Alright, alright. I can hear you all rolling your eyes and looking at that picture saying “Oooh, Karly can open up a tube of crescent rolls and bake them! She’s magical!” Quit with the sarcasm, people.

Those crescent rolls up there are special. I really am magical! It’s true. You see, I took a boring (but delicious) tube of refrigerated crescent rolls and I opened it up. It was hard, lemme tell ya. Sometimes the tubes don’t pop the way they are supposed to! It’s horrible! And turrible. Just turrible. (Also, yes, I meant “terrible” but my husband says it with a “u” and I kinda like it.)

After I had those crescent rolls open do you know what I had to do? I had to unroll them! Oh, the work. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it!

Then I did something wild and crazy. Also, magical. Very magical, indeed.

I placed two squares of Hershey’s milk chocolate right in the center of each little crescent roll triangle. Then I rolled it all up, popped it in the oven, and sat back and congratulated myself on the magic that I had just created.

Seriously, y’all, the chocolate just transforms inside the crescent roll into something amazing. Chocolate is good, but chocolate baked in a crescent roll is super-fantastic. It’s almost like the frosting you lick off a donut. What? You don’t lick the frosting off your donuts? The crescent rolls really aren’t very sweet so they play against that yummy chocolate just perfectly.

Whether you make these for a super simple breakfast or totally easy after school snack, you are going to go nuts for these things. Absolutely nuts. In a good way, I hope.

Chocolate Crescents

• 1 tube crescent rolls (I prefer Pillsbury)
• 2 bars Hershey’s milk chocolate candy (you’ll have some left over for snacking on)

Pre-heat your oven per the directions on the tube of dough. Unroll each dough and place on the baking sheet. Place 2 small squares of chocolate in the center of each triangle of dough. Roll dough up in a crescent shape over the chocolate being careful to seal the edges so the chocolate doesn’t leak out. Bake as instructed on the crescent rolls packaging. Devour while warm with a glass of cold milk.

Around here we watch quite a bit of Food Network. My son loves science and history (and, of course, food), so he loves watching Good Eats with Alton Brown. My daughter likes to watch Paula Dean and Rachel Ray, especially if they’re cooking chicken.

The other night we were watching the new series “Kid in a Candy Store” and they featured something called Texas Brittle. Texas Brittle? What the heck could that be?

Well, it’s simple. It’s pretzel sticks, corn chips, and pecans covered in milk chocolate.

Um, I’m sorry, but corn chips? Covered in chocolate? Surely that tastes horrible, I thought.

I immediately sent my husband to the store for some corn chips and milk chocolate. I had to know if this stuff really was as good as they made it sound. I needed to know if I could now count corn chips as both a chili topper and a dessert. I just had to have it, is all.

I am happy to say that yes, you really can pour chocolate over just about anything and it will taste good. I’m not sure why I ever doubted that theory to begin with.

Texas Brittle

• pretzel sticks, a few handfuls
• corn chips, a few handfuls
• chopped pecans, a bunch
• milk chocolate, about 4 ounces

Grab a 9×13 cookie sheet and spread the pretzel sticks in a single layer. Top with the corn chips. Melt the chocolate (I used a microwave, but you could also use a double boiler) and drizzle it over the top of the pretzels and corn chips. Sprinkle on the pecans. Place the whole shebang in the freezer until the chocolate has hardened. Break into chunks and enjoy!

I feel like I should slap a warning label on this post. Ready for it?

Warning: These cookies are beyond simple to make, you probably have all of the ingredients in your kitchen right now, and they are addicting like you wouldn’t believe. The saltiness of the potato chips mixes with the sweetness of the chocolate. You will be powerless to resist. Do not make these if you lack self control. Do not make these if you are hungry. Do not make these if you have a mouth. Do not make these. Ever. At all. Unless you want a really yummy treat, but be sure to proceed with caution.

There. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let me tell you what I did. I made cookies. With potato chip crumbs in them. I know, I didn’t think they’d be good either, but sometimes a little failure is good for the soul, so I went ahead and tried it anyway. These cookies are definitely not failures. Unless you consider a cookie that begs you to eat 10 of them right in a row a failure. Then yes, these are huge failures.

I feel like the cookie monster over here. Send help.

Potato Chip Cookies
adapted from Taste of Home “Best Summer Desserts”

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups crushed potato chips
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Combine the flour and baking soda and slowly add to the creamed sugars. Mix well. Stir in the potato chips and chocolate chips.

