yep. i'm awesome. and so is my baking

I recently fell on my face. No, no, not literally :0) Just emotionally. You know the kind of fall right? The "you jump into something with someone and it doesn't always work out" kinda fall on your face? My postive spin on the situation is that I am baking. A lot.

Joy the Baker blogged about falling on her face (that's where I got the expression) ... she decided to bake a tres leches cake. I decided to bake something else.

You see... and this really did put a smile on my face... I was recently given a book. A beautiful recipe book. One that I already own. It happens. If you check out my kitchen and my living room, the common denominator would be books... I have lots; especially cookbooks.

But back to my gift...I decided to go and swap it out for something new. That's how I ended up with the happy baker chick - a guide to emotional baking ;0) It was PERFECT! Filled with gorgeous pictures, humourous stories and mouth watering recipes... my type of book (and the author Erin is pretty darn awesome too).

So these are my Holy Heck! I'm Awesome Bars!

I worked off of Erin's (the author) recipe (her's are known as yum yum squares), but I added a few of my favourite things to her base and came up with these. They are AMAZING. Great with wine (yes... been there, done that), a real sugar boost for breakfast (again, been there, done that) and easy to make.

Holy Heck! I'm Awesome (bars)
ingredients:
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 c. flaked coconut
1/2 c. walnut pieces
1/2 c. pecan pieces
1/2 c. white chocolate chips
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grab your 8-inch square pan and spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand-mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy (use your paddle attachment and a medium speed). Lower the speed and stir in the flour. You should end up with a cookie dough like texture. Gather it up and press it into your sqaure pan (nice and even). Set aside (don't pre-bake the crust).

Grab your stand-mixer bowl and paddle attachment (again) and combine the eggs, salt, vanilla and sugar together. Toss in the nuts, chocolate chips and coconut; stir to combine. Spread this mixture over the top of the crust.

Bake for about 20 minutes (or until the top is golden brown). Allow to cool on a wire rack and cut into squares when you're ready to serve... I got about 32 squares out of this recipe... they are sweet so a little goes a long way. And they freeze well too... in case you were wondering ;0)

This should be your go to recipe when you need to remember how awesome you are! I'd like to thank Erin... your book made me giggle. I really needed a good giggle.