Christmas Cookies: Gold Bars

[coraa]

These are cookies my mother makes -- actually, I think she got the recipe out of Victoria magazine, many many years ago -- that I love. They are a perfect balance of rich and sweet and nutty, with the added advantage that they're easy to make, hard to mess up, travel well, and store well (and if you want to freeze them, they last half of forever, with no discernible difference in quality). They taste like caramel and nuts and shortbread, sort of like a hybrid between pecan pie and pralines -- quite a bit less gooey and sweet than pecan pie, but softer than pralines -- with the pecan topping layered on a firm but tender buttery crust. (You can also make them with walnuts, if you prefer, or if your budget stretches more easily to walnuts.) They take about an hour to make, including baking time, and require neither special tools nor special skills. I love them. I make them every year, for myself and to give away.

For those of you who work with me, these are the cookies I brought to the office last week. Actually, I got some very flattering comments about them at the time, including 'best cookies ever!', which I appreciated very much. :D

Gold Bars

This makes one 9x13inch pan of cookies. You can also halve the recipe and bake in an 8x8inch pan.

Crust:

• 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
  
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

Topping:

• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
  
• 1/2 cup honey
  
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  
• 3 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Line a 9x13 inch pan (or an 8x8 inch pan, for a half recipe) with foil or parchment paper and grease it. (The original recipe only says to grease it, but my grandmother had trouble getting them out once so now we do this.)

Sift confectioners' sugar and flour into large bowl. With pastry blender cut in 1 cup soft butter until fine and crumbly. (The crust is flakiest if you do it this way, but if you're in a hurry you can melt the butter instead and stir it in, and it'll come out fine.) Pat firmly into bottom of pan to form a crust.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

While crust is baking, in medium bowl, combine melted butter, honey, cream, vanilla, and brown sugar. Mix until blended. Stir in pecans. Spread over hot crust.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes until center is bubbling.

Cool on rack. Let cool until firm and no longer warm before cutting in bars; if you don't, the crust will crumble and fall apart on you.

Store tightly wrapped. (The original recipe suggested storing them in the refrigerator, but neither my mother nor I have ever bothered, and we haven't died yet.)

The cookies will be quite crisp at first, but over time they will soften, because honey is hydroscopic and will attract moisture and become gooey-er. I actually like them a bit softer, but if you don't like cookies with a smidge of stickiness, you can help forestall that by storing them in tightly sealed ziplock or tupperware.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I am definitely going to try these. My mouth's watering just reading the ingredients.

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

Where's the chocolate!?!