Drop by small spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute before removing to a wire rack.

Oh, Internet. I’ve missed you. My blog sorta blew up last week, but I think it’s all been pieced back together again. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that nothing like that ever happens again. Ever.

But, I’m back and I come bearing (baring? Which “bear/bare” would I use here?) the most decadent brownie recipe yet. These bad boys are rich! They’re also topped with one of my favorite foods…cheesecake. Not to mention, this recipe is from the fabulous David Lebovitz, so you know it’s a good one!

This recipe was super simple and I had all the ingredients in my kitchen which is always a plus. My only complaint about these delicious little bites of chocolate and cheesecake is that I like my brownies warm and my cheesecake icy cold. I ended up keeping these in the fridge, because I’m sorry, warm cheesecake is just not right.

Hello, my lovelies. Come to mama.

Cheesecake Brownies
Recipe from David Lebovitz

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces (I used salted)
• 4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Melt the butter and chocolate in a double boiler (or use the microwave like I did, but be careful not to burn the chocolate!), stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the 2/3 cup sugar and 2 eggs. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt (I never sift anything, though). Stir in the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread in the prepared pan.

In your mixer, beat together the cream cheese, egg yolk, 5 tbsp of sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth. Drop large spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture over the brownie batter. Use a knife or offset spatula to swirl the cheesecake through the brownie mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the batter in the center of the pan is just set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Lift out the brownies using the foil and cut into squares.

I apologize. This recipe is just ridiculous. Absurd. Outrageous. Preposterous. And, uh, totally incredible.

Okay, I’ll put my thesaurus away now and tell you about this crazy concoction.

First of all, let me just mention that this recipes uses a box mix of brownies. Don’t hate. It all works out in the end. It works out beautifully, in fact.

Alright, now that we’ve got the whole box mix thing out of the way, let’s just get to the good stuff.

The first thing you want to do is unwrap 80 bajillion caramels. Or just cheat and use a jar of caramel ice cream topping. I certainly won’t tell anyone. If you do go the homemade caramel sauce route, just melt the caramels with a bit of evaporated milk over low heat until you get a creamy, thick, delicious sauce.

Next up, you mix up the brownie mix and pour it into a springform pan. The recipe says to wrap the pan in extra strength aluminum foil, but I like to live dangerously. I used regular foil. The world, surprisingly, did not end.

Pour that ooey, gooey caramel sauce over your brownies and run a knife around it to give it a pretty swirl before popping that delicious pan full of magic into the oven.

We aren’t done yet. Far from it. You thought brownie mix and caramel sauce was crazy. You don’t know crazy.

Next we melt some chocolate chips and pour that over the top of the brownie cake. Sprinkle on some nuts. Don’t skimp.

Oh, Lord. Someone send in backup.

Is that…did I…surely not…but, yes! That is more caramel sauce drizzled right on top. Someone save me.

This dessert is seriously just out of this world. It’s rich and chocolately and caramely. It’s divine. And, even though it started out as a box mix, I wouldn’t think twice about serving this to  guests. Heck, I’d even serve it to President Obama. If he ever came to visit. And, hey, it could happen. I’m sure of it. If he doesn’t, maybe the Queen of England will drop by. I’ll have to brush up on my tea-making skills, just in case.

Caramel Pecan Brownie Cake
Recipe from Betty Crocker

• 75 caramels (from two 14 oz. bags)
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 box mix fudge brownies (1lb 3oz. box)
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil (or canola)

Begin by pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees. Wrap outside of 9 inch springform pan with heavy duty foil and spray inside of pan with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, melt together the caramels and evaporated milk over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the brownie mix, oil, eggs, and water until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of pecans. Pour mixture into the springform pan. Drizzle the batter with 3/4 cup of caramel sauce. Run a knife through the batter to swirl the caramel throughout. Cover and refrigerate remaining caramel sauce to serve with the cake.

Bake the cake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. The top should spring back when lightly touched in the center.

In a small saucepan, melt together the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and teaspoon of oil over low heat, stirring constantly. Pour over the pan of warm brownies and spread to cover. Sprinkle with remeaning 1/2 cup of pecans. Allow to cool for 30 minutes and then run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen in from the pan. Place the cake (still in the pan) in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or until the chocolate is set.

Remove sides of pan and serve cake with warmed caramel sauce drizzled on top.