So we are off to a Hawaiian themed BBQ tomorrow and I am to make one of the desserts. The hostess is making a dessert that I taught her and it has pineapple. So that left me with nuts(macademia) and coconut right? Wrong. The hostess does not like either. She is rather picky and since the leftovers will most likely stay with her, I need to be accomidating. I also needed to make something with ingredients I already have since our budget is a tad tight right now
So I was looking through the Great Canadian Cookies, Bars and Squares book and ran across Famous Caramel Squares….which are not in the least Hawaiian but the hostess doesn’t give me much to work with. I couldn’t get a good photo of these for some reason, but I tried again today while they were in the fridge(to make it easier to transport) and one turned out. They are much more gooey than they look here. When they thaw out they get a little runny.

Famous Caramel Squares

Bottom Layer:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter(unsalted)

Middle Layer:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter(unsalted)
1/4 cup corn syrup(they didn’t indicate so I used light)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

Top Layer:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Bottom Layer:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine all of the ingredients until crumbly. Press firmly into a greased pan 9X13 inches. Bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Middle Layer:
Place all of the ingredients except the vanilla in a heavy saucepan. Heat slowly until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to a boil and boil for 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and beat well. The mixture should be brown and caramel like. Spread over the baked bottom layer and let cool.

Top Layer:
Melt the chocolate and spread it over the cooled middle layer.

Well I have been craving something both salty and sweet as of late. There has been much talk(with good reason) on two of my favorite blogs,the Canadian Baker and Cream Puffs in Venice, about a cookbook that I own called The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle. It is a great cookbook for cookies. Not just your average run of the mill cookies either. So if you don’t own it, you should.
I came across a recipe for Crunchy Peanut Bars which were descibed to be like Payday bars….I thought perfect…salty and sweet, the best of both worlds. So even though my husband thought me crazy to be baking again(since I did yesterday) off to the store I went to by peanuts. While I was making this I was a little concerned that the topping was going to be too sweet but luckily for me the flavors married together quite nicely.


Chunchy Peanut Bars

brown sugar crust:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup(1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

peanut topping
2 tablespoons(1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1 2/3 cups(10 ounces) peanut butter chips
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups(12 ouncces) salted peanuts

make the crust:
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt, set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachement or beaters, beat the butter with the brown sugar at medium speed until combined, about 1 minute. At low speed, add the flour mixture and mix just until crumbly, 10 to 15 seconds.
4. Pat the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Prick the dough well with a fork. Bake the crust for 15 to 18 minutes, untl golden brown around the edges. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool whie you prepare the topping. Leave the oven on.

make the topping:
5. In a large saucepan, combine the butter, corn syrup, and peanut butter chips and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the chips are melted and the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Pour the topping over the crust, using a spatula to spread it to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the peanuts evenly over the topping, and press them lightly into the topping. Bake the bars for 12-15 minutes, until the topping is bubbly. Cool the bars completely in the pan on a wire rack.
7. Run a small sharp knife around the edges of the pan to release the bars. Carfully invert the bars onto a baking sheet then reinvert it onto a cutting board. Using a sharp kinfe, cut into 36 bars.
Source: The Good Cookie 2002

So from time to time when I score keep hockey I bring treats for the refs. I know quite a few of them and they usually let me know ahead of time that they will be working with me in hopes of receiving treats. So tonight I work with one of my more favorite refs and decided that since he liked caramel, I would make caramel brownies. What an ordeal that turned out to be. Now I had made several versions of caramel brownies through out my life but came across these ones on the Canadian Baker and choose to modify them a bit. Neither my husband or the ref really like nuts so I took those out of the original recipe.
Anyway, back to why they were a cleaning disaster. The store did not have regular Kraft square caramels and I had to buy a different kind. I think there in lied the problem. For when I microwaved them with the evaporated milk it immediately boiled up and exploded everywhere. Luckily there was enough caramel salvaged for the brownies but it was a huge pain in the butt to clean up. I’m sure I will still find some caramel hiding out later on. So my point being is to watch your caramel in the microwave carefully if you are not using the Kraft caramels.

This is the original recipe that was on the Canadian Baker:

Caramel-Layered Brownies

4 squares unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup butter or margerine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts, divided
1 pkg caramels (14 oz)
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave for 2 minutes or melt over a double boiler on the stove.

Stir sugar into chocolate mixture. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour. Remove one cup of batter; set aside. Spread remaining batter in greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Sprinkle with chips and 1 cup nuts.

Microwave caramels and evaporated milk in medium bowl on high for 4 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. (Length will depend on the power of your microwave) Stir until caramels are completely melted ans smooth. Spoon over chips and nuts, spreading to edges of pan. Gently spread reserved batter over caramel layer. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup nuts. *

Bake for 40 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted into centre comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool in pan on rack. Cut into squares. Makes about 2 dozen brownies.

Source: Treasury of Desserts, 1993

* Since I did not use nuts I sprinkled chocolate chips on top of the batter.

So my friend Elizabeth and I both realized that we were doing nothing for the weekend. They are recent home owners and were excited to show off thier new home. So we decided to get together, a little last minute. So since I was taught never to go empty handed I had to take a look and see what I had in the cupboard. I remember reading on one of my favorite blogs, the Canadian Baker, about some oatmeal chocolate peanut butter bars. It came from a cookbook I already own so out I went searching for it. They are called Barbs Peanut Butter Squares, but I called them oatmeal peanut butter chocolate things.

Barb’s Peanut Butter Squares

Oatmeal cookie mixture:
1 cup margerine or butter, softened
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (optional)

Peanut butter layer:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

Chocolate layer:
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (can substitute carob chips)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Oatmeal cookie mixture: Beat the margerine or butter with sugars until creamy. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and beat well. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until blended (no need to overmix).Crumble half of the cookie mixture into a greased glass 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Lightly press the mixture to spread it evenly, then pat down.

Peanut butter layer: Mix together all of the ingredients for the peanut butter layer until well blended. Drop all of this mixture by spoonfuls on top of the cookie layer, spreading it evenly. This is a very sticky process! Lightly press the peanut butter mixture into place by hand – you will need to wet your hands to keep the mixture from sticking to you, but a little water won’t hurt the bar!

Chocolate layer: Spread the chocolate chips evenly over the peanut butter layer.

Finish by crumbling the remaining half of the cookie mixture over the chocolate layer, gently pressing it into place. You will probably need to wet your hands for this layer too!

Bake at 350 F for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, depending on your oven and the level of chewiness you prefer. Cool, then cut into squares. Lift them out of the pan with a metal spatula.Makes 18 to 24 squares.
Source: Great Canadian Cookies, Bars & Squares, 2002