Monday, January 12, 2009

Buttermilk Bars


This is one of those recipes I never would have chosen on my own because the name doesn't sound like anything special. It was my mom who saw it in a cookbook and said, "Wow, these sound good." Leave it to your mom to teach you a good lesson: Don't judge a recipe by its title. I read the ingredients and yep, these sounded good! And off I went to make them...

They're moist, almost like cake but a little spongier, and very sweet. Sweet enough that I didn't feel the need to prepare the glaze. And now I'm thinking I need to return to Peery's cookbook and spend more time studying the recipes. She has my vote.

Buttermilk Bars
Recipe by Susan Mahnke Peery in The Wellesley Cookie Exchange Cookbook

1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar, brown sugar, flour, and butter in a bowl and mix with a pastry blender until mixture is in coarse crumbs. Take out 2 cups of the mixture and reserve the rest.

To the 2 cups add coconut and chopped nuts, and pat this mixture into a greased 9x13" pan.

To the reserved mixture, add the egg, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, buttermilk, and vanilla, and mix well. Pour over the crumb mixture in the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes (Marni's Note: I only needed about 30 minutes). Remove to rack and cool.

Drizzle with a thin confectioners' sugar glaze made from 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar and enough milk or cream to reach proper consistency. Makes about 48.


Step-by-Step in Pictures

Combine the ingredients for the bottom crust layer...

A pastry blender is handy here, or your bare hands...
Press into the bottom of the pan...
Combine the ingredients for the top buttermilk layer (which uses part of the original crust mixture)...
Blend well...
Pour the buttermilk mixture over the crust layer...
Bake at 350 degrees F. Check to see if done after 30 minutes...
Mmmm...

5 comments:

Jays said...

These look and sound delicious. I think you just need to invent a new, more scrumptious sounding name for them.

Anonymous said...

those look like they would taste 2x better without chopped nuts. just sayin.

Marni said...

Deborah - do you have a suggestion for the new name? i know you're really creative!

David - you are a lost cause since you already told me that every single time i post a recipe that has nuts, you're going to say it's lousy. start being a little less predictable, k?!?!? ;)

Anonymous said...

I loved that recipe. It is so good with coffee and/or tea. Definitely, home baked comfort food!

Anonymous said...

Moms always know best. It's sad, but true.

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