Blackberry-Blueberry Scones with Honey-Butter Glaze

.  Well sadly...summer is a-windin' down.  Even though we really didn't have a summer though, I guess.  So regardless that it's nearly September, it seems odd to me that the weather has already begun to cool.  Fall is by far my most favorite season so I'm not complaining one bit.  But I will admit that I did miss the summer heat that never seemed to show.  Oh well...

But like I mentioned before, I have a couple of 'summer' treats that I have to pump out before it gets too late.  Because we all know that once August hits, it's officially Fall baking season.  So pumpkin, spices, apples, and more pumpkin, are fair game.  Watch out peeps.

So for one of my last summery goodies, I must say that we're leaving the season with a b.a.n.g.  Or in other words, this is a legit scone that even Robbie enjoyed [i.e., he's not a bready fan, so scones are one of his least favorite things].  

But lucky for you, me and Robbie, these are one of the most unique scones I've had to date because the flavor combination of fresh, tart, juicy blackberries and blueberries with the thick, sweet, salty taste of the Honey-Butter Glaze?  Well, dyyyyyamn.

And we all know that scones get a bad wrap because they don't seem to keep very long [i.e., they get crumbly and somewhat stale].  But the secret to keeping these scrumptious scones fresh for days?

That Honey-Butter Glaze.

If you happen to sneak a bite of the scones straight out of the oven [pre-glazed], you'll first realize how incredibly delicious this buttery, fruity goodie is just by itself.   But slathering the salty-sweet combination of honey-butter over the fresh scones seems to lock in all of that moist goodness.  And no doubt adds an extra flavor element to make this one of the best scones I've ever eaten.  Let alone produced out of my very own kitchen.  BOOM!

To leave you all, it's officially Robbie's birthday weekend so I'll be spending the next couple of days tending to his every need.  Oh, is that different from other days around here though...?

Just kidding ☺ But we will be out and about and his brother, Danny, will be joining us Sunday for the day, so we definitely have a packed weekend ahead of us!  Hope you enjoy your days off as you please, until next time!  .

From A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

Blackberry-Blueberry Scones:

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 c. heavy whipping cream

3-1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. frozen blueberries 

1/2 c. frozen blackberries

Milk (for brushing)

Honey-Butter Glaze:

1/3 c. honey

1/4 c. unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Put lemon juice into a liquid measuring cup and add heavy whipping cream to the 1 cup mark.  Let stand for a few minutes to make soured cream.  
2. Heat oven to 425°F.  Arrange oven rack to upper third position.  Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper; set aside.
3. In a food processor, add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and blend briefly.  Add butter and pulse to make coarse mixture.  Turn out mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the center.  Add egg, vanilla extract, and enough soured cream to make a soft but firm dough.  Gently fold in blueberries and blackberries.
4. Turn out dough to lightly floured surface and knead briefly to make a firm dough.  Pat out dough into 1-inch thick circle.  Cut dough into wedges or rounds and place on prepared baking sheet.  Brush each scone with milk.
5. Bake 16 to 19 minutes or until scones are nicely browned.  
6. While scones are baking, make the glaze by heating honey and butter in a liquid measuring cup until melted mixture is simmering (about 1-1/2 minutes).  Brush scones with honey-butter glaze as they come out of the oven.  Let scones cool for about 15 minutes before brushing on honey-butter glaze once more.

Yield: 1 dozen scones

Lucky Leaf Pie Filling GIVEAWAY and Mini Fruit Pies

.  Yep, you betcha!

I have another Lucky Leaf Pie Filling giveaway!  And just in time for Valentine's Day.  I'm always thinking of you guys.  How nice of me ☺ 

You may have caught my previous Lucky Leaf Pie Filling giveaway and fortunate for me, Lucky Leaf tapped me on my shoulder to do a second one!  And because giveaways are simply exciting [we gotta switch it up every now and then around here, right?] and Lucky Leaf Pie Fillings are just so dang scrumptious, there was no way I was passing this up.

Like before, Lucky Leaf sent me a lovely package filled with three pie fillings [strawberry, blueberry, and apple], three recipe cards, a bakery bag, and a Rachel Ray 6-cup Muffin Pan.  Uh huh, it was an awesome gift I got in the mail.

One of the recipes cards I received was for Mini Pies and I opted for this choice because 1) pies are my absolute fav to eat and make and 2) my wonderful friend was having a Super Bowl party with some fancy homemade dishes.  Remember the gourmet cook I mentioned in a prior post?  Well it only seemed fitting to add to her spread with something that deserved to accompany her gourmet-ness, and lattice-crust pies are always a winner.  At least in my book.  Oh, and don't forget that these would be the most perfect Valentine's Day dessert.  Eh, eh?!

Anywho, I must say these pies went over rather well!  The recipe only made a dozen but there wasn't a crumb left in the house by the end of the night.  That's a good sign, right?

I of course chose to make a homemade [super easy] buttery pie crust and filled each with the delectable Lucky Leaf Pie Filling.  I decided on making Strawberry and Blueberry Mini pies simply for variety but the colors also went with the teams playing in the big game [i.e., red for the Niners and purple for the Ravens].  Like that?!  Then I topped the fillings with a fun lattice top and voila, mini fruit pies for everyone!

So enough chatting and let's get to this giveaway, shall we?!  Let's see what one lucky reader will win:

1 can of Lucky Leaf Pie Filling

1 recipe card

Festive muffin cup papers

1 bakery bag

And like usual, it's rather easy to partipicate.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post below telling me what your favorite kind of pie is!  And to earn some additional entries, follow Lucky Leaf on Facebook, Pinterest, and/or Twitter, and leave separate comments telling me you did so.  The giveaway will be open until Saturday, February 23, so get commentin'!  And don't forget to spread the word!  .

My Notes:

• I chose to make a homemade pie crust, but if you're in a complete bind for time, feel free to use store bought crust.

 Pie Crust from A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

All Butter Pie Crust:

3 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening, cut into chunks

1 large egg

4 to 8 tbsp. ice water

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Lucky Leaf Baby Pies Recipe

Directions:

1. For crust, place flour in food processor.  Add sugar and salt and process 20 seconds to combine.  Add chunks of butter and shortening and pulse to break up butter until mixture looks crumbly
2. Add egg and drizzle ice water and lemon juice on top.  Turn on food processor for 15 seconds until mixture more or less holds together.  
3. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead very gently for a few seconds to smooth out dough.  Divide dough ball in half, pat each ball into disks, and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill dough for 1 hour or overnight before using.
4. Refer to the Lucky Leaf Baby Pies Recipe for the assembly instructions.

Yield: 4 single pie crusts

Blueberry Raspberry Crumble Bars

.  Hey, oh!

Long time no post, huh?  Okay, only a few days.  But I do feel like LSM has been a bit neglected as of late.  This whole new job thing has got me going a million miles an hour and leaves me completely crashed at night.  So no time for posting.  I'm sure you'll forgive me though.

Not too much [but at the same time, a lot going on!] over our way.  Let's see, for this weekend I'm planning on fitting in a lengthy run on Saturday morning [we'll see how that goes though because for some reason my knee has been bothering me], helping with a special work event later that morning [more to come on that], and then finishing Saturday painting our deck with Robbie and his papa.  No real plans for Sunday except that dear ol' Robbie is leaving town again for work.  Boo to that.

We're kind of boring, huh?  I know, I'm trying to work on that.  Robbie and I have some fun travel plans coming up soon though, so that'll shake things up a bit!

But for this weekend, I have a special end-of-summer treat to share with you all [gah, I can't believe summer is ending already...!].  These Blueberry Raspberry Crumble Bars [which I was tempted to call BlueRaz Bars, but refrained] are a classically simple bar to make yet result in an over-the-top, humongous goodie.  No joke.  These bars are thick mamas.  If that even makes sense.  And so, so scrumptious.

Where to begin?  Well what makes them so easy is that the the base and crumble are one in the same.  Meaning that you make one mixture that is used for the base and the topping.  Easy peasy.  The filling is somewhat gooey, studded with chunks of sweet and tart blueberries and raspberries, and pairs perfectly with the crunchy, buttery outsides.  Cue salivating mouth...now. 

My thoughts are that you can grab some local fruits from the farmers market this weekend and make this recipe in a snap to share [or not] with your loved ones.  Now get bakin'!  .

Adapted from A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

Crust and Topping:

1-1/2 c. all purpose flour

1-1/2 c. old fashioned oats

1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 c. unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Filling:

2 c. fresh blueberries

1 c. fresh raspberries

3/4 c. sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Generously coat 11x7-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. For crust and topping, place flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon into a food processor.  Pulse to blend (about 20 seconds).  Add butter and pulse until you have a crumbly mass (not dry by sticking together).
3. For filling, toss blueberries and raspberries in a small bowl with sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
4. Spread half of crumble mixture into prepared pan and pat down gently.  Spread fruit filling evenly over crust.  Top as evenly as possible with remaining crumble mixture and press slightly.  Chill 30 minutes.
5. Heat oven to 350°F.  After chilled, bake bars 40 to 45 minutes until fruit starts to bubble.  Reduce oven to 325°F and bake additional 15 to 20 minutes or until fruit that is bubbling is deeper in color and edges of squares are browned.  Cool completely in pan before cutting or refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before cutting.

