Maple Chocolate Walnut Bars

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We spent most of Sunday at a Mushroom Festival held at the arboretum in our area. This is a yearly event and I really look forward to it. Many of the Master Gardeners volunteer for the event. I'm not among them because I want the day to peruse and learn and touch base with folks I haven't seen since the last show. If you're into mushrooms there are some prestigious elbows to be rubbed here and that's hard to do when you are manning an exhibit. My guilty conscience is assuaged by donating baked goods for the cold wet volunteers who do what I should be doing. This Sunday I made several pans of these wonderful bar cookies. They are embarrassingly easy to make and I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't like them. I'd love to tell you it's a gourmet creation. It's not. The recipe comes the Eagle Brand test kitchen. I don't know if my experience is unique, but I have extremely good luck with recipes from these kitchens and I never hesitate to try the ones they feature. Today's recipe requires no special equipment and it's very easy to do. The bars are wonderfully flavorful and they are crowd pleasers. Nuff' said. Here's the recipe.

Maple Chocolate Walnut Bars...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Eagle Brand Test Kitchen

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold butter
2 large eggs
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1-1/2 teaspoons maple flavoring
2 cups chopped walnuts
1 cup (6 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1) Heat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, sugar and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1 egg. Press evenly into an ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
2) Bake 25 minutes. Beat sweetened condensed milk, remaining 1 egg and maple flavoring in medium bowl. Stir in walnuts. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over partially baked crust. Top with walnut mixture, spreading evenly to edges.
3) Bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Cool. Cut into bars. Yield: 36 bars.

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Crumb Bars

This recipe has been floating in the ether for years. I first saw these bars on the wonderful blog Nook and Cranny and determined I would make them as soon as possible. That was several months ago. Timely I'm not. Determined I am. I've made a single change to the base recipe which I'm told first appeared on All Recipes. You'll see that I've substituted some brown sugar for a portion of the white in an effort to make the bars more flavorful. I think it worked. If you use frozen berries do not thaw before using. Here's the recipe.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided use
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cold butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups blueberries
4 teaspoons cornstarch
Optional: Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9 x 13 baking pan.
2) In a medium bowl whisk together 3 cups of flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut in butter until mixture is in pieces no larger than a pea. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Dough will be crumbly but stick together when squeezed. Pat half of the dough into the pan.
3) In another bowl, mix reserved 1/4 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Add blueberries and gently toss them to coat. Pour blueberry mixture on top of the dough in pan. Then crumble remainder of dough evenly over surface of berries.
4) Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned. Cool completely, then cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar if using. Can be refrigerated for several days. Yield: 15 bars.

Toasted Cashew and Caramel Squares

At the risk of sounding bonkers, I must admit that I test recipes for holiday desserts at this time of year. I collect them at Thanksgiving and Christmas time - like an almost sane person - but my dervish life leaves no time for holiday experimentation. It's now or never. I've been playing with a recipe from one of the Fine Cooking Annuals. They called this cookie a Mexican-Style Pecan-Chocolate Square. I've made a few changes to a wonderful base recipe. Bob's not crazy about pecans, so they've been replaced with salted cashews. Salted peanuts would also be wonderful with the caramel topping. These are easy to prepare and quite tasty. A definite maybe for next Christmas. Here's my adapted version.

Toasted Cashew and Caramel Squares

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups cold unsalted butter, divided use
2 cups unbleached flour
1-1/2 cups packed golden brown sugar, divided use
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon table salt, divided use
3 ounces butterscotch chips
3 cups toasted, salted cashews, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly mist a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2) Place 3/4 cup butter, flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor; pulse to combine. Press crumbs into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake until lightly brown and firm, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Spread butterscotch chips over top; spread with a spatula as chips soften. Set aside.
3) Melt reserved 1/2 cup butter in a heavy bottomed pan set over medium-high heat. Stir in reserved 1 cup brown sugar, honey, cream and reserved 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and simmer for 1 minute. Stir in cashews. Pour mixture over cookie base, spreading evenly. Bake until most of the filling is bubbling, about 18 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into 16 squares. Store, tightly covered, for up to 5 days. These do not freeze well. Yield: 16 squares.