I've got a large backlog of recipes on my to-bake list. Unfortunately, it's not very well organized -- and it's not an actual list. Instead, I have piles of recipes printed from epicurious.com and other online sources, a yellowing stack of Wednesday food sections from the Washington Post and New York Times, and countless post-it tabs marking selections in cooking magazines and cookbooks. Recipes can easily fall through the cracks.
I am a huge fan of the Los Angeles Times' Culinary SOS column, and whenever the column features a dessert recipe, it usually ends up at the top of the proverbial to-bake list. But it doesn't always work out that way. My previous post was about the Double-Chocolate Espresso Walnut Cookies from Julienne, a recipe that I didn't try until a year and a half after it appeared in Culinary SOS. And it was only after I made that recipe that I noticed I had another recipe in the pile that was also from Julienne: Graham Cracker Chewy Bars. Inexplicably, I had not tried this recipe even though it was featured in Culinary SOS over four years ago.
My delay is particularly puzzling because the bars are so easy to make. For the crust, you combine graham cracker crumbs, softened butter, sugar, and flour, and then press the mixture into the bottom of a pan. You bake the crust until golden brown, and then pour on a filling made from brown sugar, eggs, graham cracker crumbs, vanilla, baking powder, and pecans. You bake the bars, cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve.
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Noelle Carter of Culinary SOS says these bars are, "Sweet, but not overly so, each bar is like a perfect miniature pecan pie baked over a wonderfully crumbly graham cracker crust." That description is accurate. The graham cracker flavor was very nice, although it was not as pronounced as I had expected. This recipe required an entire box of graham crackers; I weighed out the crumbs after measuring them out, and I used 330g in the crust and 75g in the filling. I did think that the filling was a bit on the sweet side, but I think that was my personal bias; I usually do not like pecan pie for the precise reason that I find it to be too sweet.
I was surprised at how much the filling resembled pecan pie in both flavor and texture, even though it didn't contain any corn syrup. The top layer of the bar developed a firm crust during baking, so in a way these bars appeared to consist of three distinct layers, not just two. The dark brown top crust was bumpy and unattractive, but the dusting of powdered sugar camouflaged it nicely.
All in all, this bar presents a very interesting and delicious variety of flavors and textures. Fans of pecan pie will find it delightful. I was pleased enough with the bars that I ordered a copy of Celebrating with Julienne -- and as a result I've found a few more recipes to add to the to-bake list!
Recipe: "Graham Cracker Chewy Bars" from Celebrating with Julienne by Susan Campoy, available here from the Los Angeles Times.
I am a huge fan of the Los Angeles Times' Culinary SOS column, and whenever the column features a dessert recipe, it usually ends up at the top of the proverbial to-bake list. But it doesn't always work out that way. My previous post was about the Double-Chocolate Espresso Walnut Cookies from Julienne, a recipe that I didn't try until a year and a half after it appeared in Culinary SOS. And it was only after I made that recipe that I noticed I had another recipe in the pile that was also from Julienne: Graham Cracker Chewy Bars. Inexplicably, I had not tried this recipe even though it was featured in Culinary SOS over four years ago.
My delay is particularly puzzling because the bars are so easy to make. For the crust, you combine graham cracker crumbs, softened butter, sugar, and flour, and then press the mixture into the bottom of a pan. You bake the crust until golden brown, and then pour on a filling made from brown sugar, eggs, graham cracker crumbs, vanilla, baking powder, and pecans. You bake the bars, cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve.
.JPG)
I was surprised at how much the filling resembled pecan pie in both flavor and texture, even though it didn't contain any corn syrup. The top layer of the bar developed a firm crust during baking, so in a way these bars appeared to consist of three distinct layers, not just two. The dark brown top crust was bumpy and unattractive, but the dusting of powdered sugar camouflaged it nicely.
All in all, this bar presents a very interesting and delicious variety of flavors and textures. Fans of pecan pie will find it delightful. I was pleased enough with the bars that I ordered a copy of Celebrating with Julienne -- and as a result I've found a few more recipes to add to the to-bake list!
Recipe: "Graham Cracker Chewy Bars" from Celebrating with Julienne by Susan Campoy, available here from the Los Angeles Times.
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