Before she passed away, my husband's grandma gave each of the "kids" a notebook of family recipes. Her sister-in-law Hazel made these apple squares, and they're a great fall recipe, with apples being in season.

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Hazel’s Apple Squares

2-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup + 1 Tbsp butter

1 egg yolk + enough milk added to = 2/3 cup together

1 cup crushed corn flakes

8 cups apples

2-1/2 cups sugar (more if the apples are a "sour" variety)

1 tsp cinnamon

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine flour, salt, butter, egg and milk. Divide into 2 equal parts. Roll one part to fit a jellyroll pan. Slice apples and toss w/cinnamon & sugar. Place corn flakes on the rolled crust. Add apple mixture. Roll out second half of dough and place over apples. Do NOT make slits in crust. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Cool. Top with sprinkling of powdered sugar. Cut into squares.

When park ranger Cheyenne Rafferty’s truck is destroyed by an earthquake, she doesn't think her day can get any worse. Until she runs afoul of a demon from the ancient past - and the compelling warrior who followed it forward in time.

Hero Marek awakens 2000 years in the future, to a world all but incomprehensible. Sent to teach modern warriors to combat the Reynak, he now finds the demon the only thing familiar. His people and their epic struggle have been lost to the passage of time. The only one willing to help him is a daughter of the earth, a beautiful shifter woman with the heart of a wolf.

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http://reneewildes.net

This is a holiday favorite in my family and made a lot of my dear friends very happy when we were stationed overseas away from our families one particularly rough Christmas. It's super easy and will make you a star. :) While it uses a package brownie mix, any brownie recipe will do. Just substitute the mix for the combined dry ingredients needed in your favorite brownie recipe. :)

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Recipe:

Peanut Butter Buckeye Bars

1 (19.5 ounce) package brownie mix

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

(Please note I often double the recipe to make thicker bars)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine brownie mix, eggs and oil. Beat until combined. Remove half of the brownie mix and set aside.Spread remaining brownie mix into prepared pan.

Whisk together sweetened condensed milk and peanut butter in a medium bowl until smooth. spread peanut butter mixture evenly over the brownie mixture in the pan. Separate the reserved brownie mixture into pieces. Flatten each piece with your fingers and place on top of peanut butter mixture.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until top is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely in pan or on a wire rack. Cut into bars and serve.

Additional Notes:

This recipe is super versatile. We've them in muffin tins, specialty brownie pans, pie tins, etc. The condensed milk and peanut butter mixture prevents the PB from burning and I've used it several times in other recipes. You can add roasted peanuts, pecans or walnuts to the recipe. Just make sure you mix it in with the brownie mix after adding the wet ingredients.

Melody St. Claire doesn’t believe in ghosts. Until a fire destroys her whole world, forcing her into a beautiful haunted house and the territorial domain of one very real, incredibly mysterious resident spirit.

Sexy Travis Santiago haunts the walls of his family home. Resigned to being alone, he merely exists in a place between the living and the dead until the frustrating little brunette enters his life and his heart. He can give her what she needs, if she would just believe.

The passion he ignites threatens to consume her, heart and soul, but may not be enough to hold back the nightmares. And Melody can’t possibly hope to spend forever with a man who is already dead.

A Romantica® paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

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As the name might suggest, this recipe is my grandmother's and I've been enjoying it ever since I can remember.

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Ingredients
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
3 Tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup walnuts (you can leave this out or swap it for any nuts you like in your brownies or raisins)

 

Directions
1) Mix together butter, sugar and cocoa (for best results mix this very, very well)
2) add beaten eggs and mix until well-blended
3) add flower and mix until well-blended
4) add nuts if using

Pour into a lightly greased square baking pan and cook at 350 for 25-30 minutes. The top should be dry, the inside should be fudgey in consistency. These usually last a day and a half, if that before they're all eaten.

Four years ago, Luke walked out on Affton while he was still sleeping, leaving only a quick “I can’t do this” email behind. Affton has spent those four years focused on his career, a now-successful one at that. So when Affton encounters Luke in the graphics department of the company for which he now works, it rocks his world.

Insisting that Luke owes him a coffee at least, Affton finds his world further rocked when he learns why Luke left him in the first place. Can he convince Luke that he isn’t the man Luke believes him to be and that they deserve a second chance? Or will he be fated to watch Luke run away from him yet again?

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www.seanmichaelwrites.com

The most common comment I get from readers after they finish Meant To Be is that they're left craving brownies, so here's the recipe for the brownies that bring Daniel and Marienne together, first as friends and eventually as lovers.  They're the perfect chewy, chocolatey fudge brownies with a delicate flaky top. Enjoy!

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Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Fudge Brownies

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I use Baker’s unsweetened)
¾ cup unsalted butter
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract (go a little over rather than a little under)
1 cup all-purpose flour (I use Gold Medal)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use Nestle’s)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly butter a 9x13 inch metal baking pan. (Note: If you only have a glass pan that will work too, but lower the oven temp to 325 degrees.)

Place butter and chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for two minutes. Stir butter/chocolate mixture until all the chocolate is completely melted. (Note: If you don’t have a microwave you can do this in a pot on top of the stove, just make sure to do it over low enough heat that you don’t brown/scald the butter.)

When all the chocolate is melted, stir in 2 cups of sugar. Mix until completely blended.

Add three eggs and the hearty teaspoon of vanilla. Stir until completely blended.

Stir in 1 cup of flour.

Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Spread evenly in buttered pan.

Place pan on the center rack of the oven and bake for 33 minutes.

