into the butter to stick down. Use the other butter wrapper to grease the top of the parchment paper.

Dump the batter in the middle of the pan and scrap out the bowl.

Here is the hardest part of the whole recipe.  Spread the cookie batter in the pan.  I tried using the spatula and the butter wrapper and neither worked particularly well but I got it all spread and then just had extra to eat off the spatula at the end.

Put it in the oven and bake until desired brownness.  I went a little over because I was doing too many things and I was afraid to take it out too early and get a gooey mess but they were still super tasty.

Let it cool completed which was only easy because I was out of the house all day because the smell was amazing.  I cut them and as you can see the parchment paper came out clean and the bars came right off.

Here is a bar for me to share.  Okay, I can't share them because my family finished them off in a few short days but I hope that this pretty picture will hold you over until you make your own batch with the recipe below.

HERSHEY'S Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c butter
• 3/4 c granulated sugar
• 3/4 c light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 c Chocolate Chips
• 1 c nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl with mixer until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired.

3. Spread batter in greased, parchment lined 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch jelly-roll pan. Bake at 375°F. 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely; cut into bars. About 4 dozen bars.

Shared on Homemade Monday at Frugal by Choice
and Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meals
and Saturday Night Fever at Yummy Healthy Easy 

Menu Plan Monday 10/7

Monday- Leftovers or Breakfast for Dinner
Tuesday- Buffalo Chicken Wraps with Mac and Cheese
Wednesday- Garlic Herb Grilled Chicken with chicken rice
Thursday- Leftover Breaded Chicken Tenders with fries and smiles
Friday- Enchiladas or Enchilada Smash
Saturday- Leftovers/Chicken Panini
Sunday- Leftovers/???

I am not sure what this week will hold but I left Monday open in case my parents stay over another day since that is always a possibility.  If not, we are have dinner in place for the three of us.  I am hoping for a calm week and getting back on track after the grandparents leave (which takes awhile for my little man to want to eat real food again since the grandparents spoil him rotten).  I am still surprised that October is already here and I need to start planning for Halloween and our Halloween party just a few short weeks away and I always make a lot of food.  Hope you have a yummy week planned!

Weekly Goals 10/6 and my 1000 post

I had a busy week with a lot on my plate but I made it through so that is the highlight!! I have a long list of things to do this week but I have high hopes that I am going to be less busy.  I guess we will see after a search for the local paper on Sunday because I really need to get some coupons or else it will be a hole in my coupon stockpile.  I guess that is what I get for being over scheduled.  Hope that you had a better executed week :)

This is my 1000 post!  I can't believe how quickly that came up.  I have written so many different posts about so many different subjects.  Happy 1000 posts to me!!

Last week:

Family Goals

• Spend time with family including Grandma and Grandpa- Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and little man was so excited to see there and went running out to the driveway.  We had so many things to fit into the visit so we were running around like crazy people.
• Swimming Lessons- We did the climb the ladder in the water and my little man learned to use his arms and kick his legs.  It was fun but sadly didn't wear him out this week so no nap :(
• Get to preschool on time everyday- We are doing well on getting school on time but on Wednesday my little man decided that he was ready to leave 1 hour before we had to and he had to run to the car while I was trying to get a shower.  I know that he was really excited to get to school but come on man!!!  Give me a break because running out the driveway in my towel is not the way I want to spend the morning.  Luckily he came right back in and started looking for me keys.... since I can't normally find them, he couldn't either.  Delay successful!
• Park on Wednesday since we don't have anymore My Gym classes- I am sunburned badly after four hours at the park.  I was totally exhausted but my little man had a great time and didn't want to stop.

