Tag: bars

Coconut Dream Bars

coconut-dream-barsIn the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion (also known as my bible), there is a recipe called Build-a-Bars. It begins with a basic crust, then the rest is up to you…whether you add coconut, nuts, caramel, various types of chips, dried fruit, mini marshmallows, crushed cereal pieces, or whatever your heart desires, the bars become whatever you want them to be.

I love recipes like this, those make-it-your-own versions that can be tweaked time and again to create various new treats based on what you have handy in your pantry. I fully intend to make a version of this with pecans, butterscotch chips, and toffee bits, but I didn’t have enough pecans in my pantry this weekend. I did have plenty of coconut, plus bittersweet chocolate chips and almonds. According to Mike and my coworkers, they’re absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons milk

For the filling

  • 3 cups shredded coconut
  • 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup whole blanched almonds, chopped*

For the topping

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 5 ounces evaporated milk

*Next time, I’ll toast and cool the almonds before adding them to the filling. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper, extending the paper to cover the edges of the pan.

Make the crust: place 1/2 cup flour and walnuts in a food processor and pulse until nuts are finely ground. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in remaining flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Cut butter into pea-sized pieces and add to flour mixture. Beat on low speed until the mixture looks crumbly.

Whisk the honey and milk together, then pour over the dry mixture and continue to mix until evenly moistened.

Pour crust mixture into the baking pan and press down to cover the surface in an even layer.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until set. The edges will be just golden brown.

Allow the crust to cool completely before adding filling and topping; I put my crust in the fridge for just a few minutes to speed the cooling process.

Make the filling: in a large mixing bowl, combine coconut, bittersweet chocolate chips, and almonds. Pour in an even layer over crust.

Make the topping: in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, salt, and egg until no lumps remain; this will take a few minutes, and you’ll need to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl several times to make sure all of the ingredients blend evenly. Add evaporated milk and beat until the mixture is smooth. Pour evenly over filling.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are just bubbly and the center is set.

Remove from oven and cool bars in pan completely before cutting.

Cut into 24 bars and store in an airtight container between layers of waxed paper.

 

Walnut Bars

walnut-barsDon’t have a mixer? Don’t worry. You can still make may types of tasty treats. Like these walnut bars, for example.

The recipe below is adapted from a King Arthur Flour recipe called vintage butterscotch bars; I substituted one cup each of white and dark brown sugar for the two cups of light brown sugar in the original and omitted the scant 1/8 teaspoon butter rum flavor. The end result is a gooey and almost fudgy treat, if one can use the word fudgy for a recipe that has no chocolate. All you need is a saucepan or microwave to melt your butter, then a large bowl for the mixing of the rest of the ingredients. The bars get puffy when baking, then fall once they’ve cooled – don’t worry, this is supposed to happen.

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking pan.

Melt butter in a saucepan or in your microwave. Place white and dark brown sugars in a large mixing bowl and pour the butter over top, then stir to combine. Let cool to lukewarm.

Stir in eggs and vanilla extract, then add salt, baking powder, and flour. Fold in nuts.

Scoop batter into pan; it will be very thick, but spread it out as evenly as you can.

Bake for 22-24 minutes, until top looks shiny and edges have pulled away from the pan. Be careful not to over-bake these bars, as they’ll get dry if they’re overdone.

Cool completely in pan, then cut into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes 24.

Granola Bars

granola barsPeople sometimes ask me if I ever have disasters in the kitchen, or at least, if I ever make recipes that don’t turn out well. Of course I do! Today’s granola bars are a great example; if they weren’t burnt on the bottom, they’d be delicious.

Here’s the thing about baking: you can’t be afraid of failing. If you over-bake your granola bars by a few minutes, the next time, you reduce your baking time and everything turns out fine. Failure is all part of the process, whether you’re Thomas Edison inventing the light bulb or a baker trying your first granola bar recipe. Next time I make these – and of course, there will be a next time, because these bars have a delicious flavor profile – I’ll simply bake them for about 18 minutes instead of 22.

