Banana Chocolate Muffins

These muffins have two of my favorite ingredients. Now if they just had peanut butter in them, it would be all 3 of my favorites. I guess it's a good thing they didn't, because I'm not sure I would have refrained from eating them all. As it was, it was hard enough. I am still trying to watch what I am eating...and I don't mean watching it go into my mouth haha! I took one bite of my daughters, just for quality control purposes. Yes, I will keep telling myself that story.... that someone has got to do quality control for me and who better than me? That's my story and I'm stickin to it! :)

Recipe Source: http://www.kitchentreaty.com/chocolate-banana-marble-muffins/

2 cups flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with a half a lemon squeezed into it and allowed to sit for 15 min or more)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 375°. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners or butter (or spray with Pam) the pan thoroughly if you do not want to use liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, mash the bananas, then whisk in the buttermilk, sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla extract.
Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and whisk just until blended.
Remove one cup of the batter, and place it in a small bowl. Whisk in the cocoa powder, just until blended.
Divide the main (non-chocolate) batter between muffin cups. It’s about 1/4 cup of batter per cup.
Scoop 1 Tbsp of chocolate batter on top of the batter in each muffin cup.
Using a toothpick, swirl the chocolate batter into the banana batter.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool for about five minutes.

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Bites

Uh Oh! This could spell big trouble for me, and I mean BIG trouble. These are AMAZING! Chocolate and peanut butter has to be the best combination on the planet (well besides the hubby and I) that I can think of. So when you mix my two favorites with a fudge like consistency and then tell me it's pretty healthy, I don't know if I can handle all that information at once. So just because it doesn't have all the "bad for you" ingredients in it, does not mean I need to listen to my brain when it says "oh my gosh that is so good, eat it all because it's healthy!" I ate one (good thing I made these in a mini muffin tin and they are small) and contemplated eating another but now that they are all put away in the freezer, hopefully I won't get into them too often. I may, just may, have to take one for the team each day, just to let you all know how the taste is progressing along ;)

 Recipe Source: http://creatingnaturally.com/healthy-chocolate-peanut-butter-fudge/

1/2 cup coconut oil slightly melted (mine was completely melted and it worked fine)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

Prepare a min muffin pan with 12 muffin liners.

Put all the ingredients in the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse a few times until everything is smooth and nicely combined. Pour the fudge into the prepared muffin liners dividing evenly between the twelve of them. Place them in the freezer until they are solid. ( I am leaving mine in the freezer for storage because it's so hot in So Cal right now and it will make a nice refreshing cold, sweet treat)

Chocolate Coconut Rolls

Waking up super early  has it's benefits, but it also has it's drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that I tend to want to bake when there is nothing else to do and I still have HOURS to get ready for work. Unfortunately, with me being on a whole foods eating plan, these bad boys were not on my food list of "can have" foods. Big bummer, cause they certainly looked and smelled delicious. Judging from reactions at work, I would have to guess they were pretty darn good. They got eaten right up and there was none left to bring home. So if you have a little bit of extra time on your hands and want something super quick and very easy to satisfy a sweet tooth, then this just  might be the recipe you are looking for!

 Recipe adapted from:
http://www.bakerella.com/chocolate-swirl-biscuits/

For the dough:

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp cold butter, cut into very small pieces
3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 tsp almond extract

For the filling:

3 Tbsp butter, softened (not melted)
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup toasted coconut

1 cup almonds, chopped (you can substitute your favorite nut)

 

For the topping:

 
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp coconut milk
sugar (for sprinkling on the top of the rolls) 

Preheat oven to 400°

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam. 

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until blended. 

Use a pastry blender (or you can use your fingers) and work the butter into the dry ingredients until it is a crumbly texture. 

Add the coconut milk and almond extract and stir with a fork until a sticky dough forms. 

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Flour your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Gently knead it 10 times. 

Lightly flour the counter that you kneaded the dough on and use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a 13 x 11 rectangle.  

Now toast your coconut by placing 3/4 cup coconut on a cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in your preheated oven and monitor it carefully. It should only take a few minutes for the coconut to become a nice toasty golden brown. Remove from the  oven when it's golden brown. Set aside.

Spread softened butter completely over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle sugar, chocolate chips,  toasted coconut, and chopped almonds, all over the buttered dough. 

Roll the dough up in a jelly roll fashion, from the long side, and cut the roll into 12 equal sections. 

Place the cut sections 2 inches apart on your greased cookie sheet. 

