My Favorite Bar Cookie
Chocolate-and-Sherry Cream Bars (and if you don't like sherry and walnuts, read on, because there are a lot of other options!)
This recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens; I first got it in one of their winter holiday baking special editions, then later in their Ultimate Cookie Book. It's a brownie base with addictive fluffy, booze-charged frosting. I'll give the basic recipe first, then note the many variations I've done. Allow plenty of time for the base to cool before frosting it. It can be good to do it a day ahead, or in the morning and then do the frosting in the afternoon or evening. Then you need to chill the frosting -- so give yourself lots of time for all the steps and the waiting in between.
Base:
1 cu SALTED butter
4 oz baking chocolate
4 eggs
2 cu sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cu flour
Line a 15x10 baking pan with aluminum foil, then butter the foil. (The foil makes it easy to lift out the finished, cooled cookie base for easy frosting.) Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Let it cool a bit so you don't cook the eggs, then mix in beaten eggs and vanilla. Gently stir in flour. Spread in foil-lined pan. Bake at 350 deg for 25 min. You want it to still be moist.
Note: let the base cool completely before frosting it.
Frosting:
4 cups confectioner's sugar (sift, then measure)
1/2 cu SALTED butter, well softened
1/4 cu cream
1/4 cu sherry (or substitution)
1 cu chopped walnuts (or substitution)
Beat the sugar and butter in an electric mixer on low speed until thoroughly combined. Turn up speed and gradually add cream and sherry. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Spread over cooled brownie base.
Topping
1/2 cu semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter
4 tsp sherry (or substitution)
Melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat. Remove from heat, then stir in sherry until smooth. Drizzle over the frosting layer.
Put the uncut cookies in the fridge to chill. When it has begun to firm up, but is not yet solid, score the marks you plan to cut over later. (This step sounds pointless, but is actually important. If you don't do it, the drizzle layer chills hard and breaks all over and creates a huge mess when you try to cut the bars.) Then, when it's fully chilled, cut the bars. Keep them in the fridge until an hour or so before you plan to serve them.
Substitutions
I've never made these the way the recipe is written, since I'm mildly allergic to walnuts. I've made them with amaretto and sliced almonds, and with frangelico and hazelnuts. Both were luscious. For the preschool potluck, I made them with brandy and no nuts. Those were pretty high-test, but I found them delightful and irresistible. I've thought about doing them with bourbon and pecans, or Grand Marnier and candied orange peel. For the drizzled topping, you can use water instead of booze if you feel like they're already boozy enough. Finally, to simplify things, you can use chocolate chips or chocolate shavings instead of the drizzle. Gthis means you don't need to do the extra step of pulling them out when partially chilled to score the bars.
Enjoy!