Sugared Date Squares

 

I don't think anyone can ever call me an expert at presentation.  Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I get it wrong.  Somethings are just difficult to present attractively no matter what.

 

These delicious date squares are just such a thing. I don't think there is a really attractive way I could show them to you where I could  actually convey accurately just how very delicious they are! 

 

They are wonderful delectable little bites of Christmas happiness that I only make once a year., and when I taste how good that they are, I am glad that I only make them once a year because I could surely inhale the whole lot were I not intending to give most of them away.

  

Yes, they are that dangerously delicious!

 

Sweet and buttery and crunchy  . . .  in short very moreish.

 

There is no baking required. You simply melt a few things together in a saucepan on top of the stove  . . .

 

Chopped dates, butter, brown sugar   . . . .  vanilla  . . .

 

Once you have done that all you need to do is to stir in some crisp rice cereal and chopped toasted nuts.  I like to use walnuts, but you can use whatever nut floats your boat.  Just make sure that they are toasted and that they are chopped to a size that is compatible with the rice cereal.

 

Once you have done that you press the mixture into a square pan that you have lined with buttered foil.

 

I use foil because it is easier to lift the squares out of the pan after they have chilled and the foil peels off of them lickety split.

 

You want to chill them in the refrigerator until they are really well set.

 

Once set you take them out, cut them into 1 inch squares and then roll them in icing sugar to coat . . .

  

I don't know whether to call this a cookie or a candy . . .  they lie somewhere in between both.  They are  so easy to make.  It just wouldn't be Christmas without a few of these on the cookie trays!

Yield: 5 to 6 dozen

Author: Marie Rayner

Sugared Date Squares

Sweet little crunchy bites of deliciousness.  I only make these once a year.  They are no bake and a great last minute sweet to make and share for the holidays.

ingredients:

• 150g soft light brown sugar (3/4 cup)
• 180g salted butter (3/4 cup)
• 225g chopped dates (8 oz package)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 75g crisp rice cereal (3 cups)
• 115g chopped toasted walnuts (1 cup)
• 130g sifted icing sugar (1 cup)

instructions:

How to cook Sugared Date Squares

1. Line an 8 inch square baking tin  with some aluminium foil and butter the foil really well. Set aside.
2. Measure the butter, brown sugar and dates into a saucepan.  Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat.  When the mixture is melted, smooth and thoroughly combined, remove from the heat.  Stir in the vanilla.  Stir in the chopped nuts and cereal, combining well.  Spoon into the buttered baking tin, pressing down to compact.  Place in the refrigerator to chill completely.
3. Once it is cold and set, dump out of the pan.  Peel off the foil and cut into 1-inch squares.  Roll the squares in the icing sugar to coat.  Store in an airtight container.

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I know the time is getting short before the big day, but this amazing little bit sized treat is so quick and easy I thought I would share it with you!  If you make them, I guarantee you won't regret it!

Now all I have to make is my mom's Feather Squares and a Ginger Cake Roulade.   I love being busy.  I miss the days that I had all my chicks around me and gathered beneath my wings.  Pity we never realise how quickly the years are going to pass until they have already passed!

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Rocky Road S'Mores

  

Those of you not familiar with it will probably wonder what Rocky Road is.  Scrumptious, indulgent and easy to make, it is simply a refrigerator cake composed of melted chocolate, crushed biscuits, dried fruit, etc.

 

This gets pressed into a pan and then refrigerated until set and solid and then you can cut it into squares to eat.  It is said to be Prince William and Harry's favourite dessert.

 

The recipe I am sharing with you today is a play on that theme, as well as an unusual take on the American S'mores.  These are scrumptious, indulgent, and very easy to make.

 

Instead of crushed and crumbled biscuits/cookies, it uses crisp rice cereal and salty pretzels.  Mini ones, or larger ones broken into bits. I think the smaller ones work better.

 

There is no dried fruit in it, but there is plenty of chocolate . . .

 

Two kinds are melted together . . .  dark chocolate and milk chocolate . . .

 

along with butter, golden syrup and a quantity of mini marshmallows.

 

If you haven't got golden syrup you can use corn syrup. It will work fine.   Once these ingredients have all melted and are amalgamated  . . .

 

You stir in the pretzels and the crisp cereal  . . . mixing everything well together.

 

You will need an 8-inch square pan lined with aluminium foil, large enough to be able to lift the squares out when done.

 

The chocolate cereal mixture gets spooned into the prepared pan and then lightly pressed to compact it a bit. Don't press too hard . . .

 

The remaining marshmallows get sprinkled over top . . .  these two press down lightly so that they adhere to the chocolate mixture a bit.  Again, not too hard.

  

After chilling for a couple hours until solid you take the pan out of the fridge and pop it under a hot grill to gild the marshmallows on top, golden brown  . . .  that's it.  Ooey, gooey, sweet, salty, rich and indulgent, creamy and crisp . . .  chocolaty.  What more could you ask for?

Yield: Makes 16 bars

Author: Marie Rayner

Rocky Road S'Mores

Sweet, salty, gooey, crisp and chocolaty!

ingredients:

• 75g butter (1/3 cup)
• 1 TBS golden syrup
• 150g white mini marshmallows, divided (3 cups)
• 200g dark chocolate, broken into bits (7 ounces)
• 100g milk chocolate, broken into bits (3 1/2 ounces)
• 50g crisp rice cereal (1 1/2 cups)
• 100g salted mini pretzels (about 2 1/4 cups)

instructions:

How to cook Rocky Road S'Mores

1. Line an 8 inch square pan with aluminium foil.  Set aside.
2. Place the butter, golden syrup and half of the marshmallows into a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Heat over low heat, stirring until melted and amalgamated. Stir in the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate melts. Remove from heat and stir in the rice cereal and pretzels.  Press this mixture into the prepared pan.  Scatter the remaining marshmallows over top, pressing down lightly.  Place in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
3. Preheat the grill/broiler to high. Pop the rocky road (still in the pan) under the grill for about 45 to 60 seconds until toasted golden brown. Remove immediately.  Let cool.
4. Cut into squares with a wet knife to serve.  Store in an airtight container.

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Your children are sure to love this sweet treat.  The adults also. I think they would also be lovely on Holiday cookie trays. Any way you choose to enjoy them, one thing is for certain, they WILL be enjoyed!

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Refrigerator Toffee Bars

 

I am about to show you something totally dangerous. You might want to look away now, before its too late  . . . oops . . .  too late. Sorry about that.  ☺

 

With these warm summer temperatures, nobody can blame a person for not wanting to spend much time in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove, especially when it comes to baking goodies. (Although that has never really been a problem with me.  I bake anyways.  Glutton that I am through and through.)

 

The heat never really gets to me, whereas high humidity does.  Thankfully we only ever very rarely get a day here in the UK in which the humidity combined with the heat is totally unbearable.  When we do though, a recipe such as this one is just the ticket for feeding your sweet tooth and the kiddles.

 

These are such a simple make.  As simple as stirring a few things together in a saucepan and simmering/boiling them on the stove for a short time . . .  sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, butter  . . .  and milk . . .

 

This gets layered in a baking tin along with crisp buttery rectangular shaped crackers.  I have used TUC because that is what we have over here.  But you could use whatever buttery rectangular crackers you have available to you.

 

TUC crackers on their own are dangerous enough for me . . .  love their buttery crunch . . .

 

Anyways, layer them into the tin, three layers of crackers and three layers of toffee, starting with the crackers and ending with the toffee.  Do make sure you line the tin with foil and butter the foil as they will stick on the sides if you don't.  Toffee is like that. 

 

Finally on top you melt some chocolate chips and spread them all over.  The original recipe once upon a time said to use milk chocolate chips, but I like semi sweet myself. These squares are sweet enough without adding to that with milk chocolate chips.

 

You don't have to use chocolate chips, you could just break up a large bar of milk chocolate, or even a bar of white chocolate, but the chocolate chips melt quicker. 

 

Just spread the melted chocolate over top of the last layer of toffee and then if you want you can sprinkle on some cupcake sprinkles, not necessary, but they do dress them up a bit.

  

They might not be the prettiest girl in the class, but they sure are the tastiest!  These are so delicious that I cut the recipe in half (yes you can do that and it works beautifully), but that's not all . . . 

 

I keep them in the outside refrigerator so it takes an extra special effort on my part to go out and get one.  Oh, it also helps to give half of them away.  Just sayin' . . .  these are really scrumptious and dangerously addictive!

 

*Refrigerator Toffee Bars*

Makes 48

Printable Recipe 

 

An oldie but a goodie.  I have had to adapt some of the ingredients to what is available here in the UK. Something sweet to feed your kiddos when the temperature rises and you don't want to be baking.

about 90 buttery rectangular crackers (Here in the UK I use TUC, but I think in

North America they are Keebler Club House)

1 (397g) tin of sweetened condensed milk (14-oz tin)

200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup)

125g butter (1/2 cup)

60ml milk (1/4 cup)

360g semi sweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

 

Line a 13 by 9 inch pan with tinfoil. Spray with low fat cooking spray.  Place 1/3 of the crackers in the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Place the sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, butter and milk into a heavy based saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter has melted.  Increase heat slightly and bring to the boil.  Boil for five minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour 1/3 of this mixture over the crackers in the prepared tin.  Top with another 1/3 of the crackers.  Pour on 1/3 more toffee.  Cover with the final third of the crackers and then the remaining toffee.

