Apple Cinnamon Blondies . . .

This past weekend, my husband and I went out for dinner with two close friends we've known for years and with whom we always have a predictably great time. We enjoyed a fun and very noisy evening at an old German biergarten in downtown Detroit, the kind of place with a menu featuring wienerschnitzel, sauerkraut, and spatzle.  It was louder than heck in there and, like every other customer present, we had to shout at the top of our lungs to be heard. We laughed a lot, and stayed just until the din became slightly too outrageous to tolerate.

But the night was still young so we journeyed back to the northern suburbs, to a nice little place near my house that always has reliably interesting desserts, good coffee, and better than average service. It's one of those restaurants where the waiter brings a display of desserts to your table on a big tray and describes each one for you in detail. The offering of sweets varies, as you would expect, from season to season and from week to week. Several of the selections presented to us were perfectly expressive of autumn.

There was a dressed-up variation on the traditional apple brown betty, involving a slice of warm spicy cake topped with apples, walnuts, and cinnamon ice cream; a "Scotch" cake of some sort that was served in a big square hunk, very warm, placed over a glossy golden sauce; and a cheesecake drizzled simply with caramel. My hubby ordered the Scotch cake. I opted for the apple brown betty, and about one bite into it I began to feel that familiar urge to rake leaves, carve a pumpkin, and get busy baking with tangy red apples in my own kitchen. Of course, it's still too early to engage in the first two activities but, luckily, not too early to bake with Michigan apples--those wonderful, crunchy, beautifully sun-dappled apples. Never get tired of 'em. Can't help loving 'em.

About this recipe . . .

Quick and simple, these apple cinnamon blondies are a nice alternative to regular blondies or brownies. They're not too heavy, not too gooey, and not overly sweet. They'll satisfy your craving for an apple lover's treat without going overboard. These blondies got a big thumbs-up from my youngest son.

I adapted this recipe from another original blondie recipe of mine (Cream Cheese Blondies with Milk and Dark Chocolate Chips and Honey Roasted Almonds) that I posted in 2009, and which can be found here.

Apple Cinnamon Blondies

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Yield: One 9" by 13" pan; about 24 servings

Line a 9"x13" pan with parchment paper; let the paper overhang the sides by a couple of inches so you can use it to lift the cooled blondies from the pan. (If you then spray the parchment with vegetable spray you'll have no trouble whatsoever getting them out of the pan intact.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups of dark brown sugar, firmly packed
3 large eggs
1 and 1/4 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or 1 and 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt (I used coarse kosher salt.)
1 and 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tart, firm medium-sized apple; peeled and chopped into very small pieces ( about 1/4" square)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium size bowl, lightly whisk together the flour, salt, and cinnamon.

In a small bowl, toss the apple bits with the lemon juice.

In the large bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment on medium-low speed, cream the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar until very well blended and smooth. Add in the eggs and vanilla bean paste, beating on medium speed until well combined and smooth.

Gradually add in the flour mixture on the lowest speed, beating just until blended. Add in the apple pieces, beating just until evenly combined.

Use a small offset metal-spatula or the back of a large spoon to spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Mix together the 1 tablespoon granulated sugar with the 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and sprinkle it all over the batter.

Bake the blondies for about 25 minutes, until they start to look lightly golden brown and a finger pressed lightly on the top of the blondies doesn't leave an impression. Let them cool in their pan, placed on a cooling rack, for at least twenty minutes before trying to lift them out by the parchment handles. Cut them with a really sharp knife. Store them well covered and they'll be good for a couple of days.

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Layered Apricot Bars . . . and Going with the Flow

Well, I feel like it's officially summer now. The weather's been astoundingly pleasant. Robins and sparrows convene daily for a splash in our bird bath. Jittery black squirrels, which seem to have multiplied overnight, dash in circles around our backyard every morning, just like little kids.

 On the human front, my younger son finished his sophomore year of high school last week and my older son is finally back home after a challenging freshman year in college; their relief is palpable.

My husband, who likes to paint in his precious spare time, has lately been setting up his easel in the backyard. He looks so calm and content with a paintbrush in his hand.

This kind of thing, taken in total, gives me a quiet sense of confirmation that, for the moment at least, all is perfectly well in our little nest. However fragile, however fleeting, these delicate moments of complete satisfaction with life are what it's all about. Maybe it's a mom thing. Or maybe not . . . do you find that to be true as well?


And despite the increasingly warm weather, I find myself in the last week or so more interested than ever in baking. It's like something about the four of us being all together again has suddenly caused my nesting instincts to ramp up, so I figure I'm just going to go with the flow.

Gonna bake whenever the spirit moves me, and if I want to bake something odd or old-fashioned or outrageous or boring, well, that's all fine. This summer, as a baker, I think I'm just gonna let my freak flag fly.

 About this recipe . . .

Adapted from this Hungarian apricot bar recipe on Chowhound, this makes a big, big pan of bars! I added candied ginger and ground cinnamon, used toasted pecans instead of walnuts, and fiddled with the method somewhat. I also added a little lemon juice and sugar into the apricot filling formula. This recipe is kind of labor intensive for a bar, what with the rolling out of the three soft dough layers, but I thought it was worth the time and effort.