The recipe below is adapted from the Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons apple juice
  • 2 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup Rice Krispies
  • 1/2 cup wheat germ*
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

*You can find wheat germ in the cereal aisle of your grocery store; it comes in a glass jar. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place oats in a large bowl. Combine butter and vegetable oil, then drizzle over oats, stirring while you drizzle. Add salt and stir.

Place oat mixture on an ungreased 11 x 17 rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, to toast the oats. Oats will become light golden brown; remove from oven and set aside to cool for just a few minutes, then pour them back into your large bowl (it’s fine if they’re still a bit warm). Add Rice Krispies, wheat germ, and chopped pecans, stirring to combine.

Reduce your oven temperature to 325 degrees. Line an 11 x 17 rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray the foil with baking spray.

In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, honey, apple juice, and molasses. Cook, stirring very frequently, over medium heat until mixture just begins to bubble. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Drizzle the brown sugar mixture over the dry mixture, stirring well until completely coated. Pour onto your prepared baking sheet, then spray your hands with baking spray and flatten the mixture into an even layer.

Bake for 18-20 minutes; I baked mine for 22 minutes and they were over-done, so be careful!

Remove from oven and allow to cool, then cut into bars or squares.

Pumpkin Bars with Browned Butter Frosting

pumpkin barsI refuse to skip right over Thanksgiving to Christmas, regardless of how much society pressures us all to do so. Now, before we have a Starbucks-cup-level riot about Christmas on this blog, let me be clear: I’m Catholic, and I love Christmas and the joyous preparations that go along with it. I’m just not ready to skip straight from carving a pumpkin to decking the halls.

Seriously, folks, why do we want to rush through the wonderful month of November? November has plenty to offer; the last of the season’s leaves hanging brilliantly on trees, warm afternoons and cold evenings, Election Day, Veterans Day, and the tradition of gratitude (and pie) on Thanksgiving. We skip right over this month, rushing toward “the holidays” without really taking a chance to enjoy that last bit of fall. And so, please consider these pumpkin bars, which are sort of like cake and come from my Better Homes & Garden Baking book, my rebellion against the steamrolling of pumpkin season by peppermint season. Live on, pumpkin season! For a few more weeks, at least.

Ingredients

Pumpkin Bars

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 15 ounces pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup vegetable oil

Browned Butter Frosting

  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cloves until completely combined.

Add eggs, pumpkin puree, and vegetable oil, stirring well to completely combine, with no dry streaks or lumps remaining.

Pour batter into an ungreased 15 x 10 x 1 pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 2 hours before frosting.

To make the frosting, melt butter in a small saucepan until light golden brown; this will take a few minutes, and you’ll want to swish the butter in the pan every so often, then use a whisk to get the browning bits off of the sides and bottom. Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, vanilla, and browned butter. Beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, then check your consistency; if necessary, add more milk, about 1/2 teaspoon at a time, to reach a spreadable consistency.

Pour frosting over pumpkin bars and spread using an offset spatula. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Seven Layer Bars

sevenlayerbarsTo say that I’m a picky eater is beyond an understatement. I have both flavor and texture issues, and one might imagine that a seven layer bar would send me running for the hills. On the contrary, I think that the seven layers of unbelievable goodness contained in these bars – oatmeal (rather than graham cracker crust), shredded coconut, semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk, and chopped walnuts – form a divine flavor and texture profile.

The recipe below is adapted from Half Baked Harvest, and as you can imagine from the list of ingredients, beyond rich. At first I cut them into two-by-two squares, but after I took a bite, I cut each bar into quarters for bite-sized pieces. If you’re serving these at a party, I’d recommend placing each bite into a miniature cupcake liner for easy handling; in addition to being rich, they’re also quite sticky, but completely worth it!

Ingredients

For the oatmeal crust

  • 1 1/4 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the layers

  • 1 1/3 cups shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup butterscotch chips
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 Pyrex dish with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking soda, and salt, mixing until combined.

Add vegetable oil, egg, and vanilla and mix until dough is completely combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Press dough into the bottom of the baking dish, making sure that chocolate chips are distributed evenly throughout the dough.

Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven. Sprinkle with shredded coconut, semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top, then sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Bake for 25-28 minutes, until top is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting into bites.

