Snack Spotlight: Café au Lait Bars

To craft with Jenny and Melissa is always a delight. To add café au lait bars to the evening we got together last week was my pleasure.

The texture was surprisingly light and lofty, not as dense as most cookie bars. They were best right out of the oven and still warm. Very sweet, these were also a little lighter on the coffee flavor than I'd like. I could have added more instant espresso powder, despite not really enjoying a cup of the brewed stuff on its own.

I found the recipe in The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook. This cookbook continues to be a winner, even if every idea is not my favorite. And despite not being my favorites, these cookie bars were still good.

(recipe posted here, though I skipped the chocolate chips and used walnuts on top.)

Giant Movie Night -- Bowie Bars Fwends!

GMN Week five
Film: Labrynth, starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, and a fake baby.
Snack: Bowie Bars, carrots and hummus, taro chips.
Guests: Dan, Dave Johnny, Kevin D.
Outcome: This was a great Giant Movie -- nutty and sweet and soft like the Bowie Bars, as well as silly and dated in a pleasing way. Why didn't I notice how tight Bowie's pants are when I first watched this as a child? It's awful hard to miss.


Bowie Bars
Adapted from Ruth Wakefield's Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, a recipe found in The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook

2/3 c. (5.3 oz) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. bread flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. peanut butter chips
1 c. chopped pecans

Stir together (I used my KitchenAid mixer) the melted butter and brown sugar until combined and smooth. Add vanilla and stir to combine. Set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set dry ingredients aside.

To the wet ingredients, add the eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition until incorporated. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, while stirring. Add baking chips and nuts. Stir to incorporate.

Press this dough into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.

Bake the bars roughly 30-35 minutes at 350 F, until set and golden brown. Cool before cutting into squares. The center of the bars will be set and baked through, but squishy and not dry. You can also use all-purpose flour in this recipe (as called for in the original). Bowie wouldn't use all-purpose, though. I'm pretty sure. He might also throw in some glitter, which I wouldn't recommend.

What to do when it's rainy

A Lazy Weekend: Entertainment and Eats

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2009

5:00 pm
2 episodes of The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Smoked cheddar kettle corn

7:00 pm
NPR Evening Music
Nap
Cranberry juice

8:30 pm
Episode of Intervention
Dan-made buttermilk biscuits and Anna's blueberry jam with eggy dinner

10:15 pm
Jimmy's Pink Cookies
Milk
Season 2 of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! marathon

(SATURDAY, AUGUST 29)
12:15 am
Tidying up
Season 2 of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! bonus features (what, no commentary?!)
H₂O

One down...

When R. read my post on The Sweet Hundred, she noticed a familiar item in the list of treats I've never tried.

"hey - i have had a nanaimo bar!! only thing on your list of things you haven't had that i've definitely had. i think it's big in the PNW."

In a delicious twist of fate, she then visited the Pacific Northwest and brought back some Nanaimo bars!

Despite being individually packaged, these Canadian treats (named after Nanaimo, British Columbia) remained moist, chewy, and homemade-tasting.

By the way, Internet legend has it that the mascot of the city of Nanaimo, BC is a giant Nanaimo bar named Nanaimo Barney, but the fact that I have been unable to discover a picture of said mascot makes me suspicious of that story.



This very real Nanaimo bar (pronunciation notes included for your edification), has the traditional three layers, though sometimes the top layer is solid chocolate. The nuts in the crust are walnuts and the coconut must be melted in there somewhere, but I really didn't taste it.

The Nanaimo seems to be both about texture (crumbly crust; creamy and rich pudding/custard layer) and sweetness (powdered sugar galore!), which combine tantalizingly in the no-bake bar. I approve this as a potential potluck dessert. Love!

If you come across these (I hear they're big at Starbucks), I recommend only eating one at a sitting - no more. I don't want anyone going into the sugar shack - I mean sugar shock.