Food Friday - Hitting' the Bars!

from Kris B.

In the adapted words of Robert Burns, "The best laid plans of mice and men (or women) may often go awry..."  And did they ever for me this week!   Knowing that we were leaving on Wednesday fro a nearly two week vacation, I told Tracey that I would get my post for today done before we left.  And, I almost did, sort of.  Here is where the plans went awry...

I decided that I would make an old recipe of my mom's for a dessert bar that she called "Hello Dollies."  I have no idea why they have that name.  My choice for  making these was two-fold: 1.  They are good and easy so would not take a great deal of time away from my vacation preparations and 2. We would have a treat to pack and bring along with us.  It seemed like a win-win situation.

I did make the Hello Dollies early in the week and got all of the photos taken.  Literally at the eleventh hour before we were to leave, I was packing them in a to-go container and realized that we did not have room for it in our carry-on luggage, so I ditched the idea of bringing them along.  The only picture that I had not taken at this point was the final plated photo.  I had thought that I would shoot that once we got to North Carolina.  So, I quickly took a few shots with my phone.  I had all the shots I had taken earlier in the day.  I was good to go, even if that last photo wasn't the greatest.

At 35,000 feet somewhere between Dallas and Charlotte, I realized that I had left the SD card with all of the photos that I needed in my computer at home.  The last thing I did the night before we left was take a picture of the final item to be packed, my camera.  And then I took the card out and uploaded that photo.  I had gotten two new SD cards for the trip, so I didn't worry about putting the "used" card back in my bag. And my phone shots are TERRIBLE!   So here I am with no food photos for today's recipe.  LOL!

I will, however, share the recipe.

HELLO DOLLIES (an old recipe from my mom)

11 stick butter

 Cup crushed saltine crackers (about 25 crackers)

1 Cup shredded coconut

1 Cup chocolate chips

1 Cup chopped pecans

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the butter in a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Mix in the crushed crackers and spread evenly along the bottom to make a "crust."  Layer the coconut, then the chocolate chips, and finally the pecans, evenly on the only over cracker mixture.  Pour the entire can of sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top.  Bake for 30 minutes.  

Allow the bars to cool completely and then cut into 1 inch squares.  Refrigerating the pan will make it easier to cut the bars.

Cheers!

by Tracey G

There's a funny story connected to the first time I ever made these bars, lol, well, it is to me anyway, lol. It was back in early 2000's I think, and I'd made this recipe for a fundraiser. The fundraiser was for a local man, who was also a local businessman and friend, not close friend, but in a small town like mine, everyone knows everyone, lol. He'd been diagnosed with some kind of health issue, so the community set up a few things for fundraising to take place on a Saturday at the local pub/restaurant that everyone went to for fun in the evenings and it was the hopping place during the business day for lunch :-) So, I'd found this recipe and thought it sounded like a perfect bake sale kind of thing. The night before, I made a batch and put them in these really nice foil tins and left them on the kitchen island as they would be dropped off the next morning before the bake sale began.

At this time my mom lived with me, I'd moved her in a few years before as it was just more financially feasible for all of us - it was a win-win kind of thing, and she was so busy and active in the local Eagles club and the daytime bartender there, she was never home. Was more like having a teenager around than my mom, lol. Anyway, I got up Saturday morning, the day of the bake sale, and find that the tins had been rifled through. Apparently my mom saw treats and helped herself, lol. I was so mad (at the time, now it's funny, lol)! I can't remember now just what she'd taken, but I know it was enough that I had to go out, buy more ingredients and make another batch in a hurry, because I had to have them there by like noon or something. I get the next batch made, and while they were still warm, I put them in more tins and got them to the bake sale. One of my dearest friends was then an owner of the place, and worked there too, so it was her I delivered them to. I dropped them off, and then went back home to get ready to go back for the fundraising festivities. When I get back there, my friend tells me they never made it to the bake sale table - the employees bought them on the spot when I brought them in since they were still warm, lol. They had my mom to thank for that ;-) Ah good times, good times, lol.

So, every time I make a batch of these, I am reminded of that day ;-)

They're really easy to make too, and that makes me happy, I'm always all in for something easy to make!

The ingredient list is easy, and I think I remembered to get them all into the shot this time! Yay me! LOL It's simple stuff: oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, vegetable shortening, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, vanilla, molasses, eggs, baking soda and salt. The only things I don't always have around, and needed to pick up for the recipe, are the molasses and the butterscotch chips. The butterscotch chips are a recipe modification I made - just a couple handfuls and it really added something to it. :-)

The first thing you do, is beat the brown sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. I'll admit, every time I make these, I wonder if that will happen, as in the very first stages of mixing, that looks like an impossible feat, lol. But as you can see, it does happen! :-) While that's doing it's thing, getting fluffy and all, I take that time to grease my 9x13" pan.

Next step is to mix in the dry ingredients. I dumped the brown sugar/shortening mixture into a bit of  a larger bowl as I knew that my mixer bowl was not going to be quite big enough to mix in everything neatly, lol. And it's a snap to stir in the flour, oatmeal (I combine the oatmeal, flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl beforehand for easy mixing), salt, baking soda and baking chips.

Once everything is mixed together thoroughly, spread it in the pan evenly. 

Bake at 350° F for 20-25 minutes or until the middle is set. I think it took 35 minutes for me today. You can cool them slightly and cut into bars, or you can let them cool completely. They're pretty gooey when they come out, which is good too, lol, and they set up more the longer they sit. And that's it :-) They are simple and yummy and I consider them "healthy" since there's oatmeal - well, that's what I tell myself anyway, lol. ;-)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars

makes approximately 48 bars

 1 1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar

1 c shortening

2 tbsp molasses

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

3 c quick cooking rolled oats

1 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 c chopped nuts (optional)

1 12 oz. package chocolate chips

butterscotch chips, about 2 handfuls (approximately half a 12 oz package)

1) Grease either a 9x13" pan or 15x10x1" pan.

2) In a large bowl, beat brown sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add molasses, vanilla and eggs; blend well.

3) Stir in oats, flour, baking soda and salt; blend well. Stir in nuts, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips.

4) Spread in greased pan. Bake 20-25 min or until light golden brown and center is set. Cool slightly. Cut into bars. Serve warm or cool.