Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

Lena made these for a recent coffee hour, and they were absolutely delicious! (I had 2.) She got the recipe from the Kraft foods site, linked at the bottom. Nice to have a taste of summer--right now, I think we could all use that!

Lemon-Blueberry Crumb Bars

What You Need

1/2 cup butter
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
2 eggs, divided
2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. zest and 3 Tbsp. juice from 1 lemon
2-1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Make It

Heat oven to 350ºF. Line 13x9-inch pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Microwave butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 to 1-1/2 min. or until melted. Add dry cake mix and 1 egg; beat with mixer until blended. Press 2/3 of the dough onto bottom of prepared pan.
Beat cream cheese and sugar with mixer until blended. Add remaining egg, zest and juice; mix well. Pour over crust; top with berries. Pinch small pieces of the remaining dough between your fingers; press lightly into cream cheese layer.
Bake 48 to 50 min or until center is set. Cool completely. Refrigerate at least 1 hr before cutting. Use foil handles to lift dessert from pan before cutting into bars.

http://www.kraftfoods.com

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

by Kathy Brasier Sikorski

Mmmm! Perfect for fall! These would be delicious as an alternative to pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner. Or with it. We don't judge.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars
1 pkg yellow cake mix
2 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
5 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon water

Filling:
1 can (15 oz) solid pack pumpkin
¼ cup cream cheese
¼ cup milk
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine cake mix and oats; set aside ½ cup for topping. Add butter, honey and water to
remaining cake mixture. Press onto the bottom of a greased 13x9 baking pan.

For filling, in a large bowl, beat pumpkin, cream cheese, milk, brown sugar, maple syrup and spices until
blended. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour over crust.

In a small bowl, combine walnuts, butter and reserved cake mixtures; sprinkle over filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely
before cutting into bars. Yield: 2 dozen

Rice Krispie Squares/Scotcheroos

By Kathy Brasier Sikorski

She calls them Rice Krispie Squares, to me they are Scotcheroos. Either way, they are fantastic. Perfect with a cup of hot coffee (to wash the sticky off your teeth.) So good!

Rice Krispie Squares
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup (white)
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 pkg chocolate chips
1 pkg butterscotch chips

Combine sugar and corn syrup and large pan. Heat to rolling boil. Remove from heat; stir in peanut
butter. Add cereal. Press into 13x9 pan. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together. Spread over
cereal mixture. Cool completely.

7 Layer Bars (One Pan!)

By Ronica Skarphol Brownson

These were taken from my Mom's KMOT TV Minot ND cookbook from the 70's. There were 3 versions of this recipe in there, and probably a million like it on the web. I figured that must mean they are good. I was right! Some people call these Dolly Madison bars, or 7 Story Bars. I love how easy they are, how great the house smells when they are done, how quick they go together, and of course, how delicious they come out!

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 small (7 oz.) bag sweetened coconut
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1 can Eagle brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the stick of butter in a 9x13 pan and put it in the oven to melt. When melted, swirl it around to coat the bottom and sides. Sprinkle the rest of the ingredients, in the order given, as evenly as possible in the pan. Do not stir. Drizzle the milk evenly over the whole works. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool well before cutting. Store in the fridge.

Some tips I read:

If the coconut goes on last (or you save some for the top) it will get all toasty.
You can put half the milk over the crumbs, then the rest over the toppings to make it hold together better. I didn't have any trouble with mine, but it's a variation.
Line the pan with parchment paper or non-stick foil for ease of release.
You can mix the butter and crumbs in a bowl, then pat in for a more firm crust. Again, I had no trouble with mine, so I would skip this step.
Change the chips, nuts, etc. for your own variations. This week mine used peanut butter, milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips with pecans. Mainly this is because someone stuck the wrong kind of chips in the butterscotch spot on the shelf at Wegman's and I grabbed the wrong bag. But they were delicious so that was fine with me!