Raspberry Jams Bars

Another hectic weekend is behind me, (which is why I don't have any step by step photos for making this recipe. Sorry).
This raspberry bar is similar to this one I made the other day but without the chocolate. It also uses oatmeal and almonds. The only change I made was to use more raspberry jam than the original recipe called for. It just didn't look like enough when I spread it over the crust base.
It came out really good. The almonds and oatmeal in the base gave it nice texture.
I was thinking that maybe the addition of a little peanut butter with the raspberry jam might morph it into peanut butter and jelly bars..hmm. Maybe next time!


Raspberry Jam Bars

1 cup AP flour
Pinch salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
8 tbsp. unsalted butter- room temp.
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
1/2 cup old fashioned oats not instant)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
4 heaping tbsp. seedless raspberry jam ( I used a little more)




Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8" square pan with foil, extending enough for an overhang.

1.Cream butter and sugar together til light and fluffy.
2. Stir in the vanilla or almond extract.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking soda and stir into the creamed mixture.
4. Stir in the oats and almonds.
5. Set aside 1 cup of this mixture and press the remaining onto the bottom of your prepared pan.
6. Dollop the jam over the top and spread to within 1/2" of the sides.
7. Crumble the reserved oat mixture over the top.
7. Bake 35 - 40 minutes or til the top is golden and the jam is lightly bubbling.
8. Place pan onto a wire rack to cool, then lift out of the pan and cool completely before cutting.

Dream Bars

If you're looking for a quick and easy dessert for this holiday weekend, this one's it.
This dream bar recipe I found in one of my many older cookbooks. It really is quick to make and it has a wonderful buttery crust with a coconut and nut topping.
It's baked in a 9" x 13" pan and since the bars are kind of rich, you can cut smaller size pieces and get as many as 2 dozen.

Begin with making the crust by mixing the butter, brown sugar and flour til crumbly.
Then press the mixture into your pan and bake it for about 10 minutes.

Make the topping by mixing all the ingredients in a medium bowl.

Then pour the topping onto the baked crust and bake it another 20 to 25 minutes.

Dream Bars ( from the cookbook " America's Best Recipes, State Fair Blue Ribbon Winners)

Crust:
1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup AP flour

Mix the above ingredients til crumbly. Press into a 9" x 13" pan. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup coconut

2 eggs

2 tbsp. flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts ( I used pecans)

1. Combine the above ingredients well and pour over the baked crust.

2. Bake again at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes, or until brown.

3. Cut into bars, the size your prefer.

Walnut Bars

This recipe was originally called Black Walnut Bars, but as I was fresh out of black walnuts, I could only use what I had on hand, which was regular walnuts. But, hey, if you have black walnuts in your pantry, go ahead and use them! The cookbook I found these bars in is one of the books I found at my local flea market called "Great Home Cooking in America". It's by the Food Editors of Farm Journal so you know these recipes are good old down home country baking recipes!
I seem to gravitate towards the more old fashioned cookbooks of this kind, rather than the newest and pricier books that are recently out at the bookstores. Must be the country girl in me! Ha!
Getting back to the recipe, according to the book, black walnuts are popular in baking in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, which is only about an hour from here. But this recipe is actually from Iowa.
I've made a few changes to the original recipe. I made these bars twice. The first time I thought the crust had way too much butter so the second time I almost cut the amount of butter in half and it was much better. I also never use margarine and the recipe called for either butter or margarine so I chose, of course, butter.
The bars remind me of a pecan pie, with the filling kind of gooey in the center and the crunch of the nuts on top. And you could certainly swap out walnuts and use pecans, if you don't like walnuts. It's really really a delicious dessert bar, just remember to let it cool for a few hours before cutting into squares. Because the bars are a bit on the rich side, you may want to cut them into small squares, like 2" x 2", although the recipe says to cut them 2" x 1".

Start with the crust by mixing the flour and brown sugar together in a large bowl, then cut in the butter (I used my fingers) .
Press crust into your pan and bake 10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it cool 10 minutes.

