Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Magic Cookie Bars. These eagle brand magic cookie bars are nothing new. I've been baking them for my family for years and years. I am sure you have as well. They are delicious!
I think I got the original recipe from a magazine advert back in the 1980's for Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk.
My children always loved them, and no small wonder. They are sweet, sweet, sweet!
If you are a diabetic look away now!
These are so easy to make and always a hit. They are a classic dessert which everyone loves. I believe they are also called Hello Dolly Bars.
The original recipe makes 16 large bars. I have downsized it to make only 8, and actually you could probably cut them in half and make 16 small bites if you wanted to. (Which is probably a lot healthier sugar wise!)
I have also seen them called Seven Layer Bars because they are composed of layers of different things.
You begin with a layer of graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. We don't get graham crackers here, but digestive biscuits make a great substitute.
I weighed them out and 6 regular sized Digestive biscuits are the equivalent of 3/4 cup of crumbs, weighing 90g.
I don't know how I would get along without my digital scales.
I used pecan nuts next. I like to toast my nuts before using them in anything. They just taste nuttier if you do that small thing.
A few minutes in a hot oven on a baking sheet does the trick. They will be done when they are smelling nice and nutty.
On goes a layer of them, and then you layer on a combination of baking chips.
I used semi-sweet, white chocolate (which really isn't chocolate at all) and peanut butter chips, which is all I had.
But you can use butterscotch chips and milk chocolate chips along with the semi sweet chips. Or just the milk, white and semi sweet chips.
I don't think it really matters. Sweet is sweet.
And if you thought they were not sweet enough, now you get to pour some sweetened condensed milk over top.
Make sure you use the sweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk. There is a HUGE difference.
The major difference that sets these two canned milk products apart is sugar content; sweetened condensed milk, as the name implies, is always sweetened, while evaporated milk is unsweetened.
Sweetened condensed milk is also appreciably thicker and comes in a much smaller can!
Finally you sprinkle some sweetened flaked coconut over everything.
I suppose you could use dessicated coconut, which is all you can get here in the normal shops.
I always buy my chocolate chips and coconut from an online American ingredient supply shop called Skyco.
I have been buying things like this and a few other things from them for about 12 or 13 years now.
Yes, they cost a bit, but for the odd bake I think it is worth it. Especially special bakes like this one.
Its not like we eat things like this every day or even every week! Sometimes it wouldn't even be every month. I find as we get older we don't eat stuff like this as much.
And to be honest I mostly give it to my next-door neighbor. She has a lad and he enjoys it.
Which is not to say I don't, but as a diabetic these would put me into a coma. LOL
In any case if you are looking for a small batch recipe for something sweet, to either enjoy at home or gift to someone, you can't go wrong with these.
Incredibly lush. Moreishy delish. Much beloved. Oh, and incredibly easy to make, bake and eat! Perfect for pot lucks, families and so much more. I have never had anyone turn one of these down!
Magic Cookie Bars, Small Batch
Yield: Makes approximately 8 bars
An old family favourite downsized for the smaller family.
Ingredients:
- 60g butter, melted (1/4 cup)
- 90g digestive biscuit crumbs or graham cracker crumbs (3/4 cup)
- 65g chopped toasted pecans (1/2 cup)
- 90g semi-sweet chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
- 90g white chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
- 90g butterscotch or peanut butter chips (1/2 cup)
- 60g sweetened shredded coconut (3/4 cup)
- 200g sweetened condensed milk (7 ounces)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a 7 by 11 inch baking dish with aluminium foil and spray the foil with canola cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mix together the crumbs and melted butter. Press them into the bottom of the dish in an even layer.
- Sprinkle with the toasted pecans, and then the various chips, spreading them out evenly.
- Spoon the sweetened condensed milk evenly over top of everything.
- Finally sprinkle the coconut over top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or unil he op is a light golden brown.
- Let cool completely before cutting into bars. (I put mine in the refrigerator for about an hour before I cut them, lift them out by the tinfoil and then cut.)
