Chocolate Pecan Bars

Wow, two cookie posts in a row?

Shortbread crust, melted semi-sweet chocolate and a caramel-ly layer of butter, brown sugar and toasted pecans. If you like this type of thing, you'll be happy with these Chocolate Pecan Bars.

Mine were made in an 8 by 8 pan so they turned out a little thicker than they should have. I forgot that I like to make them in a 9 by 11 which makes them a little thinner but makes more cookies too. You just need to use a little more chocolate for the increased surface area.

I also skip the cinnamon in this recipe. I don't think it needs it. But I think these bars were originally made to accompany a Mexican-themed meal so a little cinnamon would be nice to add if you are serving a menu like that.

As per usual, if the link doesn't work and you want the recipe, just send me a note.

Saucer-Sized Oatmeal Cookies

The whole oatmeal cookie thing started last week when I made monster cookies for my son's last kindergarten snack of the year. I used Mean Chef's recipe (a long-standing favorite) and loaded them with chocolate chips, raisins and m&ms. (These are kindergarteners after all.) They turned out really well, as expected, but they made exactly 18, enough for the whole class and the teacher, but not enough to keep any at home. It is cruel to make cookies in front of your family and not let them have any. And my children and husband would not let me forget that. So the pressure was on.

So cookies were already in the forefront of my mind when I read my blogger friend Amy's post about her lovely oatmeal cookies. She used a recipe from Pam Anderson, a respected cookbook author and food magazine person. Pam Anderson has an interesting blog called Three Many Cooks

Amy did hers with chocolate chips, dried cherries and toasted pecans. And that sounded so good that I really had to give this recipe a try, especially with Mean Chef's recipe so fresh in my mind.

These really are saucer-sized, if you want. The cookies were huge on my first sheet, so I made them a little smaller for the rest. If you want them huge and literally saucer-sized, use a standard ice cream scoop and mound the dough above the scoop before releasing it on to the sheet. And put 3 on a tray (they spread.) For mine, I measured the dough level with the scoop for a palm-sized cookie. I made some without nuts for the kids and then I added nuts to the rest of the batch for those who know better ;)

Unique about this recipe, is that the butter is melted before adding the dry ingredients. It makes for a thinner but chewy, buttery, praline-like oatmeal cookie. Mean Chef's cookie is thicker and chewy with a hint of cinnamon. Both cookies are REALLY good. I really couldn't pick one over the other. But I think the thicker Mean Chef cookie makes for a better cookie to hold a lot of add-ins.

What I like about a big oatmeal cookie is that one really is enough. There's something satisfying to the eyes and hands to hold a big loaded cookie and have it all to yourself. And a giant cookie allows for a second glass of milk or will match up to your venti skim latte. So try one of these recipes out. You can make them and freeze them too. Then pull them out of your bag in the middle of a long car trip and people will think you are magic.

Chocolate Pecan Squares

I've had this recipe for Chocolate Pecan Squares in the back of my mind for a while (oh, since about issue 70.) I just needed the right occasion to make them. The kids don't eat cookies with nuts in them and I didn't want make a whole tray of cookies, especially rich ones like these, for just me and dear husband.

A request for cookies for a school event arrived in my son's backpack one afternoon and I knew immediately that I would give these a try. This way I could make them, taste them and send them away for others to enjoy (far, far away from my snacking hands.) These cookies have just about everything going for them: a buttery crumb crust, a layer of bittersweet chocolate and a sticky pecan topping. I thought they were fantastic. I made them in a quarter sheet pan instead of a 9 by 9. The topping came up to the rim and I was scared it might bubble over but it worked out fine. It gave me a bigger yield of cookies but a little thinner of a crust.

When I make them again, I will decrease the honey a little because I think the topping could be a little less sweet. If you make them in a slightly bigger pan, you might want a little more grated chocolate, maybe an ounce more. Also, my mom thought I could decrease the cinnamon, but that is a matter of taste. I believe this recipe was originally part of a mexican menu, and cinnamon/chocolate is a classic Mexican combination. You might have to run a thin knife around the edge to loosen the sticky topping, but the crust comes out of the bottom very easily. So don't worry about using parchment or greasing the pan. There's plenty o' butter in the crust to take care of that.

Pecan-Chocolate Squares

by Paula Disbrowe, David Norman

Yields sixteen 2-1/2 inch squares.

ingredients

For the cookie base:
6 oz. (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. table salt
2 oz. finely grated bittersweet chocolate (a scant 1/2 cup)

For the pecan topping:
10 oz. pecans (3 cups), toasted
1/4 lb. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
2 Tbs. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. table salt

how to make

Make the cookie base: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350ºF. Put the butter in a food processor, along with the flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse until the mixture is well combined (about 20 pulses). Scatter the dough into a 9x9-inch baking pan and press it evenly over the bottom. (Wipe out the processor bowl but don’t bother washing it.) Bake the base until firm and lightly browned, about 25 min. When the cookie base comes out of the oven, sprinkle the grated chocolate evenly over the top. (Don’t turn off the oven.) Set the pan aside.

