Coconut Bars

This past January, I spent 10 nights away from home on a business trip. My husband can certainly fend for himself – he was single for years before he met me after all. He is perfectly capable of dialing for takeout or making a simple meal for one. But, when you get married, you settle into roles. I make dinner, he takes out the trash. I scoop the kitty litter and he gets our cars cleaned. And, when I go out of town, I feel bad for putting my chores into his court.

So, I knew if I could at least make some sweets before leaving town, he would have something to nibble on that was made for him with love.

I had just bought The Gourmet Cookie Book which has the best cookie recipe from Gourmet magazine from the 1940s on. What I love about the book is not only the timeless classics, but the amazing photos of every recipe in the book. I made the coconut bars from 1953 because I had all the ingredients on hand – and it seemed a bit different.

These are sweet, so cut your pieces smaller than I did. But, they are simply amazing, and really require little ingredients. With some powdered sugar on top, they are beautiful as well.

So, if you are leaving town and want your family to have an always satisfied sweet tooth, these are great treats to leave behind!

COCONUT BARS
Makes 2 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, divided
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup shredded coconut
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375.

Cream 1/2 cup butter. Add gradually 1/2 cup brown sugar and beat until smooth. Stir in 1 cup sifted flour and spread the batter in the bottom of an 8-inch square cake pan, buttered. Bake for 20 minutes.

Beat 2 eggs and 1 cup light brown sugar until smooth. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 cup chopped walnuts, and 1/2 cup shredded coconut tosses with 2 tablespoons flour and a pinch of salt. Spread this batter over the baked crust and continue to bake for 20 minutes longer. Cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cut into squares or bars.

Toffee Squares

The problem with making cookies for the holidays is that everyone has a different favorite. I can’t go through a holiday season without making jam thumbprints for my husband (his favorite) or brownies for my co-worker (her favorite) and so on and so forth. Every year I make 3 or 4 of the old favorites that without, whining would certainly commence. Then, I always try some new ones to be added to the rotation.

And, before my designated “Christmas Baking Day” (yes, I actually take a day off of work to do it), I had to bake a bit early since our holiday parties seemed to span a 2-week time frame. So, when I saw this recipe on epicurious.com, I thought it sounded like the perfect missing puzzle piece to my cookie line-up.

The original recipe comes from a booked called Very Merry Cookie Party by Virginia Van Vynckt and Barbara Grunes. I made the recipe in the second way suggested – with the inclusion of toffee bits.

I am actually a bit embarrassed to show how easy this recipe is, since only about 30 minutes total gives you an entire 9 x 13 of these sweet morsels. They are so good that only within about 4 days from my first batch, I will be making another for yet more holiday occasions.

Thanks to Very Merry Cookie Party for this amazing recipe – and the newest member of my holiday cookie favorites.

TOFFEE SQUARES
Makes about 48 squares (on 9×13 pan)

Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:
7 to 8 ounces milk chocolate, broken into pieces, or 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted
1/2 cup toffee bits

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment. (or spray a nonstick pan with baking spray)

Prepare the crust. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla, and salt. On low speed, gradually beat in the flour just until mixed. The dough will be stiff. Pat the dough evenly over the bottom of the baking pan.

Bake in the center of the oven until pale gold on top, about 20 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and scatter the chocolate pieces evenly over the crust. Return the pan to the oven for 1 minute. Remove the pan again and, using a knife, spread the chocolate evenly over the crust. Sprinkle evenly with the almonds.

Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Using a sharp knife, cut into small squares, then carefully remove from the pan with a small offset spatula or an icing spatula.

Double-Nut Maple Bars

If anyone has been to my house, they know how large my cookbook cabinet is. Rows and rows of possibilities – old and new, salty and sweet. There also is a cookbook annex in the basement that has yet another plethora of recipes just waiting to be sauteed, sliced, simmered and savored. And, with the internet these days, do I really need any more?

That HAD to be a rhetorical question because the answer is, of course, yes. And, when Bon Appetit had on their facebook page that you could get their new cookbook Just Desserts as a pre-order for half the price, it was a no brainer. Now that my baking infatuation has continued to grow and grow, this book would clearly make it worse – beautiful glossy photos along with the best of Bon Appetit’s sweet treats.

The day it arrived, I settled into my sunroom with a glass of wine and dove in. I read it with the intensity many would read a trashy romance novel – and yes, I read my cookbooks cover to cover.

This recipe was my first trial out of the cookbook. I had recently bought some grade B maple syrup and wanted to keep using it up, so when I saw these bars, I thought it would be the ideal way to use some up.

These are different than my normal cakes, cookies and brownies – it is a shortbread crust with a sticky maple, pecan, caramel filling. Even with making the crust, I was able to make this in less than 1 hour. It was AMAZING – not to mention gone in one day. The sweetness of the topping combined with the texture of the crust is the perfect combination, and a great way to “mix up” my baking with something different.

Not only is this post an ode to these bars, but also an ode to Just Desserts by Barbara Fairchild, from which many of my kitchen creations will surely emerge.

DOUBLE-NUT MAPLE BARS
Makes 16

For crust:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon whole milk

For filling:
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8 x 8 x 2-inch metal baking pan. Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor and blend. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine egg yolk and milk in small bowl. Drizzle egg mixture into processor; process using on/off turns just until dough clumps together but is still dry. Transfer dough crumbs to prepared pan. Press crumbs onto bottom and halfway up sides of pan. Bake until crust is set and pale golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer crust to rack and cool.

Make filling:
Combine maple syrup, sugar, cream and butter in heavy medium saucepan. Bring mixture to boil. Boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in nuts and vanilla.

Pour filling over crust, spreading nuts evenly bake until filling bubbles all over, about 8 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. Cut into bars and serve at room temperature. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Store cookies between sheets of wax paper in airtight container at room temperature.)

Praline Bars

So as I mentioned earlier, a lot of baking goes on in my house during the holidays. This recipe is a staple and I can take ZERO credit for it – my mom gave me this recipe. As a disclaimer, when my mother makes these they look MUCH prettier – she delicately drizzles semisweet chocolate and white chocolate to make a beautiful presentation. Mine look a little sad compared to hers, but boy do they taste amazing.

Many of my friends wanted this recipe, so here it is. No, there are no misprints below, it truly is this easy and there really is that much butter and sugar in it!

PRALINE BARS
Makes 60

15 graham cracker sheets
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips (I usually omit, but it sure is prettier if you take the time to include it!)

Preheat oven to 350 degree.

Separate each graham cracker sheet into 4 crackers; place in a lightly greased 15 x 10 jelly roll pan. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the graham crackers.

Bring brown sugar and margarine to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat. Boil 2 minutes. Pour brown sugar mixture evenly over graham crackers. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove graham crackers to wax paper using a spatula and let cool.

Microwave (or use double boiler) semisweet chocolate chips, stir until smooth. Drizzle chocolate evenly over cooled bars. Repeat procedure with white chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Butter Cakes

If you are ever looking for an alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie, this recipe will do the trick. I will admit, I was a bit skeptical putting yellow cake mix as a crust (made just with butter and eggs to be a chewy, condensed version). But, it really works, and gives it a substantial crust to hold the pumpkin goodness.

I will warn you – they are sweet (yes, there is a whole box of powdered sugar!), so a small piece will be plenty. But, they are a regular seasonal favorite in our house -made every Thanksgiving and many times before. Paula Deen gets the credit for this one.

PUMPKIN GOOEY BUTTER CAKES
Cake:
1 (18 1/4-ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to overbake as the center should be a little gooey.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.