{"id":2831,"date":"2022-12-17T08:09:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-17T13:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/?p=2831"},"modified":"2022-12-18T22:07:53","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T03:07:53","slug":"make-these-buttercrunch-bars-and-4-ordinary-ingredients-will-make-many-people-happy-this-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agooddish.com\/?p=2831","title":{"rendered":"5 Ordinary Ingredients Will Make Many People Happy When You Bake These Buttercrunch Bars"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Buttercrunch bars<\/span>
Stoneware plate by Mike Helke<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the time of year I usually bake a lot of cookies. Nothing too fancy because even simple cookie recipes can be delicious and friends and neighbors are always delighted to receive them. Although I can\u2019t eat them anymore because sugar inflames my joints, I enjoy the pleasure these sweet treats bring others. A vivid childhood memory is of the annual tin of cookies gifted to my parents from a caterer, Ingrid Slattberg, who had immigrated from Sweden and made delectable baked goods. Each tin contained 7 or 8 types of cookies including melt-in-your-mouth shortbread rimmed with colorful sprinkles, vanilla\/chocolate swirled sables and everyone\u2019s favorite\u2014rolled lacy tuiles<\/a> with a dab of light green frosting at each end. Ingrid shared her recipes but my recreations have never tasted quite as good as hers were in my memory.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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I lay the pecans in a single layer<\/span>
but you could use more<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Boil the sugar and butter to create<\/span>
the buttercrunch layer<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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You can smooth the chocolate on top<\/span>
or leave the melted chips showing<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have participated in cookie swaps (you bake a dozen cookies for each participant and go home with many varieties), mailed cookies, baked and bagged cookies for school bake sales, served platters of them at holiday gatherings and sent dozens to office parties. Along with the requisite envelope of cash, I annually gifted cookies to our building superintendents. The most recent super started to ask me every year around Thanksgiving, when he would be getting his annual \u201cbrownies.\u201d They weren\u2019t actually brownies at all but buttercrunch bars, also known as turtle bars, and I\u2019ve never met anyone who didn\u2019t enjoy them. I think I found the recipe on a package of Land O\u2019 Lakes butter as a teenager and have been making them ever since. An older friend (who was an excellent baker) once sent me a Maida Heatter brownie recipe<\/a> with a note that said \u201cMake these and give them away immediately!\u201d They were that scrumptious. My advice is the same in this instance.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Buttercrunch packed and ready<\/span>
to give or mail<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The recipe is a simple three step crust (flour, sugar, butter), filling (nuts covered with melted butter and sugar) and topping (chocolate chips that melt onto the hot filling topped crust). I increased the amount of filling and topping to make it more generous and added the amount of chocolate. Be careful not to cut the squares too large because this is a rich bar. No wonder it was promoted by a butter company! You can, and should, make a double recipe.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Buttercrunch bars<\/span>
Narrow plate by Mike Helke<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BUTTERCRUNCH BARS<\/span><\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish (I use a Pyrex).<\/span><\/p>\n

Crust:<\/span><\/p>\n