Personal Goals

• Cut coupons- I cut two of the three inserts on Thursday and got the last one moved a few times and never got cut so I guess that I will add it to next weeks pile.
• Get coupons on Friday- Well, I checked CVS and they didn't have them.  My husband forgot to check the library on the way home.  We went out that night to a birthday party so we checked two different places and they were all picked through.  My husband promised to go first thing this morning when the library opened and then he forgot again.  He went out in the afternoon and checked and they were out.  I am going to check one more library tomorrow and cross my fingers.
• Go to Jazzercise - I didn't go this week because my doctor gave me a bunch of medicine and wanted to give it a chance to work and me to feel better plus I was really busy.  I will be back into my schedule next week.
• Substitute at school- I enjoyed working at the school and I am filling out an application to get a job there in the next few years.
• Consignment sale- We went to two consignment sales and a bunch of yard sales and got tons of great bargains.
• Shut off computer 6 nights to save energy- I shut off the computer lots this week and turned it off every time I left the house so it was much better behaved this week but I also didn't get a lot of work done because the computer was off :)
• Finish reading Forever Friday by Timothy Lewis- Finished and review posted.
• Read next book in the pile by Robyn Carr or Beverly Lewis (hopefully both)- Started with Robyn Carr and got a lot read but after the family came into town, I didn't make as much progress as I would have liked.

Home Management Goals

• Clean dishes, counters and floors at least 5 days of the week- And then some with company in town, the kitchen was a mess most of the time and took a lot to keep under control.
• Clean dishes one night and not wait until the morning- I got everything cleaned up on Monday night except one pot that I left to soak overnight.  I decided to get it all done on Tuesday night :) Woo Hoo mission accomplished.  It was a mess most of the week but I spent a lot of time doing dishes.

Blog Goals

• Post one post everyday (schedule 7 posts so that can spend more time with family)- I got a lot of posts up this week with the end of the month and all of things that I needed to get done so way more then 7.
• Review book reviews completed during the week (if done)- Done and posted.
• Work on a few posts to work ahead for the coming week- I am behind on the getting prepared thing but I hope that I will do better next week because I didn't get work done on the weekend as I normally do because my parents were visiting.
• Post Sunday Weekly Goals, Menu Plan Monday, Kid Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday Tip- I got them all up and posted for the week without any problems.

This week:

Family Goals

• Spend time with family
• Swimming Lessons
• Get to preschool on time everyday 
• Work at school two days for picture days

Personal Goals

• Cut coupons
• Get coupons on Friday 
• Spend CVS money
• Go to Jazzercise 
• Shut off computer 6 nights to save energy
• Finish reading The Newcomer by Robyn Carr
• Read next book in the pile by Beverly Lewis

Home Management Goals

• Clean dishes, counters and floors at least 5 days of the week
• Clean dishes one night and not wait until the morning

Blog Goals

• Post one post everyday (schedule 7 posts so that can spend more time with family)
• Review book reviews completed during the week (if done)
• Work on a few posts to work ahead for the coming week
• Post Sunday Weekly Goals, Menu Plan Monday, Kid Wednesday and Thrifty Thursday Tip 

Sticky Cinnamon Buns

I decided that I was going to make the extra pizza dough into cinnamon buns one night after we had pizza night because I had a bunch of leftover dough because the dough makes two pizzas.  Check out the recipe here if you want to make your own pizza dough.  I didn't know if it would turn out but I had been making so many of the cinnamon monkey breads and I needed something different!!

I rolled it out just like my normal recipe (found here) and made it with the same procedure but the tops ended up a little crispy for what I was looking for so I tried again and changed up the recipe a little.  Then, I wasn't totally sure I loved them so I changed the recipe up a little and made them again.  Don't you see the sacrifices that I make to get the recipe right for you...eating batches and batches of cinnamon rolls.  The great part about the dough is that it made enough for two pans.  One that we ate for dessert that night and one covered in the fridge for breakfast the next morning.

Roll out the dough as rectangle as you can get it but don't worry too much about it being really square.  Spread butter or margarine (which is easier and neater then using melted butter).  Top with cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Roll up and cut into pieces.  Put pieces of butter into the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Put rolls into pan and shake a little extra cinnamon and sugar on top.

First tip, never use a big pan to make cinnamon rolls.  I use the 6 x 6 baker and put five or six in arranged with a little room on the sides because they will rise a lot.

Don't they already look pretty?  I thought so! They come of the oven a little risen and cinnamon-y on top but a little crispy on the edges (at least more then the normal cinnamon roll recipe)

Here is the key step to make them sticky gooey and super yummy.  While they are still hot, use a spatula and flip the buns over and let slightly cool in the pan. This coats them with the caramel mixture formed on the bottom of the pan with the brown sugar and butter.