Melt the chocolate chips in a glass bowl over simmering water, or in the microwave as directed on the package.  Pour over the toffee.  Spread out evenly.  Place in the refrigerator for about an hour until set. Cut into bars to serve.

 

The Clever cook could sprinkle the warm chocolate on top of the bars with cupcake sprinkles to dress them up prior to refrigerating.  Or you could top them with chopped roasted salted peanuts. In this case they would be almost as tasty as a Snickers Bar!  Then again, they are pretty tasty no matter what!  Bon Appetit! 

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Lemon & Blackberry Slice

 

In all truth my favourite flavour of all baked goodies has to be lemon, followed closely by chocolate . . .  I would actually be very hard pressed to choose between the two, but I (hand to heart) have to admit that lemon has a slight edge over chocolate. 

 

This means that I will choose a lemon slice over a brownie, lemon cake over chocolate cake, lemon muffins over chocolate muffins, and lemon meringue pie instead of chocolate cream pie . . .  every time.  YES, every single time.  It brings a slight tear to my eye that I would ever have to choose between the two, but alas, you really cannot have it all.

 

Lemon Slices are my absolute favourite of all baked squares.  ABSOLUTE.  And no wonder . . .  with their crisp shortbread cookie type of base . . .  and that wobbly lemon curd topping.  What's not to totally love about that combination!

 

These are fabulous and are really simple to make.  The crust is a buttery crumb that you press into the pan and bake . . .  the lemon filling a simple mix that you pour over top of the baked base . . .

 

Blackberries and lemon are a fabulous combination . . .  both in flavour and colour.  Today I chose to add a layer of blackberry flavour in between the crust and the topping by way of some blackberry conserve . . .

 

Not only does this add colour and interest, but it also adds an additional layer of flavour . . .

 

Just look at that  . . .  with its crisp buttery base and that lovely lemon topping  . . .  with that ribbon of blackberry in the middle.  Oh boy  . . .

 

Beautiful for a special tea party if you are planning one, and beautiful just enjoyed as a part of your weekend indulgence . . .

 

Oh, I do love to pull out the stops a tiny bit at the weekend, and these were the perfect way to do just that.  I think you will agree.

 

*Lemon & Blackberry Slices*
Makes  15 squares

Printable Recipe 

 A butter, almost shortbread type of base, topped with sweet blackberry conserves,  with a tangy lemon curd topping baked on top.  Delicious. 

For the base:
280g of plain flour (2 cups)
225g of cold unsalted butter (1 cup, or 2 sticks)
42g sifted icing sugar (1/3 cup)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt 

For the jam:
6 heaped dessert spoons blackberry conserves (about 3/4 cup) 

For the lemon curd topping:
281g of granulated sugar (1 1/3 cup)
the finely grated zest of one un-waxed lemon
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 TBS plain flour
3 large free range eggs
the juice of 2 1/2 lemons (1/3 cup) 

Icing sugar to dust 

  

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Butter an 11 by 7 inch baking dish,  Dust with flour, shaking out any excess.  Set aside.  (Alternately you can line with foil and butter and dust the foil, leaving an overhang to lift the slices out when done.) 

Whisk the flour, icing sugar and salt together in a large bowl.  Cut the butter into cubes and drop it in.  Rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbs.  Press this mixture into the prepared baking tin.    Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, just until it is firm.  Remove from the oven. 

Whisk together the granulated sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and flour for the lemon topping.  Beat in the eggs and lemon juice until smooth.  Set aside. 

Stir the jam together in a bowl with a fork to loosen it.  Spread this over the warm base.  Pour the lemon mixture over top and return the pan to the oven.  Bake for an additional  25 to 30 minutes, until it is set and lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from the pan.  Dust with icing sugar.  Cut  into squares to serve. 

 

Of course you can leave the jam layer out altogether and you will still have a pretty darned tasty slice. If you are not fond of blackberry, you could do raspberry or strawberry, both go very well. These are a crisp buttery, unctuously tart, sweetly ribboned taste sensation that nobody will be able to resist!  Bon Appetit!  (They scream spring to me!) 

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