"BarCookies" news and stories

Last night, some friends came over to help us recover the used dining room chairs I found at a thrift store in Chestertown, MD last summer. In return for their labor (and since they are far craftier and handier than either Scott or I, they did the vast majority of the work) I made dinner and dessert. Dinner was a big pot of Beef and Barley Stew (which was delicious but dreadfully unphotogenic) and for sweet treat, I whipped up one of the easiest bar cookies I know.

From Fun With Cooking, I've been making this recipe for Butterscotch Squares since I was nine years old. There are many wonderful things about this bar cookie, including the fact that I almost always have every ingredient on hand. Also it mixes up in a single saucepan (you don't even need to rig up a double boiler like you do for brownies) and the texture can either be crispy or tender, depending on length of baking time. They go great with ice cream, coffee or tea and keep really well (if you happen to have any leftover).

"Nice, messy, rich, crazy gooey, and so good" is how the blogger at The Sugar Bar describes these Peanut Butter Toffee Chocolate Bars she baked and, looking at the picture, she is clearly not exaggerating. The bars are blondies, the vanilla version of a brownie, and are thick and satisfying. The thing that sets a blondie apart from, for example, a regular cookie is that they have the same chewy and slightly dense consistency of brownies. They are packed with peanut butter, chocolate chips and chewy toffee candies (caramels could be used instead to make them extra-gooey) and are a perfect pick-me-up in the afternoon, following a long day at work or school. You could serve them to friends with coffee or tea, too, but that means that you would have to share. If the picture is any indication, sharing these might prove to be difficult.

Source

I love brownies, no doubt, but I certainly wouldn't kick a blondie out of bed for leaving a mess of crumbs!

Because they are bar cookies, they require a little less effort than your standard drop chocolate chip cookie. But don't be fooled, a blondie is not merely a chocolate chip cookie batter spread into a pan.