Moscow bar cookies … bake a panful - Idaho - recipes

Sunset, Oct, 1988

For professional and home bakers, bar cookies have a special appeal: they are fast and easy because they require little individual handling. You make them by the slab, then cut them up to serve.

These three recipes, by Joan Cunningham, are favorites of customers at the Main Street Deli in Moscow, Idaho. Each fills a standard baking pan.

Lemon cheesecake bars are layered; a cool-tasting cheese topping bakes on a thin nut crust. The second cooky-a firm, delicately flavored shortbread gets its character from toasted almonds. And, finally, the chocolate-drizzled oat bars can be baked chewy or crisp.

Lemon Cheesecake Bars

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, at

room temperature

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Cheesecake topping (recipe

follows)

1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon

peel (yellow part only), optional

In a food processor, whirl butter, sugar, flour, and nuts until a dough forms. Or rub mixture with your fingers until fine crumbs form, then pat firmly together. Press mixture evenly into an 8- to 9-inchdiameter baking pan with a removable bottom. Bake in a 350 degrees oven until a medium brown color, about 20 minutes.

Spread cheesecake topping evenly over crust. Bake until topping is set in center when gently shaken, about 15 minutes. Cool, cover, and chill until firm, at least I hour or up to 2 days. Remove rim from pan and cut cooky into 12 wedges. Sprinkle with lemon peel; remove from pan with a spatula. Serve, or arrange in a single layer, cover, and chill up until the next day. Makes 1 dozen.

Per cooky: 208cal.; 2.8gprotein; 21 g carbo.; 13 g fat, 51 mg chol.; 93 mg sodium.

Cheesecake topping. In a food processor

or with an electric mixer, mix until smooth 1 large package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature; 2/3 Cup sugar; 1 large egg; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel (yellow part only); and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Almond Shortbread

1 cup unblanched almonds

1 1/4 cups (5/8 lb.) butter or margarine, at

room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

In a food processor or blender, coarsely chop almonds; set 1/2 cup of the large pieces aside. Whirl remaining almonds until very finely chopped. Add butter, sugar, and almond extract; whirl until well mixed. (Or, in a bowl, beat almonds with butter, sugar, and almond extract until creamy) Whirl or stir in flour.

Press mixture evenly into a 10- by 15-inch baking pan; sprinkle with reserved nuts and press them lightly into dough. Bake in a 325 degrees oven until a light golden color and firm in the center when gently pressed, about 25 minutes.

Immediately cut shortbread into about 3inch squares, then cut each square diagonally in half. Leave cookies in pan and cool on a rack. Remove from pan with a wide spatula. Serve, or package airtight and store up to 3 days. Freeze to store longer. Makes 30.

Per cooky. 156 cal.; 2.3 g protein; 15 g carbo.; 10 g fat,- 21 mg chol.; 79 mg sodium.

Peanut Butter Oat Bars

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups regular rolled oats

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened shredded dry

coconut

2/3 cup chopped walnuts or chopped

unsalted roasted peanuts

1 cup(1/21b.)meltedbutteror

margarine

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate baking

chips

In a food processor, whirl flour, oats, sugar, coconut, nuts, and butter until combined. (Or, in a bowl, stir together flour, oats, sugar, coconut, and walnuts; add butter and mix well.) Press mixture evenly into a 10- by 15-inch baking pan.

Bake in a 350 degrees oven until edges brown lightly and cooky is firm when gently pressed in center, about 20 minutes. (Cooky will be chewy when cool; for a crisp cooky, bake until cooky is a darker golden color, about 5 minutes longer.) Cut into 3-inch squares. Leave cookies in pan and set on a rack; let cool. Spread peanut butter evenly over cookies.

Melt chocolate over hot but not simmering water (or in nonmetal container in a microwave oven) just until soft; stir until smooth.

With a teaspoon or a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 6-inch-diameter tip, drizzle chocolate in thin lines over peanut butter. With a wide spatula, lift cookies ftom pan. Serve, or store airtight in a single layer up to 3 days. Makes 15.

Per cooky 510 cal.; 11 g protein; 50 g carbo.; 32 g fat, 33 mg chol.; 241 mg sodium.