Make the pecan topping: As the cookie base bakes, pulse the pecans in the food processor until coarsely chopped. In a medium-size heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the dark brown sugar, honey, cream, and salt. Simmer for 1 min., stirring occasionally. Stir in the pecans. Pour the pecan mixture over the chocolate-sprinkled cookie base, spreading evenly. Bake until much of the filling is bubbling (not just the edges), 16 to 18 min. Let cool completely in the pan. When ready to serve, cut into 16 squares. Tightly covered, these bars will keep for about five days (though they never last that long).
From Fine Cooking 70, pp. 34-39

A Mom Moment

Some time ago, Fine Cooking (issue 56) did an article on Chocolate Chip cookies. They played around with the Toll House Cookie recipe to adjust for a personal preference of crispy or chewy cookies. The ingredients are the same, but some changes in the amount of butter and flour and also the temperature of the butter and eggs were made. Ever since, I have made the recipe for the Crispy cookies instead of the Toll House recipe. I just think it tastes better than the original. But last night I decided to make the Chewy Chocolate Chip cookie recipe because I know the boys like a chewier cookie (and I like trying new things.) While they were out playing after dinner, I quickly put the batch of cookies together. And just as they were just coming in, the first tray of cookies was coming out of the oven. I had freshly baked cookies to offer as dessert. Warm cookies will stop them in their tracks everytime. It was a triumphant Mom moment.

The cookies themselves was good. But they didn't turn out as chewy as I expected. As you can see in the picture they are still a little flat and crispy (and I made an effort to keep the dough cold.) Maybe if I made them bigger they would have stayed thicker, but I followed the directions exactly since it was my first time with the recipe. They are a little softer than my regular ones. But if you like the big monster soft cookies, these aren't it. (That recipe - I'm still looking for.) These are however very tasty. They have more butter than the original Toll House and notice how much vanilla - 3 times as much! Good stuff.

Chewy Chocolate-Chip Cookies

by Bonnie Jean Gorder-Hinchey

To learn more, read the article: Baking Chocolate-Chip Cookies Two Ways

I use butter and eggs right out of the refrigerator so the dough stays cool and the cookies maintain their thickness during baking; I also use ungreased cookie sheets. To keep the cookies soft and chewy, store them in an airtight container along with a slice of bread.

Yields about 9 dozen 2-1/2-inch cookies.

ingredients

10-3/4 oz. (1-1/3 cups) unsalted butter, cold

1-1/2 cups packed light brown-sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, cold

1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract

17 oz. (3-3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/4 tsp. table salt

1 tsp. baking soda

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips

how to make

Arrange oven racks in the upper and middle positions of the oven. Heat the oven to 375°F.
Using a mixer fitted with a paddle, beat together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar, starting on low speed and gradually working your way up to high speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 min. once you reach high speed. Scrape the bowl and beater. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on low until blended. Beat on high until light and fluffy, about 1 min. Scrape the bowl and beater.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add this to the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just blended; the dough will be stiff. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop rounded measuring teaspoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto two ungreased baking sheets. Refrigerate any unused dough. Bake until the bottoms are golden brown, 8 to 10 min., rotating the sheets halfway through for even results. Remove the sheets from the oven, let sit for 3 to 5 min., and then transfer the cookies with a spatula to a wire rack to cool completely. Let the baking sheets cool completely before baking the remaining dough.

From Fine Cooking 56, pp. 55

Nibble Nibble

Merry Christmas!

I like to bake cookies for Christmas. It just doesn't feel like Christmas if I haven't baked until 11pm at least one night. Each year, I do a mix of favorites and a few new ones. This year's family favorites included chocolate chip, peanut butter, pecan tarts, and decorated sugar cookies. The new ones I tried are the Chocolate-Vanilla Swirls (awesome), Blondies with choc. chips and coconut, and Chocolate Cherry Drop Cookies.

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We've been mad bakers here at the house. We're preparing for a small childrens party of Christmas crafting, cookies and hot chocolate. My son and I enjoy cutting out cookies and decorating them with bags of tinted royal icing, colored sugars and sprinkles. It quickly has become a tradition. Here's a sampling of our handiwork. They're not fancy but they're fun.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

This cookie recipe is from the current Fine Cooking, issue 82 in which the editors pick a great cookie from each of the 12 years they've been publishing. The original recipe harkens back to 2001, issue 43. I have that issue; I have all the issues except 4 of them. And I have always wanted to try this recipe from the article, The Only Peanut Butter Cookie You'll Ever Want. Well, after being reminded of them once again, I knew it was time.

These delicate crunchy peanut butter cookies have a luscious peanut butter creme sandwiched in between. It all tastes pretty yummy together but we thought they were a bit large. I would certainly make them smaller next time. As they are, they are a one cookie kind of a cookie which would make them a good bake sale treat.

Breaking out of the mold

These chocolate chips cookies are not made from the Toll House recipe. I don't think I've ever made choc. chip cookies and NOT used the Toll House recipe before. But I found this recipe in FC #56. It is for specifically Thin and Crisp Cookies - my family's favorite kind. All the ingredients are the same as the Toll House recipe, just tweaked a little in proportion. There is more butter in these. They are great and I will make them from now on.

Peanut Butter Cookies

These are from Fine Cooking, issue 68, last year's baking issue. They are your typical peanut butter cookies, fork tines and all. Sam and Steve really liked them, more than my usual recipe. So, I guess I'll adopt this one permanently.

I used a Tablespoon measure to put them on the cookie sheet. This is a great technique because you get cookies uniform in size and shape.