The Best of the Rest

Hi and welcome to the final entry of 'The Best Of' series from Adventures In Baking.  This category features all the remaining recipes .... the candy, bars, brownies and miscellaneous items that don't really fit into any category.  This is the kitchen sink of recipes if you will.  There are 9 contenders in this category and there's such a variety, it's difficult to rank them against each other.

Picking the top two is a breeze, they're the Raspberry Shortbread Bars I made in March and the Strawberry Jello Pretzel Squares I made in May.

I made the Shortbread Bars again in April using Strawberry jam instead of Raspberry.  My parents scarfed them up, LOL!  They're very rich and buttery, but oh so yummy.  You can read all about the bars by clicking here. 

The Strawberry Jello Pretzel Bars were so good, I didn't even take the time to take a good photo!  Just thinking about the sweet and salty goodness of this dessert makes me want to make it again!  You can read all about this one right here. 

Next up we have the desserts that, while they might not have been favorites of mine, they earned top reviews from my taste testers:  Cookie Dough Truffles, Chocolate Covered Pretzel Peanut Butter Bites (longest name ever, lol) and Banana Pudding.

I made the Cookie Dough Truffles in February, just before Valentine's Day.  It was fun to play with the chocolate melts and mix up the colors, but the truffles are way too sweet for me.  My taste testers took these home with them.  You can read all about these little beauties here. 

The Chocolate Covered Pretzel Peanut Butter Bites were a hit as well.  It's a good thing the recipe made such a huge amount of bites so they could be shared.  Everyone that tried them took a dozen, or two, home with them.  If I had to choose one to make again, it would be the white chocolate.  The coating wasn't as heavy as the other colors.  Click here to see how I made them.

And then we have the Banana Pudding I made for Father's Day in June.  This is the one Adventure I didn't fully embrace.  I enjoyed the process of making pudding from scratch and whipping the meringue, but I just couldn't bring myself to taste it.  But I have it on good authority, from two seasoned banana pudding aficionados, that it was superb.  Read all about the process here.

And that leaves us with Red Velvet Swirl Brownies, Candy Bars, Brownies and Raspberry Pecan Blondie's.  I learned something from each of these recipes but I just didn't like any of them enough to try again.

What did I learn from the Red Velvet Swirl Brownies?  I learned I like my brownies with some chocolate!  Although the swirl was kinda awesome.  Check out my Swirl Adventure here.

And here's the Candy Bar.  Loved the bottom oat layer.  All the chocolate, peanut and butterscotch on top, not so much.  It was just too much of a good thing.  And there wasn't really any baking involved.  And I swear the pan weighed 50lbs.  Check out everything that's poured into the bars here.

The Chocolate Chip Brownie recipe was a mixed bag for me.  The brownies were terrible but the chocolate chip cookies made with the leftover bottom layer were excellent.  If you're looking for a good chocolate chip recipe go here.

And that brings up to the final Adventure in the review, Raspberry Pecan Blondie's.  I had high hopes for these but was disappointed.  They didn't bake evenly and the raspberries were pretty, but didn't add much flavor.  One final link for ya, here, and that wraps up The Best of the Rest.

I'm four recipes into the second half of the year and I've already had some hits and some misses.  But the Adventure must continue! 

Here's a little sneak peak at the next episode..... enjoy! 

Till next time

-Teddra