Cookie Butter Pecan Bars {The Leftovers Club}

I will admit it.  I am a full-on cookie butter addict.  I spread it on granola bars, dip pretzels in it, and just eat it by the spoonful straight out of the jar.  I knew it wouldn't be long before I was baking with it.  

The inspiration for my Butter Pecan Cookie Butter Bars came to me when I was visiting the Wine and Glue blog and came across Lisa's recipe for Sugar Cookie Cookie Butter Bars.  I am not going to lie- I REALLY wanted to make her cookie bar recipe, but I was feeling lazy and was short on butter for her recipe.  So, I improvised! ;)

I had a box of Butter Pecan cake mix that had been sitting in my pantry for a few months now.  Honestly, I had no clue why I even bought it.  But it had been sitting there on my shelf for months staring at me, begging me to just do something with it.  I figured cookie butter and butter pecan would go well together, so why not make some cookie bars combining the two flavors? (And finally get rid of that box of cake mix already! ;) )

And so I did and the results were ah-mazing!  In fact when I was paired up with my April partner for The Leftovers Club, I knew I had to make a batch of these cookie bars again to send to Daphne of Go Gastronomy.

What you will need:

1 box of butter pecan cake mix

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional- I did not add pecans to either one of my batches of the cookie bars, but I plan to for my next batch.)

For the cookie butter layer:

1 stick of butter

1 cup of cookie butter

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 8 x 11.5 baking pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Dump the cake mix into a large mixing bowl.  In your microwave, melt the 1/2 cup butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Pour the melted butter over the cake mix and add the egg.  Mix well.  Fold in the chopped pecans if you decided to add them.  

Press the butter pecan dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until the cookie layer is lightly golden brown.  

Let it cool completely (pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the process if you are impatient like me).  

Once the cookie layer is cooled, whip up the cookie butter layer.  Place the stick of butter in a medium sized microwave safe bowl.  Nuke it for about 30 seconds.  Add the cookie butter and microwave for another 30 seconds.  Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth.  

Spread the cookie butter mixture evenly over top of the cooled butter pecan cookie layer.

Pop in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes until the cookie butter layer sets up. 

I cut the cookie bars as needed, and left the entire pan wrapped tightly with plastic wrap at room temperature.  You can refrigerate them if you would like, but be sure to let them come to room temperature before cutting or the cookie butter layer will break up.

I am not going to lie...  I probably ate 80% of both of the batches of these Cookie Butter Pecan Bars that I made.  They are addicting.  And they were staring me in the face.

All day.

Every day.

Just sitting out on that kitchen counter beckoning me to cut off just one more tiny piece.

Note:  All those tiny pieces add up to one huge hunk by the end of the day.... just saying. ;)

So I was more than happy to send a few bars Daphne's way for this month's The Leftovers Club swap. 

Cookie Butter Pecan Bars

by Frugal Foodie Mama

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

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Ingredients (12-16 bars)

For the cookie bar layer

• 1 box of butter pecan cake mix
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

For the cookie butter layer

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup of cookie butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8 x 11.5 baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Dump the cake mix into a large mixing bowl. In your microwave, melt the 1/2 cup butter in a microwave safe bowl. Pour the melted butter over the cake mix and add the egg. Mix well. Fold in the chopped pecans if you decided to add them.

Press the butter pecan dough into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until the cookie layer is lightly golden brown.

Let it cool completely (pop it in the fridge for 30 minutes to speed up the process if you are impatient like me).

Once the cookie layer is cooled, whip up the cookie butter layer. Place the stick of butter in a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Nuke it for about 30 seconds. Add the cookie butter and microwave for another 30 seconds. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth.

Spread the cookie butter mixture evenly over top of the cooled butter pecan cookie layer.

Pop in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes until the cookie butter layer sets up.

I cut the cookie bars as needed, and left the entire pan wrapped tightly with plastic wrap at room temperature. You can refrigerate them if you would like, but be sure to let them come to room temperature before cutting or the cookie butter layer will break up.

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If you are a lover of cookie butter like me, make sure to check out my recipe for...

Cookie Butter Walnut Granola

Be sure to check out all the other amazing recipes from this month's The Leftovers Club...

