Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Late Night Snack Bars

Desserts

New products from Trader Joe’s continually make my day. My Halloween Pumpkin Quesadillas, Yuzu Miso Mahi Mahi, and Vanilla Joe-Joe Strawberry Cheesecake just wouldn’t have been the same without their orange quesadillas, Yuzu Citrus Tisane Beverage, and Vanilla Joe-Joes, respectively. And now TJs has come to the rescue one again!

A few months ago, I fell in love with Ben and Jerry’s Late Night Snack, a luscious vanilla ice cream swirled with fudge covered potato chips and ribbons of salty caramel, which was created my Jimmy Fallon. Mmm, the combo of flavors was just so unique and addicting that after my first bite, I immediately thought a cookie with similar flavors would also be fantastic. Unfortunately, my first two attempts to whip them up were utter failures because putting potato chips in cookie dough just doesn’t work so well – the flavor is muted and they don’t stay crispy. Luckily, my problem was solved the other day when I noticed Trader Joe’s is now selling milk chocolate covered potato chips – what a genius idea! Instead of baking potato chips into the dough, I decided to top my cookies with these chips instead.

I topped sugar cookie bars with a layer of Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce and a bit of pretzel crumble (because pretzels are also one of my favorite late night snacks!) and then sprinkled some chopped milk covered potato chips on top as soon as they came out of the oven. The chocolate melted just enough to adhere the chips to the bars, but the potato chips stayed nice and crispy – yum! Oh, and while I will continue to buy the chocolate covered potato chips from Trader Joe’s because I tend to make a huge mess whenever I temper chocolate, you could certainly make them yourself if you don’t have a TJs nearby!

Late Night Snack Bars
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup pretzel crumbs (I pulsed a handful of pretzels in the food processor until crumbs formed)
1/3 cup Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce from Trader Joe’s (from a 10 ounce jar)
1 cup lightly chopped Milk Chocolate Covered Potato Chips from Trader Joe’s

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Mix in eggs and vanilla extract; stir in flour, baking powder, and salt until soft dough forms. Place 1/4 cup dough in a medium bowl and stir in pretzel crumbs until well incorporated. Spread remaining dough in bottom of a greased 8×8-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350˚F or until dough is puffed in the center. Remove from oven and evenly spread caramel sauce on top with back of a spoon, leaving edges to the bars around the outside of the pan. Crumble pretzel dough evenly on top and bake an additional 10 to 12 minutes at 350˚F or until a toothpick comes out clean. Immediately top with chopped chocolate covered potato chips. Cool completely, about 1 hour, and cut into bars. Makes 16 bars.

Nutrition: 205 calories, 9.9g fat, 0.8g fiber, 2.5g protein per bar
Cost: $0.42 per bar

Spiced Apple Cupcakes

I figured it’s about time that I actually post a cake recipe - you know, since my blog is called Cake, Batter, and Bowl and all... I couldn’t resist the cute word play on Shake, Rattle, and Roll when I was brainstorming names with my Dad over Christmas last year, but...

Berry Tart

My favorite part of the 4th of July growing up was always trying to spell out my name with a sparkler before it burnt out. I've always loved a good challenge, so it never got old! Now it’s all about the food, and this year I dreamed up a festive berry tart that would...

Mini Green Tea Cheesecakes

I’m always a little amazed about how much forgotten stuff we find when we’re packing. Our small kitchen has been literally been overflowing with cooking/baking supplies and I just found a brand new mini cheesecake pan hidden behind my fondant tools on top of one of...

Mini Rosemary Cheesecakes with Caramel Apple Topping

I’ve still got mini cheesecakes on my mind. You can never have too many around, right? Well, I suppose that's not entirely true, but people are usually happy to help out with any surplus goodies! For this version, I mixed some rosemary into the cheesecake batter. Our...

M&M Cashew Pretzel Bars

Our whirlwind NYC tour would not have been complete without visiting a few famous bakeries! The two at the top of my list were Bouchon and Levain, so the first thing we did after checking into our hotel was head up to Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center right...

Nutella S’more Tart

Girl Scout cookie season has arrived! We scooped up five boxes from two troops selling boxes at the Davis and Harvard Square T stops. Despite our best attempts to ration the treats, one box of samoas has already disappeared...but they’re small, so you have to eat more...

Caramelized Peach Sundaes with Cardamom Gingersnap Topping

When I was planning our Indian dinner party menu, I knew I wanted to serve ice cream since it’s been so hot, but I still wanted to have the dessert tie in with the theme of the meal because yes, I’m a big dork like that! I was thinking it would be fun to create my own...

White Chocolate Cheesecake Tart with an Oatmeal Cookie Crust and Cranberry Topping

We're at the San Francisco airport right now, and I'm feeling quite productive working on a blog post while we wait to board our flight to New Zealand! We're so excited to explore the country and take a much needed break from the daily grind. We're already off to a...