Never mind. Answered our own question. It does still exist. Check here.

We were never allowed to get delivery pizza when we were growing up. The families that did order pizza were SO COOL. (Ha ha. Adventures in Babysitting. Anyhoo.) And, those kids inevitably got to order it from Little Caesars.

As adults and parents now ("adults" and "parents") we totally get the appeal of Little Caesars. Pizza Pizza. Two pizzas for the price of one! Score. BOGO pizza. Who doesn't love free stuff? Plus, we still think that people bringing hot food to your door is pretty awesome. 

But, the more we think about it the more disgusting Little Caesars sounds. How good can the pizza be if you can give it away for free? Why would you want your children eating that junk? More importantly, why would you eat that junk? Wait. Don't answer that. We do love us some twinkies. Yikes. Ok. Little Caesars. What ingredients could they possibly be using that allow them to make money on free pizza? Wait. Don't answer that either. 

So we kind of hate to admit it, but these Peanut Peanut Butter Brownies do utilize a wee baking shortcut (boxed, ahem, brownie, cough cough, mix) which we also think Little Caesars MUST employ in spades given the quality of pie, however that is where the similarities end. We promise.

In fact, these brownies are kind of nothing like Little Caesars pizza. It's just the Peanut Peanut got us thinking of Pizza Pizza. 

Though to be fair, these aren't really Peanut Peanut Butter Brownies they are Peanut Peanut Butter Brownies. Very important distinction especially since we would totally bake and eat something that was just a Butter Brownie. Yum.

Peanut Peanut Butter Brownies
Makes 36-ish bars
Adapted from My Baking Addiction 

Print Recipe

1 19.8 ounce package of brownie mix (or enough for a 13x9" brownie pan, we used Duncan Hines)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup roasted, lightly salted peanuts, chopped
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (not old-fashioned)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter or oil a 13x9x2" brownie baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, oil and vanilla extract and whisk well. Add the brownie mix and stir until combined. Add the chopped peanuts. Remove half the mixture to a smaller bowl and set aside.

Spread the remaining half the brownie-peanut mixture into the pan first using a spoon and then using your hands to flatten evenly. 

In a medium bowl, using a rubber spatula or spoon, mix together the sweetened condensed milk and the peanut butter until smooth. Gently spread the mixture over the first layer of brownie until evenly covering the brownie mix. 

Break the remaining brownie-peanut mix into pieces and flatten with your hands and slowly and gently spread over the peanut butter mixture. It will be a bit messy. Use your hands to coax the final brownie layer into the corners and covering the peanut butter. 

Finally, bake the brownies for 25-30 minutes until the top is set and the edges are lightly browning. Cool on a wire rack before cutting and serving. 

How did the Girl Scout cookie selling season come and go without us even knowing it?!?! Usually we can sniff a Girl Scout selling cookies from 2 states away but nary a knock on the door for us this year and those sly scouts seemed to have abandoned their posts outside the grocery store. Drats!

Like we said, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!

Now we are going to have to buy our cookies on the black market for like $5 a box rather than $4 a box. Wait, is there a black market for Girl Scout cookies? There should be. Or there should be a store that sells the cookies all the time. Like, maybe, a grocery store? WHY CAN'T THEY JUST SELL THE COOKIES IN THE GROCERY STORE?!?! 

Ok. Forgive us, it's our anger and bitterness talking. We love the Girl Scouts. We used to be Girl Scouts. (Though, the cookies were $1.50 a box back then. Yes. We are that old.) Girl power. Always be prepared. Or something like that. 

Anyhoo. The real issue here is: what are we bakers to do then without a bounty of Thin Mints and Tagalongs and Samoas to gorge on right before bathing suit season?!?!

Replicate the flavor of one of our favs in chocolate bark form obviously!! 

Thanks to the brilliant Baker Royale (again, we love you, again) we sort of kind of not really but still totally amazingly have the chocolatey-coconuty-cookie-ish taste sensation to binge on. YAY!! Shady black market deals avoided, btw. 

Samoas Bark
Serves 6-8
Adapted from Bakers Royale 

Print Recipe

For the Bark:
11 1/2 ounces bag dark or semi-sweet chocolate
3/4 cup coarsely crushed shortbread cookies
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, lightly toasted
1 cup caramel sauce (recipe below)

For the Caramel Sauce:
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
7 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

First make the caramel sauce. In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan dissolve the sugar and water over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved then increase the heat to high. Every so often swirl the pot to keep the mixture moving. It will start bubbling. Once it has darkened to a medium amber color, remove from the heat and immediately add the butter and cream to the pan (it will bubble up a lot) and whisk violently until combined and smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Set aside to cool.