To make the topping: Mix together 1 egg yolk and coconut milk in a small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle sugar all over the tops. 

Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden.

Chocolate Dump Cake (or better known as "death by chocolate" cake)

I grew up loving my mom's pineapple cherry dump cake. Just the thought of it brings back some great memories. So when I stumbled upon this recipe for chocolate dump cake, I could not resist. The best thing about this recipe is that it is amazingly simple. Seriously....anyone could do this. Even if you are not a baker, just trust me on this one, you can do this!! So go gather up your whole whopping, 4 ingredients and get to baking.

 This is the link to the original recipe! Chocolate Pudding Dump Cake

Ingredients:
1 chocolate cake mix ( I used triple fudge cake mix)
1 small package instant chocolate pudding
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 1/2 cups semi sweeet chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Prepare the pudding with the milk according to the directions on the package. Add the dry cake mix and stir well to combine. This will produce a thick batter consistency. Pour the batter into a greased
9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips onto the top of the batter. Bake for approx 22-26 minutes (depending on how gooey you like your chocolate cake). If you don't like your cake gooey, just cook it until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I like to leave mine a bit gooey as it continues to cook a bit in the hot pan after you remove it from the oven.

Chocolate Covered Coffee Toffee

It's actually pretty funny that just a couple posts ago, I shared how I have taken on a new healthy living lifestyle and here I am posting another sugary, yummy post! Honestly, I am not eating any of these goodies, but I am sure enjoying creating them for all our friends and family during the Christmas season. This one should be a hit, because come on...who doesn't like toffee? Dipped in chocolate? With coffee? See...you are drooling now huh? Well if you can stop drooling long enough to head on into your kitchen, you are probably going to want to make this candy.

* Original Recipe found here: Chocolate Covered Coffee Toffee

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp molasses
3 tsp instant coffee powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound milk chocolate melted

1. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment or wax paper.

2. In a medium sized sauce pan, place a candy thermometer. Bring all the ingredients, excluding the chocolate, to a boil over medium low heat. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until the thermometer reaches 275°

3. Stir constantly until the thermometer reaches 315°. Remove it from the heat and stir until very smooth, just a few seconds.

4. Pour the toffee onto the prepared cookie sheet.

5. Using a spatula spread the toffee out into a large rectangle. try to keep it as even as possible. Work quickly because the toffee will set fast.

6. Using a pizza cutter, score the toffee into bite sized pieces. This might take a few times going over and over it as the toffee hardens.

7. Allow the toffee to sit until it is room temperature and then break apart the pieces.

8. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler until perfectly smooth. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Drop a piece of the toffee into the chocolate. Using a spoon, make sure the toffee is covered with chocolate on all sides.Use a fork to remove the toffee from the chocolate. Shake the candy over the bowl to gently remove the excess chcocolate. Scrape the edge of the fork on the bowl of chocolate as you remove the candy. Lay them on waxed or parchment paper until they set up.

9. You will have a bit of chocolate left over so you can add some decoration to the tops if you wish by scooping the leftover chocolate into a baggie. Clip a very tiny hole in the corner of the baggie and drizzle the chocolate onto the tops of the toffee.

Chocolate Bread with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread

I'm pretty sure that somewhere along the line in this blog, I have mentioned how much I love chocolate and peanut butter together. In fact, I'm pretty sure Ive mentioned it more than once. So I will just say it again. "I LOVE chocolate and peanut butter together." This bread was really great. It's more of a dark chocolate tasting bread and the peanut butter cream cheese, just makes it even more fantastic. I think when I go to bed tonight, I will already be imagining this as my breakfast. It has eggs and milk, so I will just pretend that it's a wholesome breakfast! Hey...a girl can dream can't she?
*Sorry for the dark picture. My camera is not in cooperative mode these days and may just have to be replaced!!

Original recipe from: http://www.cookincanuck.com

 3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2  cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

8 ounces dark chocolate chips 

For the spread: 

5 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°

 Butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, cocoa, flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolk to blend, then add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Whisk until combined. Place your dry ingredients into the mixer and turn it on low just to combine the ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, making sure all the sides have been scraped down and everything is mixed thoroughly together.  

