As much as I like brownies, I would have to say that I always have a soft spot in my heart and a place in my kitchen for blondies. They tend to be more cookie-like and less chocolaty than brownies, but since they’re not defined by their cocoa content, there are even more ways to deviate from the standard and experiment with different flavors and ingredients in a batch of these bar cookies.

This particular batch of blondies get their flavor from maple syrup and coconut. It’s a pairing that you might not immediately come to mind when you think about either of the ingredients on their own, but they work together surprisngly well. Maple syrup is used as a sweetener for these blondies, along with some sugar, and gives the bars a rich, deep sweetness. It also helps keep the bars nice and moist. I would recommend using Grade B maple syrup, since it has a deeper and more distinct flavor than Grade A, but the lighter type will work fine, as well. The coconut supplies its own soft floral and nutty flavors to the bars, and really ensures that the bars keep a nice chew to them even if you end up storing them for a few days.

The finished blondies have a great texture, both moist and chewy, and a great flavor to them. At first, you can really taste the maple syrup, but as the blondies sit for a day or two, the coconut flavor steps up and shares the spotlight. For a simple bar cookie that takes only a few minutes to mix up, there is a lot of flavor here! I really like these plain, but they’re also good with chopped nuts or white chocolate mixed in, too.

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Is there a rule somewhere that says that brownies must be chocolate? Can something other than chocolate be the primary feature in a brownie if the resulting baked good is still brown in color, with a rich flavor and fudgy texture? I tend to think so, especially after trying these Pumpkin Brownies. These are not cakelike bars posing as brownies, but are tender, fudgy and chewy and pretty darn close to a regular brownie in texture. They have all the warm, spicy flavors of pumpkin pie, too, which makes them a great fall treat and a great alternative to pumpkin pie if you’re looking for new ways to use some up this autumn.

These are very easy to make and can be stirred up in just one bowl. One of the reasons that they are fudgy and not cake-like is that there is no leavening in this recipe (yes, it’s not a typo). If there were, the batter would rise up and aerate more, leaving a fluffier finished product. Not to worry, however: these brownies are thin and don’t taste too dense or heavy. They’re best with some nuts mixed in to give them a little bit more texture and add another layer of flavor to the finished product. I used pecans, but walnuts are a great option, too.

I also used a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter to cut these brownies out to serve them, which is a very cute look for these treats. You can also simply cut them into bars to serve. The advantage of using a cookie cutter is, of course, that you get to eat the scraps as you prepare your brownies.

And if you do feel strongly that brownies must have some chocolate in them, feel free to stir a handful of mini chocolate chips into the batter along with the chopped pecans. (more…)

The best way to eat dulce de leche might be straight out of the jar, but even that can get a bit boring after a while and it’s nice to take advantage of some of the other options you have with a big, open jar of the milky caramel. You can pair it with fruit, pour it on ice cream or swirl it into a big batch of brownies.

These dulce de leche brownies are very easy to make, given that the only variation between them and standard brownies is the swirl. That swirl, however, adds just enough extra “oomphf” to take these brownies from good to great. The brownies are fudgy and rich, without being too dense or heavy. The caramel adds a little extra moistness, a little extra fudginess to the areas touched by the swirl. The sweetness of the caramel also stands out against the chocolate background, and although I can’t say that you would definitely be able to identify dulce de leche in a blind taste test, you would definitely detect some of its caramel notes.

I like the swirl because it is an easy way to incorporate the dulce de leche into the brownie batter. Some of it sinks slightly during baking, so there is no need to do any more mixing than simply running a knife through the mixture. You could add a little bit more dulce de leche if you want to emphasize its flavor a little more (or have a big sweet tooth), but if you really want to do that I’d suggest making an ice cream sundae with dulce de leche brownies, vanilla ice cream and dulce de leche sauce, as the brownies might be a little bit too fudgy if you are overgenerous with the amount of caramel in the swirl.

