Coconut Almond Bars

Howdy friends! How are you this fine, rainy Wednesday evening? I figured you might need a sweet chocolaty pick-me-up! I know I could. I made these quite a while ago and to be honest just never got around to blogging them. But I was flipping through pictures and noticed I had these lovely little shots my hubby took and I just had to share them with you!

This recipe is from one of my favorite baking books - Back to Baking by Anna Olson! I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Coconut Almond Bars
Minimally adapted from Back to Baking by Anna Olson

Ingredients:

Base:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour

Filling:

• 1 1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 300 ml tin sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

Topping:

• 5 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp. butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper so paper comes up the sides.
2. Melt butter and chocolate in a small pan over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Then add egg and vanilla and stir til blended. Add flour and stir. Spread this mixture into the bottom of prepared an and bake for 10 minutes until it loses its shine. Cool while preparing the filling.
3. For the filling, stir the coconut, almonds, condensed milk, vanilla and salt to combine. Spread over cooled base. Bake 25 minutes until light golden brown. Cool to room temperature before adding the topping.
4. For the topping, melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave on low heat, stirring often.  Pour mixture over cooled filling and spread evenly.
5. Chill the pan for about 2 hours to set the chocolate. Cut the squares while chilled, but then store and enjoy at room temp. I used a small round biscuit cutter to cut mine into cute little round shapes for a fun way to present them!

These bars have amazing chocolaty flavour, but they are a little on the sweet side! If you don't like super sweet treats, then these probably aren't the bars for you! If however you love a little sugar hit - get on making these right away to cure your mid-week blues!

Happy Baking Friends!

Chocolate Almond Toffee Bars

What a great long weekend! So relaxing and enjoyable... almost a shame to have to head back to work tomorrow! Oh well, I must have this income to support my cooking and baking addiction... so its a vicious cycle! :)

I made these squares (along with the cupcakes in my last post) for my "treat day" at work. Treat day happens every Thursday in my office and staff members below manager level are required to bring in goodies for everyone. As this day is much anticipated each week, its important to have super yummy goodies for everyone to choose from. I added these Chocolate Almond Toffee Bars to the mix on my last treat day and my co-workers were really excited. I was repeatedly asked for the recipe and there were none left by lunch time.

To top off the great taste of these bars, they're so easy. You can literally whip them up in under 10 minutes (put them together while your oven preheats) and then throw them in the oven for half an hour. Check out the recipe below to see how easy these bars really are! The biggest challenge in making this dish is waiting for the bars to chill enough to slice them into nice squares!! :)

Chocolate Almond Toffee Bars
Recipe from In the Kitchen with Anna by Anna Olson

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats


• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs


• 1/4 tsp fine salt


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted


• 1 cup skor toffee bits


• 1 cup chocolate chips


• 1 cup sliced almonds


• 1 can (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the sides of the pan.


2. Stir the oats, graham cracker crumbs and salt in a bowl to combine, then stir in the melted butter. Pres the crumbly oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle skor bits evenly on top, followed by chocolate chips and sliced almonds. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over pan (it will sink in as it bakes) and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the edges are bubbling. Cool to room temperature in the pan, then chill for at least 4 hours before slicing into bars.


3. Store toffee bars in the refrigerator for up to one week. Makes about 25 squares.

Happy Easter to all of you & Happy Baking my Friends!

Nutty Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Biscotti originate from Italy where the name literally means "twice baked". Biscotti were baked twice to produce a very dry cookie that would keep for long periods of time. Today biscotti are just considered a decadent treat with many variations of the recipe. Many biscotti makers today tend not to bake their biscotti traditionally and produce a softer biscotti that many people seem to love. I also prefer my biscotti a little bit softer than is traditional, so please keep that in mind as I share baking times with you - if you prefer your biscotti more traditionally crunchy, feel free to bake a little bit longer during the second baking time!

The recipe I made is from my cookbook The Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich. I seem to share a lot of recipes with you out of her cookbooks, but they're just so good that I can't resist sharing them! The recipe is quite easy and not overly technical, so beginners or people who don't like the kitchen much will have no problems making this recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


Nutty Chocolate Chip Biscotti
Recipe adapted from Cinda Chavich, p. 467 The Guy Can't Cook

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup softened butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup lightly toasted almond slices (or pistachios)
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Gradually add 1/2 the flour mixture to the batter, beating to incorporate. Stir in the nuts and chocolate. Stir in the remainder of the flour mixture and incorporate. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and separate into three equal portions. Roll each portion into a rope about 12 to 14 inches long.

4. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper and place the ropes side-by-side, leaving at least 3 inches of space for the cookies to expand into slightly flattened logs as they bake.

5. Bake for 20-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are firm to the touch. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes. With a serrated knife, cut each log on an angle into 1/2 inch thick biscotti. Lay biscotti on the baking sheet and return to oven for 5 minutes to crisp up a bit. If desired, drizle melted chocolate over the biscotti once they've cooled, or dip one end of each biscotto in melted chocolate and chill until chocolate sets. Makes 4-5 dozen biscotti.

This recipe makes some of the most delicious biscotti I have ever made at home! If you choose one recipe to make - choose this one - you will impress yourself, your friends and your family!


Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my blog! Have you ever made biscotti? If so, what type of biscotti did you make? Until next time - happy baking my friends!