Last year when I was up half the night icing five dozen little cookies for a school party, I thought, "There has to be a better way."
And then the proverbial light bulb came on. Bar cookies. Those one-pan wonders that can be decorated all in one piece. They will please the most persnickity youngster. They take 20 minutes instead of an hour.Apparently I wasn't alone in my thinking.
"This really is a trend," says Paula Zuhlsdorf, a home economist and senior project manager at Pillsbury. "Bar cookies are popular right now because they're easy and convenient to make."
The major food companies have answered the call to bars with packaged mixes. "They're selling very well. We saw that trend with the consumer as an easy way to get to the dessert."
Zuhlsdorf considers a bar somewhere between a cookie and a cake. And yes, she includes brownies in the bar category.
"We look at the dessert area as a spectrum with a cake at one end and a cookie at the other and bars fall kind of in between. What bars give you are texture and more intense flavors than what you'd get with a cake."
And intense flavors have become a major selling point. "People are craving that because of the popularity of those dense cakes like Death By Chocolate, which offer more interesting textures and flavors. You can't get that in a yellow cake with chocolate frosting like you can with a bar."
From a kid's perspective, bars are a good selection because "they like the moistness, the flavors, and they can hold them in their hands." Then, too, the bars can be baked at one time, but each square can be decorated individually.
Before you begin, here are some tips on baking bar cookies. All the recipes are from Pillsbury.
- Use the right-sized pan. If you use a jelly roll pan even slightly smaller than called for, you may have overflow problems.
- The best pan: plain old aluminum. If you use the darker-coated pans, the surfaces will brown and be drier, where the edges touch the pan. Glass is not the best choice because the recipe time and temperature may need to be adjusted.
- To make the bars more interesting, cut into diamonds or triangles. When I cut the sugar cookie bars (recipe below) into diamonds, the kids at home were delighted.
- Bars that are more cookie than cake, i.e., that won't overflow the pan such as the sugar cookie bars, can be made in a less traditional shape. Try a round pizza pan.
- Try a pizza cutter instead of a knife for clean cuts.
- With most bars, wait until they're cool for clean cuts. In some cases, that might mean as long as 60 to 90 minutes.
*****
Additional Information
Recipes
COOKIE PIZZA
1 20-ounce package refrigerated sugar cookies
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup candy corn
1/2 cup raisins
Glaze: 2 to 4 tablespoons canned vanilla frosting, melted
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12-inch pizza pan with foil; grease foil. Cut cookie dough into 1/4-inch slices; press slices in bottom of foil-lined pan to form crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool completely. Carefully remove foil from cookie; place on serving tray or large plate. Spread cookie with peanut butter; sprinkle evenly with candy corn and raisins. Drizzle glaze over pizza. Cut into wedges or squares to serve.
Tip: To melt frosting in microwave oven, place in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 10 to 15 seconds or until thin; stir. Or, melt frosting in small saucepan over low heat until thin, stirring constantly.
Serves 16 to 24.
- From Pillsbury Classic Cookbooks.
OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP BARS
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup shortening
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped nuts
1 12-ounce package (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 15-by-10-by-1 or 13-by-9-inch pan. In large bowl, beat brown sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add molasses, vanilla and eggs; blend well. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda and salt; blend well. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Spread in greased pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and center is set. Cool slightly. Cut into bars. Serve warm or cool. Makes 4 dozen.
- From Pillsbury's "The Complete Book of Baking."
SO-EASY SUGAR COOKIES
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened, or shortening
1/3 cup oil
1 tablespoon milk
1 to 2 teaspoons almond extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, beat 3/4 cup sugar, margarine, oil, milk, almond extract and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt; blend well. Spread evenly in ungreased 15-by-10-by-1- inch baking pan; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool five minutes. Cut into bars.
- From Pillsbury's "The Complete Book of Baking."
*****
CARAMEL APPLE BARS
Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups margarine or butter, melted
Filling:
1 1/2 cups caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups coarsely chopped apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 15-by-10-by-1-inch baking pan. In large bowl, combine all crust ingredients; mix at low speed until crumbly. Press half of crumb mixture, about 21/2 cups, in greased pan. Reserve remaining crumb mixture for topping. Bake at 375 degrees for eight minutes.
In small saucepan over medium heat, combine caramel topping and 1/2 cup flour. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil three to five minutes or until mixture thickens slightly, stirring constantly. Sprinkle apples and nuts onto warm base. Pour caramel mixture evenly over top. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Return to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely. Cut into bars (for ease in cutting, refrigerate bars). Store in tightly covered container. Makes 4 dozen.
- From Pillsbury's "The Complete Book of Baking."