Yield: 15 bars

Butterscotch 'n' Cream Muffins

.  Hey-o!

How was every one's Fourth of July?  Ours was pretty relaxing, we spent the day at the pool with the puppies, went out for a little dinner and fro-yo downtown, and then Robbie and I walked around our neighborhood creepin' on people lighting fireworks.  What's a Fourth of July without fireworks, right?!

I do have to admit though, that this year's Fourth of July was a bit of a dud due to the whole midweek thing.  Did anyone else feel like it was a Monday, the day after the Fourth?  But what made me feel better was when I realized at some point during the day that it was already Thursday.  And Friday always comes after Thursday.  Score.

So to send you off into the weekend the right way, and this is perfect for those of you who may have some guests for the 'holiday' weekend, I give you....

Butterscotch 'n' Cream Muffins.

This recipe comes from my yet-to-be-trumped favorite book, A Passion for Baking by Marcy Goldman.  I've mentioned this book several times on LSM and I'll continue to do so until you buy it.  So I guess you have control of how many times I bombard you with those links ☺

Anywho, back to these muffins.  Or breakfast cupcakes.  You know, they're you're basic cream cheese filled, crunchy pecan streusel topping muffin.  Pretty typical...

Or not.  I absolutely love these muffins, and to my surprise they weren't as overly sweet as I had thought going in.  Though they do have a generous helping of crunchy brown sugar and pecan streusel atop a lovely layer of cream cheese filling, the soft, tender, yet subtle cake rounds out this goodie perfectly.  And also gives us an excuse to shove our faces full to share this treat with our family and friends in the early morning.

Well I hope everyone is having a wonderful 'holiday' weekend thus far.  I'll be spending mine relaxing around the house with the pups.  They're totally not spoiled.

See you next week!  .

My Notes:

• Don't be intimidated by the longer ingredient list, this ENTIRE recipe is made in the food processor so it makes for easy clean up and no mixing!

Adapted from A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

Pecan Streusel Topping:

1 c. finely chopped pecans

2 tbsp. sugar

1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar

3 tbsp. butterscotch chips

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Cream Cheese Topping:

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 large egg

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Muffins:

1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened

1 c. firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. buttermilk

2 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 c. finely chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.  Line a regular-sized muffin pan with paper liners and spray liners with non stick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. For streusel topping, place pecans, sugar, brown sugar, and butterscotch chips in food processor and grind to a fine meal.  Add butter and pulse to blend.  Place streusel into a bowl; set aside.
3. Without cleaning the food processor, blend together cream cheese, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth and place into another bowl.  Set aside.
4. For muffins, blend butter, brown sugar and sugar in food processor until well combined.  Add egg and vanilla extract and mix well.  Add buttermilk, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pecans and blend well (make sure no unblended sugar or butter is stuck on the bottom of the bowl).
5. Fill muffin cups about half full with batter.  Evenly divide cream cheese topping into each cup and then carefully add streusel.
6. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until muffins seem firm to the touch when gently pressed with fingertips.  Cool 5 minutes in pan before removing.

Serving: 1 dozen muffins

Double Fudge Biscotti

.  Well all I know is that I would love to wake up to THAT on Valentine's Day.  Robbie, you better get bakin.'

Just kidding guys, I would never make Robbie do something for me, but if he wanted to out of the goodness of his heart and because I'm so special to him...well then, I guess I would't argue.  No pressure.

But I'm guessing many of you are like Robbie and I, and realizing the clock is quickly winding down to the big V-day [it almost sounds more of like a sentence than a holidy, huh?].  And what's that?  You haven't thought of a gift yet?!  Shame, shame on you.  Juuust kidding, again.  Robbie and I are the worst when it comes to Valentine's Day, it's definitely a holiday we both kind of blow off.  We treat each other like it's Valentine's Day everyday, right sweetie?  Gag.

