High Country Baking: Brown sugar bars
High altitudes make cookies spread in the pan, cakes fall, and few baked goods turn out as they do at sea level. This twice-monthly column presents recipes and tips that make baking at high elevations successful.
Expect sticky fingers with these buttery bars, enhanced by the molasses-like taste and moist texture of brown sugar, the creaminess of white chocolate and the crunch of pecans for a chewy, gooey delight. They’re delicious by themselves — in fact, some testers preferred them that way. But those of us who want an extra hit of sweetness and goo love the optional caramel glaze.
Two things will assure their glorious texture: First, don’t scoop the flour into your measuring cup or you’ll get too much. Instead, stir your flour before measuring it, so it’s well-aerated and light, then spoon it gently into your cup measure, so it remains light and fluffy, and level it by sweeping a flat-bladed knife across the top (the spoon and level method). Second, remove the pan from the oven as soon as the top is set but still soft to the touch, not a minute later.
Chewy, gooey brown sugar bars
Make in an 8-by-8 inch shiny metal baking pan. Works at any elevation.
Bars
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 egg
- 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, spoon and level
- 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 chopped pecans (or combination of chopped pecans and Bits O’ Brickle)
- 2 ounces white chocolate, chopped into small pieces, or white chocolate chips
Caramel glaze (optional)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon light Karo corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 packed cup dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans, optional
Get ready: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with the rack in the center position.
Line your baking pan with sides that are at least one-inch high (half-sheet pan) with aluminum foil. Grease the foil or spray with Baker’s Joy.
Melt butter and sugar: Combine the butter and brown sugar in a large saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the butter melts and the brown sugar is at least partially dissolved. This will take about 4-5 minutes. Remove this mixture from the heat and let it cool for about 15 minutes.
Prepare dry ingredients: While the butter-sugar mixture cools, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk until well blended.
Make cookie dough: Whisk the egg into the butter-sugar mixture until well combined. Stir in the flour mixture, in 3 additions, just until combined, a few of the dry ingredients may still be visible Don’t overmix. Finally, stir in the nuts (or nuts and bits o’brickle) and white chocolate until evenly distributed in the dough and all dry ingredients are blended.
Bake: Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth and level the top. Bake until the cake is set but still soft to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few tiny moist crumbs on it, about 15-20 minutes, though that will depend on your oven. The batter may puff up while it is baking. If it does, use a metal spatula or large spoon to gently push it down. Be careful not to overbake these bars or they will be hard rather than gooey and chewy. Remove the pan from the oven and cool completely.
Make caramel glaze, if using: Cut the butter into tiny pieces, add them, with the corn syrup and the cream, to a small saucepan, preferably non-stick. Heat, stirring, on your stovetop, over low-medium heat until butter melts and ingredients are combined and hot. Turn the heat up to medium high, and slowly mix in the brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a low boil and hold it there for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Let the glaze cool and thicken.
Glaze and cut the bars: Use the foil handles to remove the uncut bars from the pan, smooth out the foil and leave the slab of cookies on it. (It will catch drips as you add the glaze). Once the glaze is thick enough to spread, cover the entire top of the uncut bars with it then sprinkle on finely chopped pecans, if using. Cover and chill the uncut bars until the glaze sets or up to 2 days.
Cut, serve and store: Use a thin sharp-bladed knife to cut the slab into bars. Serve them cold (chewy) or at room temperature (gooey). Return leftovers, covered, to the refrigerator.
Vera Dawson’s column “High Country Baking” publishes biweekly in the Summit Daily News. Dawson is a high-elevation baking instructor and author of three high-altitude cookbooks. Her recipes have been tested in her kitchen in Frisco, where she’s lived since 1991, and altered until they work at elevation. Contact her at veradawson1@gmail.com.
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