Beat the eggs til light, then gradually beat in the brown sugar and vanilla.
Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the egg mixture along with the nuts.

Spread onto the baked crust and ...

Place back in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes, or til nice and brown on top.

The center sets better if you let it bake til the top is a nice darker ( but not burnt!) color.

Just be sure to let it cool in the pan for a few hours before you cut into squares, so the center sets better.

Black Walnut Bars ( adapted from "Great Home Cooking in America" by the Food Editors of Farm Journal)
(The book states the recipe makes 5 dozen 2" x 1" bars..yes, they're quite rich!)


2 cups AP flour

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup unsalted butter ( I cut down to 10 tbsp.)

4 eggs

2 cups light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp. AP flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups chopped black walnuts ( or regular walnuts or pecans, even)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or butter a 15 1/2" x 10 1/2" x 1" jelly roll pan. ( I halved the recipe and used an 8" x 8" pan.

Crust:

1. Mix together the 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of brown sugar in a large bowl.

2. Add the butter and mix with your fingers til crumbs form.

3. Press mixture into your prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.

4. Take crust out of the oven and let it cool about 10 minutes.

5. Turn oven up to 375.

Filling:

1. Beat eggs til light.

2. Gradually beat in the 2 cups brown sugar, then the vanilla.

3. In a small bowl, stir together the 2 tbsp. of flour, baking powder and salt.

4. Add this to the egg mixture along with the nuts.

5. Pour onto the crust and bake about 20 minutes, or til the top is a nice darker ( but not too dark browned) color.

6. Cool bars in pan for a few hours so the filling sets well. Cut into sizes you like.

Scottish Shortbread 2

I decided to try a second, an actually a third recipe for Scottish Shortbread today. I figured, this way I can try all 3 to know which I like best.

The recipe I'm showing you here is the third and I chose to include it because I just quite frankly liked it alot! It turned out to be my favorite of the 3. My son , Kris, chose the second one..but..hey..my blog..my choice! No, really, the second was very good, too, but what I like about this recipe is the texture. It isn't so crumbly and it has a little more crunch than the other 2. And by the way, now that a day has passed, I tasted the first recipe again and I think it has a bit of a floury taste, compared to today's recipe.

What's different about this shortbread recipe today is that it uses white rice flour,which gives it a more tender texture. It looks very much like cornstarch. But since the recipe calls for regular granulated sugar, albeit superfine, it has just a bit more crunch than using confectioners sugar only.

So to begin this recipe you combine the butter and sugar using a handheld mixer ( or a wooden spoon), and beat til light and creamy.


Add the flour and white rice flour and beat to combine but don't beat too much more with the mixer. The dough should still look crumbly.

Loose the mixer and using your hands, mix it all together. The heat from your hands will help combine the dough into a nice ball. Don't overmix though!

At this point, I turned it out onto a sheet of waxed paper and placed another sheet over top and rolled it from the center out, turning the circle as I rolled.

Then you can place it onto your baking sheet ( I didn't grease it, with all that butter, that didn't seem a necessary step).

Then take the end of your wooden spoon and make indents all around the edge..just to make a pretty pattern!

Using a fork, prick the areas where you'll be cutting apart the sections.

Scottish Shortbread 2

2/3 cup unsalted butter - room temp.

1/4 cup white rice flour

Generous 1/3 cup caster ( superfine) sugar

1 1/2 cups AP flour

Preheat oven to 300.

Sprinkle baking sheet with a little sugar.

1. Using a wooden spoon or hand mixer, combine butter and sugar til light and creamy.

2. Add flour and white rice flour and beat just a little more. Mixture should still be crumbly.

3. Using your hands, continue to combine the dough, forming into a ball. Don't overwork it.

4. Place the ball onto a sheet of waxed paper and cover with another sheet of waxed paper.

Using a rolling pin, roll into a circle, rolling from the center out, turning the dough with each roll.

5. Place onto the baking sheet and using the end of a wooden spoon, make indents all around the edge. Then prick the sections that will be cut out into pieces with a fork.

6. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or til the edges are slightly golden but still a little soft in the center.