Anywho, for those of you in a bit of bind, I would highly recommend you whip up a batch of these utterly beautiful treats for those special people in your life.  Not only are they crunchy chocolatey sticks of goodness, filled with hunks of semisweet and white chocolate, but they truly make a gorgeous gift.  I actually made these a couple of weeks ago for a friend of mine at work, wrapped them in some cellophane with a pretty white ribbon and voila!  I looked like good ol' Martha Stewart, if I do say so myself.

I can see myself now, sipping on my coffee come Valentine's Day morning, Double Fudge Biscotti in hand.  Pure bliss.  Oh, and for those of you who aren't coffee drinkers [we may need to have a chat...], these are wonderful by themselves.  They're very rich, so even though they're classified as a breakfast item, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to call these dessert.  Yeah, you'll see what I mean once you make them.  So go make them!  .

Adapted from A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:
Biscotti:
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1-3/4 c. sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. cocoa powder
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2-1/2 c. all purpose flour
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
2 c. white chocolate chips

Drizzle:
4 oz. each semisweet and white chocolate, melted

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Line two small or one large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla extract and blend well.  Fold in cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour to make a thick batter.  Fold in semisweet and white chocolate chips.  Let dough stand for 15 minutes to thicken and firm up.
3. Spread dough into two logs on prepared baking sheet(s).  Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until set and logs are firm to the touch.  Remove biscotti from oven and let cool 15 to 20 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.  Using a long serrated knife, slice logs on a diagonal into 1/2-inch thick pieces.  Return biscotti to baking sheet, standing upright, and bake 30 to 40 minutes to dry and crisp biscotti.  Let cool completely on baking sheets.
4. To finish, melt semisweet and white chocolate and drizzle over each piece of biscotti.  Let harden before serving.

Yield: 3 dozen biscotti

Tried & True Tuesday: Cinnamon Bun Scones

. Oh Fall, how I love thee!  Okay, just kidding.  But I really do love the Fall, as if you couldn't already tell from my last several posts.  Football season, crisp air, spices, sweatshirts, pumpkins, hats, turning leaves, holidays.  Cheesey, yes, but what's not to love about all of that?!

So to continue my ode to the Fall season, I would like to introduce you to Cinnamon Bun Scones.  This recipe comes from, you got it, Marcy Goldman's A Passion for Baking.  Gasp!  Not shocking, I know.  How many times can you rave about one baker?!  I'm trying to make it a record.  But this recipe is every bit as wonderful as it sounds, the true flavors of a cinnamon roll without all of the fuss!  The soft, tender crumb scone wafts scents of vanilla and is finished with a cinnamon glaze that is to. die. for.  Not literally, but it'll make you smack your lips.  Several times over.  And over.

These babies are also super simple and a great grab 'n' go breakfast for you crazies on the run.  And the kiddies, too.  Let Fall continue! .

My Notes:

• When I first made these, I noted that the scone batter spreads out quite a bit while baking, so make sure to space the scones fairly well.  I ended up only putting about 6 balls of dough onto each baking sheet.

From A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

Scones:

3 c. all purpose flour

1 c. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. unsalted butter, cut into chunks

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3/4 to 1 c. heavy whipping cream

Cinnamon Dip:

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 to 3 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Arrange oven rack to upper third position.
2. In food processor, add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder and blend briefly.  Add butter and pulse to make coarse, grainy mixture.
3. Turn out mixture to large bowl.  Make well in center and stir in vanilla extract, eggs and heavy whipping cream to make soft dough (if stiff, add additional heavy whipping cream).
4. Drop 2 tablespoons of batter onto baking sheet, placing at least 2 inches apart.  Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until scones are puffy and golden brown.  
5. Meanwhile, for cinnamon dip, whisk together butter, cinnamon and powdered sugar until thick but drippy (add additional powdered sugar or heavy whipping cream if needed).  Let scones cool to warm and then dip in cinnamon mixture.  Let glaze set and then dip scones a second time.  Place on wire rack to let set completely.

Yield: 18 scones

King Congo Bars

. I have good news to report...

THE FOAMERS ARE 4-0!

Oh yes, mark us as undefeated! 

Okay, wait a minute, Jess.  Take it back a step.  Who in the world are the Foamers?!

Oh yeah...let me explain.  You know that softball team I talk about every week?  The team that gives me a legitimate excuse to make an extra batch of treats every week?!  Well, we're the Foamers.  Now let me explain to you exactly what a Foamer is. 