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I’ve always liked the oat and fig flavor combination of Fig Newtons (or similar knock-offs), as the subtly nutty oat flavor goes very well with the rich, sticky sweetness of the fig filling. The texture of the cake-like cookies is not always ideal, however. It might just be a freshness issue, but I never liked getting a batch of fig newtons were the edges were hard or tough and took away from the otherwise soft chewiness of the cookie.

I used the same flavor combination in these Fig Jam Bars, which are a bar cookie and not individually sliced as Fig Newtons are. The tender dough reminds me of a very soft shortbread, because it has a rich buttery flavor in addition to the flavor of oats, and pretty much melts in your mouth as you chew. Oat flour is sold in many grocery stores, and is easily available at Whole Foods and other health food-type markets. All it really is is oats that are ground to have the consistency of flour. You can make it yourself by whizzing rolled or quick-cooking oats in the food processor until they are very finely ground.

I used fig jam as the fig filling, which is very convenient. I’ve seen some fig bar recipes in the past that have you rehydrating dried figs, cooking them with sugar and pureeing them before using them in the recipe, and while I’m sure it’s good, it’s a little too time consuming for me. I find fig jam at farmers markets and at most grocery/specialty stores, but you can also make your own at home with fresh figs, if you find yourself with a surplus of fruit. I used Mountain Fruit Co.’s The Fig Galaxy - Black Mission Fig Jam for my bars.

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Magic bars have been around for quite some time, and even though their name alone isn’t that descriptive, if you’ve been to some kind of school bake sale in the past few decades, you’ve probably seen or eaten them. These chewy bar cookies have a layers of chocolate, nuts and coconut, soaked in sweetened condensed milk, and all stacked on a graham cracker crust. They’re called “magic bars” because you don’t have to do much mixing - just layer everything in the pan and bake. Once the timer goes off in the oven, like magic, the bars have melded into a delicious treat.

I’ve seen the bars with slightly different components and in slightly different orders to the layers. I used the order I mentioned above: graham crust, chocolate, nuts, coconut, sweetened condensed milk. For my magic bars, I used Guittard semisweet chocolate chips, roasted and salted pecans, and unsweetened coconut. I also incorporated some oats into my crust to give it a little more depth of flavor. I think that using salted nuts really makes a big difference in the finished bars because it keeps them from being too sweet. With the salted nuts, there is just the slightest hint of a savory element in with the chocolate and coconut.

The finished bars end up being moist, chewy, crunchy and incredibly addictive. It’s a bonus that they’re so simple to make. These bars are good both at room temperature and when they’re chilled. I especially recommend chilling them if it’s hot outside, as the bars tend to get a little too soft and melty during the summer.

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“By cracky!” is one of those great, old-timey phrases that you don’t hear too much any more. Although if you have some older relatives it might come out once in a while in place of “by golly” or “by gosh” (or some similar euphemism). And, you might start hearing it around the kitchen if you add these to your repertoire because they’re By Cracky Bars! The recipe comes from the 1953 Pillsbury Bake Off booklet, and was the 2nd prize winner of the junior baker contest that year.

The bars are quite unusual in flavor and texture, but are easy to make and deliver a lovely presentation with all their stripey layers. They come in somewhere between a pound cake and a cookie in texture. Like a pound cake, they are fairly dense, but not heavy at all and quite tender when you bite into them. Like a cookie, they’re a little bit drier than a traditional cake would be, but have just enough of a crunchy texture that the whole combination works perfectly. They go very well with milk.

The batter/dough for the top and bottom layers of the bar is the same. To one portion of the batter, you stir in a small amount of melted chocolate and a generous amount of chopped walnuts. To the rest of the batter, you simply add chocolate chips. The middle layer is actually graham crackers that have been laid between the chocolate and vanilla batters. The graham adds a subtle crispiness, but is very subtle and seems to add more to the presentation than anything else.

These bars keep well and are easy to travel with. They’ll appeal to those who like cookies and those who like cake, and will definitely find fans with the chocolate-loving crowd thanks to all the chips in the top layer of batter. The bars are not nearly as tall as they appear in the photo above; the bars are probably no more than an inch high. I cut my batch into smaller squares, rather than longer bars, so that I could serve more people with it.

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