7. After a few minutes out of the oven, cut the sections using a sharp knife.

8. Let the shortbread cool completely on a wire rack.

I like to keep it in a tin, rather than a rubbermaid type container.

*Note: You could also make it into a square shape and cut the pieces into small squares.*

Scottish Shortbread

As I've stated on this blog before, I just love shortbread and making it is not only one of the easiest type cookie bars to make but the variations are endless!
This is actually the first time I've made shortbread in a pan. Up to this point, I made shortbread cookies, cutting out the shapes and using a variety of add-ins. With only basically 3 ingredients for this recipe, you have to use the best and freshest.

I decided on this particular recipe from the many positive reviews it recieved, but I'm going to try a few others I found to compare..at a later date!

The recipe goes together in no time. The end result is a buttery, crumbly, not too sweet shortbread that I just know will only improve in flavor with time. I took the advise of a few of the reviewers and added some vanilla, cut down on the flour, added a pinch of salt and used half confectioners sugar and half granulated sugar. I also halved the recipe, as I usually do this when I'm making a recipe for the first time..not wanting to waste precious ingredients if it doesn't turn out! Yeah, I'm cheap..err, I mean.. frugal!

So begin by creaming the butter and sugar in a standing mixer. If you don't have one you'll have to do all this by hand with a wooden spoon, but think of the workout you'll get!
Add in the vanilla during the creaming process.
Once the butter and sugars are combined, add in the flour and salt.

I combined mine just to the point of it still being crumbly and not totally mixed together.

Then I switched to a wooden spoon and stirred the mixture til it looked more combined and in a nice buttery mass of dough.

Turn it out onto a floured work surface and knead a few times, gently, to incorporate flour. Remember, it's not bread we're making here!

Pat the dough into an ungreased pan.

Then flatten out the surface using the bottom of a glass or cup or whatever you have that's flat on the bottom.

Prick the shortbread, using a fork, wherever you are going to cut apart the pieces.

I decided to experiment with the shapes, making some in triangles and some in squares.( part of the way through the baking I added more fork pricks to change the rectangles into squares!

And here's the shortbread just out of the oven.

Let it cool in the pan about 5 minutes, then, using a bench scraper, cut the pieces along the lines and continue to let it cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Then carefully lift out your first piece. The remaining pieces will be easier to get out.

Scottish Shortbread

1 lb. ( 4 sticks) unsalted butter

4 cups AP flour

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Pinch salt

More flour-approx.1/4 cup for flouring work surface.

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Cream butter and sugars in a standing mixer (or by hand using a wooden spoon.)

2. Add flour and salt slowly and mix til just combined and still crumbly ( or using your wooden spoon).
3. Stir with wooden spoon til a nice, buttery mass of dough.

4. Turn out onto a floured work surface ( using some or all remaining 1/4 cup of flour).

5. Place into a 10" x 15"pan. ( Since I halved the recipe I used a 9" square pan).

6. Using a fork, prick the shortbread wherever you'll be cutting the pieces. Go all the way through with the fork to the bottom of the pan.

7. Bake for 10 minutes.

8. Lower the heat to 300 and continue to bake another 25 - 30 minutes. (Mine took 25 minutes.) The edges will be just turning a light golden brown.

9. Take out of the oven and let it sit in the pan 5 minutes. Then cut into your pieces using a bench scraper or sharp knife.

10. Continue to let it cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

I'm storing mine in a tin, which I think is best for shortbread.

Nanaimo Bars

When I read this recipe in the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion and saw that it originally was from Nanaimo, a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, I thought it would be a perfect choice, kind of my nod to the Olympics!

I hadn't even looked up any info on this bar or noticed how many others had baked it and commented on it before I had made it myself. Then, after I had made it, I checked it out on line and saw many variations, the peanut butter one sounds good! Or, how about using mint flavor?

