Amish Brown Sugar Chewies
By Kevin Williams
For newcomers here, we have a 2 ½ year-old daughter named Aster. I strive to give her a lot of well-rounded fun: reading books, trips to the playground, library, house projects, playtime...she does watch TV (Daniel the Tiger is a favorite...whatever happened to Barney...is he even still on?) and has some electronic gadgets, but we truly do limit Aster's use of things like that. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with electronics, they are part of today's world, but too much of any one thing, in my opinion, isn't good. So balance is the watchword. One of the things I do like to with Aster is cook and bake. We have fun together doing it, she can participate. She just pulls up a chair to the counter and gets to work with me. I measure out the ingredients, she dumps them in and we take turns stirring.
Aster, my kitchen helper
This is a classic Amish baking recipe, a blend of very basic already on-hand ingredients, namely brown sugar, butter, baking powder, eggs and flour. A little vanilla and salt for good measure and you've basically got it. This makes a nice, chewy, not overpoweringly sweet bar. I'm trying to watch my caloric intake, so I very quickly carved up half the bars and sent them on their way to my parents house and to my wife's family business. The rest I've been slowly nibbling on. The bars were a hit with the others who tried them so if you are looking for a quick, easy crowd-pleaser, these are a good bet!
The slashes through the middle of the bars that you see are Aster's attempts to cut them with a spatula.
- 1 cup butter
- 2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla, good quality
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- Melt butter and mix well with sugar.
- Add baking powder, salt and vanilla.
- Mix well. Add flour.
- Mixture will be thick.
- Beat eggs separately and add, mixing well.
- Pat into 9x13 greased baking dish.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Dianne
I made these (immediately after reading the recipe!) the last time it was posted, and they are amazing! I added some chopped pecans and it gave them a wonderful edge. This recipe is quick, easy, and comes out perfectly. Thanks for such a great recipe! You family will gobble them up in no time flat!! try them....today!!
Kevin
Thanks for telling me, Dianne, I agree, these are great! And the additional of pecans is genius, I am sure they are great like that!
Irish
Thank you for the recipe. My family liked it very much. I added some chocolate.
Kevin Williams
Glad you liked these, they are one of my favorite desserts! (I'll have to try adding choc chips!)