I am not a camper, or should I say, I am not a roughing-it camper. I don’t do tents. Well, all right maybe I do, but only if there is a proper bathroom, by which I mean a bathroom in which one can actually sit down to use the facilities. I do not squat. It’s a rule of mine, and I plan on faithfully keeping it for the rest of my life. I can handle an outhouse, if that is the only thing available, but for the most part, if you expect me to venture out into the wilderness with you, there will need to be some sort of enclosed potty system going on, or you’re going to have to convince some other friend to vacation with you.
When the DT’s group brought up the subject of going camping with them this year, I was at first excited, and then apprehensive due to the whole potty situation. After learning that there were indeed standard park facilities, I was gung-ho for the experience. All that was needed now, was to come up with the perfect dessert. The DT’s members that Bob and I have met through our neighbor have come to play a very important role in our lives. Life would not be the same without several of them. They are truly a unique group with many different personalities. So when coming up with a dessert, I thought that I would make something that was also unique and chock full of personality, and for extra measure, contained a bunch of nuts, because quite honestly I think when we all get together we are quite frankly just a fun-loving group of nuts.
I think the dessert bars were a success. They went along perfectly with Twizzlers, buttered popcorn, Peanut M&M’s, crackers with spinach dip, beef stew, fish stew, bread warmed on the campfire and slathered in butter, and cinnamon roll monkey bread to top everything off. I wasn’t kidding when I said we ate, ate, and ate some more. And that was just one evening. I haven’t even begun to tell you about the biscuits and the bacon we had for breakfast; my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
A huge Delawder Matthews thank you to everyone in the DT’s group for making us feel so welcome, and including us in your camping weekend at Big Meadows. I have to say that even I enjoyed having a weekend off from Wi-Fi, and taking the time to just sit, talk, and most especially, eat, eat, and eat some more. And oh yeah, we are so in again for next year and the following years, unless you choose a vacation site without a proper loo; then you’re on your own.
Ingredients:
- 10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 2 1/4 Cups Light Brown Sugar
- 3 Eggs, Room Temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 Cups, Plus 3 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips
- 2/3 Cup Sliced Almonds
- 2/3 Cup English Toffee Bits
- 2/3 Cup Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a 9×13 baking pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- On medium speed, cream butter and brown sugar together for 3 minutes.
- Add each egg one at a time, mixing for 1 minute.
- Add vanilla and mix for one minute.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture; mix just until combined.
- Add the sliced almonds, toffee bits, and flaked coconut. Stir to combine with a silicone spatula.
- Dump the mixture into the prepared baking pan, and then use the palm of your hand to flatten out the dough.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until you remember that there are cookie bars in the oven and you neglected to hear the timer go off. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
Suggestions:
- I used a 16-oz. bag of See’s Candies Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips in this recipe. Feel free to use a bag of whatever your favorite chocolate chips happens to be; dark chocolate, milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, white chocolate, it doesn’t really matter.
- This batter will have the consistency of a cookie batter, not a brownie batter, so you will have to work with your hands to get the batter to spread out evenly in the baking pan. Get in there and get dirty; it won’t kill you.
- Don’t forget you’re baking like I did. I have no idea how long these bars were actually in the oven, because I totally forgot about them. They were a tad bit dry because of this, but life goes on. Eventually I really do need to buy an oven timer that sounds like a Mack Truck horn.
Improvements:
- Swap out the sliced almonds for chopped pecans.
- Add 2/3-cup peanut butter baking chips.
Ingredients:
- 10 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 2 1/4 Cups Light Brown Sugar
- 3 Eggs, Room Temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 Cups, Plus 3 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
- 3 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 Bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips
- 2/3 Cup Sliced Almonds
- 2/3 Cup English Toffee Bits
- 2/3 Cup Unsweetened Flaked Coconut
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a 9x13 baking pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- On medium speed, cream butter and brown sugar together for 3 minutes.
- Add each egg one at a time, mixing for 1 minute.
- Add vanilla and mix for one minute.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. On low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture; mix just until combined.
- Add the sliced almonds, toffee bits, and flaked coconut. Stir to combine with a silicone spatula.
- Dump the mixture into the prepared baking pan, and then use the palm of your hand to flatten out the dough.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until you remember that there are cookie bars in the oven and you neglected to hear the timer go off. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.