To make/assemble the bark, line an 8x8" pan with parchment paper leaving some overhang to pull the bark out with. Blitz the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 30 second increments stirring after 1 1/2 minutes and watching carefully until melted and smooth (do NOT overheat...stir to make sure you really still need to melt the chocolate further, sometimes the residual heat will melt any lumps you do see). Pour half the chocolate into the pan and spread or tip to smooth. Sprinkle some or all of the shortbread over the chocolate and press gently down. Transfer to the freezer for 5-10 minutes to harden. Then remove from the freezer and pour the caramel sauce on top spreading until an even layer. Sprinkle with coconut and press into the caramel gently. Return the pan to the freezer to harden further for 5-10 minutes. Remove from freezer and top with the remaining chocolate. drizzle with caramel sauce and sprinkle with coconut. Harden further in the fridge but bring the bark more to room temperature before cutting with a sharp knife so it doesn't splinter. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

One of us is sitting at home awaiting a Nor'easter and the other is lounging on a beach with a pina colada or some other appropriately tropical beverage deciding whether or not to wear the big black round sunglasses or old-school Ray-Ban sunglasses with today's bathing suit tunic. Decisions are the worst.

We'll give you a hint which one of us it is; the one at home waiting for snow has blonde hair and blue eyes and the one on the beach has blonde hair and blue eyes and her name rhymes with Schmabby. And today we hate her. 

Well not really hate, but we are SUPER jealous and unhappy. Wah.

Life is so hard when you aren't on a beach.

Can I get an 'amen?' Amen.

So as the ultimate form of self-pity we are having white wine and Triple Berry Muffins for dinner. 

Stop judging us. It's one of those days. The VP of Quality Control had some major concerns with recent sweet submissions and his canine assistant peed on the just-installed carpet. 

Like we said, white wine and Triple Berry Muffins. What more do you need?

PS - If you want to know who won our fabulous Cuisinart mini-prep giveaway you have to check our Facebook fan page!

Triple Berry Muffins
Makes 20-24 muffins
Adapted from Sara Leah Chase's Open House Cookbook

Print Recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 extra-large eggs, beaten
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or frozen (without syrup) berries
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients and whisk well to combine. Then, in a medium bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, butter and vanilla. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet milk-mixture. Gradually combine without over mixing. Add in the berries (we used raspberries, blueberries and blackberries) and sugar and gently fold in to the batter. It will be thick and resemble a cookie dough batter.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling almost to the top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Allow to cool in the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool further.

There was a rather tragic turn of events in the old Blue-Eyed kitchen.  Are you sitting down?  No really, are you sitting down?

Our dishwasher broke.  Broke!  The horror the horror!!  Can you even imagine!?  You can't can you?!  No one can...it's a tragedy to great to even contemplate. 

(Us?  Dramatic?  Pssssh.)

Actually, for any normal New Yorker, a broken dishwasher wouldn't even register on the tragedy meter considering 95% of them never actually use their dishwasher (not really Chinese takeout container friendly).  But for us!?  Bakers!?! 

Uh...yeah...Houston we have a problem. 

So while we listened to the super peppy hold music on the GE service line, we made these.  Hello Dolly bars which we're officially renaming HELLOOOOOOO DOLLY bars. 

Seriously, graham crackers, coconut, chocolate, nuts...SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK.  They were just what we needed to deal with our rather traumatic kitchen appliance meltdown.  And bonus, they only dirtied a few dishes.  Bonus for the dishwasher-less!

And then, while we were HAND WASHING our Cuisinart we were seriously annoyed that we didn't have one of those wee little ones that make prepping a breeze and CLEAN UP A SNAP.  So we bought one.  In pink.  And then we decided you muffins needed one too.

So who wants their very own Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus Food Processor?!  YAY FOR A GIVEAWAY!!!

We're keeping it simple, to enter ALL YOU HAVE TO DO is like us on facebook.

Yup, that's it!  Just like us (we're desperate for your approval you see) and you're entered for a chance to win this adorable Mini Prep Food Processor! 

We'll close the contest at 11:00 PM EST on Wednesday February 15th and annouce the winner Thursday February 16th.  So hop to it cookies!!

Hello Dolly Bars
Makes 16 bars
Adapted from Homesick Texan

Print Recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
12 graham cracker sheets, pulsed in a food processor to a fine crumb
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
7 ounces sweetened condensed milk 

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

In a mircowave safe bowl, melt butter.  Add graham cracker crumbs and stir until evenly coated.  Press mixture into an 8 x 8 baking dish.

Combine chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, coconut & pecans in a bowl and stir until even mixed together.  Cover graham cracker crust evenly with topping mixture and top with sweetened condensed milk.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the top is just beginning to brown.  Let bars cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.  Store covered at room temperature.