Blackberry Pie Bars

blackberry pie barsA few years ago, Mike and I saw two spindly, seemingly forgotten blackberry plants for $15 (total, not each) at our local nursery.  We brought them home, gave them prime real estate in some of the best soil our rocky Pittsburgh property has to offer, and hoped for the best.

From these two blackberry plants, about 10 more have grown. We cut them back each fall, because berries will only grow on new canes. This summer’s crop has yielded about 5 cups of berries so far, with tons more ripening as I write this. We pick new berries daily; those not fit to eat get pulled and tossed into the thicket, or left for the birds.

Because fresh berries have a limited shelf life, sometimes it’s best to bake with them – hence these blackberry pie bars, which I found over at The Novice Chef. I suspect that a lemon drizzle might make a good addition to these bars, or perhaps a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mike declared them delicious without any additional accouterments, though.

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • zest of 1 medium lemon
  • 1 cup butter, cold and cut into 1-inch pats
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the blackberries

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 teaspoons cornstarch
  • juice from 1 medium lemon
  • 4 cups fresh blackberries

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan; set aside.

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and lemon zest and pulse several times to combine. Add butter, egg, and vanilla and pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. If using a smaller food processor (like I did), break up the mixture with a fork a bit every few pulses.

Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the baking pan; reserve remaining crust to crumble over the top.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice, mixing until smooth. Add berries and gently stir to coat; spoon berries over crust. Crumble the remaining crust mixture over the berries.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned, being careful not to burn the bottom. Remove from oven and cool completely before serving, or spoon out while warm and serve like a cobbler.

Pecan Pie Bars

pecan pie barsThe good news: pecans are a great source of manganese, a mineral that has many benefits to overall health. Pecans are also a good source of protein and omega-6 fatty acids, and can help lower cholesterol.

The bad news: the health benefits of pecans may be canceled out by the cup and a half of corn syrup, cup and a half of sugar, and four eggs that are also included in this recipe.

The next time I make these I think I’m going to reduce the filling ingredients by about one-fourth, so that the filling doesn’t bubble over the sides of the pan. If I do so, I’ll post an adapted recipe here so everyone can have the ratios.

These bars were for my brother Andy on his birthday, as he is a fan of pecan pie.

Ingredients

For the crust

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons butter, cold, cut into small cubes

For the filling

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
  • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 15 x 10 x 1 pan with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs; I also used my hands to get a more even consistency.

Press into the bottom of the pan in an even layer; bake for 20 minutes.

With a few minutes left on your crust baking time, prepare the filling. In a large bowl whisk eggs, sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, and vanilla until well combined. Stir in pecans.

Carefully pour filling over hot crust and return to the oven, baking for 25-30 minutes or until filling is set. Note: your pan will be very, very full so move it carefully; I placed a larger baking pan on the rack beneath mine to catch the drips, and my filling bubbled over a bit so I’m glad I did.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack completely before cutting.

Apple Crumb Bars

apple crumb barsI will not be intimidated by caramel. Not even when I completely fail at a recipe for caramel apple shortbread and turn said caramel into something that could have probably been used as a weapon, so sharp were its edges.

Full disclosure: I’m no confectioner. I’m far better with baked goods than I am with candies, which is what caramel is, really. So when the failed recipe didn’t turn out, I chalked it up partially to my inexperience with this finicky substance and partially to the blogger who wrote some less-than-clear instructions regarding the length of time one needs to cook her caramel and what it will look like at different stages in preparation. Hint: “bubbly” and “glossy” are rather subjective terms, and I clearly have a very different opinion about what those words mean. Step-by-step photos of the process would have been immensely helpful, but there were none to be had. Anyway…

Realizing that I definitely need more practice with caramel-ish substances, I found an apple crumb bar recipe that includes a caramel apple layer between two crumb layers, and it turned out very well. I’m not a big fan of cooked fruit, even apples, but Mike proclaimed these bars delicious.

