A snowy Sunday yielded a favorite new recipe for a bar cookie. Perfect with a big glass of cold milk.Toffee Bars
From Virginia Hospitality (Junior League of Hampton Roads, 1975; working from the 1998 version), p. 196
1 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg yolk
2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 ounces milk chocolate (I used semisweet mini morsels)
1 cup nuts, chopped (I used pecans)
Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg yolk. Add flour gradually, stirring only to blend. Add vanilla. Spread about 1/4 inch thick in lightly buttered 10x15 jelly roll pan. [I used my hands to spread the dough as it is quick thick]. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and while still hot distribute chocolate on top. When chocolate is soft, spread smoothly over surface. Sprinkle with nuts. While still warm, cut into bars. Yields 5 dozen.
I adore Virginia Hospitality for its simplicity of instructions. It is a great reminder of the types of recipes that are passed down through generations and among friends. Hints for this recipe: Make sure the butter is room temperature. Also, I used the butter stick wrappers to grease the pan and that worked just fine. The dough gets crispy like shortbread, so definitely cut while still warm unless you want to break your wrist later on.
2 comments:
I *love* old Junior League (or in my neck of the woods growing up typically elementary school or church cookbooks).
I actually made my favorite muffin recipe this morning (unrelated to your post, but doubtless influenced by the same wintery impulse!), which happens to be from the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, ca. 1950s.
Yum! I agree with you about retro recipes. I love my Betty Crocker Cooky Book, a reprint of an early 1960s version. We might have already had this conversation last year, but bears repeating!
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