Special K Chewies!

There is nothing more relaxing to me than cooking. After a long day at work, I love to put on some music and just lose myself in the recipes. Last night, I made Special K Chewies and a Coconut Cream Pie, which is sadly the most cooking I've done in months! Both are easy recipes and require no baking. I think they turned out great, although I admittedly cheated a bit with the pie and used a pre-made graham cracker crust. Coconut cream pie is my favorite. Afterwards, I sampled a slice with a hot cup of tea--delicious!

Special K Chewies

(my recipe calls them Special K bars (boooring), but Karen said they were named "Special K Chewies" in the student union of Indiana University, where she frequently enjoyed these tasty treats as an undergrad. As such, I have renamed them in her honor.)

6 cups Special K

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips

Measure Special K into a large buttered bowl. Combine sugar, syrup and vanilla in medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until mixture boils. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter, mix well. Pour mixture over Special K; mix until well blended. Press into buttered 13 x 9 inch pan. Let stand in cool place to harden. Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together in microwave oven until well blended. Spread evenly over Special K mixture. Cool until firm. Cut into 48 (2 x 1) bars.

Coconut Cream Pie
1 9-inch baked pie shell or graham cracker shell
1 3.4 oz. package coconut cream instant pudding and pie filling

1 1/4 cups milk
1 pint whipping cream
1 1/2 cups coconut
Toasted coconut for top of pie

Mix the pudding mix and milk together until stiff. Store in refrigerator while whipping cream. Save about half the cream for the top of the pie. Fold the pudding mix into the whipped cream and fold in the 1 1/2 cups coconut. Pile into a 9-inch baked pie shell and top with remaining whipped cream. Sprinkle top with toasted coconut. To toast coconut heat oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut in a cake pan, place in oven and turn the heat off. After 5 minutes, take a peak. If lightly brown, remove and let cool. Store in a covered container.