Peanutty Caramel Squares

Some who say a Snickers bar can't be improved have probably never tried Peanutty Caramel Squares. These three-layer bar cookies -- with a Snickers filling -- would make a great lunch box snack (if schools still allow peanuts, that is).

This recipe dates from the late 1960s or early 1970s, as it calls for four regular Snickers bars or 10 "fun size." The latter weren't introduced until 1968.

I served these at a family barbecue, where they quickly disappeared and were especially beloved by my brand-new son-in-law. Luckily he bike races, so he can eat sweets (and everything else) with abandon.

Begin by purchasing Snickers bars, below, with the not-so-subliminal message "Satisfies" on the back of the package.

Over low heat, melt the Snickers bars, with milk and butter in a saucepan.

Add the coconut and almond extract.

Make the crust and place in a greased or parchment-lined 8 x 8 inch baking pan, reserving 1/2 cup for the topping. (You should make the crust before starting the filling.  I just put the fun part first in this post.)

Pat down until smooth.  I use gloves for this task.

Bake until golden brown.

Pour the chocolate filling over the crust.

Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the chocolate filling.

Bake, remove from oven and cut into squares.

Super Moon Ranger Cookies

On Sunday, we were lucky enough to watch the Super Moon rise while sailing in New York Harbor aboard the Pioneer, the South Street Seaport Museum's 1885 schooner. (A sail on this vessel is highly recommended, during any phase of the moon.)

Our children and their others brought themselves (always a treat), our friends brought the wine and I brought a portable dessert --  fantastic ranger cookies in quantities large enough to share with the crew.

These are beyond delicious cookies, chewy and crisp, and way more than the sum of their parts.  I was stunned at how good they were, especially because they called for corn flakes.  Corn flakes!  A little research revealed that while there are many variations of ranger cookies, they always contain oats, coconut and some sort of breakfast cereal, usually rice crispies or cornflakes.

Begin with soft butter (two sticks!), and white and brown sugar.

Prepare the "secret" ingredients: oats, coconut and corn flakes.

Mix everything together. The corn flakes will break up naturally when mixed in to the batter.

Roll the batter into small balls, about one-inch diameter.

Place them on a baking sheet and depress each one with the tines of a fork.

Production notes: I used all butter (no solid shortening).  Because this recipe is difficult to read, I've written out instructions below.

Ranger Cookies

1 c. butter
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 c. quick-cooking oats
2 c. whole corn flakes
1 c. sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 375 F

Cream the butter with the sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Add to the mixture.
Add a small amount of water.
Add the oats, corn flakes and coconut. Mix until well combined.
Roll into small balls and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving space for spreading.
Flatten each cookie slightly with a fork.
Bake 9 to 13 minutes until brown.
Let cool for a few minutes and then remove to baking rack.

Rhubarb Cake

Quick, before rhubarb season ends, get a few of these ruby stalks and bake this moist and delicious (and did I say easy?) cake. Its coconut topping puts it over the top. Not sure when the recipe -- written on a sheet of notepaper was recorded --  but I'd guess the 1950s.

Of course, I made this mostly to showcase the fantastic Christmas present (see personalized cake pan above) that I received on Tuesday from my boss.  I know it's July, but this pan -- along with the three others nested in the beautifully wrapped box -- made the wait worth it. Truly, one of the very best gifts I've ever received. (The boss is famous for his extreme thoughtfulness.  Punctuality, not so much.)

Begin the cake by cutting up enough rhubarb to fill two cups.

The batter is easy and traditional -- cream the butter and sugar, add the egg, and then alternately add the buttermilk and the dry ingredients (flour, etc.). Finally, fold in the rhubarb.

Put the batter in your brand-new personalized pan (or any 12 x 9 pan you may have on hand).

Combine the topping ingredients -- coconut, sugar and cinnamon.

Spoon the topping over the batter as evenly as you can and pop it in a 350 F oven.

Voila!  Let it cool and enjoy.

Each of my new pans comes with its own cover, featuring a beautiful graphic of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Production notes:  I used unsalted butter in place of oleo, and used buttermilk (aka sour milk).  This fit nicely in a 12 x 9 inch pan, which I greased and floured, even though it is a non-stick pan. (Why risk the heartache of a cake stuck in a pan?)  For the coconut, I used 1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut flakes (because I had them on hand) and 1/2 cup of sweetened coconut.  But you can use one cup of sweetened coconut -- the rhubarb is tart and extra sugar is never a bad thing.  The recipe's author (a teen, from the looks of the handwriting) neglected to include instructions for adding the rhubarb.  Add it at the end.  I baked it for about 35 minutes, but it could have baked longer.

The Perfect Super Bowl Snack: Coconut Butterscotch Squares

These bar cookies are every bit as addicting as a really great football game, so why not make them for the Super Bowl?

They're easy to make and even easier to eat.  In fact, when DH brought them to work one day, a colleague took one, came back for another and later instead of exiting the building after taking the elevator down five flights, turned around and rode another car up to get a third.  

The coconut and pecans for the topping.

Like all recipes, one must pay close attention to this one.  I didn't and paid for it. Instead of making the bottom layer with brown sugar, I used white.  The result was so bad that even I couldn't eat this mistake.

My mistake, dumped out on the kitchen counter.

What the crust should look like (except in real life it wasn't this blurry!).

When I was young, my mother sometimes made something called Seven Layer Bars, in which chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, nuts, coconut and more were layered atop a graham cracker crust, with sweetened condensed milk poured over the whole thing.  And then baked, of course.  They lasted about an hour, they were so good.

The recipe for Coconut Butterscotch Squares is probably a precursor to that one.  It's most likely from the 1940s, and incorporates more traditional baking techniques, like using eggs as a binder.  Desserts of that era were a simpler by necessity, for ingredients like butterscotch chips didn't exist and anyway our American palates hadn't been introduced to the over-the-top desserts typical of the past 20 years.

So enjoy these 1940s treats at the 2011 Super Bowl, which is akin to one of my favorite things: watching a black & white movie on the TCM channel while flying on Jet Blue.