My Very Favorite Dessert, Always

February 19, 2013

20130219-073243.jpg I love to cook, but I really have only taken to it with seriousness in the last 10 years. The first 15 years of being together, Mister Sive was the cook of the majority of the meals. I have learned a tremendous amount from watching him in the kitchen. He is a very intuitive cook, while I am more of a recipe guy. He is also a baker extraordinaire. The post today is for my favorite dessert of all-time, the dessert bar that he whips up from whatever we have around, or whatever strikes his fancy. This morning’s post is from TPS.

Dessert bar is a staple in the Watson Sive household. “I never say ‘No’ to a bar!” is TKW’s reply whenever I ask if he’d like this particular dessert treat.

I love what I call “anything-but-the-kitchen-sink” recipes, for which variations are limited only by imagination and what’s in the larder. Tonight’s bar version includes milk chocolate chips (a must for the Teds), shaved coconut (providing a nice crunchiness), raisins, walnuts, some chipped dark chocolate Dove bar, and slivered almonds. Dried cherries, chopped apricots, pecans, and oatmeal are other common and fond ingredients around here.

Beat well 1/2 cup of soft butter, 1/2 cup of brown and 1/2 cup of white sugar. Add one large egg and an optional teaspoon of vanilla (almond extract gives a punch if you’d like) and beat until light and a bit frothy. Add 1 cup of flour, and then your fixins, about 4-5 cups total. The ratio of batter to fillings may strike you as too little: don’t worry, the focus of these treats is the dried fruits and nuts, and while the buttery batter is yummy, its main purpose is to melt and spread and suspend the filling. When mixed, spread with your hands in two tart pans. This is a bit like playing w/ Play-Doh! When complete, the batter will be quite thin. Bake for 18 minutes at 375 and cool just a few minutes. The finished bar will be at about 1/3 inch thick, with a great mix of crispy, crunchy, and chewy. Pop the bottom from the sides of the tart pan, slice, and enjoy!

20130219-074636.jpg Thank you TPS for sharing this recipe so others can enjoy it as much as I do. I think baking is a bit like magic, as it always amazes me that the above photo of ingredients turns into the photo at the top of the post. Give this one a go. You will not be sorry. I am having a piece of bar right now with my coffee and I am in heaven.