Butterscotch Bars

A small square of these rich bars is enough to satisfy a dessert craving. The flour and oats mixture is somewhat dry after combining, but it serves as both a solid base for the soft butterscotch chip layer and a crumbly, streusel-like topping.

Yield 36 servings (serving size: 1 bar)

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 5 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
• 2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Cooking spray
• 3/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/4 cups butterscotch morsels (about 8 ounces)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl. Stir in vanilla and egg. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, oats, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and baking soda in a bowl. Add oat mixture to sugar mixture; stir with a fork until combined (mixture will be crumbly). Place 3 cups oat mixture into the bottom of a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray; press into bottom of pan. Set aside.

3. Place sweetened condensed milk, butterscotch morsels, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until butterscotch morsels melt, stirring every 20 seconds. Stir in walnuts. Scrape mixture into pan, spreading evenly over crust. Sprinkle evenly with remaining oat mixture, gently pressing into butterscotch mixture. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Place pan on a cooling rack; run a knife around outside edge. Cool completely.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 148

Fat: 5.1g (sat 2.7g,mono 0.9g,poly 1.1g)

Protein: 2.6g

Carbohydrate: 23.4g

Fiber: 0.8g

Cholesterol: 11mg

Iron: 0.8mg

Sodium: 87mg

Calcium: 31mg

Kathryn Conrad, Cooking Light, APRIL 2009

Roasted Banana Bars with Browned Butter–Pecan Frosting

Category Winner: Desserts. "I have been baking banana bars with my mother since I was old enough to stir the batter, so I was pleased when I was able to lighten them for my family and still maintain the original flavor. I browned butter in a saucepan to enhance its richness, thus eliminating the need for full-fat cream cheese. This is a great way to use ripe, speckled bananas." —Lindsay Weiss, Overland Park, KS

Bars:
2 cups sliced ripe banana (about 3 medium)
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
9 ounces cake flour (about 2 1/4 cups)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Baking spray with flour

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup (3 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. To prepare bars, combine banana, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon butter in an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes, stirring after 17 minutes. Cool slightly.

3. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°.

4. Weigh or lightly spoon cake flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 9 ounces (about 2 1/4 cups) flour, soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Combine banana mixture, buttermilk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in another medium bowl. Place 1/2 cup butter and granulated sugar in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs to granulated sugar mixture; mix well. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternating with banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

5. Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with baking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

6. To prepare frosting, melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Combine browned butter, powdered sugar, cream cheese, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled bars. Sprinkle with pecans.

Yield: 2 dozen (serving size: 1 bar)

CALORIES 221 ; FAT 8.4g (sat 4.7g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.6g); CHOLESTEROL 39mg; CALCIUM 23mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.1g; SODIUM 117mg; PROTEIN 2.3g; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 1mg

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2009

Swag Bars

These no-bake bars come together quickly with common pantry ingredients. Make sure the cereal is well crushed (try packing it in a sealed zip-top plastic bag and using a rolling pin) so it incorporates into the peanut butter mixture.

1 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light-colored corn syrup
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) chopped lightly salted, dry-roasted peanuts
3 1/2 cups (4 ounces) whole-grain flaked cereal (such as Total), finely crushed
Cooking spray
1/3 cup (2 ounces) chopped dark chocolate

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook 4 minutes or just until mixture begins to boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in peanuts and cereal. Spread mixture evenly into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.

2. Place the dark chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until chocolate melts, stirring every 20 seconds. Drizzle chocolate evenly over peanut mixture. Score into 36 bars while warm.

Yield: 36 servings (serving size: 1 bar)

CALORIES 155 ; FAT 9.2g (sat 1.9g,mono 4.2g,poly 2.5g); CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 113mg; CARBOHYDRATE 16.2g; SODIUM 121mg; PROTEIN 4.5g; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 2.3mg

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2009

Chocolate Mint Bars

Chocolate-Mint Bars

The dense base layer is like a rich, fudgy brownie, so don't overcook it or the dessert bars will be dry. Refrigerating the mint bars allows the chocolaty top layer to set properly. You can make the dessert up to one day ahead. For a more grown-up taste, you can also use dark chocolate chips for some or all of the semisweet chocolate chips in the glaze.
Yield

20 servings (serving size: 1 piece)
Ingredients

* Bottom layer:
* 1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup egg substitute
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 2 tablespoons water
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs, beaten
* 1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup
* Cooking spray
*

Mint layer:
* 2 cups powdered sugar
* 1/4 cup butter, melted
* 2 tablespoons fat-free milk
* 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
* 2 drops green food coloring
*

Glaze:
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar, egg substitute, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons water, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate syrup in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

From Cooking Light, March 2008.

Cheesecake Swirl Bars

Yield 1 dozen
Ingredients

* 55 vanilla wafers, crushed
* 6 tablespoons butter, melted
* 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
* 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons rum extract
* 2 large eggs
* 1/4 cup refrigerated eggnog
* 1/2 cup white chocolate morsels, melted
* 1/2 cup double chocolate morsels, melted (we tested with Ghirardelli), or regular semisweet morsels

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring until blended. Press crumb mixture into bottom of a lightly greased 8" or 9" square pan. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes. Cool.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and rum extract at medium speed with an electric mixer just until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended. Pour 1 1/2 cups cream cheese batter evenly over baked crust.

Stir eggnog into remaining batter. Divide batter in half; stir melted white chocolate into 1 portion. Spoon evenly over cream cheese batter. Stir melted semisweet chocolate into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of chocolate batter evenly over white chocolate layer; gently swirl batters with a knife.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 33 minutes or until almost set. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cover and chill at least 1 hour before serving. Cut into bars.

Christmas with Southern Living, 2005, Oxmoor House, JUNE 2005

Lemon Bars

Preheat oven to 350 deg.
Butter a Pyrex 9.13” baking dish.

Mix well: 2 C flour, 1/2 C powdered sugar, 1 C butter (room temp). Pat gently into baking dish. Bake 20 to 25 mins.
Filling: 2 C sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 4 beaten eggs, 4 T flour, 6 T lemon juice, 2 grated lemon rinds.
Pour filling over cooked crust & put back in oven for 25 to 30 mins, or until golden brown. When cool, cut into bars. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar.