Through the years, I've baked my fair share of brownies (pecan or cheesecake anyone?) and blondies (rocky ledge! muffin trompe l'oeil! butterscotch!) and lemon bars. Bar cookies are the low maintenance, streamlined cousin of cookies...assuming you're not keen on cutting them to exact same size with crisp 90-agree angle corners. They are so easy for spur-of-the-moment baking. I'm pretty confident that I attempted most of the classics at one point or another so when I see one that I have not tried yet, my curiosity is piqued.
I mentioned earlier that I'm baking my way through the Baked: New Frontiers in Baking cookbook. The Baked Bar caught my attention early on because it is Baked's version of the bake sale classic known by many names. You probably ran into it before as Hello Dolly, Seven Layers, or Magic Bar? Yeah, that one. The one so decadent and so loaded with goodies that your dentist would frown at the mere mention of its name. Stripped down to the basics, this bar cookie is simply layering butter, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, nuts, and chocolate in a pan, drizzled with condensed milk, and bake to the point of caramelization. The premise opens up much room for improvisation and creativity. Unlike baking a proper cake or a batch of cookies, there's no fine balance of chemical reaction at play here. Just a bunch of delicious ingredients bind together by caramelized condensed milk.
I like the approach of the Baked recipe. It blindbakes the crumb coconut crust to give the bar some structure. Also, the shredded coconut and nuts are toasted separately to release their full flavour before incorporating into the bar. The key lies in attention to details. I adapted the recipe to ingredients I have at home and I encourage you do the same too. The success of this recipe lies in your choice of ingredients. Personally, I think the dark chocolate is the most important player. This bar is a sweet treat, no question about it. Using dark chocolate with cocoa content between 60-75% would give it some character and temper the sweetness.
I didn't expect to like this bar as my taste leans toward more restraint. However, just like the recipe promises, it is a great balance of chewy and gooey. Long baking time in the oven renders the condensed milk into shades of deep golden brown, redolence of butterscotch or toffee. Enjoy this totally over-the-top treat for what it is...a rich almost-candy-like bar cookie. Diet food, it is not.
Baked Bar
adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
makes 24 squares with trimmings to spare for the hardworking cook
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/3 cup pecan halves
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 1 1/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
- 9oz chopped dark chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2.5oz chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
- 2oz chopped milk chocolate or milk chocolate chips
- 4.5oz peanut butter chips
- 3 1/4 cup (approx 2.5 cans) sweetened condensed milk
Method
- Preheat oven to 300F. Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Spread shredded coconut on prepared baking pan. Baking for 7-10 minutes, stir, and bake for another 3 minutes until golden. Put toasted coconut into a large mixing bowl.
- Spread pecan halves on the same baking pan and toast for 7-9 minutes until fragrant. Chop into coarse pieces and set aside to cool.
- Toss toasted coconut with graham cracker crumbs and chocolate cookie crumbs. Work in the melted butter until moisten. Empty into the same baking pan and press with fingers or bottom of measuring cup until you have a flat compact layer.
- Bake crumb crust for 15 minutes until slightly hardened. Set aside on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Increase oven temperature to 325F.
- Now comes the fun part! Spread the ingredients evenly over the crust in the following order: pecans, dark chocolate, white chocolate, milk chocolate, peanut butter chips. Drizzle evenly with condensed milk.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning the pan every 10 minutes to ensure even browning. Remove from oven when it's bubbling and golden, perhaps even a little brown around the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack.
With the help of the parchment paper, lift the bar from the pan to a cutting board. I like to trim the edges before cutting into 24 squares. Keep the bars in airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. As for the trimmings, I like to cut them into bite-size pieces and eat them chilled. Taste like toffee!
