Tag: squares

Thurman Merman would approve

Growing up in San Diego, my mom would buy these fruit bars from a local establishment called Dudley’s Bakery.  Chewy, dense and studded with raisins, these bars were the perfect pre-swim workout snacks.  Over the years I’ve made several failed attempts at cracking the recipe code for these not-quite-cookie bars.  I could never get the texture quite right.  They were either too dry and crumbly or too chewy–like over-developed gluten.

To be honest, after my last swing-and-a-miss I’d purposefully put the damn things out of my mind.

Until a couple of weeks ago when I ran across a picture on Pintrest that looked like a “close-enough” match to merit the purchase of a bag of raisins.

Thanks to a blog called The Lemon Bowl.

Contrary to what people seem to think, I don’t generally eat a whole lot of what I bake.  For me, baking is about making, not eating.  It’s a hobby, like quilting or glassblowing or that weird thing they call cosplay that I don’t really understand.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit, these bars were the exception.  They’re really good.  Wholesome, satisfying, and for me, nostalgic, the magic in these bars is enough to help me not only overcome my distaste for raisins in baked goods, but

They are properly called hermit bars.  But, in my head, they’re Thurman Merman bars. Should I fix some sandwiches?

Hermit Bars

adapted from The Lemon Bowl

Ingredients

  • 4 C all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • 2 C packed golden brown sugar
  • 1 C butter (16 TBS) unsalted butter at room temp
  • 2/3 C dark molasses
  • 2 large eggs at room temp
  • 2 C raisins or other dried fruit

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a jelly pan with parchment (standard half-sheet, 12X17) with parchment.  If you want to use a 9X13 pan, you’ll just have significantly thicker bars.  Grease and then flour the parchment and sides.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, all of the spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.
  3. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, cream butter for 2 minutes.
  4. Add-in brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, 3 more minutes.
  5. Mix in eggs one-at-a-time.
  6. Reduce speed and drizzle-in molasses.  Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
  7. With mixer on lowest speed, slowly incorporate dry ingredients.  Mix until just combined.
  8. Pull bowl from paddle and mix in raisins/dried fruit by hand.
  9. Using an offset  spatula (or floured fingers if you are brave), dump dough into prepared pan and carefully distribute until you have an even layer.
  10. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes up clean.
  11. Allow to cool completely before cutting.
  12. These will store well for up to a week in an airtight container.

Brown Butter Blondies…no, that’s NOT code

Why yes, it is Wednesday.  As you read this, TD and I are on a teeny tiny plane headed to Montana.  If his predictions are correct, at some point we will get snowed-in.  To hear TD explain it,  this will trigger the zombie apocalypse whereupon only the strongest (or least best tasting) will survive to see spring.  Yeah, I don’t really understand either.  But, just in case, here is this week’s post.

Depsite my agonizingly detailed planning, about 2/3 of the way through my holiday baking, it became clear to me that I was going to need a bigger boat.  And by bigger boat, I mean more baked goods.  As my caramel crunch square supply quickly dwindled, I sprang into action with a recipe I’ve been playing with for a couple of months: the brown butter blondie.

Here is the flavor profile: brown butter, roasted walnuts, white chocolate.  The BBBs also have the added benefit of a neat cut.  You know what I mean, no sloppy edges or oozing middle (not that, provided the appropriate context, sloppy edges and oozing middles are a bad thing).  This is a slightly fancy bar that comes together relatively quickly and is made from ingredients that are generally on-hand.  Plus and plus.  In fact, these went together so easily that I knocked out two batches in the early morning hours before work.

 

I am officially signing-off until the 28th.  That’s assuming I’m not lobotomized by a brains seeking Santa Claus along the way.  Which would be sad because I’m all set to pontificate on the 2013 Pantone color of the year and what it has to do with a cognitive condition I never knew I had until TD scientifically proved I am statistically weird.

Brown Butter Blondies

Ingredients

  • 1/2 LB (16 TBS) unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 C golden or light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
  • 10 ounces chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
  • 1 C roasted walnut pieces

Directions

  1. To brown butter: in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, add butter.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the butter takes on a deep golden color.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp.  This step can be done in advance.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9X13 inch baking pan with parchment and butter the parchment and sides.
  3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder.  Set aside.
  4. In a standing mixer, add sugar to brown butter and cream until smooth, roughly 2-3 minutes.  You will not get the same consistency as you would with regular butter straight from the stick.  Don’t worry about it.
  5. With the mixer running on medium, add eggs one at a time allowing them to be completely incorporated after each add. Let the mixer run for another minute and add vanilla until mixed- in.
  6. Add-in flour mixture.  With the mixer on its lowest setting, run until the flour is just incorporated.  Watch carefully, this will happen quickly.
  7. By hand, fold-in chocolate and walnuts.
  8. Gently press the dough into the prepared pan.
  9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top is pale gold and the edges are just starting to turn a deeper gold.
  10. Allow to cool completely before cutting.