Whole Wheat Butterscotch Bars

I’m way into cookies and bars. Not as a trend-follower, but as a life-long devotee. There are a lot of desserts I can walk right on by even if I think they would be pretty delicious, but, boy is it hard for me to pass up a plate of bars or cookies. In fact, I don’t make them as often as I’d like, unless I know where I can take them to share, for fear that I will eat them all.

These bars are no exception to my I-love-cookies rule. They’re based on the popular whole wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe published by Kim Boyce in Good to the Grain. I love those chocolate chip cookies, too, although I can’t say they’re my go-to chocolate chip cookies. (These are.) One day, some months ago, I dumped all the partial bags of baking chips into that whole wheat cookie batter: a couple kinds of chocolate, white chocolate, butterscotch.

My favorite bites were the ones with the butterscotch chips in them, so I decided to make a cookie just with those. Then I started thinking that pecans would go well in there, too. I made those cookies and they were delicious! I was going to post that recipe here (and I do give those alternate baking directions below), but before I could get good photos, I decided to try making pan cookies (aka bars), by baking the whole batch of batter in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

Quite a success, I must say! The nutty richness of the whole wheat flour pairs well with the butterscotch-y goodness of dark brown sugar and butterscotch baking chips. The bars get quite crisp on the outside, just like the cookies, and stay really soft but not quite gooey on the inside. The contrast between crispy and chewy is so pronounced that if the bars are cut too small, they kind of crumble apart. They’re best when cut into a generous square, thick and moist with a crunchy-crumbly outer layer. 

 

It might just be a little too easy to indulge in these goodies. Yes, the whole wheat flour with its higher Whole Food Quotient may have some health benefits over white, all-purpose flour, but there’s still some serious butter and sugar going on here. I may be in trouble!

Whole Wheat Butterscotch Pecan Bars

Based on a recipe in Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup white granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

1 (11 ounce) package butterscotch baking chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. (If not baking right away, you can preheat the oven just before baking.) In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir together with a whisk to combine well.

2. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or another bowl if using a hand mixer or spoon). Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat, using the paddle attachment for the mixer, on medium speed until well-blended and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Continue beating until very smooth. Beat in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture until just moistened. Stir in the pecans and butterscotch chips.

3. Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray or grease it with butter or oil. Press the cookie batter evenly into the prepared baking dish. Bake at 350 F (or cover and refrigerate for up to a day and allow to come back to room temperature before baking) for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the middle of the bars comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes about 2 dozen bars.

Note: To make cookies instead of bars, scoop the batter in about 3-tablespoon portions onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 F for 16-20 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Other recipes like this one: Milk Chocolate Chip and M&M Cookies, Cocoa Chocolate Chip Brownies, Irish Cream Brownies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Revel Bars, Peanut Butter Butterfinger Blondies

One year ago: Spinach Custard Pie

Butterscotch Pudding

I didn’t go with a chocolate dessert this year for Valentine’s Day (although I did bake some Mint Chocolate Cookies late last week). It isn’t that I didn’t want something rich and creamy and decadent. I just had my rich and creamy and decadent in the form of butterscotch pudding instead.

I decided it was kind of sad that I didn’t really know how to make pudding from scratch. I’ve made more bread pudding than that creamy, gooey puddle of sweet dessert that Americans usually think of when someone says “pudding.” The few attempts I can remember trying were not very interesting, and I had come to feel like maybe there was a reason that pudding mixes in a box are as popular as they are. Heck, I like them, but I’m determined to master homemade recipes whenever possible.

I think some of my disappointments had their roots in recipes that weren’t all that great to begin with, or were compromised by a reduced-calorie philosophy. While my body type requires such a philosophy, I decided to start at the beginning and make real butterscotch pudding with whole ingredients (plus refined sugar). I think Pablo Picasso said something about having to master the rules before you can begin to break them, and I am, as yet, no master.

I reviewed several recipes and chose the one in The New Best Recipe by the editors of Cooks Illustrated magazine. (The one in The Joy of Cooking is similar, and probably great as well, and maybe I’ll try it someday, too.) These recipes are meticulously tested, so I figured it was likely to go well, and I was right. There’s no skimping in this recipe, which is loaded with butter, whole milk, heavy cream and egg yolks and flavored with a generous amount of dark brown sugar. And it’s just as rich and creamy and deliciously flavorful as it sounds.

There’s always a bit of delicacy in cooking eggs and dairy, and my milk mixture did separate a little as it cooked, giving the pudding a texture that was just a tad short of perfectly creamy. I think this may have been because I used a locally produced cream-line whole milk, which is wonderful, but perhaps prone to separation. I’m just guessing here, and I could have done something else that caused the tiny particles to separate out of the colloid. I don’t really care, because the pudding was wonderful: caramel-y sweet, super rich and thick. Definitely something I would serve in small bowls and eat slowly, savoring every delicious spoonful.


Butterscotch Pudding
Adapted from The New Best Recipe from the editors of Cooks Illustrated

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar, gently packed into the measuring cup
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks (from large eggs)
¼ cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Place the butter in a medium-size, heavy-bottomed saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add the dark brown sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is bubbly.

2. Gradually whisk in the heavy cream and continue whisking until very well combined and all the sugar is dissolved.

3. Gradually whisk in the milk. Heat the mixture just until it begins to boil, stirring frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom of the pan. When the mixture begins to boil, remove it from the heat.

4. In a medium-size bowl, beat the egg yolks together with a whisk. Gradually whisk about ½ cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks. Whisk in the cornstarch until completely combined. Gradually mix the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the hot milk mixture. Stir well to combine.

5. Return the mixture to medium heat and cook, stirring slowly with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a few bubbles reach and burst through the surface, just a few minutes. The mixture should be smooth, thick and glossy. Stir in the vanilla extract.

6. Strain the pudding mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Divide the pudding between about 6 small dessert bowls or ramekins if desired. Cover with plastic wrap. Place the plastic wrap directly on the pudding surface to prevent a skin from forming, if desired. Chill for 3 hours or more before serving. Serve cold.

Makes about 6 servings. Keep leftovers chilled for up to a few days.



Another recipe like this one: Butterscotch Pumpkin Fudge 

One year ago: Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies with Black Walnuts and Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

Two years ago: Stout Bread with Chocolate and Dried Cherries