Aaaaand cue food related panic attack.

It's hard being bakers on days like this.  Everyone wants football food!  Pigs in a blanket, dips, pretzels, nachos, dips, buffalo wings, dips, peanuts...did we mention dips?

Unless you can whip up some football shaped sugar cookies or some elaborately decorated personalized player cupcakes, the baked goods generally fall flat to the chips.  And dips.

Unless...UNLESS...you bring a sweet version of a classic tv watching snack.

We kinda promised ourselves we wouldn't make this when we saw it floating around the web.  Not because it doesn't look completely delicious, but because popcorn is our go-to snack. 

We have portion control issues you see, but at least with some popcorn we can get salty satisfaction without totally losing control.

But covering it in chocolate and peanut butter and powdered sugar? 

Well, yeah, that kinda takes away the "healthy" snack part of it all and places it firmly in the "you just ate a gigantic bowl of dessert" snack.

But hey, it's probably better for you than nachos??

Puppy Chow Popcorn
Makes 9 cups
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Print Recipe

9 cups popcorn (1 standard size microwave bag)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Line a large baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.

Pop popcorn according to package instructions.  Place in a large bowl and set aside.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter and heat in 30 second bursts in the microwave unil melted and smooth.  Pour chocolate mixture over popcorn.  Using a large spoon, mix until popcorn is evenly coated with chocolate.  In 1/2 cup increments, add powdered sugar and continue to mix until evenly coated and all 1 1/2 cups has been added.

Spread popcorn evenly on prepared baking sheet and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge.  Break up and serve.  Store popcorn at room temperature in an airtight container.

Oooobviously there are like a gabillion amazing food combos, with peanut butter and chocolate being the clear and undisputed winner, but really, there is just something so satisfying about the old banana/pb one-two.

First off, you can enjoy this delicious duo any time you dang well please.  For breakfast - look at you, you healthy go getter!  For lunch - ah the classic banana/pb sandwich.  For a snack - fruit? Healthy fats?  Seriously - a dieters delight! 

And dinner??  Well, ok yeah it's maybe kinda a sad dinner but hey!  We're not judging!  Not us!!  Pssst, we totally would eat it for dinner.

And secondly (and totally the best reason), bananas and peanut butter bake up into what is pretty much one of the most divine morning, noon and night treats there is.  Banana bread.  Oh yes, banana bread goes nowhere but up with the addition of peanut butter.

Um and chocolate chips.

And peanut butter chips.

Ugh ok fine and maybe a little teeny tiny peanut butter laced crumb topping.

What!?  We can't help ourselves!  Minimalism is mundane.  We make no apologies for our wonton use of chocolate, peanut butter and crumble!

Seriously, bananas and peanut butter...

Banana Peanut Butter Crumble Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Print Recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

For topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper so there is an overhang on all sides.  Butter the parchment paper.  Set aside.

Make the crumble topping.  In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar and peanut butter using a fork, pastry cutter or your hands, blend until combined and crumbly. Set aside.  

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl or mixer, cream butter and peanut butter together until blended.  Add sugar and beat to combine.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add bananas & mix until incorporated.  Add dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.  Fold in chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.

Pout batter into prepared pan and cover with crumble topping.  Bake for an hour to an hour and 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store bread wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.  May also be frozen.

She likes to tell us about how our Doody (aka 'The Dude', our mummy's mummy...it's a long story) used to clean her toilets with Diet Coke. 

And, er, while we hate to say it, when we had a budding 'rare coin collection' we would soak the pennies from 1975 in Diet Coke to clean them. 

Nonetheless, we still love us some Diet Coke and drink it regularly. Whatever, Mom.

That is...until recently when we spilled some Diet Coke on our laptop and freaked out and the computer shut down and we saw our lives pass before our eyes and all our music was lost and photos of the VP disappeared into oblivion....Argh! We hate Diet Coke! 

Um, who knew we were so dependent on computers? Sad. 

So. We remained calm. Well, calm for us...So you know we cursed and yelled and called everyone we know to tell them about our plight and then called Mummy and told her she was right about Diet Coke all along and made some lists about what lists we had lost in Excel and then we turned the Macbook upside-down and waited.

Newsflash. Waiting for your computer to dry is boring. And we had some strong emotions building inside so we decided to bake. Something easy but tasty and quick so we could drown our sorrows in some sugar and chocolate as soon as possible. You know, standard coping mechanism slash emotionally repressive eating. 

Enter the Chunky Lola cookie from Flour Bakery. Chocolate, pecan, coconuts, oats. Perfect. Not quite world peace cookies, but enough to keep us at peace while we booked a Genius Bar appointment.