Savory Simple - Quinoa Energy Bars

Meadows Cooks - Intensely Chocolate Sables with Raspberry Cream

The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen - Cashew Butter and Blackerry Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Dining with Dani - Pancakes and Bacon Cookies

Juanita's Cocina - Butterscotch Browned Butter Blondies

Damn Delicious - Salted Caramel Pretzel Blondies

Eats Well With Others - Salted Caramel Shortbread

Farmgirl Gourmet - Sea Salted Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies

Frugal Foodie Mama - Cookie Butter Pecan Bars

Let's Give Peas a Chance - Chocolate Stout Brownies

Budget Gourmet Mom - Crisp Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches

A Zesty Bite - Dulce de Leche Sugar Cookies

Sugar Dish Me - Strawberry Lemonade Loaf

Roxana's Home Baking  - Chocolate chip bars

Little Kitchie - Salted Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pineapple and Coconut - Pineapple Whoopie Pies with Coconut Cream Filling

O'Boy! Organic - Rhubarb Cake

MarocMama - Caramel Vanilla Bean Krispie Treats

Omeletta - Brown Sugar Meringues

Eat Bake Drink Cook - Everything Cookies

Healthy. Delicious. - Carrot Cake Granola

Souffle Bombay - Sweet & Spicy Pecans

The Spiced Life - Garam Masala Caramel Corn

Kelly Bakes - Raspberry Cream Marshmallows

Bakeaholic Mama - Chocolate Cookie Dough Macarons

Whey Beyond the Naked Truth - Chia Seed Protein Bites

Don't you wish you could enjoy some of these leftovers with us? You can!  Visit The Leftovers Club online for more details!

Bakery Style Cookie Butter M&M's Cookies

Chock full of M&M's & cookie butter, these thick & soft Bakery Style Cookie Butter M&M's Cookies are so easy to make at home...

One thing that I am sucker for is a big, soft, and thick bakery style cookie. One thing that I am not a sucker for is the bakery style prices most places charge. I mean, you can easily pay $2-$5 per cookie! I decided to remedy this little dilemma by coming up with a bakery style cookie recipe that I could make at home for a fraction of the cost that I would pay at a specialty bakery. ;)

It is really no big secret that I am fan of all the cookie butter things. (My Cookie Butter Pecan Fudge, Biscoff Gingersnap Brownies, and Homemade Biscoff Flavored Coffee Creamer are all cases in point.) So, I packed these palm-sized cookies full of cookie butter spread and for good measure, lots of M&M's candies. :) 

A Little Recap of Cookie Butter Week...

I don't know about you all, but I had a blast with Cookie Butter Week last week! :) I was happy to share my mild obsession with cookie butter with my other fellow addicts, and to introduce my readers who are cookie butter virgins to all the fabulous goodies you can make with it.  Hopefully, this past week has inspired a few of you who haven't jumped on the cookie butter bandwagon yet to go out and pick up your very first jar.

There were so many wonderful posts from last week that I decided to do a little recap post for you all, and it make it easy for you to click on over and see all the cookie butter yumminess from the past seven days.

Up first?  The Cookie Butter Caramel Biscotti recipe I shared a week ago...

Then I gave you all Nine Reasons to Eat Cookie Butter for Breakfast in this recipe round-up post...

On Wednesday, Cathy from A Peek Into My Paradise stopped by the blog with her recipe for Cookie Butter Surprises...

I gave you all A Baker's Dozen of Must-Try Sweets & Treats all made with Cookie Butter from a few of my favorite food bloggers...

I shared my recipe for no-bake Cookie Butter Coconut Haystack Cookies on Friday...

If you were looking for a quick, easy, & healthy way to get your cookie butter quota in, you were probably happy to see my recipe for a Pumpkin Pie Cookie Butter Smoothie...

And we ended Cookie Butter Week with my Cookie Butter Apple Crisp recipe on Sunday...

And in honor of Cookie Butter Week, I created an entire Pinterest board dedicated to all things cookie butter.  ;)  If you share in my obsession for cookie butter goodness, be sure to click on over to my For the Love of Cookie Butter board .  I have pinned all the recipes I featured on the blog last week, plus a few more that I have stumbled upon on some of my favorite food blogs.  I plan to pin many more cookie butter laden recipes to it, so be sure to give it a follow! 

