Bars

I know berries are not in season any more but if you have bags and bags of frozen blueberries in your freezer like I do then this recipe is perfect for you.  I like fruit bars because you feel like your kinda sorta eating something healthy (but you secretly know that your not).  These bars had a good soft crust, a juicy but firm center and and soft crumbly topping.  The original recipe, adapted from my 'Joy of Cooking: All About Cookies' cookbook, uses just jam for the filling but I thought it would taste great with some berries mixed in as well.  Feel free to use any berry you like but I found that frozen blueberries worked really well.

Blueberry Streusel Bars

2 Cups flour
1/4 Cup white granualted sugar
1/4 tsp salt
12 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp almond extract
1 Cup blueberry jam
2 1/2 Cups frozen blueberries (or more if desired)

For Streusel:
1 3/4 Cups flour
2/3 Cups sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 Cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 Large egg
2 Tbsp milk

1) Preheat oven to 375F and grease a 13*9in baking pan (I used an 8in square pan and cut the recipe in half but I posted the full recipe so you could make more!)
2) Sift together flour, sugar, and salt then add cold butter and cut into flour mixture using two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture forms coarse crumbs
3) Stir in milk and almond extract and knead until mixture begins to hold together but is not wet (you can add more or less milk depending on the texture of your dough)
4) Press mixture into prepared pan and place in the fridge for 15min, then bake the chilled dough for 12-15min until the center is barely firm

5) While baking make the struesel: mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
6) Cut butter into flour mixture using two knives of a pasty blender until the mixture forms coarse crumbs.
7) Stir in oats using a fork, then lightly mix in the egg and milk until mixture is just moist enough to clump together

8) When crust comes out of the oven spread jam over hot baked crust then sprinkle blueberries evenly all over, then continue with sprinkling the streusel evenly over the blueberry layer
9) Bake bars for 25-35min until blueberry mixture is bubbling and the struesel is evenly browned
10) Let bars cool in pan completely then cut and enjoy!

Who doesn't love a blondie with a little extra sweet something in the middle of your bite?  These blondies were sweet and mosit with a surprise caramel hidding inside of them.  They were best right out of the oven or re-heated in the microwave because then the caramel was warm and gooey!  I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's new 'Everyday Food' cookbook, it is on the last page in the cookbook and they are called Halloween Blondies. I decided to skip the festive candy coated chocolates and stick with caramels instead. 

I got this recipe from my mom's house, she has a stack of old magazine and newspaper cut-outs of recipes and I borrowed some to try.  I'm not positive where the source came from but I think it was inside a little Smucker's Food of Canada catalogue.  I followed the recipe exactly except that I substituted ground almonds for the whole pecans.  It still tasted really good, I think I just changed the texture of the bars slightly by adding crushed nuts rather than whole ones.  The bars were like a mix between Skor chocolate bars and a blondie; the bottom layer was soft and chewy and the top layers were crunchy toffee bites with chocolate.  I would make this recipe again especially because I love the combination of toffee and chocolate!  Here's the recipe for yo

Once again I'm sorry for the long delay on posting recipes but I just got back from a 10 day campiong trip on Vancouver Island.  But right before I left, I made a quick batch of these blondies for the trip.  They were perfect convenient sized bars that packed well and were very delicious.  We all ate them by the campfire after making some burgers and hot dogs, and they hit the sweet spot perfectly.  I called them a classic blondie because they taste exactly how a traditional blondies should taste, chewy and sweet with just a hint of vanilla flavor.  I copied the recipe from my 'The Best of Fine Cooking: Cookies' cookbook but just changed around a few things.  So here's the recipe for a yummy and chewy blondie.