Pour the batter into the buttered loaf pan and bake for 45 min to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the Cream Cheese Spread: Mix the cream cheese, peanut butter and sugar together in a bowl with a spoon until it is soft and fluffy. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Chocolate Chip Filled Raspberries

These little bites are a piece of heaven. I love fruit. I love chocolate and I really love them together. You get more raspberry than chocolate in each bite and that's what I really like about it. That and the fact that it takes 0.2 seconds to make each one!
Just take a chocolate chip and place it "top side down" into the top of a raspberry. Ba da bing...ba da boom...you are done! Dessert in a second! This would also look so pretty with white chocolate chips, but I didn't have any and I was not about to run to the store to get some. Maybe if gas was still $2.00 a gallon, but not a chance in the world I'm starting my car to go to the store for a white chocolate chip (which I'm not a huge fan of anyway) at 4:30 a gallon!

Smore's Truffles

Since winter really never showed up in So Cal this year and it was more like a "mild summer", the closest thing I was going to get to smore's around a campfire, was to light my gas stove and stand around it with bent hangers and smore's fixins and pretend it was cold outside. That was never going to happen, so when I saw this pin on pinterest and found the recipe at http://cakedish.blogspot.com,
I thought it might be worth a try.
They definitely were! I just happened to make mine with heart shaped cookie cutters and I think they turned out really cute. I'm thinking that I just might make these for Valentines day and use the pink,strawberry flavored marshmallows. Strawberries and chocolate always go well together, so I might be onto something here!!
*My adorable hubby bought me some roses, so I added one in to the picture for some extra love to go along with the heart shaped truffles ♥

6 graham crackers
6 Hershey candy bars (plain milk chocolate)
1 cup marshmallow creme
1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
**Milk chocolate chips (for melting to dip the candies in)

Use a coookie cutter to cut 2 hearts (or any other shape you choose) out of each graham cracker. You will have 12 cut out shaped when you are finished.. (Save the extra crumbs, you will use them for garnish on the top of your truffles)

Use the same cookie cutter to cut 2 shapes out of each Hershey bar. (Save the extra chocolate as you will it for melting to dip the candy in)

In a mixer, combine the marshmallow creme, whipping cream and vanilla until blended. Slowly add in the sugar until the mixture is stiff.

Take the marshmallow mixture and shape into a heart shape (or whatever shape you chose to use) the same size as your cut outs.

Place the graham cracker cut outs on a cookie sheet. Place the marshmallow on top of that and then top it off with chocolate. It should look like this:

Refrigerate them for about an hour.
Right before you take them out of the refrigerator, melt the extra scraps of chocolate in a bowl. Dip each truffle into the chocolate and set on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. After you dip each one sprinkle a tiny amount of graham crumbs onto the top. Finish this process with all of the candies and place in the refrigerator to harden.
** If you don't have enough scraps of chocolate to cover all your truffles ( I sure didn't) them melt some milk chocolate chips in the microwave (carefully...they burn quickly) and use those to coat the rest of the candy.

Chocolate Cheesecake Dip

I saw a recipe on Pinterest at (http://crumbsandchaos.blogspot.com) for "Brownie batter dip" and loved it, just by hearing the name. Now  that I have made it, I think I would call this "chocolate cheesecake dip." It is reminiscent of a chocolate cheesecake batter. If there was ever a time that I wanted to retreat to a place all by myself with a spoon and no one watching, this just might be it. But of course, I have NEVER (wink, wink) even considered that idea! This really is quite fantastic. I only had animal crackers at the house to dip in it, but clearly this could be eaten with ANYTHING dipped in it, and I mean anything. Trust me when I say anything, because even my finger dipped in it tasted great! ;)
Not that I ate my finger, haha, but if there had been much more dip on it, I just might not have stopped at licking it off my finger. All kidding aside, this would make a great dip to take to any party or pot luck. So to the girls at the crumbsandchaos website who created this dip.....my hats off to you. Good job!!

 

Original recipe can be found at: Crumbs and Chaos

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

2 to 3 cup powdered sugar

5 Tbsp flour

5 Tbsp cocoa powder

2 Tbsp brown sugar

3 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

Beat together the cream cheese and the butter. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and 1 Tbsp. of the milk until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, vanilla, and 1 more Tbsp. of the milk. Beat until smooth. Add the remaining powdered sugar and milk alternately until dip reaches a good smooth consistency.

Chocolate, Caramel, Peanut Butter and Pretzel Delights

Have you ever heard the term "a moment on your lips, forever on your hips?" Well, I have, and let me tell you these didn't even last a full moment on my lips. They were so good that I pretty much swallowed them whole. So does that mean that my new saying should be " a moment in my gut, forever on my butt?" I think so! ;)
These have got to be classified as one of the easiest candies to make and one of the most delicious to eat. I love the salty and sweet combination. The pretzels help to cut down on the sweet from the chocolate. Oh and of course if you throw peanut butter into anything, that always helps!