Remove brownies from the oven and insert a toothpick in the center to test them. If the toothpick still has wet batter on it, put them back in for a minute or two. If it has fudgy crumbs stuck to it or comes out clean, you’re done. (You’re aiming for fudgy crumbs, but honestly it depends what you hit when you stick the toothpick in---if it looks like you stabbed a chocolate chip and the toothpick has melted chocolate on it, take a fresh toothpick and try again.) DO NOT OVERBAKE THESE BROWNIES---a few extra minutes in the oven will turn them from a delightfully soft chewy/gooey treat into chocolate flavored bricks. Better underdone than overdone.

Let the pan cool on a rack for at least an hour or so (if you can wait a few hours that’s even better).

Once the pan is completely cool you can cut the brownies into squares (or rectangles, or whatever other shapes you please). Use a very sharp knife, or a pizza cutter, or a sharp-edged spatula. Store any brownies you’re not planning on eating immediately in an airtight container or cover tightly with plastic wrap. Air is not their friend and they will dry up if left uncovered.

Individually wrapped brownies travel well and are great for bake sales, packed lunches, or kept in a purse or briefcase for potentially stressful moments.

For an extra-special treat these can be topped with a swirl of your favorite chocolate frosting and a pretty M&M, but really, they don’t need it.

They’re pretty tasty under ice cream and hot fudge as well.

Sometimes you’re already committed to the wrong person when fate finally brings you the right one. When NYU professor Daniel Gardner’s career-obsessed wife convinces him to move to the suburbs, he hopes it’s a first step toward starting the family he longs to have. Instead of domestic bliss he finds his neighbor, Marienne Valeti. She loves her freelance design job, but must contend with a growing sense of isolation created by her husband’s indifference. A penchant for good books, bad movies, and Marienne’s to-die-for brownies sparks a powerful bond between them. Passion simmers, but they resist its lure, surrendering only in the seclusion of their minds. Their friendship helps them weather every hardship, from divorce to widowhood, leaving them both secretly wondering if it can survive a first kiss.

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karenstivali.com

 

Adapted from my graphic designer’s recipe, these bars are insanely easy to prepare and taste out of this world. Change up the “add-ins” to suit your personal preferences.

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Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• 1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 1 tsp. vanilla

• 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/8 tsp. baking soda

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• Sprinkle of table salt

Add-ins (change these up to whatever tickles your fancy):

• 1/3 cup milk chocolate chips

• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts

• 1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Also,

• Sea salt, coarse

Prep:

Melt butter, whisk in brown sugar, then beaten egg and vanilla.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to the wet mixture in thirds.

Stir in “Add-ins”. (Except white chocolate chips—keep reading for what to do with those.)

Pour into a lightly greased 8x8” baking dish.

Sprinkle white chocolate chips on top and press gently into the mixture.

Bake at 350°F for 20-28 minutes, until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

As soon as you remove the pan from the oven, sprinkle the top with sea salt. (Really, don’t skip this step—the salty/sweet combo is amazing.)

Allow to cool and cut into squares.

Share at your own discretion. ;)

Recently divorced after seventeen years with a snooty, uptight, controlling man, forty-year-old Andie is definitely ready for some casual, sexy fun when a hot younger man “accidentally” hits her with a baseball. Mason’s interest is clear and he looks like a lot more fun than her overworked vibrator collection, so she goes for it, despite the obvious age gap. The young veterinarian is as easy to be with as he is on the eyes, making him an ideal summer diversion and the perfect man to help her make up for lost time and missed orgasms.

Mason had to meet the sexy woman at the ball diamond. The chemistry between them is instant and completely addictive. Andie is more than beautiful, she’s uninhibited and independent—totally unlike the needy twenty-somethings he’s been dating since his ex-fiancée deceived him five years ago. And yeah, Andie is ten years older than him, big deal. The more they’re together, the more his heart wants her as badly as his cock. Too bad Andie isn’t playing for keeps.

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www.karladoyle.com

This recipe was born of my LOVE for sea-salt caramels and my desire to have them with brownies! I just took a classic, fudgey brownie recipe and altered it a little to incorporate my craving. Have it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for the ultimate, decadent dessert.

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1/3 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons boiling water
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, melted
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2½ cups (17½ ounces) sugar
1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into ½-inch pieces

1-2 T coarse sea salt (although do this to taste. I like a lot)

1/2 bag of store bought carmels, unwrapped and melted in microwave safe bowl

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving about a one-inch overhang on all sides. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk cocoa and boiling water together in large bowl until smooth. Add unsweetened chocolate and whisk until chocolate is melted. Whisk in melted butter and oil. (Mixture may look curdled.) Add eggs, yolks, and vanilla and continue to whisk until smooth and homogeneous. Whisk in sugar until fully incorporated. Add flour and salt and mix with rubber spatula until combined. Fold in bittersweet chocolate pieces.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 minutes. Remove from oven and drizzle melted carmel over top. Return to oven for five minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and then sprinkle with sea salt.

4. Using foil overhang, lift brownies from pan. Return brownies to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into squares and serve

He needs a wife for three weeks…

Owen Phipps is out for revenge. His mission? To expose the man who stole his sister’s money and dignity. All he needs is a “wife” who can play along. Too bad his last best hope is an actress who tries to mace him with perfume when he offers her the role of a lifetime.

Lindy Knight is a real sap. She loves too hard, feels too deep, and often finds herself saying yes when she should be saying “Let me think about it.” She can’t believe her good fortune when Owen offers her more than enough money to hold off foreclosure until she can find a job. Three weeks at a resort, money she desperately needs, and she gets to help bring a criminal to justice? Score.

It seems easy enough until a couples bonding game turns intimate, and they realize how dangerous their mutual attraction could be. Can they keep their hands to themselves long enough to find the evidence Owen needs? Or are the close quarters more temptation than they can handle?

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http://www.christine-bell.com/