Butterscotch Bars
I’m definitely a cookie person, but I have to admit, I’m not much of a bar person. Bars generally feel like cheating to me. Who wants chocolate chip cookie bars when you can have chocolate chip cookies with just a little more effort? It may be that I have a thing for edges – I like the crunchy edge of a home-baked cookie, and bars simply don’t have edges.
However, I admit that there are exceptions: the classic Lemon Bar, the delectable Seven-layer Bar, my Aunt Jill’s Creme de Menthe Bars, and today’s recipe: the Butterscotch Bar. These are bars that simply can’t be cookies, no matter how hard they try. It’s the layering of the ingredients – you can’t do that with a cookie. And in that case, I’m perfectly okay with the bar thing.
I’m an affirmed chocoholic and a fruit dessert lover, so I didn’t really expect to love Butterscotch Bars. Butterscotch is not one of my passions, not something I eat in my dreams. But I do, oh yessiree, I do (was that emphatic enough for you?) love these almost-cookies. I have to stop myself from eating more than one – and the stopping is hard work.
Surprisingly, they’re not altogether unhealthy. Whole grain rolled oats and whole wheat flour provide a not-to-shabby dose of fiber, and there is less butter than you might expect. Of course, no one can argue that butterscotch chips are even remotely healthy, but hey, this is a dessert here.
Mix up a batch of these, pile ’em on a platter, take ’em to your SuperBowl Party this weekend – I guarantee, they’ll go fast.
Butterscotch Bars
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons sweet cream butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2-1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (fat free works just fine)
1-1/4 cups butterscotch chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray, or grease it well with butter.
In a large bowl, combine the butter and melted sugar. Stir in the vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir in the oats. Stir the dry mixture into the wet until fully combined (it will be crumbly). Scoop 3 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the greased pan, and press down evenly with the flat of your hand. Set aside.
In a small bowl or the top of a double boiler, combine the butterscotch chips and sweetened condensed milk. Microwave on high 1 minute, stirring every 20 seconds, until melted, or melt in double boiler over simmering water, stirring constantly. When fully melted and incorporated, pour onto bottom crust, spreading evenly to edges of pan.
Sprinkle remaining dry mixture over top, and press gently into butterscotch mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely. To cut, run a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen at the edges then cut into squares.