magic bars.

 

Wow. I honestly don't know where my head is these days. I have been attempting to bake over the last few weeks in an effort to give some homemade treats to some special people in my life. I know...it's very Italian of me :). Right now, those special people include our two doormen here at Chateauneuf...Tony and Larry. While I previously thought there job was semi-ridiculous, I have really come to appreciate these two over the past year living in our apartment. Besides their obvious role of keeping us all safe from random stragglers, they sign for me when a package comes and I'm not home, they seem to have a sixth sense and grab the door when I'm balancing 8 bags of groceries, and as of late, Larry's been hooking me up with a free copy of the National Post.

But about my head. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I like to cook...not always bake. With cooking, if I've forgotten an ingredient or two...no big deal, I'll substitute. With baking, substituting doesn't fly. It's so meticulous, and one slip up and all of a sudden you've got pancakes instead of Yorkshire Pudding. I know...not really baking, but case in point. 

So my first slip up was buying baking soda instead of corn starch when attempting to make shortbread cookies. I guess it serves me right for trying to cheap out and buy no name brand...all the boxes look the same! On my next trip to the grocery store, I decided while I was there that I wanted to make Magic Bars. Apparently I didn't know the recipe too well, because I got home and realized I needed graham crumbs. Failed attempt number one. A few days later I picked up my graham crumbs, so ready, set, go. Or so I thought until I realized that evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk are not the same thing. Failed attempt number two. This time I was halfway through the recipe, so there was no turning back. The friendly Korean lady at our local "dépanneur" and I are quickly becoming close friends. While grabbing the condensed milk, I saw some packages of chopped nuts, an ingredient I had also forgot, but previously come to terms with. I arrived home with my walnuts and milk in hand...finally ready to conquer this recipe. I bring up the recipe on my laptop and...shit...it calls for pecans and not walnuts...walnuts it is!

Magic Bars

- (3/4) cup of butter, melted

- (2 1/4) cups of graham crumbs

- (1) 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk

- (1 1/2) cups of semisweet chocolate chips

- (1 1/2) cups of sweetened coconut

- (1) cup of chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 13x9 inch glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or butter. Combine graham crumbs and butter and press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut, and nuts.

 Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over the entire mixture.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely and cut into bars or diamonds. I found the bottom layer to be a tad crumbly (although I'll admit I couldn't wait until they were completely cooled), but after putting the tray in the fridge for a while, they cut up perfectly. Store covered at room temperature or in the fridge and feel free to freeze. 

 

chocolate chip cookies.

In my opinion, every food blog needs to have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's a staple. And unfortunately (for my waist line) it's become a staple in our house as well. Once you've caught on to a great cookie recipe, it's really hard to go back to Mr. Christie, however good his cookies may be.

As with most of my recipes, this chocolate chip cookie recipe is an adaptation of several different recipes. Practice really does make perfect! These cookies are amazing right out of the oven (well to be fair, I'd wait a couple minutes...I don't need a Tim Horton's style law suit on my hands) and just as good a few days later. They have the perfect ratio of crunchy to flakey to chewy to gooey to all-around goodness. 

I tend to take my cookies out of the oven BEFORE they develop a good tan...while they're still slightly on the pale side. If you remove them from the oven at this point, but let them sit on the baking tray, they'll continue to cook throughout without getting too crispy on their tops and bottoms. These rules can apply to your summer sun-tanning as well :)

The nuts in this recipe are completely optional, so your cookies will taste great either way. Because the dough in this recipe is so versatile, feel free to experiment with other "add-ins" such as rolled oats, raisins, M&M's or butterscotch chips...remembering to keep the measurements the same.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

- (1) cup of butter or margarine
- (1) cup of white sugar
- (1/2) cup of packed brown sugar
- (2) eggs
- (1) tbsp. vanilla
- (2 3/4) cups all-purpose flour
- (1) tsp. baking soda
- (1/2) tsp. salt
- (2) cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- (1) cup of finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, beat together the butter and the two sugars until smooth. 

Beat in both the eggs and the vanilla. Set aside. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips, the nuts, or whatever "add-ins" you've decided to use.

Drop by the tablespoonful onto a baking sheet, approximately 2 inches apart. I normally line my baking sheet with aluminum foil, but it can also be lined with parchment paper or dropped directly onto a greased sheet. Another tip when forming the cookies is to "form" them as little as possible. Rolled dough balls and pressed dough often create very plain, uniform cookies. If you simply drop a rounded mound of dough onto your baking sheet, you will end up with cookies with great character!

 

Pop the cookies in the oven for approximately 10-12 minutes (it varies with each individual oven). Remember that if you remove the cookies before they get too brown, you will end up with a softer, chewier cookie. Remove from the oven and allow to cool right on the baking sheet. Remember...Caution...Hot!