Don't wait for them to completely cool or the brown sugar mixture on the bottom will become like cement.  If you take the buns out while they are still warm, the pan ends up much cleaner.

The buns are caramel color and super soft and tasty.  If you want more gooey caramel liquid, make sure you add more butter and brown sugar to the bottom of the pan.

If you would like to have your own pizza and cinnamon buns party, here are the two links to the original recipes!!  Try these sticky cinnamon buns that need no icing and use the pizza dough you have on hand after your pizza night!!

Sticky Cinnamon Buns

Pizza Dough (homemade or store bought)
Cinnamon and Sugar mixture
Butter
Brown Sugar

Roll out half of the pizza dough.  Spread butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.  Roll up and cut into pieces.  Put 3-4 tbsp butter and 3-4 tbsp brown sugar in the bottom of two 6 x 6 baking dishes.  Add buns to pan.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until slightly browned.  Remove and flip each bun over to coat with caramel mixture.  Let slightly cool and serve warm.

Shared on 

Saturday Night Fever at Yummy Healthy Easy

Swap N Share at Spatulas on Parade

It's Fall Y'all at Posed Perfection

Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meal
 Feed Me Friday at Sara Howe

If you want to see the other great recipes linked up at these sites, please click on the name and it will link you back to their blog.

Restaurant Style Baked Potatoes on the Grill

I love a good baked potato!  We enjoy them when we go out to restaurants which we don't do very often anymore so I have decided to make a restaurant potato at home.  I have tried a lot of different ways to make potatoes on the grill but I feel that this is the best way. 

Clean and poke holes in your yummy baking potatoes.  Start by heating in the oven or microwave while getting everything else ready for your grilling.

Get a piece of aluminum foil and put olive oil and coarse sea salt in the middle.

Place the potato in the center.

Roll over and rub in the olive oil and salt so that it is well coated.

Fold the sides up and fold the aluminum foil over 2-3 times to seal the edge.  Repeat with the other sides so that the packet is totally sealed

Push the foil down to be around the potato so that the foil touches the potatoes.

Grill on the top rack of the grill while grilling the yummy chicken or steaks on the grill and you have a tasty and easy side dish.  Remove the aluminum foil and enjoy.  I wish that I took a picture of the finished product but it was so tasty that we enjoyed our steak and potatoes after watching the football game on Sunday with family.  Hope that you try it and enjoy the yummy restaurant style baked potatoes prepared on the grill.

Shared on 

Saturday Night Fever at Yummy Healthy Easy

Swap N Share at Spatulas on Parade

It's Fall Y'all at Posed Perfection

Church Supper at Everyday Mom's Meal

Christmas in Cedar Cove Book Review

This book took forever to get into the library from the reserve system....okay, not forever but at least a week and I wanted to read it!!  Do you ever reserve books at the library?  I love it and it is much better then searching the shelves to find out that the book you want is not there.  It is also helpful because I keep a notebook of the authors that I want to read and I find that if I need the notebook while I am at the library it is at home :)  Christmas in Cedar Cove: 5-B Poppy Lane\A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber was the next book on my list to read because it seems that it comes between all of the books in the series that I am currently reading about Cedar Cove.

The first story is 5B Poppy Lane which is about Helen Shelton and her only granddaughter Ruth.  Helen is friends with Charlotte Rhodes so there are a few times that she pops up in the story like at the beginning so that they can spend some time together before Helen's granddaughter arrives to spend the holiday with her.  The rest of the story is a flash back on how Ruth and Paul fell in love.  The story of how they fell in love was full of interesting twists and turns and makes her grandmother re-tell the story of her youth and her first husband.  I hope that you pick up the book to find out more details because it is an amazing story.

The second story is a Cedar Cove Christmas.  I read this previously in the month and thought that it was the same book but I wasn't sure so I had to get this one just to make sure.  It was released with a new introduction in this book which was really interesting to read even though I had already read the story because it gives you a little more insight into what happens after the story is over instead of guessing.  I think that it added an interesting twist to the already great story.  Check out my whole review here.

