Golden Oreo Cake Batter Blondies

Yesterday was National Blonde Brownie Day.  That's blonde brownie, as in not chocolate, not blonde as in Kate Hudson.  Did you know there was a National Blonde Brownie Day?  I did not, until I discovered a list of all the food holidays in the United States.  And while these days aren't especially significant, they are sort of fun.  I thought it would be neat to honor National Blonde Brownie Day by making some blondies, since I've never done so before.  Actually, I was just looking for an excuse to try out this recipe for Golden Oreo Cake Batter Blondies I found at Sally's Baking Addiction.  I don't know where Golden Oreos have been all my life, but I tasted them recently for the first time and it was love at first bite.  So vanilla-y.  So wonderful.  And since I adore cake batter, these sounded absolutely perfect.  While these aren't technically brownies, being made with cake mix, they're buttery, chewy and delicious, so that's pretty much all that matters to me.

Golden Oreo Cake Batter Blondies
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
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Ingredients: 
1 box yellow cake mix

1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg 
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup white baking chips
1 1/2 cups Golden Oreos (about 12 cookies), chopped, reserve some to sprinkle on top

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 11x7 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.  Combine yellow cake mix, canola oil, and egg in a large bowl.  Slowly add the milk.  The mixture will be thick and dense.  Fold in the white baking chips and the chopped Oreo pieces.  Pour into the prepared baking pan, sprinkling reserved Oreos on top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the edges are just turning brown.  Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Serves: 32 bite-size bars
Calories:  114 calories per serving

National Peanut Butter Day is tomorrow, January 24.  You can believe I'll be honoring that day!

Salted Nut Roll Bars

I realize I've been remiss in my blogging lately.  It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about (I actually have boatloads), but with hubby's recent surgery, Bubba's summer activities, and trying to transfer my blog files and photos to a new "cloud" server, it's just been C-R-A-Z-Y!

All excuses aside, I found this recipe online after seeing a similar one in a cookbook at Sam's Club.  Salted Nut Roll Bars.  I may be in the minority, but I've never actually consumed Salted Nut Roll candy bars before.  Perhaps it's because of the name.  Couldn't it sound a little more appetizing?  Or creative, at least?  But the photo in the cookbook looked really yummy, and when I saw the ingredients list in the recipe, well, I obviously had no idea what I was missing.  How can you go wrong with peanut butter chips, yellow cake, and marshmallows?  So now I wonder where these been all my life!

Salted Nut Roll Bars
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1 box yellow cake mix
1 egg
3/4 cup melted butter, divided
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 - 10-oz. bag peanut butter chips
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups peanuts
2 cups crispy rice cereal

Mix the cake mix, egg, and 1/4 cup of the butter together. Press the crumbly batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees. Evenly distribute the marshmallows over the top of the hot crust. Return to the oven for 3-5 minutes, until the marshmallows are puffy. Meanwhile, melt the peanut butter chips, corn syrup, and remaining 1/2 cup of butter. Stir until smooth. Add the vanilla and blend in thoroughly. Add the peanuts and rice cereal and mix well. Pour the cereal mixture over the marshmallows and distribute as evenly as possible. Allow to cool thoroughly (or refrigerate) before cutting into 24 bars. Store in a sealed container.

Calories:  295 per bar (not light!!)