Bar Cookie Recipes

This is a traditional, old Pennsylvania Dutch recipe. They make them at Thanksgiving and then let the cookies age until Christmas, about 4-6 weeks, by storing them in stoneware crockss or jars. These cookies are also excellent to use for crust recipes.

1 cup molasses
7 ounces Brown sugar (light kind)
9 tablespoons Cocoa powder
10 ounces Butter (softened)
Pinch Ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 pound White flour

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all ingredients together, except the flour. Add in the flour gradually until it forms a dough which can be rolled out. Dough will be very soft. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4″ thickness. Cut with your favorite cookie cutters into festive Christmas shapes. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

1/2 cups Crisco (Golden type)
1 1/4 cups Flour
2/3 cups White sugar
1 Eggs
1/4 cups Cocoa powder

Topping Ingredients:

1 cups Almonds (sliced)
1 1/2 cups Coconut (Flaked or shredded)
3/4 cups Mint flavored chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoons Mint extract
1 can Sweetened condensed milk

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream shortening, white sugar, cocoa powder and egg til smooth. Stir in the flour, mix til well blended. Press dough firmly into 13 x 9″ cake pan. Bake for 10 min, or til dry.

Topping Directions:

Combine shredded coconut, chocolate chips and almonds and sprinkle over top. Combine mint extract and sweetened condensed milk in a small bowl and pour over top evenly. Bake again for 20-25 minutes, or til golden brown on top. Wait for bars to cool before slicing into bars.

1 Egg
1 cups Brown sugar
1/4 teaspoons Baking soda
1 teaspoons Vanilla extract
1 cups Chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoons Salt
1/2 cups White flour

Stir the egg and sugar with the vanilla extract. Stir in flour, baking soda and the salt. Stir in the chopped walnuts. Spread mixture into a well-greased 8×8 inch square baking pan. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Be careful to not overcook. Cookies should still be soft in center when taken out from the oven. Allow to cool in pan before slicing into 2″ squares.

1/2 cups Butter (softened)
1/2 cups Light brown sugar (firmly packed)
1 Egg
1 teaspoons Vanilla extract
3/4 cups All-purpose flour
3/4 cups Chopped pecans (divided)
2 cups Milk chocolate chips (divided)

Pre-heat oven to 350F degrees. Grease or oil a 8×8 inch square pan. In small mixing bowl, cream together the butter, egg, sugar and vanill extract til fluffy and light. Blend in the flour. Stir in just 1 cup of the chocolate chips plus a 1/2 cup of the pecans. Spread in to prepared baking pan. Bake for 25 – 30 min., or til a lightly golden brown. Remove pan from oven and quickly sprinkle with the additional cup of chocolate chips. Leave alone for 5-10 minutes, til chocolate chips soften, then use a spatula to evenly spread. Sprinkle with the leftover quarter cup of chopped pecans. Press pecans into the chocolate. Let cool completely before slicing into squares.

1 cups Butter (at room temperature)
1 cups Sugar
1 Egg yolk
2 cups All-purpose flour
3/4 cups Walnuts (finely chopped)
10 ounces Apricot jam

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream sugar and butter in a large bowl. Add in the egg yolk, mixing well. Stir in the all-purpose flour. Stir in the chopped walnuts, blending well. Dough will be quite soft. Divide the dough two portions. Spread half of dough into bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Top with apricot jam and spread evenly. Drop the remaining dough by teaspoonfuls over the jam, gently spreading out using spatula or knife. Bake til a light golden brown, approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing in to squares.

1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cups cold butter
1 tablespoons cornstarch
3-4 tablespoons amaretto
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups coconut flakes (sweetened)
1/2 cups sliced almonds

Pre-heat oven to 350F degrees. Lightly oil a 9×13″ pan. In a bowl, add flour and sugar, stir to combine well. Using pastry blender, or a couple knives, slice until butter is crumbly. Press dough mixture into bottom of pan firmly. Bake for approximately 20 min. In another bowl, combine amaretto and cornstarch, stirring until well dissolved. Add in the sweetened condensed milk, stirring until combined. Pour mixture over the pre-baked crust evenly, spread with spatula if needed. Sprinkle the chocolate chips, almonds and coconut over top, spreading evenly and pressing firmly. Bake for 25-30 min. longer, or til a light golden brown. Cool in pan before slicing. Chill until ready to serve.

2 cups Flour
1 cups White sugar
1 cups Softened butter
1 eggs (separated)
1/4 teaspoons almond extract
1 tablespoons water
1/2 cups Chopped almonds

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, butter, sugar, egg yolk and the almond extract. Beat on low speed til a fine texture, should be about 2 to 3 min. Press mixture onto the bottom of a well-greased 15″ x 10″ x 1″ jelly roll pan. In another bowl, beat the egg white with water until frothy and use a pastry brush to brush onto dough. Sprinkle the almonds over the top. Bake for 15-20 min, or til very light golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing into bars. Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookie bars.

1 Snickers bar (2 ounce, chilled)
1 Milky way candy bar (2 ounce, chilled)
1/4 cups White sugar
1/2 cups Softened Butter or margarine
1 cups White flour
1 Eggs
1/8 teaspoons Almond extract
1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice candy bars in lengthwise halves, then slice into 9 slices, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until fluffy and light. Add in the white sugar, continuing to mix well. Stir in the flour, egg, almond and vanilla extracts. Chill dough for several hours, or all night. Roll a teaspoon of cookie dough into a ball, place ball onto an un-greased baking sheet. Dip your thumb into flour, and make an indentation into the center of cookie with your thumb. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until they start getting a light brown on edges. Once baked, remove from oven and firmly press one candy bar piece in to each cookie. Bake for an additional 2 minutes. Allow cookies to cook on wire racks.