Operation Layla Bake Sale

When I first moved up to NY I, of course, didn't know anyone but The Hubble.

My first day of work, I was confronted by this girl Chrissy.

She had heard that I was moving up there, was going to be working at that store and that my husband was in the military.

She was dating a guy in the military and we started talking about our experiences.

Chrissy and I became FAST friends. And not just friends, we were CLOSE.

This woman, that I am so proud to know, was always full of laughter, love and life. Her very soul exuded radiance. She was beautiful and had the most vibrant personality. It was no wonder I fell in love with her almost immediately.

Chrissy was there for me in my lowest moments.

She was the one who came to sit by my side when The Hubble deployed for the first time. She ordered me pizza and answered the door when the delivery person came knocking. She checked on my constantly.

She was also the first (and only one of two) person to visit me in the hospital when Little Butt was born.

Chrissy was diagnosed with PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome). She went from having one of the biggest and brightest personalities to being quiet and demure.

She was quiet all the time.

You could tell she was often on the verge of tears from the pain she was constantly feeling.

Chrissy had to go through several surgeries to remove cysts on her ovaries.

She missed a TON of work.

Needless to say, our boss was none too happy about that.

But what could be done?? She was in constant pain and needed the medical procedures and time off.

Luckily, Chrissy was a full time employee and had insurance coverage.

When I first heard of Layla and read her story I knew I needed to help in any way that I could.

Layla's story reminded me too much of my beloved Chrissy. Although Layla does not have the insurance nor the funds to cover the surgery that she desperately needs.

Some ladies on twitter decided to take Layla's situation into their own hands and an online bake sale was born!

I was asked if I wanted to contribute something and, of course, I said yes immediately.

So here is what I'm offering up for sale:

Congo Bars

White Chocolate Macadamia Congo Bars

What are congo bars you ask?? They are cookies...with the texture of brownies!!! You can choose from either of these flavors, or create your own! Awesome right???

If you would like to read more about Layla's story, bid for my congo bars or see all the other amazing treats up for sale (there are 36 in total I believe), then head on over to the Operation Layla site!

Happy bidding!!

White Chocolate Macadamia Coconut Congo Bars

Can I just say...bad days suck! And bad weeks suck even more!

I don't know about you, but last week was kind of hard for my little family. The Hubble was stressed with school stuff. Little Butt was tired and cranky. I was stressed because I was busy and Little Butt was cranky and The Hubble was stressed. Phew! I'm glad last week is over.

One particularly bad day last week, I decided it was time to turn things around. What is better to cure a bad day than cookies??

Little Butt and I sat ourselves in front of the baking pantry and we decided to search and find out what kind of stuff we had for cookies. We ran into a bag of white chocolate chips. We also found half a bag of coconut. Then I had a light bulb go off in my head when I remembered I had some macadamia nuts in the pantry above us!

I quickly turned to the interwebs to try to research some kind of white chocolate macadamia coconut cookie. I found some, but the cookie just didn't seem to do the combo enough justice. Then I remembered the Congo Bars I made previously.

Then...history was made. I made pretty much the best dessert I have ever tasted. As I doled out the bars to friends over the rest of the week the response I got was awfully consistent. Upon the first bite, the person would chew a bit...the eyes would go wide...and a quiet "oh my God" would escape past the lips of the now enlightened individual.

I will be making these again...and soon. These will put anyone in a great mood and I want to pass on my remedy for a bad day to you.

Follow me...

Grab your ingredients: unbleached all purpose flour, baking powder, golden brown sugar, salted butter, vanilla, eggs, white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, and coconut.

Take a 13x9 inch baking dish and spray it really good with some of this stuff.

In a large bowl, sift your flour and baking powder.

In a separate large bowl, dump your golden brown sugar and butter together.

Take the back of a large spoon or your fingers and work the butter in until it disappears into the brown sugar.

Next, add your eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Until all the eggs are well incorporated into the batter.

At this point you want to toss in your vanilla, white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and one cup of the coconut. Mix it all up together really well.

Dump in the dry ingredients (flour and baking powder) and mix the ingredients in well. I usually end up having to use my hands because the batter is super thick.

Dump the batter into the "greased" baking dish and spread it out evenly. Now toss it in the oven...

After about 15 minutes in the oven, remove the dish and top with the leftover 3/4 cup of coconut, sprinkling evenly. Put it back in the oven...

Until the bars are cooked through and the coconut is nicely toasted, about 15-20 minutes more. Be careful not to overbake. These are cookies but will have the texture of brownies (or blondies) and overbaking is very bad news!

Allow these to cool in the baking dish for about 15 minutes then remove to a cooling rack or serving tray to cool completely. Cut into evenly sized portions (bars).

I will admit that I didn't wait for them to cool completely. I ate them warm. I ate them cold. I ate them for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Enjoy!

Linked to Mommie Cooks.

White Chocolate Macadamia Coconut Congo Bars
Adapted from Bakerella




Printer Friendly Version

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup (10 2/3 Tablespoons) salted butter, softened
• 2 cups golden brown sugar 
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 12 ounce package white chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped macadamia nuts 
• 1 3/4 cup coconut, divided

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into large bowl. Set aside.
3. Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
4. Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
5. Add vanilla, white chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and 1 cup of the coconut. Mix well.
6. Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.
7. Coat a 13x9 inch pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish.
8. Bake for 15 minutes; remove and sprinkle 3/4 cup of coconut evenly over the top. 
9. Return to oven for another 15-25 minutes or until top is golden brown and coconut is lightly toasted. Make sure you don’t over bake.
10. Allow to cool; cut into even portions. Enjoy!