I couldn't wait to taste it and once it had done time in the fridge, I took it out to take a photo and took a bite. It really has a nice, creamy texture from the pudding filling and the chocolate layer on top adds a wonderful chocolatey silkiness ( using semi sweet Belgian chocolate doesn't hurt, either!). The only objection I have it that the bar seems very elegant and the graham cracker crumbly crust doesn't seem to go with the two top layers. It seems to need a less crumbly, more sophisticated crust, maybe something like a chocolate shortbread? The flavors and textures are better, I think, if the bar is at a cool room temperature, rather than straight from the fridge.

So, let's make Nanaimo Bars.
First make the crust by combining butter, sugar and cocoa in your mixing bowl.
Mix in egg and stir in coconut, walnuts, vanilla and crumbs.

Pat the dough into your prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.

Once it bakes and cools, make the filling and spread over top and refridgerate til chilled.

Once that has cooled, make the frosting and spread that over the top and refridgerate again til set.

Kind of alot of steps!

Nanaimo Bars ( from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion)

Crust:

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, regular or dutch process

1 large egg

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts ( the recipe didn't specify how finely chopped but I took mine for a spin in the food processor til they were finely chopped).

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

Filling:

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 tbsp. instant vanilla pudding mix

2 tbsp. milk

Frosting:

1 cup chopped semisweet chocolate or chocolate chips

2 tbsp. vegetable shortening, unsalted butter or heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9" x 9" pan or an 11" x 7" pan.

Crust:

1. In medium sized mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar and cocoa.

2. Mix in the egg, then stir in the coconut, walnuts, vanilla and crumbs.

3. Press the mixture into the prepared pan and bake 10 minutes.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Filling:

1. In medium sized mixing bowl, cream butter, then add 1 cup confectioners sugar and the vanilla.

2. In a small bowl, stir the pudding into the milk and add to the butter mixture.

3. Add the remaining cup of confectioners sugar and beat til the filling is smooth.

4. Spread it over the cooled crust and refridgerate til cooled.

Frosting:

1. Melt the chocolate and shortening in a small saucepan set over medium heat or in the microwave. ( I used the double boiler method). Stir til smooth.

2. Spread the frosting over the chilled bars and refridgerate til chocolate is set.

3. Cut into bars, using a very sharp knife.

Apple Pie Bars

In yesterday's post I went on about this month being all about pumpkins but it's also all about apples and this recipe is a nice variation on Apple Pie. I found this recipe in an older issue of Food & Wine from, March 2008. Although the recipe turned out great and quite a bit like apple pie, it's many steps make it a little too time consuming . Perhaps it would be easier to make each step a day ahead and assemble the whole thing the next day...don't know...just sayin'!! Just a note...I halved the recipe because it seemed like way too much for just the 2 of us and the original called for 12 apples...that's alot of apples!!

Step 1. Making the crust by beating with the paddle attachment in your mixer bowl.

Pat the dough with your fingers into a sheet pan covering all the bottom and 1/2" up the sides. Bake, set aside to cool.

Step 2. Making the filling. This was the time consuming part for me as I do everything by hand!! Peel, core and thinly slice apples. I didn't have the Granny Smith apples so I used what I had in the fridge which was a combo of Honeycrisp and Gala.

Put apples into a skillet with butter and cook. Add spices a little bit after and keep cooking!! This took longer than the 20 minutes.( More like 30 mins.) The apples released lots of juice so I scooped out the juice and saved it( it came to about 1/2 cup) and added it back in when it needed more liquid( instead of the water they tell you to use).

Step 3. Making the topping. I used my fingers to work the butter into the oatmeal and flour mixture. Your fingers get a real work out!! Add the toasted walnuts last.

Once the filling has cooled and the topping is made, spread the apples out over the cooled crust and cover with the topping, pressing down slightly with your fingers.

Whew!! Like I said...alot of steps . I think it would have been easier to just chop the apples but I think the point was to resemble an apple pie!! Just remember to add one last step...a big scoop of ice cream !!

One final note:

My son Kris had a great idea!! He suggested to drizzle caramel over the top...yes I agree!!

Also, it's easier to cut these bars once they are out of the pan so perhaps a longer piece of parchment paper for handles, to lift it out, would be a good idea.