A Reese's Inspired Care Package

Not that I need a reason to bake or test new recipes that I may come across... BUT, when someone ASKS to be an official Ummoyer Bakeshop Taste Tester, why would I deprive them of such a fun and potentially/hopefully tasty job? I wouldn't!

I decided to act fast and find a few recipes online that involved peanut butter and chocolate; the combination of PB and chocolate is one of my taste tester’s favorite things. When I found the two recipes I wanted to test I headed straight for the store to grab all the ingredients. Of course after picking the recipes and then buying all the ingredients, I wondered if they were the best choices based on climate. I was worried because the items had to travel all the way to Miami. Would they melt? Well, at this point, I had to take the chance... I already had everything to make them and the occasion for which to send them, so I was under a deadline. I love sending care packages... just a little something to tell someone they're speacial and loved.

Overall I think the bars and bark turned out pretty well, but my taste tester will be the official word. But, the next time I make the PB and Chocolate Brownie Bars I'll definitely use a different baking pan. I used a small square glass pan, but should have used a larger pan to allow the bars to spread out more. The bars were a little larger and thicker than I would have liked. The smaller pan made it a little more difficult to cook the peanut butter portion of the brownie bar all the way through.

The PB and Chocolate Bark with Roasted Almonds bark however turned out to be one of the easiest things I've ever made. In fact, I think that bark might be a new signature baked good/candy of mine. There are SO many things that you can add to it, especially for different holidays. I think the bark could look really nice in a box and be a great gift option. Next up - Chocolate Butterscoth Bark and then a Salted Chocolate Carmel Bark. Those sound amazing already!

After everything was cooled and packaged up, I sent the Reese’s inspired care package off to Miami to meet up with the official taste tester. And thank goodness for Mother Nature because the packaged arrived with everything in tact! Nothing melted! YAY!

Official Ummoyer Bakeshop Taste Tester Review:

"The PB Brownie is Spectacular!! 5 STARS!!"
"The PB Bark gets 5 ++ STARS!!"

Ah, shucks! Thanks.

Here are a few pics of the final product: