USVI-On-Line

Minde, those crancrackle bars look immensly yummy!

Lindy, how do you manage to make so much??? You must be in the kitchen baking 16 hrs. a day!!

Today I'm going to make another batch of the coffee toffee bars, but this time I'm going to substitute the almond extract with crushed dry roasted, unsalted almonds from Trader Joe's. I plan to take them out of the oven a little early and spread the chocolate & butterscotch chips around like frosting, add the nuts & press them down a little, and put back in the oven for about 10 min. I'll let you know how they come out.

I sent all the previous coffee toffee bars to work with my husband where his co-workers devoured them! They always benefit from my experiments!

omg Lindy - I'm exhausted just reading that paragraph!

I think I might give the cran-crackly bars a whirl after the holidays.

Lindy, you're quite the dynamo! You put even my mom, who taught me to be the baker, to shame! Well, I've finished the mint cookies...they are VERY good. I melted some dark chocolate chips and some green chips, and dabbed a bit on the top of each cookie. I also made Connie's cookies, and they are wonderful! So crispy!
Now to the snickerdoodles.....

Ok, here's the result of tweaking the coffee toffee bar recipe! OMG...these could be SO dangerous! Rick's co-workers won't be seeing any of these!



Here's the recipe:

Coffee Toffee Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup soft unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ tablespoons instant coffee (I used instant espresso because it was a fine grind)
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups sifted flour
Approx. 1 ½ cups chopped dry roasted unsalted almonds (Trader Joe’s are good!)
1 - 12 oz. bag chocolate chips
1/3 – 12 oz. bag butterscotch chips


Preparation Instructions:

Cream together the butter and brown sugar.
Blend in the almond & vanilla extracts, instant coffee, baking powder and salt.
Add flour to make a stiff dough.

Press into a well-greased 9×13 pan and sprinkle entire 12 oz. bag of chocolate chips on top. Then sprinkle about 1/3 bag of butterscotch chips on top of the chocolate chips.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes and remove from oven. Smear the chips around like frosting. Sprinkle chopped almonds on top of the chocolate and press down lightly with the back of a spatula.

Return to the oven for another 5 to 7 minutes, remove from oven and cool.

Well thanks to all of you I decided to try something different than my usual Christmas cut-out & frosted cookies this year. Today I made Connie's Oatmeal Toffee cookies and I added the coconut even though it was optional. I love coconut but the rest of my family doesn't. Well the three family members that were here when the trial batch came out of the oven all gave them a thumbs-up. I also made the Starlight Mint Surprise cookies. I found Andes Creme De Menthe baking chips and they worked great! I melted some white chips in the microwave and spread a little on top of the cookies after baking. I then took candy canes that I had chopped up and sprinkled just a small amount for color on the top. Again I baked only a small batch. I have rolled and frozen all the rest of the batter for both types of cookie to bake Thursday for a cookie exchange. I plan to make the Salted Nut Bars and the Cran-crackle Bars on Thursday too.
I just want to say thanks to all of you who have shared your recipes and comments about the recipes. Also the great information about making the dough and freezing it ahead of time. Wow! What did I ever do without you? Oh that's right...I made cut-out cookies every year.

AzureHaven

I agree! This thread was an inspiration. Other than two cookies, I make the exact same cookies I made as a child with my mother.
I skipped the ones that I always have left over, and found some new favorites! My peppermint meringues are languishing in a warm oven right now and will come out at 1:30.
Then I'm done for the year!
These are super simple and pretty and everyone loves them:
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 candy canes

Set up a gallon sized ziplock bag over a pitcher or something to make transfer of the meringue into the bag easy. Line cookie sheets with parchment or waxed paper.
Whip the egg whites, then mix in the cream of tartar and salt. Whip the sugar in a little at a time until the mixture forms stiff peaks and is shiny. Spoon the meringue into the ziplock bag and seal it. Cut a tiny corner off of the bag and make little meringue droplets on the cookie sheets. They won't spread, so you can put them close together.
Crush the candy canes and sprinkle them over the meringues.
Bake at 225 for 1 1/2 hours, then turn the oven off, open the door and allow the meringues to come to room temperature.
Store in an airtight container.

Ok pros, I have a questions about snickerdoodles. I made some yesterday. I am not sure if I somehow was distracted and put in the wrong amount of flour, or if with my new mixer I got it too fluffy, or if I cooked them correctly and have just had them turn out differently in the past because of the crappy mixer I used to use.

Basically they were pretty flat and thin and very crispy/airy and had a meringue like texture to them. They were good but in the past they have had a more cakey texture. Like the same texture as a refrigerator dough sugar cookie.

Any ideas what happened or is this how your snickerdoodles are?

I'm not a pro by any means, but my snickerdoodles are always sort of light and crispy. They've never been cake like. Maybe your cream of tartar was old last time, and new this time? That's my only thought. I don't know enough about how ingredients work together, to venture any further than that.
I always buy a fresh cream of tartar for Christmas cookies.

CG - The only way that I can do that many cookies for the church sale is to start in November and freeze the cookie dough all ready to bake. Even with that I was in my kitchen for at least 8 hours on Friday afternoon and night so that everything was fresh baked the day before the sale. You should have smelled the car on the way there! Nothing smells as good as fresh baked cookies.

I'm going to try your variation on the Toffee Coffee bars. I have someone who loves pecans so I might top each bar with a whole pecan rather than the almonds. I'll have to play with them.

Minde - Glad you like the mint cookies. Everyone here loves them too.

jayseadee - Do try the cran-crackles because they are GOOD! They sorta remind me of a fruit and granola bar only without the granola. If that makes any sense...

Here's what the peppermint meringues look like. They aren't really brown but I'm not good at editing! They're about twice the size of a Hershey's kiss.
Thanks for the inspiration everybody!
<a href="http://tinypic.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/hu51jt.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>

Ok, you guys inspired me.. that and the two pounds of butter I had left over from my Thanksgiving extravaganza. Made rasberry thumbprint, nestles mini morsel bites and hersey kisses/peanut butter cookies.

I don't know how you all do this every year!!! Hats off, this is hard work.

Lindy - Since I posted that recipe, Lisa suggested Heath Bar chips for the top. I think they are a definite "must add" on the next batch! I'd spread them around with the chocolate chips.

Minde - Those merangues looks really cool!

I surely don't bake like this every year! It's only because I'm unemployed and this thread really inspired me to try some new stuff!

Yummy topic. I made the Oatmeal Toffee Cookies yesterday and they were incredible, def a new family favorite!
Thanks Connie and to everyone for the holiday baking inspiration!

CG - The heath bar chips would definitely add to the
"toffee" part of the Coffee Toffee bars. I'm on hiatus this week. I'll probably bake some more this weekend - miniature cheesecakes. I've got to lay off this stuff or I'll weigh 400 pounds by New Years!! That's exactly why I give most of them away.

Lindy, I tried the toffee chips and although they're good, they added a whole lot of salt! I used a whole bag and that's around 1200mg!! (I didn't read the package first - who'd a thunk?! ) I think adding 1/2 pkg. would achieve the same flavor without all the salt, but I have to admit, that I don't eat much salt, so I'm more sensitive to tasting it in things. Still way yummy, though!