I loved the books because it included two shorter stories that Debbie Macomber wrote about Christmas.  It is always good to read about Christmas because I love that time of year.  I hope that you pick it up at your local library or bookstore to see what you think.  Even if you haven't read the rest of the series, the stories in this book are great and stand alone as great holiday cheer!!  Doesn't a Christmas book in September seem a little early?  Well, it is never too early to get in the Christmas Spirit!!

September Budget Review

I was bad this month at posting pictures because my camera broke.  I normally take the pictures and download right away but I am using my husband's fancy camera and you have to take the memory card out and load it in a special thing and put it in the computer.  I seem to be really challenged on finding the things necessary to do this because they are always in a different place around the house.  Since my camera is not going to be fixed anytime soon, I am hoping to get a better handle of the new camera.

I did post the first half of the month spending here.  Check it out for more details.  I thought that I started off the month a little too strong but then I found out about triples at Harris Teeter and it seemed like the budget was going to go out the window.  Luckily, I saved a lot and controlled myself a little.  I used a bunch of rain checks and coupons to get some great deals including free Annie's mac and cheese, Kraft Fresh Take, Kosher Salt, Ultimate Hamburger Helper, Progresso Soup, McCormick Gourmet Seasonings, Duncan Hines Frosting Creations, Magic Shell, Angel Soft Tissues, Tetley Tea bags, Lindt Chocolate Bar, Plum Baby food, Foil Muffin Liners, Granulated Sugar, Mustard and Honey Nut Cheerios.  Check out all these pictures:

Aldi's $14.41 

My husband said that he really wanted to get some chips so we bought two bags because last time the bag was gone before he got anything.  They also had their seasonal baking goods out so I grabbed a container of baking powder.  I also stocked up on some margarine for baking and eating.

Aldi's $5.70

I went out to the car and realized that I didn't grab flour so we went back into the store for a few bags and I decided to go with 4 since I didn't really know what I had left at home.  I can't wait for winter baking sales to begin because I am going to buy a ton when it is on sale for $0.99!!!  I am going to have to come up with a way to better storage solution and find one of those big plastic barrels to put them all in.

Harris Teeter $8.25

First trip for triples and I used a rain check on the Dixie Crystals, Angel Soft Tissues, French's Brown Mustard and the Nestle Chocolate Chips.  I didn't see a lot deals that were great for me so I grabbed a few things that I knew we could use with rain checks that I have had for a long time.

Harris Teeter $2.02 

 Quick trip to another Harris Teeter to see if they had better stock and the answer was no but they had lower pricing on the Pop Tarts and the Old El Paso seasoning so I grabbed them and I also saw the Perfect portions which is my husband's favorite.  I grabbed a package of the Fresh Take because it seems to not getting refilled at any Harris Teeter.  It isn't the flavor that we like to have but I figured that it was worth a try (ended up using the cheese side for tacos one night and saved the bread crumbs for another meal)!  It saved me from shredding cheese that night.

Harris Teeter $6.86

I went to exercise class and then straight to the grocery store to get a few more deals at a different Harris Teeter which was better stocked (because they get mostly work traffic during the day and not shoppers).  I grabbed the Annie's pasta with an old coupon that had which made them free.  I also grabbed the Pop Tarts which when you bought three, I got the additional $1 off evic zvr coupon so they all ended up being $0.17 total or $0.06 per box (almost free).  I found the Kraft Fresh Take that we like so I was excited about that because these are good on chicken or pork but also good to mix with pasta and it was free!  I also got the Marini cranberries which weren't at my store but ended up being $0.15 each after coupon.  

Great trip and the highest cost item was the Pampers but they were normally $11.59 but they were on sale for $8.99 less $1.50 coupon and $1.50 evic zvr so it was $5.99... almost my whole total.