*There is only 3 ingredients...see how simple this really is!


Individually wrapped caramels (each one makes one candy, so use as many as the amount of candy you want to make)
Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels (from the grocery store or Trader Joes...again one for each candy)
Dipping Chocolate ( I like to use the log house brand from the grocery store)

Unwrap each caramel and use a rolling pin to roll it out flat and large enough to wrap around a peanut butter filled pretzel. Place a pretzel onto each flattened caramel. Using your hands, wrap the caramel carefully, around the pretzel. Tuck and squeeze any excess caramel so it doesn't look "bumpy." Dip each wrapped pretzel into melted, dipping chocolate. Sprinkle crushed pretzel onto the outside. Let it dry on waxed paper until chocolate is firm and hardened.
* You could also sprinkle sea salt on this if you want a saltier candy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

I am probably the only person in the world that does not like the smell of popcorn cooking. I'm not sure why I have an aversion to it. I guess it could be that my mom used to make it a lot. A LOT!!! I sure do love my mom, but I found it horrible to smell the popcorn. Even now when I'm at work, I want to walk into the staff lounge with my nose plugged when someone has been popping popcorn. So for someone that doesn't like the taste and/or smell of popcorn, I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this snack. I needed to make something to take to church tomorrow and I had all these ingredients in my house. Turns out it's actually pretty tasty. The chocolate and the peanut butter hide the taste of the popcorn well in this one. Now if I could just get my  house to get "un-stinky" from cooking it lol.

For popcorn: 8 cups popped popcorn 1/2 cup salted cocktail peanuts 1/2 cup corn syrup 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips For topping:  1/2- 1 cup milk chocolate chips 1 gigantic spoonful of peanut butter (You can use whatever milk chocolate to peanut butter ratio you want here. I like to use a lot of peanut butter to cut down on the sweetness of the chocolate)

Preheat oven to 300°. Grease a large roasting pan. Combine popped popcorn and peanuts in the pan.
In a medium saucepan, melt together corn syrup and sugar. Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Add  the peanut butter and stir until mixed together.  
Pour over the popcorn in the pan and stir to coat it well.
Bake for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. (I stirred mine every 7 minutes). Put on wax paper and allow to cool down. 
In a saucepan, mix together the topping ingredients. (milk chocolate chips and peanut butter). Drizzle over the chocolate popcorn and let sit on the wax paper until the new chocolate topping has firmed up. (This can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the weather)
Break apart and enjoy.

*original recipe from: http://www.yummly.com/

Andes Mint Cookie Dough Truffles

Oh my goodness, would it sound trite to say these were divine? I love chocolate and mint together. Wait who am I kidding???? I love chocolate with anything! Although these were pretty sweet, I still managed  to eat two of them. So much for my tennis playing today. I'm sure I consumed, just in these two candies alone, everything that I worked off today while playing! Was it worth it? You betcha! These pretty much melt in your mouth.  I'm sure they won't melt off my hips though, which means I start walking faster and further tomorrow on my walk.

4 ounces, cream cheese, softened 
1/2 cup butter, softened 
1 cup Brown Sugar 
1tsp vanilla extract 
1 cup Flour 
1/4 tsp salt 
1 cup Andes Mint Morsels  
12 ounces, Chocolate Candy Coating Melted 
1/2 cup Andes mint morsels for topping


In a food processor, beat cream cheese with butter. Add in sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. Beat in flour and salt. Fold in Andes candy. Using a small scoop or spoon, place small amounts of the dough into rounds on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for 15 min. Remove from the freezer and shape each ball into a nice smooth ball. Freeze the smoothed balls for approx 15-20 more minutes. Using a toothpick, or a candy fork, dip each truffle into melted chocolate candy bark. Let excess chocolate drip off the truffle. Place onto wax paper and immediately top each candy (before it dries) with the extra morsels. Let the chocolate firm up and enjoy!

*Original recipe from http://tastykitchen.com

Oreo and Peanut Butter Brownie Cups

This morning started off with the hubby having to remind me that it was Valentine's Day. Am I that unromantic? No....I just feel like this day is so over rated and commercial. We love each other everyday and show each other as often as we can by doing special things for each other. Gotta love  that after almost 29 years of marriage. So what did I make for him? I made him these brownies filled with Oreos and peanut butter. Hopefully that will not result in a heart attack as that would not be a very special Valentine gift. So maybe you can make them for  your special someone, or maybe just for your kiddos or your friends. If they like brownies, oreos and/or peanut butter, trust me they will love these!