Yes, I had a bite and I will be sadly paying for it for the remainder of the day. Todd has enjoyed one and I sent the rest next door. They are just too irresistible for words!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
Oh my goodness everyone. Are you a fan of Bran Muffins? I am. I adore Bran Muffins. I think of all my favourite muffins in the world, Bran top the list! You can't beat a bran muffin for breakfast, at least that is what I thought until now . . . .
Are you ready for a healthy bran loaf recipe? I sure hope so!
Meet Bran & Fruit Breakfast Bread. Bran Muffin's unsophisticated cousin.
When it comes to beauty, she is nothing spectacular to look at . . .
She looks rather plain and dumpy, maybe even a bit lumpy . . .
Bran can be that way. Plain, dumpy and lumpy. Some of the best things in life are plain. Dumpy and lumpy. Kind of like the best people.
She weigh's a ton . . . seriously . . . a ton. (Kind of like me.) Its like holding a brick in your hand. You could build a house with a bazillion of these.
Then you would live in a Bran & Fruit Breakfast Bread house as opposed I guess to a Gingerbread House.
Dense and heavy, and stogged full of dried fruit . . . chopped dried apricots and raisins.
You can switch these out to your favourite dried fruits if you wish. I think Apricot and Prune would be delightful!
Plain and sliced, nothing remarkable.
But . . . pop those slices into a toaster and toast them until the edges are all crispy and golden brown . . .
Cut thin slices of ice cold butter from the refrigerator and lay them across the top of those crisp and golden slices . . .
And then just wait and watch as they melt slowly . . . slowly . . . your tastebuds start to tingle. No kidding . . .
and WOWZA shebang! This Bran & Fruit Breakfast Bread is A-Maze-Ing!
Totally and utterly. AMAZING!!
Containing very little sugar and NO FAT NO EGGS . . .
Filled with plenty of fibre with the bran and the whole wheat flour . . .
Not to mention that dried fruit . . . you won't feel guilty at all slathering hot slices of this with butter . . . because this loaf is fat free, totally . . .
And they're only thin slices of cold butter after all . . . mere slivers . . .
This is truly love at first bite. Truly . . .
Bran & Fruit Breakfast Bread
Yield: 6 - 8
prep time: cook time: total time:
This is a simple, fat free loaf which is stogged full of dried fruit. If you are not fond of apricots and raisins, use another kind of fruit. It's absolutely delicious sliced, toasted and then spread with butter for eating!
Ingredients:
- 150g dried apricots, chopped (3/4 cup)
- 160g raisins (1 cup)
- 70g processed bran cereal (1 cup, I used All Bran)
- 95g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
- 375ml warm milk (1 1/2 cups)
- 140g self raising flour (1 cup)
- 70 g whole wheat self raising flour (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp mixed spice (see note below)
Instructions:
- Measure the dried fruits, bran cereal and brown sugar into a bowl. Add the warm milk and stir. Leave to set for half an hour. Most of the liquid will have been absorbed.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a medium deep loaf tin and line with paper. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flours and mixed spice to aerate somewhat. Stir into the wet mixture to combine. You will have a wet, stiff mixture. Spread into the prepared pan, leveling off the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. If you think it is browning too quickly, cover lightly with some foil.
- Leave iin the tin for 10 minutes to cool, then tip out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Cut into thick slices to serve with a nice hot cuppa. It's ever so lovely toasted and buttered.
- Store in an airtight container.
notes:
Make Your Own Mixed Spice:
You can easily make your own mixed spice: Combine 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 1 tsp each of ground coriander and nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, 1/4 tsp each of ground cloves and all spice. Mix well and store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.
You can easily make your own mixed spice: Combine 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 1 tsp each of ground coriander and nutmeg, 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, 1/4 tsp each of ground cloves and all spice. Mix well and store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months.
To make your own self raising flour, both white and whole wheat, measure it out cup by cup and add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder per cup full and 1/4 tsp of salt. It is that easy. Trust me.
This breakfast bread also keeps really well. I have never frozen it. I have never needed to. I really hope you will give it a go! Recipe adapted from one found in a little chunky book, Sweet Food, by Murdoch Books.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for
visiting. Do come again!
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