Harris Teeter $7.02

A little bit smaller trip but I got a bunch of interesting things that I hadn't gotten in awhile like tea bags, jelly and sliced cheese.  I am working on some interesting uses for all of that in my plan for next month :)

Harris Teeter $6.14

This was my son's shopping trip.  It makes it easier if he gets to pick out his own things and check out without me because he likes the whole process.  Sadly, I am still paying for it all but he picks out what he wants and I give him the coupon.  He puts them all up on the shelf and watches them get rung up.  Then, he gives them the coupons.  Sometimes if it is only a few things, he pays in cash but normally, I let him run the credit card.  He loves it almost as much as he loves the cookies at Harris Teeter.  Just a note that we are using those pop tarts as dessert instead of breakfast....just seems wrong!

Harris Teeter $16.64

I am not sure how my total got to be so high but I had a last minute trip to the store and I think that I was freaking out that the deals were ending!  I used a rain check for the ketchup, Honey Nut Cheerios, and salt.  We are brand specific on ketchup and love our Heinz and there are very few coupons so when I saw the $0.25 coupon, I knew it was time to pull out the rain check and triple that coupon so they ended up being $1.14 each for something that is normally closer to $3.  

I know that the Pampers were $5.49 after coupons because I got a $2 catalina coupon when I bought them before.  The rest of the groceries were about $10.  I splurged and got fries and smiles because we really wanted them for dinner and they were $0.80 each.  It figured that it was better then going out to eat and it was a nice treat for us but not the best end to a great shopping run at Harris Teeter triples.

CVS $0.07

I got a $3 ECB in my inbox.  I am not sure why they keep doing this but it is bringing me back in the store...not nearly as much as I CVS shopped in the last few years but there are often some great deals.  I looked a few different ones and decided to go with the easiest one.  Three boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios on sale for $2 each less the $1 printable coupon were $1 each so I got three and used my ECB so that it was only $0.07 tax OOP.  You gotta love stocking the cereal cupboard for that cheap!!

Harris Teeter $1.81

I got excited because there was a deal on Eggland's best eggs and there was a coupon so I got two dozen extra large eggs and there is still a $0.50 Ibotta that I scanned...my first one so I am super excited to see how it goes.

Target $14.89 

I needed to get some milk and lunch meat so I decided to take advantage of the Advil moneymaker at Target.  I was super excited to see that the shelf was fully stocked and I could have gotten all that I wanted.  I didn't pull out the rebate before heading to the store so I bought 6 because that is what I thought that I needed for rebate but I really only needed 3.  Of well, it was still a money maker so it is all going to be used.

 

Giant $6.59

I decided since there was money left in the budget that I would go and use the Gerber coupons that were going to expire at the end of the month.  I grabbed the 10 to get the $1 catalina off my next visit and I got the $2 for the ungoing promo for buying the Gerber food so I was ready to go to the other Giant and try my luck again.

 

Giant $0.69

I paid $3.69 at the cashier and then two blank catalinas printed out and they were supposed to be a $2 one and a $1 one.  I was a little upset and worried but I went to customer service and they gave me my cash back right there so I guess that was good enough.  I thought that they were going to make me ring up everything again and my son wasn't going to be interested in standing around to check out a second time but I should have known that it was not my store but one with much better customer service.

The next day, I went back to my Giant to try to return or exchange the two incorrect banana items to get the right ones and they only had one on the shelf.  The lady decided to return me the price of one and give me the other even though she was confused by the coupons at the bottom of the receipt.  Good enough!  I have $1.18 back in my purse and budget so this was actually a money maker with the catalinas and refund but I didn't take a picture of the 9 Gerber foods that I ended up with but use the picture above and put your finger over one :)

Total Retail Cost $590.65

Total Savings $426.00+ $14.34 refunds= $440.34

Total OOP $150.31

How did your month go??  I ended up very happy and stocked the cupboards and the freezer.  I can't wait to start the plan for next month.  I know that some of the stuff is going to last us a few months while some of it is already gone (okay, chips don't last long in this house).  My husband has been pointing out that his cranberry juice supply is dwindling so that is the main thing on the list next month which I hope to find on sale.  Not sure about what else we need but I think that I am going to have to add snack food to the list too!!

Wish List for October

Ham lunch meat

Cranberry Grape Juice