All you need to make these  are:
1 box brownie mix, (make the batter according to package directions)
1 bag Oreo cookies
Peanut Butter

First put about 1/2- 1 tsp of peanut butter on top of 2 separate Oreos.( I tended to use the higher ratio of peanut butter because I think it helps cut the sweetness of the brownie...and oh yeah because I'm a peanut butter junkie) Then place them together like this: ( Do this with the remaining Oreos until the package is gone.)

 Then place the peanut butter covered Oreos into a cupcake liner and place into a muffin tin.

Next place 2 Tbsp of prepared brownie mix over the top of each cookie stack.

Bake at 350 for approx 18-20 min. Take out and let cool in pan.
This is what they looked like before I cut one open.

Here is the inside of the final product.

Yes I did eat this directly after this picture was taken. I am hanging my  head in shame now as I type this ;)


*Original recipe from: http://www.instructables.com/id/Oreo-and-Peanut-Butter-Brownie-Cakes/

Peanut Butter Cup and Rice Krispy Brownies

Have you ever made a recipe that you knew was going to be so delicious, that you could start drooling just thinking about it? This was one of those recipes. I started by making the brownie batter and as I was pouring it into the pan, I was thinking, "what if I just left a HUGE spoonful of this in the bowl by mistake and had to lick it clean?" Come on....you can't honestly say you have never thought or done this yourself! Well, I fought the brownie batter demon and I put all of it in the pan. Now I had to figure out how to stop myself from licking the bowl clean. Hence the chant to myself " just put it in the sink and run water in it quickly, just put it in the sink and run water in it quickly" over and over and over! Once again...mission accomplished. I ran water into the bowl of precious scraps of brownie batter and watched it wash it all away. Boo Hoo! Later when these brownies were done and I had managed to eat 2 of them, I realized that with all the calories I had consumed, that little bit of brownie batter probably wouldn't have mattered. So next time, and oh trust me there WILL be a next time for this recipe....I will not run water in that bowl so quickly.

1 box brownie mix 

1/2 cup salted peanut, chopped

1 1/4 cups  Reese’s peanut butter cups, chopped

1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Mix brownie batter according to directions on box, and pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove and sprinkle the top with chopped peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 5-6 minutes more. While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Stir in cereal. Remove brownies from the oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

*original recipe from: www.howsweeteats.com

Samoa Brownie Cookie Bars

What do you get when you mix, brownies, shortbread cookies and yummy caramel and coconut? You get a mouthful of yummy goodness! This just might be one of my new favorite ways to eat brownies. Of course, it doesn't take much convincing for me to enjoy a brownie. If you eat a few of these, you could definitely conserve energy. By that I mean, you will no longer need to run your heater because you can create your own warmth from your thighs rubbing together. See...there are plenty of reasons to eat lots of them ;)

* This link is where the original recipe is from:jaseyscrazydaisy.com

Shortbread Crust

3/4 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes

3/4 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Brownie Layer:

1 package brownie mix, 

Water, oil, and eggs called for in the directions on the brownie box

1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, straight from the jar, unheated

Coconut Caramel Layer:

3 cups toasted coconut,

1 (17 oz.) jar caramel topping

Chocolate Drizzle:

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread coconut evenly over baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to make sure coconut browns evenly. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all crust ingredients and cut with pastry knife, or mix with mixer until coarse pea-sized lumps form. Press evenly over the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish. Bake until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, prepare brownie batter according to package directions, adding 1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, unheated and straight from the jar. Make sure to follow the high altitude directions if you live at high altitude. Pour over shortbread crust and bake as directed, until a toothpick comes out nearly clean with only a few crumbs remaining.

When brownies are almost finished, scoop caramel topping into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over low until caramel is soft and easy to stir. Add toasted coconut and stir gently until evenly mixed. If brownies are not quite finished, keep this warm, stirring occasionally. Keeping the coconut caramel mixture warm will help it to spread evenly without tearing brownies apart.

Pour coconut caramel mixture over brownies and gently spread evenly over the top. 

Place chocolate chips into a zip-loc baggie and put into microwave for 20 second intervals. Squish the bag with your fingers to mix and smooth the chocolate between intervals. When melted smooth, snip a tiny piece off of the corner of the bag and drizzle over bars. Cool.