"bar cookies" news and stories

The first two things that I wanted to test in my new Baker's Edge pan were brownies and cheesecake because they are both dishes that can be very difficult to get a correct baking time for. It seems that the center always takes much, much longer to cook than the edges do, resulting in a very uneven, unpredictable final product. In the best cases, this is annoying, while in the worst, the whole batch has to be thrown away. The Baker's Edge is designed to eliminate the problem of having an under-cooked center and over cooked edges.

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.

Brownies are a simple and sure fire dessert to serve on Valentine's Day, whether you're baking them for your Valentine or to bring to the office holiday party. There are two great things about brownies. First, the store bought mixes are often pretty decent. The Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix in particular always seems to be a hit with tasters. Secondly, it is easy to make small additions to them without worrying about changing the recipe. For example, you can stir in walnuts or chocolate chips. For an extra twist of flavor, I used raspberry-flavored chocolate chips in these brownies. The raspberry flavor might be a bit strong in a cookie, but it actually blends in quite well with the chocolate of the brownies. If I had dried raspberries, I would have stirred in a handful of them as well. I used the cakelike variation of the Hershey's Quick and Easy Brownies to make these. While the chips are not entirely evident, certainly not as much as I would have liked, in the photo above, the brownies were chocolaty, slightly chewy and delicious with the hint of raspberry.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]