Cozy Brown Sugar Bars

You may be thinking, another dessert recipe from Leslie!??  Ha, why yes it is.  Contrary to how it appears, I haven't been skipping meals for dessert!  (Only in my dreams:)  I've still been making things like delicious pork loin with balsamic glaze and apples, enchiladas with favorite black beans, chili and cast iron skillet cornbread, marinated chicken fingers with roasted yukon gold potatoes....on and on.  I do still make entrees, but my pictures of most of them are awful since they're prepared at night and pictures are taken with a flash.  Bad excuse, but true!  I promise I'll be better at bringing you some savory recipes soon!!!

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My family came over this weekend, and it was great!  I made a big pan homemade lasagna, green salad and garlic toasted whole grain bread with kalamata extra virgin olive oil (Trader Joe's) for dipping!  I have to say that I think bread and e.v. olive oil is one of the best healthy indulgences ever!  So yummy and heart healthy, just don't eat too much!

When they arrived, I had some fresh apple cider with cinnamon sticks and cloves simmering on the stove top!  There's nothing more inviting on a cold day than to come in for something hot to drink.  Warms your body and soul! 

I had just pulled these brown sugar bars out of the oven not long before everyone arrived!  Freshly dusted with powdered sugar, they were waiting with the cider piled high on an eyelet trimmed tea towel on a dainty pedestal.  

These moist and chewy bar cookies are a treat I used to make when we lived in Louisville for cell group at church.  They always seemed to be a hit, because they'd be wiped out in just a few minutes! 

Brown Sugar bars are incredibly simple to make and require only a few ingredients!  Yes, they do contain sugar, but to my surprise there is no butter (or oil) at all in the recipe!  They taste more decadent that they are.

I like to add chopped pecans to them and shower them with powdered sugar to give them a beautiful finish.  This is a Paula Deen recipe from her Just Desserts cookbook, that I love! 

I'm sure you'll find these brown sugar bars the perfect little treat to whip up! Just right on a chilly, wintry day (or stormy one like it is here...) these gooey centered-crispy edged bars are divine with a glass of milk, coffee or hot apple cider! 

Brown Sugar Bars

Makes 16  2-in. squares

1 egg

1 c. brown sugar, lightly packed

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. chopped pecans or other nut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 in. square pan. (I used Pam for baking.)

Stir together egg, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. 

Sift (or whisk) together flour, soda and salt in a smaller bowl.

Quickly stir flour mixture into egg mixture.  Add most of the nuts.

Spread in pan and sprinkle on the rest of the nuts.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.  The batter will puff up and get golden around the edges, but stay very moist inside.  

(This past time I thought I should bake it a few minutes longer, because I thought the inside needed more time.  Well, I kind of over baked them a little!  So unless your oven is not too accurate, 20 minutes should be plenty of time!)

Allow them to cool for at least 25 minutes and carefully cut them up.  I made 16 small squares.

Using a sifter, shower them with as much powdered sugar as you please!!!  

See how pretty they become?

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