toffee blondies in a jar

A few weeks ago, I was having a conversation with MattMatt about personality types and the like, which is somewhat unsurprising given that the two of us often speculate on the nature of mankind together [when I'm not teaching him how to virtually assassinate Templars on an HD console]. I'm not actually quite sure how the topic came up to begin with, but it panned out interestingly.

[For example, how between the middle of high school and now, my personality has almost completely flipped from an ENTJ to an INFJ, both of which were highly accurate given their respective time periods. And how Matt's an ENFP (from what I remember), which to me is also spot-on.]

Regardless, I remember Matt telling me how there are five primary ways that we [humans] express love and affection.

1. spending time together
2. verbal exchanges of affection
3. physical exchanges of affection
4. physical actions to show affection
5. buying and giving gifts

I found this quite interesting. One, because I had never heard it before; and two, because I think humankind is such a fascinating entity. An entity which I'm always trying to figure out, at least when I can shove my cynicism aside, though for the most part one that I think will always remain, in some ways, an enigma.


Not to mention that philosophy, although enlightening in regards to many areas of contemplation, has only made me more skeptical about how I think about the matter. But perhaps that's the point.

Anyway, I digress. If I had to choose, I think I'd fall into categories 4 and 5 of the above. Doing things for others and giving things to others. Not that I'm morally opposed to the other three in any way, I am just more of a doer than a...speaker? Cuddler? Extrovert? I could also be completely misguided as to my own character, since I'm always learning new things [both positive and negative] about myself, but it doesn't change the fact that I do love giving gifts. At least, those with some shred of sentimental value.

Which is why I bake, of course. It's not like I do it for my own health [quite the contrary, in fact, seeing as how it's just about the worst thing I could be doing for my own health], but I like to see others' faces light up when I give them something I've made just for them. I put a lot of thought into what I decide to bake for others, based on their personality or our friendship, what they like and what they don't, their hobbies and interests, etc.

And yet, sometimes I get bored with the baking. Especially for my good friends. Not that they dislike dessert, but sometimes I just want to do something different. And so I decided to try.

In a few days' time, I will be boarding a plane. It will be my first time on a plane in two years, I believe, which is somewhat of a long time for me [given how my family used to travel to Pakistan every other year to see family before the political climate became somewhat unfavorable and Yusra and I started having to do real schoolwork]. This time, though, I'm leaving for Europe, Valencia to be precise, to hone my fluency [or lack thereof] in the Spanish language. I'll be living with Liz in a homestay, one street away from Zach, and attending university five days a week, studying history of modern Spanish art and phonetics. A short visit, granted, but 4 weeks is all I need to fall in love with a country and make a vow to return.

I realize that I'll be back home before I know it [much to my dismay], but as soon as I am I'll be helping my parents move into their new house, and it'll be scarcely a week after that I'm back at my apartment, interning and working part-time [with frequent, short trips back home on the weekends, of course] until the fall semester begins. Not a whole lot of time to be spent with friends, unfortunately. So before my departure, I decided I wanted to leave a few parting gifts to the Fab Four, of the dessert variety, because at this point they expect nothing different from me, though this time with a small twist: toffee blondies in a jar.

I've seen this done in the past, though I myself had never tried it prior to this past weekend, when I prepared a jar to give to Brinay as a gift. It turned out much better than I thought it would [I also anticipate the worst, most of the time], and she seemed to love the idea, so I knew I had discovered something pretty neat. The concept is simple: layer all of the dry ingredients artfully [i.e. alternating colors, somewhat akin to sand art] in a quart-sized mason jar, and attach a small card with the appropriate quantities of wet ingredients and baking directions, so that the receiver is actually the baker. An inversion of my traditional baked-good-present, but one that I think is really fun for whomever I'm giving it to. Plus, it's easy as peas to bake: all you need to do is dump the contents of the jar into a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together, and mix them with the dry ingredients until they come together in a batter. Pour the batter into a prepared pan, and bake in a preheated oven for half an hour for deliciousness.

Toffee Blondies in a Jar
Adapted from bakedbree
Recipe makes one mason jar

You'll need:

• 1 quart-sized mason jar [can be found in any craft store]
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips 
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1/2 cup toffee chips

• 1/4 cup [1/2 stick] butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla

To prepare the mason jar:
Carefully layer the brown sugar, chocolate chips, flour, baking powder, salt, chopped nuts, and toffee chips. This is most easily done with a 1/4 cup measure, as this will pour the contents most effectively through the opening of the jar. Try to gently level out the ingredients with each addition.

To prepare the blondies [note: this is what you'll want to write on the notecard, along with the measurements of the wet ingredients]:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line and grease an 8x8-inch square pan.
In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until blended. Dump the contents of the jar into the bowl, and mix with the wet ingredients until fully incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until blondies start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan and cut into 16 bars.

I love how these things look; they're just adorable. Nitya, Hannah, and Noosh loved them as well, and so I was more than pleased. I'm sure they'll taste divine too, though perhaps in future I'll add a layer of coconut flakes. Or peanut butter chips. Cocoa powder for brownies, too.

Oh! The possibilities are endless! This is definitely a treat I'd like to expand upon in future.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did :)

7-layer bars

Yes, I know, I've done 'em before. But the world could always use more of these amazing bars. That could be why they're often called "magic bars" [and no, they are in no way related to the concept of "special brownies," for all you eager bakers out there].

So I have for you today, "magic", "amazing", "miraculous", whatever-you-want-to-call-it, old-fashioned, 7-layer bars.

Why are they called 7-layer bars, you ask? Well, as the name implies, they are comprised of exactly 7 ingredients:

1. butter
2. graham crackers 
3. chocolate chips
4. toffee bits [though people often substitute with peanut butter chips or butterscotch chips]
5. shredded, sweetened coconut
6. chopped nuts [usually pecans]
7. sweetened condensed milk 

In other words, mouthwatering. These bars have been around for ages, and if you've ever been to a middle school bake sale, you've probably eaten them. They're appealing to younger kids [probably more so their mothers] because there is virtually no mixing involved: everything is just layered on top of the graham cracker crust. Which also means that I have exactly 1 bowl to wash, so I am a huge fan of these.

But don't be fooled by how simple these are; the flavors are anything but. I would love to meet whoever came up with this combination of ingredients and marry them, because these are perfect. I actually can't gush about these bars enough. I am absolutely in love with them.

[And it was only while baking these that I regretted having given up sugar.]

7-Layer Bars
Adapted from any foodblog ever

You'll need:

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs [about 12 whole crackers, processed finely]
• 1 semisweet cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup toffee chips [can be substituted with peanut butter morsels or butterscotch chips]
• 1 cup shredded coconut [sweetened]
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts [pecans or walnuts]
• 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper and grease the bottom and sides.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter, and press mixture evenly onto the base of the pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips, toffee chips, coconut, and nuts evenly over the graham cracker crust. Evenly pour sweetened condensed milk over the bars. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until condensed milk looks set but not over-browned.

Let cool completely before cutting. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

I baked this batch for one of my favorite people on the planet, Nimra, whom I hadn't seen since our epic weekend in NYC back in October. She and her family came down to visit and stayed with Bismah and Zain. I met the three for lunch earlier today after far too long without seeing each other, and it was lovely. Plus, Nimra and Bismah couldn't keep their hands off the bars, so I figure it was a success. I did try to assure them that these are actually the easiest things to bake on the planet, so perhaps they'll attempt 'em sometime in future. All in all, a successful afternoon.

But come on; old friends, good [Italian] food, beautiful weather, what more could you want?

toffee bars

There are a few things I want to do in my life.

Well, I mean, there are a lot of things I hope to do in my life.

But there are a few things I would kill to do. Travel the world, travel the world to eat, open a bakery, meet iron chef Michael Symon and Anthony Bourdain, have both of the aforementioned invite me over for dinner, have a dessert Throwdown with Bobby Flay, etc. etc. But you know what else I would love to do more than anything? Voice a Disney princess.

How epic would that be?!

unfortunately finished this before rapunzel became an official princess :( but she's here in spirit!

While driving home at 11 pm tonight, I was blasting and singing along to my Disney playlist. Mostly to keep me from falling asleep at the wheel, but also because any time is a good time for Disney music. Particularly the "Tangled" soundtrack. So addicting! Plus, Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore do a phenomenal job voice acting and singing.

Oh man, I would just love to do that. But as much as I love all things Disney, that is not what this post is about.

Toffee bars. Hershil came over to the apartment last night to help me bake before we went to see Black Swan [which is an incredible movie, by the way, but also the one most disturbing things I've seen]. It was quite fun, duking it out on the Wii while these were in the oven, chatting about anything and everything. Thank goodness he's taking J-term classes, because there are only so many reruns of Iron Chef I can watch before the ability to list their dishes within the first five minutes makes the entire hour of programming rather dull.

Now, I love this recipe. In fact, it was the first recipe I tried from The Cookie & Biscuit Bible, and compelled me try more immediately afterward. I've gifted these a few times in the past, because they're always a huge hit. Luckily, this time was no different.

These babies went to my good friend, DUSTIN HIGGINS, despite his poor taste in movies and rap music [Avatar and Lil Wayne, really?], as a promised, belated birthday gift. I spent the evening with him and Beth after I got off of work, which was a fantastic way to break up the monotony of my workweek. Especially after a fun evening with Hershil yesterday. Two for two, man, I'm on a roll.

Toffee Bars
Adapted from The Cookie & Biscuit Bible

You'll need:

• 1 pound [4 sticks] of butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 cups flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts [this is optional, but highly suggested]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease and flour a 9x13-inch pan. Beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy. Add in egg yolks and vanilla and beat until fully incorporated. Lower speed and slowly add flour and salt. But until just mixed. Pour batter into pan and spread and press down evenly with the back of a spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until top is golden-brown.

As soon as shortbread is out of the oven, sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over top. Wait 2-3 minutes for chocolate to begin melting, and then use a knife to spread chocolate evenly across the top of the shortbread. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of the chocolate. Let cool at least 30 minutes before cutting.

Bars keep well in an airtight container for up to a week.

I seriously love these things. They're not overly sweet, sort of melt in your mouth, and the nut crunch on top is delightful. Plus, Dustin, Beth, and Hershil loved 'em, so I was pretty satisfied.

I actually didn't eat any from this batch, which was both extremely depressing and extremely difficult. I'm working on low-carbing it for a few weeks, just to kind of clean the refined flour and sugar out of my system [after the past few...months...of gastronomic frivolity]. But boy, did they smell good when they came out of the oven.

Ugh. I'm one more omelette away from just buying a baguette and eating it whole.

No.

I will persevere. 

...maybe.

Let's just say, it's a good thing that there are none of these left in the apartment...