New Classic or Kitchen Fail

Last Thursday was my friend Drenda's annual cookie swap/ornament exchange. She's been doing this for at least a dozen years with the same group of women, many of which I only see at the cookie swap. You remember Drenda, don't you. The one whose holiday decorations I covet. 

Drenda has prizes for everyone, as well as parting gifts. But the big prize is that of  best cookie, so every year I search for something new. Something that's bound to win the hearts and taste buds of all who sample it. 

This year, I came across a whole series of cookie recipes that were based on popular candy bars. And let me tell you, narrowing down that decision was a chore. They all looked SO good.

Finally, I settled on a recipe called Gold Bars and they're based on a Twix candy bar.

Be still my heart.

For this recipe, you're going to need:

• ½ cup (one stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
•  ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 9 oz. package soft caramel candies
• ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
• ½ cup half and half, divided
• 4 egg yolks
• ½ cup milk chocolate bits

Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Then line a 9x9 baking pan with parchment paper.

I do not own a 9x9 baking dish. I have an 8x8 and 9x13, so I decided to double the recipe and use the bigger dish. The measurements shown above are for a single batch, though.

In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together butter, sugar, vanilla, salt and baking powder until fluffy and light.

Add flour and mix just until dough comes together.

Press dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Prick all over the crust with a fork.

By the way, this cookie crust is quite tasty all by itself. :)

Now you're going to bake that for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

While the crust bakes, prepare the filling. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt caramels with sweetened condensed milk and ¼ cup of the half and half, stirring continuously. 

I recommend unwrapping all of your caramels before starting this recipe. I didn't, so my crust was done well before my caramel mixture.

When mixture is melted and smooth, remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and remaining ¼ cup half and half. While whisking, pour the yolks into the melted caramel and whisk to blend. (Sorry, I forgot to take a pic)

When the crust is baked...

Pour caramel mixture over crust, then return pan to oven. Bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until set. I forgot to take a pic here, too. Did I mention that I was on the phone with our internet service provider this entire time? We switched servers for our internet, television and home phone back in June and yet our home phone still did not work. Naturally, the day I had a bazillion things to do is when they decided to jump on it. Talk about frustrating. However, I am happy to say that our home phone is finally working again.

Once your caramel has set, remove from oven and gently sprinkle milk chocolate bits over the top and allow them to melt.

For the life of me, I could not find milk chocolate BITS. I found Heath Toffee Bits and other BITS, but not what I was looking for. So I used these...

And chopped them up before sprinkling. 

Still, it was a challenge when it came to spreading.

Use an offset spatula to gently spread the melted chocolate over the surface of the caramel, taking care to not disturb the caramel layer.

As you can see, I obviously did not use enough care because I managed to disturb the caramel. 

But at least it was along the edges. Besides, I'd be cutting these into bars, so I could easily leave off the less attractive parts. Or just eat them myself. 

Which I did. Me, the one who's cut sugar from her diet.

Oy.

Allow to cool completely before removing from pan and cutting into small bars. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Just look at those layers. The crispy cookie crust, the decadent caramel, the chocolate...

They were SO good.

But no, I did not win the coveted Best Cookie prize. However, I may have received something better. 

The stamp of approval from my family. Although, my youngest son did feel the need to point out that, while it was still good, it did not taste like a Twix.

Now that the cookie swap is over, it's on to more baking and candy making. Peanut clusters are in the freezer and I have got to get hopping on my peanut butter balls, aka chestnuts. Then I'll start on the cookies that freeze well before sprinting on to the finish right before Christmas. 

It's a baker's dream.

What's baking this week at your house?

Drenda's Cookie Swap

Tex here, with my sweet friend, Drenda. Every year for the last decade or so, she has hosted a cookie swap and yours truly has had the privilege of being invited to every one.

The group of 15-20 ladies hasn't changed much over the years. For some of us, it's the only time we see each other, so there's lots of catching up to do. And nothing at Drenda's house is ever boring.




First, her decorations are to-die-for. Drenda's house is just a normal house. Small, but oh so cozy. And the things this woman does with it are amazing. We all spend the first twenty minutes just roaming to see how she's decorated everything. I mean, even her kitchen sink gets special treatment. She just has a knack for merchandising.

Aside from the cookies and decorations, we have an ornament exchange. Honestly, I think this is a higher priority than the cookies. Everyone takes choosing their ornament very seriously, hoping to bring (and receive) that one ornament that everyone is fighting over. And some of these ladies can be cut-throat when it comes to stealing.

As for the cookies, this year I brought Mexican Chipotle Chocolate Bites. Once again, I find myself with the need to explain that THESE ARE NOT HOT. Actually, they're kind of interesting. When you bite into them, all you taste is yummy cookie. Then, a couple minutes later, you get this nice warm feeling in the back of your throat. Not one person who tried them commented on them being hot. However, they did like that warm feeling afterward.

So here we go. You're gonna need:

Cookie Ingredients:

• ¼ cup butter, softened                                               
• ¼ cup shortening
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened                                
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking powder                                        
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon                                                 
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ - 1 teaspoon chipotle powder                                  
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla                                                    
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup chopped Mexican-style sweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate (I used semisweet)

Filling:

• 2 tablespoons whipping cream                        
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup Mexican-style sweet chocolate or semisweet chocolate

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup chocolate, the cream, and butter.

Cook over low heat, stirring until chocolate is melted.

Transfer to a medium bowl. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until nearly firm.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine butter, shortening, and cream cheese. Beat with an electric mixer, medium to high speed, for 30 seconds.



Add brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and chipotle powder. Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally.

 

Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in flour until combined. Using a wooden spoon, fold in ½ cup chopped chocolate.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Flatten balls until ¼ inch thick. If desired, sprinkle with additional chipotle powder (I did not do this).



Bake 6-8 minutes or until edges are set. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack and cool completely.

For your filling, beat nearly firm chocolate with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. DO NOT OVERBEAT. I learned the hard way that when the color goes from a dark brown to a light mocha color, you’re done.

 

Spread filling on bottoms of half of the cooled cookies. Top with remaining cookies, bottom sides down. Don't they look pretty? They're all ready for Drenda's 

 

Storage:  Layer filled cookies between sheets of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

 

Of course, they were thrilled to be invited to a party and meet so many new friends.

 

Yes, I sampled most--okay, all--of the offerings. Then Drenda gave each of us a tray to fill and take home. That's my guys' favorite part.

 

How's your holiday baking coming? Have you started? Are you dreading?

Come on, tell us what's up at your house.