I hope you all enjoyed Cookie Butter Week!  Stay tuned for next week- all seven days will be dedicated to all things ice cream! :)

Pumpkin Pie Cookie Butter Smoothie

The flavors of pumpkin pie come together perfectly with cookie butter in this creamy & easy to make Pumpkin Pie Cookie Butter Smoothie... 

Post updated 11/4/17- This perfect for fall Pumpkin Pie Cookie Butter Smoothie deserved some updated photos. I did leave one of the originals below just so you all can see for yourself why this recipe so desperately needed a little face lift. ;)

Cookie Butter Surprises {A Guest Recipe from A Peek Into My Paradise}

Cookie Butter Week is continuing on the blog with this delicious guest recipe from Cathy of A Peek Into My Paradise.  I seriously need a dozen or so of these cookies for myself. ;) In case you missed the first two posts in Cookie Butter Week, be sure to check out my recipe for Cookie Butter Caramel Biscotti and yesterday's round-up post of Nine Reasons to Eat Cookie Butter For Breakfast.  

Hi Frugal Foodie Mama readers! I am Cathy from A Peek Into My Paradise. I am so thrilled to be guest posting for Carrie today and a big thank you to her for having me! Over at my blog you will find a little bit of everything - from crafts, scrapbooking and DIY to recipes, travel and Disney...I even throw in random peeks into my paradise. 

I have been making Santa Snickers Surprises with peanut butter during the Christmas holiday season for years; and they are one of my families favorites! Cookie butter is a fairly new ingredient to me. I have read rave reviews declaring how life changing cookie butter is! I thought, "how have I been baking for over 40 years and never tried cookie butter?!" I baked up a batch of altered Santa Snickers Surprises with cookie butter and they were a HUGE hit at my son's birthday party! We now have a new favorite; Cookie Butter Surprises!

I was excited when I heard Carrie was hosting a Cookie Butter week! I am very honored she chose my recipe to feature today! If you haven't tried cookie butter yet, I highly suggest you do! In the very near future, over at A Peek Into My Paradise, I will be posting a cookie butter smoothie recipe that is to die for! Let's get to today's recipe.....

A miniature snickers bar surrounded by a cookie butter cookie 

I heard Trader Joe's has the BEST cookie butter; unfortunately we don't have a Trader Joe's in the city I live in. I found Lotus Biscoff Spread at Walmart, and also at Target and Winco. 

Cookie Butter surprises takes one cup of cookie butter;

which turned out to be the entire 13 ounce jar.

Combine 2 sticks of softened butter, 1 cup of cookie butter, 1 cup of brown sugar and 

1 cup of granulated sugar using a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

If you love cookie dough it will take a lot of will power to 

resist scooping up a big spoon of this batter!

Add 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract until thoroughly combined. 

In a medium sized bowl combine 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 

1 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Then slowly add the 

flour mixture to the butter dough with the mixer on low. 

Unwrap all the Snickers miniature bars. 

Scoop a tablespoon or cookie scoop size of dough and flatten into your hand.

Place a Snickers miniature bar in the center of each piece of dough.

Form the dough into a ball around each Snickers miniature. 

Place on a greased cookie sheet, parchment paper or silicone baking sheet.

I have three silicone baking sheets which makes it easy to bake multiple batches of 

cookies. I slip the batch removed from the oven off the stoneware baking sheet to

cool and load up another silicone sheet for baking.

Let cookies cook on the silicone sheet if using multiple,

wax paper or cooling rack.

I often make the dough, roll it into balls, place them on a wax paper

covered cookie sheet and freeze for 3-4 hours. Remove them from the 

freezer and pop the frozen balls into a freezer ziploc bag. These are perfect 

for a quick dessert and for my husband and I an easy way to have a 

few warm cookies for dessert without having to bake an entire batch! 

Carrie, thank you again for having me! I can't wait to see the other cookie butter recipes on your blog this week!

I hope you take A Peek Into My Paradise and when you do, leave me a note in the comment box; I love to make new friends! Have a terrific week!

