"Baked" Goods

I bet you're wondering if I even bake anymore. It's been quite a while since I've posted some baked goods, hasn't it? Have no fear, the baking continues here. I guess I just haven't been posting as much lately. Today you're in for a double treat though!

I finally purchased Baked. With a full shelf of baking books, I can't easily justify getting new ones. But many Baked recipes use unusual or interesting ingredients (like piloncillo or root beer), so obviously I needed it.

Because so many people had raved about the The Baked Brownie, it had to be one of the first recipes I tried. And because I'm obsessed with peanut butter and chocolate and because people also went crazy over them, I knew I'd need to make the PB Krispy Bars right away too.

It's a good thing that I have my coworkers; Jeff's coworkers; our friends, families, and neighbors; and in this case, Jeff's softball team to help eat what I bake, or I'm sure I'd be in a lifelong sugar coma.

Softball season had just reached the playoff stage, and I knew I'd be watching a double header with some of the other team members' girlfriends last week -- or more that we would be chatting and occasionally glancing at the field -- so I decided to make these Baked treats for all of us to feast on during and after the games.

I'm kind of relieved softball season is coming to an end  because Jeff coaches (and plays on) the team and has to be there every Tuesday and Thursday night. It just figures that his games are scheduled the nights I need to go to bed early so I can get up and get to Flour by 6 am. Because I really need my sleep those nights, I don't often get to go to the games, but for this important double header (oh, let's face it... mostly because I knew all the girlfriends would be there and we could catch up), I made an exception. One benefit to working at a bakery is the free coffee anyways!

I'm not good at showing up places empty-handed and I was armed with these new recipes, so on Wednesday night I whipped up the crispy bars and the brownies (not to mention some dark chocolate peanut butter ice cream for myself and some fried green tomatoes for my dinner -- I was on a roll).

I packaged up most of the snacks for the game on Thursday night and brought the rest to work on Thursday morning. They received the thumbs up (and return visits to my desk for more) from my coworkers, so I knew they'd be a hit at the game too (no pun intended... ha ha).

The girls I met up with at the game came prepared with snacks and a picnic blanket. We clearly had a fabulous time.

And Jeff hit a home run and made two amazing catches in the outfield, so it was great to be there to see that. The guys ended up winning both games (14-0 and then 9-2)!  I'm really excited for them... but I guess that means softball's not ending yet. At least we can plan more picnics! (And these two games went so quickly that we still got home by about 10:30, which is my usual bedtime.)

Alright, back to the goodies... the brownies were slightly fudgy but not overboard and had that deep chocolate flavor I definitely crave in a brownie. I think they'll make for great sundaes when I pair the leftover ones with my chocolate peanut butter ice cream!

The Baked Brownie recipe

The PB Krispy bars are my new favorite snack. They're easier to make than you'd think, and they combine the best snack food elements: sweet, salty, chocolatey, and peanutbuttery! How can you go wrong?

PB Krispy Bar recipe

If you'd like to put the Delicious Dishings spin on both of these recipes, cut them into about 1-by-1-inch squares. I always like serving small bites of things rather than huge chunks because people are more willing to take something small, they can try more than one thing, and they can always come back for more!

What treats do you bring to games or similar outdoor events?

Have you made any treats from Baked?