M&M’s – there’s just something about those bright colored chocolate filled candies that get me every time.  I mean, what’s not to love about an M&M? Especially when they are mini and baked into these yummy squares. With added  peanut butter (yes, again) and oatmeal  they also have some redeeming nutritional qualities.  Now, I’m not pretending these are in any way healthy but they are a yummy treat – I don’t recommend eating them as a regular breakfast food – but they are a pretty good snack to bring when hiking, playing in the park, at the beach or whatever the week-end might hold for you.

I made these for a recent family camping trip and they were amazing. They kept very well in a ziplock bag and stayed fresh for the whole week-end – also relatively mess free  – the M&M’s provided all the chocolate flavor but no melty mess of chocolate chips – perfect for warmer weather. These M&M bars are a great choice to make for an outdoor get together with family and friends on a long week-end, and are sure to please kids and adults alike!

 

M&M Bars

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract
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1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup flour

1/2 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp. baking soda

heaping 1/2 cup of M&M’s ( I used mini)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray an 8×8 pan with cooking spray.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter and sugars together. Add the egg, peanut butter and vanilla and mix until well combined.

3. In another bowl combine  flour, oatmeal, baking soda and a pinch of salt.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and beat until well combined. Stir in M&M’s..

4. Spread batter in prepared pan – it will be a bit sticky – bake for 18-20  minutes or until edges just start to turn to golden. Don’t over bake!

Last week was my husband’s birthday  which of course means cake! Now, if it was my birthday, there would absolutely,  no question, be copious amounts of chocolate in that cake, but my husband and daughter are vanilla kind of people (can’t explain it) so what to do?

After a bit of searching on some of my favorite recipe sites I decided to try a zebra cake – chocolate and vanilla swirled into a very cool zebra pattern –  I loved the idea of using both flavors and wanted to surprise and amaze my family when they cut into the cake with the zebra stripes! I intended to use vanilla for the frosting (really) but in a weak moment I decided to use this chocolate frosting instead and that is the very reason for this post – So.good. Quite possibly the yummiest chocolate frosting ever!

This frosting is thick, and creamy with a super chocolate flavor. It is easy to spread looks shiny and luscious and is sooooo delicious. It is a bit more work than your regular powdered sugar and cocoa but it takes the frosting on the cake to whole new level.  A level I am becoming quite fond of. If you ever needed a reason to go make a cake this it. Now go have your cake….. and the icing too!

I used Annie’s eats zebra cake recipe but this cake seems to show up in a lot of places on the internet. Any one of your favorite cake recipes or flavors would work. The frosting is adapted only slightly from a recipe here: sifting focus.

Yummiest Chocolate Frosting 

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 stick of butter softened

1 1/2  cups packed brown sugar

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4 ounces of good quality chopped semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate

Method:

1. Sift together the confectioners sugar and cocoa.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat combine the butter, brown sugar, pinch of salt and light cream. Stir occasionally until  small bubbles appear around the perimeter of the pan, 4 to 8 minutes.

3. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring frequently until mixture thickens and turns a deep golden brown – about 5-8 minutes.

4. Transfer to a large bowl, add the chopped chocolate and the vanilla,stir until smooth.

5. Slowly whisk in the confectioners sugar and the cocoa until incorporated. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

6. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes until the frosting reaches desired spreading consistency.