Cookie Butter Apple Crisp {For Two}

Cookie Butter Week is about to come to a close on the blog.  (Yes, I know... *sad face*.) We must all do this again some time very soon, don't you agree? ;)  Stay tuned for a Cookie Butter Week Recap post tomorrow morning. 

I will leave you with one final original recipe using cookie butter, my Cookie Butter Apple Crisps for Two.  Apple crisp and apple pie are my husband's absolute favorite desserts (well, along with carrot cake, cheesecake, and red velvet cake. ;) )You could easily double or triple this recipe for feeding larger crowds. 

This was my first go at baking in glass jars.  Have you all tried this before?  It is actually pretty cool.  You just have to make sure to place the jars in a baking pan with a little water in the bottom to prevent the glass from breaking.  

Cookie Butter Apple Crisp {For Two}

by Frugal Foodie Mama

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients (2 servings)

For the apple filling

• 1 large apple (or 2 smaller apples), peeled, cored, and chopped
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 dashes of nutmeg

For the cookie butter crisp

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp chilled butter, cubed
• 2 tbsp cookie butter
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the apples through the nutmeg for the apple filling. Set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, cinnamon, and brown sugar for the crisp topping. Cut in the chilled butter until the mixture is crumbly. Now mix in the cookie butter. Set aside.

Spray the insides of two 12 oz glass jars with cooking spray. Evenly distribute the apple filling between the two jars. Now top each jar with the cookie butter crisp dough.

Place both filled jars in a baking pan and fill with about an inch of water.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the apples are bubbly and the crisp topping is golden brown.

All to cool to warm before serving.

Top with whipped cream or ice cream, if you wish.

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These Cookie Butter Apple Crisps in jars were perfect for just the husband and I.  We have my son every other week, so there are evenings when desserts (and dinners) for two make sense for us.  When I do share one of my recipes meant for two, I try to make sure that the ingredient list can be easily double or tripled for larger families. :)

What has been your favorite new cookie butter recipe from me this past week?  Today's Cookie Butter Apple Crisp? Or....

My Pumpkin Pie Cookie Butter Smoothie?

My Cookie Butter Coconut Haystack Cookies?

My Cookie Butter Caramel Biscotti?

Thank you all for joining me this week for Cookie Butter Week and a HUGE thank you to each of the lovely bloggers who were featured in my Cookie Butter Recipe Round-Up posts this past week! :)

Nine Reasons To Eat Cookie Butter for Breakfast {A Recipe Round-Up}

I asked my blogger friends and I scoured Google to find the best breakfast recipes using cookie butter.  Yes, my friends...  I have just made eating cookie butter for breakfast okay.  

Please feel free to go ahead and applaud me now.  Raise a statue.  Declare an official Frugal Foodie Mama Day in the blogosphere. ;)  

Okay, not really (I mean, unless you all really want to).

All joking aside, how amazing do all of these cookie butter for breakfast recipes look??  

From these recipes alone, you could have cookie butter for breakfast every single day of the week...

Make sure you click on the links and check out the recipes, leave a comment to let the food bloggers who created these cookie butter gems know how much you love their recipes, and pin them so you never, ever lose them. ;)

Speculoos Cookie Butter Baked Oatmeal for One from Healthy Food for Living

Cookie Butter Walnut Granola from Frugal Foodie Mama

Cookie Butter Morning Buns from Lemon Tree Dwelling

Biscoff Coffee Cake Muffins from White Lights on Wednesday

Cookie Butter Waffles from Fabtastic Eats

Biscoff Banana Bread from Crazy for Crust

Cookie Butter French Toast from Vanilla Sugar Blog

Cookie Butter Granola Smoothie from The Grant Life

Biscoff Apple Muffins from Inside BruCrew Life

A show of hands for everyone who now thinks it is perfectly acceptable, even necessary to have cookie butter for breakfast!  ;)

And here is one more breakfast approved cookie butter recipe in case you missed it on the blog yesterday....

My Cookie Butter Caramel Biscotti

Make sure you stop by the blog each day this week!  If you are a cookie butter addict, I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed on what more is to come. ;)