Toffee Bars

I’ve been thinking about what to do for Super Bowl food. I keep seeing commercials that are filled with junk food. The TV is full of demonstrations on how to make chicken wings with flame-thrower-hot dipping sauce, then there’s queso with chips, a Wisconsin favorite -- fried mozzarella sticks, and tons of big, bad desserts.

It seems as though all of America has a fascination for making pigs of themselves on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s almost been deemed an official holiday; and another one filled with food. In fact, this morning it was awarded the dubious distinction of being the second largest eating day, second only to Thanksgiving. Thankfully, Thanksgiving at least includes some nutrition! Yes, The Super Bowl is fun, and with all the cheering going on around the TV, it’s nice to have food that is on platters and you can just grab a bite anytime you need it.

If you’re in our Super Bowl audience you don’t even want to leave the room during the breaks. We want to see all of the new commercials. When companies have spent $2.7 million to run a single :30 second commercial we want to be sure we saw it. I can’t wait to see the one featuring Richard Simmons. (I saw a preview tidbit). And then there’s that traditional rating of the best commercials the Monday following. If you haven’t seen all of the commercials how can you rate your favorites? What would the water cooler talk sound like if you haven’t been informed?

In planning my menu for this year I have decided I must include the salami roll ups that I wrote about last week, so I am admittedly succumbing to the hype. I got so many fun notes from readers saying they are going to be making them for their celebrations, that now I feel like I have to do it too! I can almost taste them while I write this! Remember, I referred to them as “’Boy Junk Food”.

I’m also going to make a few other appetizers but I’ll be making an entrée too. I’m thinking spaghetti or another pasta dish. Even a Caesar salad for a little extra roughage. If I make up something new you can bet you’ll hear about it soon.

Then for dessert I’m going to go with bars. This is one of my favorite bar recipes of all times. I hope you enjoy it some time soon too.

Idea: this is also the perfect kind of recipe to introduce to new, young cooks. It’s easy, you can supervise a child making this, and they will love eating them and sharing them with friends; just like we adults will do on Super Bowl Sunday.

Toffee Bars

This recipe is not a Zola original. I have to admit. It was given to me by a friend over 30 years ago. It wasn’t her recipe either, so I don’t know whom to give credit. This seems like one of those recipes that’s been handed down generation to generation. I am not generally organized enough to keep a recipe for 30 years, so I hope that tells you how good these bars are.

1 cup of packed brown sugar
1 cup of butter softened
1 egg yolk
1 tsp of vanilla
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp of salt
4 bars (4oz each) of milk chocolate candy (Hershey’s)
1/2 cup of chopped nuts. (pecans or walnuts) Nuts are optional

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix brown sugar, butter, egg yolk and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in flour and salt. Press into a greased 9 X 13 pan. Bake until very light brown. 25 -- 30 minutes. Crust will be soft. Remove from the oven and immediately place the chocolate bars spaced across the crust. (of course, unwrap them first). Let stand until soft and then spread evenly so you have frosted bars. The softening only takes a minute on the warm crust. Sprinkle with nuts and cut into squares while still warm. Eat warm or cold.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.