April 13: Creme Brulee Bars

Creme Brulee Bars

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 (17.5 oz) pouch sugar cookie mix, such as Betty Crocker
1 (4-serving size) box French vanilla instant pudding mix
2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
8 tablespoons (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup toffee bits

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9x13 inch metal pan with nonstick foil or spray it with flour-added baking spray.
2. Make the crust: In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cookie mix, pudding mix, sugar, and butter to form a soft dough. Press the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Make the filling: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, and sugar on medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with the toffee bits. Let cool for 30 minutes to an hour in the pan, then chill for about 3 hours, or until very cold.

Crust ingredients

Filling ingredients

Addition of eggs

Addition of yolks and extract

Raw cheesecake layer

Thoughts: I think I say this every time I make bars, but I love them. The recipes are so straightforward and easy. For the most part, you don't have to worry about burning each batch and making each cookie equal. They tasted more like cheesecake than creme brulee.

March 30: Espresso Toffee Bars

Espresso Toffee Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups (9 oz) all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (4 oz) toffee bits
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, or 10-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted and chopped, or 2/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 10x15 inch metal pan with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
2. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with a wooden spoon, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and espresso powder. Cut the butter into chunks and add it to the flour mixture along with the egg yolk and vanilla. If using a stand mixer, mix on low speed until soft and crumbly. If using a wooden spoon, beat until the mixture comes together, and then use your hands to finish mixing until moist and crumbly. Alternatively, you may mix all dry ingredients in the food processor, add the butter, egg and vanilla, and then pulse until moist and crumbly. Stir in the toffee bits. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, using 50% power, stirring at 1 minute intervals until smooth, or in the top of a double boiler. Spread the melted chocolate over the bars. Sprinkle the top with almonds. Set the pan on a rack and let it cool in the pan for about a hour. Chill for about 30 minutes or until chocolate is set. To serve, lift from the pan and set on a cutting board. If cold, bring to room temperature. Using a chef's knife, cut into 36 bars.

 

 

Thoughts: Sorry about the delay...I made these the day before we left on a trip (more about that in a later post) and I loaded the pictures on the website but decided to write the thoughts section the next night. However, I brought the iPad instead of the laptop. The iPad wouldn't allow me to scroll down to complete this post in a timely manner. So here it is almost a week later...

 

Once again, this is another recipe that required the use of a jelly roll pan and I was once again worried about the chocolate topping overflowing. However, it turned out fine and everything meant smoothly. This recipe doesn't really appeal to me because I don't really like toffee. I had a taste of some of the toffee chips and they were not so good. I had a minor butter issue because I left it out to get to room temperature and when I went to go use it, I thought it was a little cold still. So I put it in the microwave for 11 seconds...bad idea. I guess it was ready before it melted all over the bottom of the microwave. Other than that, this was a very straightforward recipe. Patrick was extremely leery of trying this recipe because he doesn't like toffee or espresso-coffee like flavors, but he ended up trying a bite and it "wasn't horrible". As for me, the recipe was ok...it was a nice buttery shortbread cookie.