These rich cookie bars are so simple to make and you can vary the toppings to suit your family tastes.  Just add your own magic to this very old recipe for Magic Cookie Bars.  Instead of coconut flakes, add dried cranberries, chopped figs or dates.  Grated orange zest and a few grinds of black pepper are super delicious with chocolate chips and shaved almonds.  The sweetened condensed milk caramelizes in the baking and gives them a warm golden brown top.  Use pecans, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or try pistachio nuts with caramel chips or chocolate mint chips.  Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a Mexican flare.  

Just start with graham cracker crumbs on the bottom and top everything with sweetened condensed milk before baking.  The ingredients in the middle are all your choice.  There won’t be one left to put in a cookie jar after the family starts into them.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped hazelnuts (toasting and removing skins is optional)
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
3. Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and pat into prepared baking pan.
4. In a bowl, mix chocolate chips, and hazelnuts.
5. Spread mixture over graham cracker crust evenly. With a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap on top, press down on chocolate chip mixture. Remove paper.
6. Pour sweetened condensed milk over the entire surface to cover completely.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and set.
8. Remove from oven. Invert pan over a cake rack, remove parchment paper, invert again.
9. When completely cooled cut into 3×2 inch bars. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature.

Courtesy of La Cuisine d'Hélène

The original recipe for chocolate globs appeared in Maida Heatter’s   book of Great Chocolate Desserts, published in 1980.  Maida Heatter is a three time winner of the James Beard Award and was inducted into the Chocolateria Magazine’s Hall of Fame.  She is known as “The Queen of Desserts” and her specialty is chocolate.   Maida’s cream filled chocolate cookies (chocolate globs) was the inspiration for the Chocolate Glob cookies published in the SoHo Charcuterie Cookbook.  Sally Schneider, author of The Improvisational Cook, created her recipe for an elegant Essential Chocolate Cake from the chocolate glob recipe in the SoHo Charcuterie Cookbook.  Several TV personalities such as Ina Garten and Paula Deen have also developed decadent brownies and yummy chocolate globs based on the recipe from the SoHo Charcuterie Cookbook.

The impetus for creating amazing recipes is virtual necessity.  The cook starts with an idea, takes stock of the ingredients on-hand and improvises.  In baking, this could be substituting almond extract for vanilla extract, using yogurt instead of cream, or adding dried herbs and spices to a chocolate batter.   Experimentation or accident can result in dynamic combinations of flavors and textures that awaken taste buds and turn ordinary into extraordinary fare.

The recipe given here is based on Ina Garten’s Outrageous Chocolate Brownies, Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Copyright 1999.  Everyone loves rich moist chocolate gooey brownies.  The addition of Kahlua and cayenne pepper give these brownies a little kick.  They’re perfect for a piñata party or a coffee break with your favorite espresso or French press brew.

Ingredients

• 1 lb unsalted butter
• 1 lb plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 6 extra-large eggs
• 3 Tbsp Kahlua (or coffee liqueur of your choice)
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Pinch of cayenne powder
• 3 cups chopped walnuts (or nuts of your choice)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 x 18 x 1-1/2 inch sheet pan.
2. Melt together the butter, 1 lb. chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly.
3. Stir together the eggs, Kahlua, almond and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.
4. Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne. Add to cooled chocolate mixture.
5. Toss the walnuts and 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Fold into the chocolate batter. Pour batter into prepared pan.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Do not over-bake!
7. Cool thoroughly and chill in refrigerate before cutting into squares.

It is hot today in Las Vegas, too hot to bake, but I wanted something crunchy and chocolately  to go with a cup of coffee tonight.  This was almost a dissaster!!  I reached for the corn syrup and grabbed the almond extract instead.  By the time the fumes hit my nose, it was going into the pot.  These cookies of-course are no-bake cookies.  Well, the almond didn’t hurt them a bit, infact the chocolate stands out a bit  more.  I always add almond to my chocolate cakes with great results.  Anyway, this recipe is one I’ve made since I was a kid, standing next to mom in the kitchen.  These cookies take exactly 15 minutes to make from start to finish. 

I didn’t have any oatmeal, so I used fiber bran cereal.  They remind me of mortar with hay mixed in, like they did building log cabins in pioneer days.  So with that in mind, I’m calling these “pioneer cookies.”  Must be about time for a pow-wow… all day I’ve had an Indian war chant going through my head.  Can’t you picture bare chested men in feather head-dresses, stomping around a fire chanting hey-ya-ya while the drums are playing.  Where does this stuff come from… my zany thoughts? 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp corn syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla ( 1/2 tsp each almond and vanilla extracts)
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 2 1/2 cups fiber bran cereal (or quick-cooking oatmeal)
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 chopped nuts of your choice

Method:

1. Cook butter, sugar, cocoa, milk, and salt in a sauce pan or medium-high heat. 
2. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes while stirring constantly.
3. Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter, vanilla, and corn syrup.
4. Add bran or oats, coconut, and nuts.  Stir until all are well coated.
5. Drop by tablespoon onto waxed paper and chill until firm.