Ingredients

For the crumb layers:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 3/4 cup white sugar*
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar*
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

For the caramel apple layer:

  • 4 medium apples, diced (I used 2 Granny Smiths and 2 Empires)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 cup cold water

*If you prefer, you can use 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar instead of the white/dark brown mix. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with baking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugars, baking soda, and salt; stir to combine. Rub in the butter with your hands until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs; you can also cut the butter in using a pastry blender, but I found the rubbing method to be much easier.

Reserve 2 cups of crumb mixture for topping; press the remaining crumb mixture into the prepared baking dish and set aside.

Sprinkle diced apples evenly over the crumb layer.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, butter, and water. Stir constantly and bring to a boil; once the mixture begins to boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes until the mixture is thickened and bubbly and looks like the photo below.

Pour the caramel mixture over the apples and sprinkle the remaining crumbs on top.

Bake for 38-40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely before serving; I put mine in the fridge overnight so the caramel would set up well.

caramel spice mix (2)

 

You’ll want your caramel spice mixture to look like this. Don’t be intimidated by the caramel!

Heath Bit Bars

heath bit barsThis week at the office, my purchase of a Twix precipitated a discussion about favorite candy bars. There was great debate; some folks are Milky Way and Three Musketeers fans, while others (including me) favor Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers bars, or those ingenious Take 5 bars that include a pretzel, caramel, peanut butter, peanuts, and milk chocolate all in one delicious little package.

I’m also a big fan of the Heath bar, and with that ind mind, I picked up some Heath Milk Chocolate Bits in the baking aisle yesterday. There’s a great recipe on the bag for Heath bit peanut butter cookies that I fully intend to bake sometime, but because I also had the Twix bar on my mind, I decided to make a treat that would sort of combine the best of both worlds: a bar with a shortbread-like crust, milk chocolate chips, and Heath bits.

This recipe is adapted from one that I found on the Hershey’s website that used plain toffee bits, rather than Heath Milk Chocolate Bits. Next time, I’d like to sprinkle on some chopped pecans, or maybe even chopped salted peanuts, to add another dimension of flavor. You’re supposed to wait until these bars have cooled completely before you cut them, but as you can see by the glossy chocolate in the photo above, I simply couldn’t wait.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 12-ounce package milk chocolate chips
  • 1 cup Heath Milk Chocolate Bits

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter at medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until fluffy.

Add brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix well.

Add flour and mix until combined.

Press crust mixture into the bottom of a 10 x 15 x 1 jelly roll pan, smoothing with an offset spatula as best you can for even browning.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, until top is golden brown.

Remove from oven and sprinkle immediately with chocolate chips. After about 5 minutes, spread melting chips with an offset spatula to cover the crust completely. Sprinkle on Heath Milk Chocolate Bits and let stand for just a moment, then spread with an offset spatula.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Bars

pb cup cookie barsAs far as peanut butter goes, I’m a Jif loyalist. My mom was one of the choosy moms who chose Jif in my childhood, and as such I find pretty much every other brand inferior.

Jif introduced its creamy peanut butter in 1958 and the extra crunchy variety in 1974. Why there isn’t just “crunchy” peanut butter, I’m not sure, but you can use either smooth or crunchy for this recipe. I had a jar of extra crunchy on hand, so I decided to use that, along with chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins. You could certainly use regular chopped peanut butter cups or milk chocolate chips if you prefer; just adjust the quantity to 1 3/4 cups.

A note of caution for your oven: this recipe bakes in a 10 x 15 x 1 pan, and mine puffed up and spilled over the sides, dripping quick-to-burn cookie bits on my oven floor. Next time, I’ll place a cookie sheet lined with parchment beneath the pan to catch the drips. This recipe can also be baked as individual cookies; just scoop them out, flatten them with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar, and bake for about 8 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 7 Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins, chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment and place a 10 x 15 x 1 jelly roll pan on the parchment. You do not need to grease the pan.

In a small bowl, combine flour and baking soda; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, peanut butter, and vanilla and beat until very well combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, beating until combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and gradually add the flour mixture.

Stir in chopped peanut butter pumpkins.

Spread dough in the ungreased pan and smooth the top with a small offset spatula.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden brown but still puffy in the middle.

Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Using a small offse