So, I work for the railroad, right?  Yes.  Union Pacific Railroad to be exact.  No, I don't work on the tracks or out on the trains, we'll leave that to people who actually have muscles.  Anywho, one of our managers [who is a self proclaimed Foamer] introduced me to this term a while back while traveling for one our audits.  She explained that a Foamer is someone who [not literally] 'foams at the mouth' when they hear or see trains go by and can rattle off information about that particular train.  Crazy, right?  Oh, those railroaders.

But that's how we got our name for the softball team.  A little weird sounding, I will admit.  At first it sounds like we're some rabid dogs, while in fact we're just a bunch of train-loving youngsters.  Good story?  Probably not.  But it's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Now back to our game.  I'm going to say that all of our success was probably due to these little [BIG] bars right here.  King Congo Bars.  They just sound masculine, huh?  And they are, and I think they are the reason we won our game on Wednesday in the LAST inning.  Why?  Because I basically threatened 'no win, no treats.'  Juuust joking, I didn't.  But we did win in the last inning and got to celebrate with Capri Suns [no joke, someone brought those!] and these delicious hunks of goodness.

I can't really think of any other way to describe the consistency of these bars except to compare them to Pecan Pie.  You know, that sticky, gooey filling?  That's kind of what they're like.  Chock-full of semisweet and white chocolate chips, pecans, dates, and coconut.  Then, finished with a crunchy, thin layer of chocolate.  YUM!  You can imagine the sweet, chewy greatness in your mouth.  Or you can just whip up a super simple batch of these yourself.  Your choice .

From A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

3/4 c. unsalted butter, melted

2-1/2 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2-3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 c. sweetened shredded coconut

1/2 c. white chocolate chips

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/2 c. pitted, diced dates

Topping:

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350°F.  Generously spray 13x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2.  In mixer bowl, blend butter and brown sugar.

3.  Add eggs and vanilla extract and blend well.

4.  Fold in flour, baking powder, salt, chocolate chips, coconut, white chocolate chips, pecans, and dates. 

5.  Spoon in prepared pan and using wet fingertips, spread batter evenly among pan.  

6.  Place pan in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 325°F.  Bake for 35 minutes or until bars are set but still seem soft.  Take pan out of oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips and let sit for 1 to 2 minutes.  Using a spatula, smear chocolate chips around to make a glaze.

7.  Cool for 20 minutes and freeze for 1 to 2 hours before cutting and serving.

Yield: 2 dozen bars

Caramel Swirl Hunks

. I'm beginning to love Wednesdays.  And would you like to know why?  Because Wednesdays give me chances to make things like this...

Yes, Caramel Swirl Hunks.  And they are everything you would want in a bar and more.  HUGE, chewy, chocolatey, and full of globs of dulce de leche [a.k.a. awesome caramel].

You may recall I mentioned that our department formed a slowpitch softball team, and we play every Wednesday night.  So not only do I get to run around my old home away from home [the softball field], but I have a legitimate excuse to make some treats every week.  Score!  And if I'm going to discover things like these babies, Wednesdays will undoubtedly become my new favorite day.  Friday, what?

I'll warn you now, these are not for the calorie conscious.  BUT, I will say that you will in no way regret taking a ginormous bite out of these bars.  And who really thinks about calories while you're enjoying a wondrous dessert?  My hands are down.

They are definitely one of my top three favorite bars I've ever made.  Seriously.  A soft, yet chewy blondie-like bar, chocolate chunks, and swirls and swirls of rich caramel.  Gah!  Not to mention, the caramel swirls on top are so pretty!

On another note, I'm running in the Omaha Midnight Run tonight [just a 5K though] at, you guessed it, approximately 11:59 P.M.  I know, I realize this is way past my bedtime but I guess I can suck it up.  It's for charity.  And several of my co-workers will be there as well, so they'll keep me awake.  I'm challenging myself to do well [haven't decided on a time yet though...] but we'll see how it goes.  Wish us luck!! .

From A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

2 c. unsalted butter, melted

3 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/3 c. sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. old fashioned oats

4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 (14 oz.) can dulce de leche

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350F.  Generously spray a 13x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

2.  In a large bowl, cream together the melted butter, light brown sugar, and sugar. 

3.  Add eggs, vanilla extract, and oats, and blend well.  Fold in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4.  Gently fold in chocolate chips.

5.  Spread batter into prepared pan.  Top batter with spoonfuls of dulce de leche and using the end of a utensil, swirl the dulce de leche into the batter.

6.  Bake 38 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges but center is still wobbly.  Reduce oven temperature to 325F.  Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until center is set.

Yield: 2 dozen [large] bars