Biscoff-Brown Sugar Bars

Precious angel sent straight from heaven.

Now if this is not a precious angel sent straight from heaven, I don't know what is, people.  He likes to play sword fight and climb on fences and moo at cows and spray people with water hoses.  He's all boy, all the time, so Lolli likes to chill him out with a little bit of baking in the kitchen every now and then.  And that was our plan for yesterday until he passed out cold on the couch watching Barney the dinosaur.

Naps happen sometimes.

So I had an overcast day, a kitchen all to myself, and a little one who would be very hungry when he woke up.  I took full advantage of my pocket of time and whipped up a batch of these Biscoff-Brown Sugar Bars.  I've made them twice now, but with a slight change on the second batch, so be sure to read my notes.  My inspiration was classic lemon bars.  You know how lemon bars have a thin, crispy shell on top, then have a gooey filling with a crunchy crust?  So do these.  Only with Biscoff.  Yum.

Here are my notes:

-The first time I made them, I baked them for 30 minutes.  The top looked set and I let them cool completely before cutting.  The center was still slightly gooey and they were absolutely wonderful.  Delectable.  So much so that the only picture I got of the gooey centered ones was this:

Can you see the gooey filling?  Not a great picture, I know.  Served this way, they would be great as a dessert bar with a fork.  This was my favorite.  The top forms a thin, crispy layer, then comes a gooey filling, then crunchy from the crust.

-The second time I made them, I decreased the brown sugar in my filling by 1/2 cup, and I baked them for 40 minutes.  The result was a bar that was much firmer, but still soft, just not gooey.  These were also delicious.  They would be easy to hand hold and great for a bake sale.

Biscoff-Brown Sugar Bars

Printable Recipe

Crust:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling:

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 cup Biscoff spread

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Powdered sugar for sprinkling tops

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine crust ingredients on low to medium speed just until mixture is evenly mixed and moist.  (It will start clumping together.) Dump into an 8 x 8 inch baking pan that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Press mixture onto bottom of pan in an even layer. (Use wet fingers if mixture sticks to skin.)  Prick 6-8 times with a fork, then bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown around edges.

Meanwhile, beat the ingredients for the filling on medium speed until smooth.  When crust is done, pour mixture evenly over crust and bake for 30 minutes or until middle is just set. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting into bars.  Sprinkle each bar with powdered sugar, if desired.

*For a firmer bar, decrease light brown sugar in filling to 1 cup, then bake for 40 minutes.

South by Southwest Layered Cornbread Salad

Let me begin by saying that I am extremely disappointed with the new Facebook changes. 

I needed to get that off my chest.  Thank you for listening.

Now on to other matters.

Before soup season sets in, just one more cold salad.  This is one of my go-to potluck recipes that I've been making for probably six or seven years.  I adapted it from a Southern Living recipe (can you tell I love Southern Living yet?) and I never fail to bring home an empty bowl.  It's a real crowd pleaser, very easy to make, and what about those layers, eh?  Are they pretty or what? 

Here are my notes:

-I think this salad is best chilled for several hours before serving, so it's a great make-ahead dish.  Just don't make it too far ahead. 

-This is a great way to use up leftover cornbread.

-You could substitute green onions for the red onions, but I love that little bit of color.  And speaking of red onions, just why are they called red onions when they are clearly purple?  Who's bright idea was that, huh?

-Frozen, thawed corn would also work well.

-I think some freshly squeezed lime juice would be great between the layers.  I didn't do that, but it's a thought.

-Any kind of shredded cheese will do.  I used Colby jack this time.

-The dressing is pretty thick so I spoon it on in little globs, then use an offset spatula to smooth the globs into an even layer.  I've coined this method the glob-smooth method.  Only highly sophisticated cooking terminology on this blog, people.

-The cilantro is optional, and if I was making this only for myself, I'd definitely throw it in.  But this past week I took this salad to a revival at my church and I didn't want to offend the cilantro haters because I'm sensitive to others like that.  That and the fact that the cilantro at my grocery store looked like it had been through a hurricane.  If you are a cilantro lover like me, you might want to consider adding it to the dressing as well as sprinkling some on top.

South by Southwest Layered Cornbread Salad

Printable Recipe

1 (6-8 ounce) package cornbread mix, cooked according to package instructions and cooled (or your favorite recipe of cornbread)

2 cups mayonnaise

3 teaspoons Mexican chili powder or mild chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro, optional

1/2 head torn iceberg lettuce or 2 heads Romaine lettuce chopped (or you can substitute a bag of torn lettuce)

1 (14-ounce) can shoepeg or yellow corn, drained

1 (14-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

6 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2-3/4 cup finely chopped red onion

2 cups shredded cheese (Colby jack, Mexican blend, cheddar, etc.)   

Crumble cornbread into fine crumbs; set aside.  Stir together the mayonnaise, chili powder, salt, and chopped cilantro, if desired.  In a 4-quart glass bowl or trifle dish, place half of the lettuce, then sprinkle with half of the cornbread crumbs.  Spread half of the mayonnaise mixture on the cornbread layer.  Layer half each of the corn, black beans, tomatoes, onions, and cheese.  Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.  Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Peanut Butter Alfajores

I rarely make cut-out cookies, but ya know what?  They can be kind of fun.  I think the issue I have is using flour to roll them out.  I don't mind adding flour to the Kitchen Aid while it's running to make cake batter, but spreading flour on a cutting board or counter top to roll out dough seems like a lot of work and a lot of mess to me.  But I overcame my deep-seated issues to make these cookies.

I've seen alfajores on many blogs, but I can't say that I've ever actually eaten one.  But dulce de leche in the middle of a crunchy cookie?  Yes, please.

So I created my own version with a little peanut butter in the mix.  These are not truly authentic alfajores, because from what I gathered from looking at different recipes, traditional alfajores have cornstarch in them.  Mine are kind of shortbreadish.  My husband could not stop eating them.  He loves all things peanut butter and all things Latin American, so it was a good day for him.  They're definitely not overly sweet, but that was actually a nice change for me.

Here are some notes:

-Yes, you can make your own dulce de leche by cooking sweetened condensed milk in the oven as per the instructions in this post, but I might not do that here.  I did this to begin with, then I mixed in peanut butter for the filling.  The result was a super stiff, unspreadable mixture.  Wouldn't work for the middle of the cookies.  So you know what I did?  I called my husband and asked him to run by the store for some bottled dulce de leche, and I rolled the other mixture into truffles and dipped them in cinnamon sugar. 

I find it hard to throw food away.

The bottled dulce de leche worked much better.  Very spreadable.  I will say that the particular brand he bought had kind of a weird smell out of the bottle, but when mixed with the peanut butter it was delicious and did not smell anymore.

 -I used different shaped cutters and they were very easy to cut out.

-If you find that the filling is kind of oozy, just place them in the fridge until the filling sets, then take them out and store them at room temperature.

-It just takes a thin layer of filling to spread over the cookies.  Don't overdo it.

-Also, traditionally the edges are rolled in coconut, but I left mine plain.

Peanut Butter Alfajores

Printable Recipe

3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup plus 3 heaping tablespoons creamy peanut butter, divided

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup bottled dulce de leche

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Beat butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add both sugars, beating well. Beat in egg and vanilla.  Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. 

 

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut with small cookie cutters in desired shapes and place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until edges begin to turn golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, stir the dulce de leche and remaining 3 heaping tablespoons peanut butter together until smooth.  Spread a thin layer onto the flat side of half the cooled cookies, then place the remaining cookies on top, flat side in to make a sandwich.