24 hours later, the computer was behaving again, we're back to loving Diet Coke and we have cookies to boot.

And, breathe.

Chunky Lola Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies
Adapted from Flour Bakery

Print Recipe

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 3/8 sticks)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (or chocolate broken into chunks)
1 1/4 cups pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (or a silpat).

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the oats. Toss in the chocolate chips, pecans and coconut and mix to coat everything. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the eggs and vanilla on medium speed until well combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour-oats-chocolate mixture until combined and evenly mixed.

Drop the dough into 1/4-inch balls at least 2" apart on the cookie sheets and flatten slightly with your palm. Bake for 20-22 minutes until the edges are golden but the centers are still soft. Cook completely on a wire rack before serving.

Perhaps it had something to do with her wonderful parenting skills, maternal instincts and thinly veiled "do-you-want-me-to-call-your-father" threats.  But it probably had more to do with something else.  Cookies.

You heard us.  Cookies.  And brownies.  And cakes.  And pies. 

That teeny teapot of a mummy was always baking, but that certainly didn't mean we were always eating.  Oh no no, we learned early on that if we wanted the sugary sweets we had to be sugary sweet ourselves.  And darling readers, NOTHING motivates good behavior like baked goods.

Which got us thinking.  If cookies and cakes will quell even the most ramunctuous children, surely they can have a similar affect on adults?  Seriously, people line up for hours outside Magnolia Bakery, quietly standing in line, patiently waiting, and for what?  For CUPCAKES people! 

Dorie Greenspan's now famous World Peace Cookies were so dubbed because another genius baker determined that cookies were all that were needed to ensure happines the world over.  So true!  These are our people!

And these are our version of world peace, quiet the kiddies, make the earth a better place cookies.  Chocolate peanut butter crunch cookies.  Say that fast three times.  Or just make them and watch the happiness spread.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Cookies
Makes 24-28 cookies

Print Recipe

8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup chocolate covered peanuts (we used Goobers)
1 cup pretzels, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

Place chocolate chips and butter in a glass bowl and heat in the microwave on 30 second bursts, stirring between cooking, until almost melted.  Stir until smooth.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and eggs until combined. Add the melted chocolate mixture, then stir in the vanilla, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  Add in peanut butter chips, chocolate covered peanuts and pretzels and stir to combine.

Drop tablespoon-sized dough balls onto the prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart.  Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until their tops are shiny and cracked. Leave to cool on pans for about 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Or we have S.A.D., aka Seasonal Affective Disorder. Or something. Hmmm, can't decide which one. Or both.

Anyhoo. This horrific winter weather is starting to get to us. It's hard to be peppy and upbeat bakers when we never see the sun and never leave the house. Our motivation is at an all-time low. What's the point in turning the oven on other than to boost the heating? What's the point in baking since that would require we take our hands out of the mittens we wear around the house? What's the point in wearing anything other than pajamas since it's not like we're going to see anyone? What's the point in going out to dinner when that would mean actually going outside?

Boo. Feel bad for us. 

So, we totally slacked. In a good way, though, we promise. 

We just went to one of our favorite bakers and swiped an easy bark recipe. Bakers Royale. We didn't totally steal it, we made an adjustment or two. But, ok. Fine. We stole it. But it's only because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! And, um, chocolate bark is totally a sad-slacker dessert to make. 

Or is it S.A.D.-slacker? Hmmm....

Turtle Bark
Serves 8-10
Adapted from Bakers Royale 

Print Recipe

For the Caramel:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Bark:
16 ounces bittersweet (60-70% cocoa) chips
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Line an 8 x 8" baking dish with parchment paper.

Make the caramel sauce. Add sugar and water into a saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved, swirling to combine. Once sugar has dissolved increase heat to high. Continue to swirl occasionally. Do not stir the mixture directly. The mixture will start to bubble after a minute. As the mixture darkens to a medium-dark amber color, approximately 7 minutes, add the butter and heavy cream to saucepan. The mixture will bubble wildly. Whisk to combine (bubbles will subside upon cooling). Add the extract. Swirl again. Set aside to cool.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30-second bursts, stirring between each blitz until melted. Pour have the chocolate into the 8 x 8"pan. Smooth slightly and refrigerate for 5 minutes to cool. Pour half the caramel sauce all over the chocolate and drizzle with about 1/2 cup of the pecans. Gently press the pecans into the caramel. Refrigerate again to harden slightly, about 5 more minutes. Cover with the remaining melted chocolate. When mostly cooled, sprinkle with the remaining pecans (or to taste) and drizzle with some caramel sauce (there will be sauce left over). 

Chop when cool and serve.