Layered Apricot Bars with Candied Ginger
(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Yield: 1 half-sheet pan (18" x 13") lined with parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of the pan without extending up the sides

Ingredients for the apricot filling:
12 oz. dried apricots, chopped small
12 oz. good quality apricot preserves
1 cup water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Ingredients for the dough:
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

8 oz. unsalted butter, softened but not warm
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
Yolks of 4 large eggs
1 cup thick sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste


Ingredients for the mixture of sugar and nuts:

1 and 3/4 cups toasted pecans, chopped small
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped candied ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Make the apricot filling first:
Simmer all of the filling ingredients together in a medium size saucepan until thick and bubbly. Keep the fire medium-low so it doesn't burn, and stir the contents frequently. Set aside to cool.

Prepare the sugar and nut mixture next.

In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients for the sugar and nut mixture; set aside.

Make the dough:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In the large bowl of your mixer, on low speed, mix together the butter, shortening, egg yolks, sour cream, and vanilla until well combined. Add all of this into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir it in. Divide the dough into equal thirds. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and chill it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Take one piece of dough from the fridge and roll it out onto the parchment paper from your pan. Try to roll the dough as close to the edges of the pan as you can. Use flour on your rolling pin and sprinkle it lightly on the dough as needed. The dough may be quite soft and sticky.

After the dough is rolled out, place it, still on the paper, into the pan. Spread about two thirds of the sugar and nut mixture evenly over the top. Remove another piece of dough from the fridge. Scatter chunks of it on top of the nut layer. Flour your rolling pin again (reflouring it as needed), and roll the chunks of dough out as best you can over that; this layer of dough may look patchy here and there (as shown in the picture below) but that's okay.

Spread all of the apricot filling evenly on top of the layer of dough.

Now, on a well floured piece of parchment, roll out the remaining piece of dough. Make it the same size as the sheet pan; this is the piece you will end up cutting into strips to make the faux-lattice design. Once rolled out, use a pizza/pastry wheel to evenly divide the strips length-wise. Try to make each strip about one inch wide; try to get about 16 strips in all. Carefully lift the strips evenly lay the long ones first atop the apricot layer; use about 6 of them. Cut the remaining strips so they're about 14 inches long, and lay about 10 of them, perpendicular, over the long strips.

Over the top of the lattice, scatter the remainder of the nut and sugar mixture.

Bake the bars for about 30 minutes, until they're nicely golden on top.

Cool them completely on a rack before cutting them and attempting to remove them from the pan. They'll hold up well for a few days, if you keep them covered, before they start to dry out. (Store any leftover bars, as soon as they're cool, well wrapped in the freezer.)

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Banana Cake-Bars with Dark Chocolate Chips (Still Lovin' that Spelt Flour!)

Given that I've been cozying up to the delicate sweetness of spelt flour lately, I thought it was high time to post another recipe that makes use of it. (My maiden voyage with spelt can be found here, in case you're interested.) Though spelt flour is made from the whole grain, it bears only slight resemblance, in my opinion, to whole wheat flour in terms of flavor and texture. I think it may be the golden ticket for home bakers who aren't completely thrilled at the idea of sweets containing any whole grain flour, yet who want to begin incorporating healthier flours into at least a few of their baked goods. It works really well mixed in with unbleached white flour, and I figure that's the best jumping off point. Give it a whirl on a small scale before you fully commit.

Bite into one of these treats and, from the texture angle, you won't even be able to tell that they're not made entirely with white flour. In fact, these banana cake-bars are so cakey I really couldn't get away with calling them just banana bars. These guys are more like soft little cake slices. With fragile golden crumbs that tumble off here and there when you pick them up, they cry out for clean white napkins and big tumblers of ice cold milk. They'll do those ripe bananas proud.

About this recipe . . .

I adapted this from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains. This was the first whole grain baking book I ever really liked. I've baked from it many times, and most of the results have been surprisingly good. I've noticed that many of the older whole-grain baking cookbooks out there, from past decades, often include formulas for almost concrete-like breads, cookies, and cakes. I'm relieved we're finally seeing a lighter approach in volumes like this one, and in Good to the Grain, which has a whole chapter devoted to baking with spelt.

The original recipe called for semi-sweet chips but, honestly, I think that would have made them too sweet. Plus, I'm a maniac for dark chocolate so I used that instead. I also substituted canola oil for butter, I drastically reduced the amount of cinnamon and nutmeg and, as noted above, I used a mixture of white and spelt flour instead of using spelt alone.

My kids really liked these, which I must admit kind of surprised me. Nathan (the now-15-year old), who is always my willing guinea pig whenever I bake something new, adored them. I thought the boys would become uninterested the second they heard the word spelt come from my mouth, but it didn't phase them. In my house, that's a meaningful seal of approval.

Banana Cake-Bars 
with Dark Chocolate Chips (and Spelt Flour!)
(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Yield: Makes one 9" x 13" pan; 24 - 2" squares.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9" x 13" pan.
(Just fyi: I mixed this recipe entirely by hand. Gave my mixer the day off!) 


3/4 cup canola oil
1 and 1/4 cups light or dark brown sugar, packed (I used light.)
3 medium size bananas, very ripe, well mashed
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. coarse kosher salt
1 large pinch ground cinnamon
1 large pinch ground nutmeg
1 egg, large
1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups dark chocolate, small chips or chopped bar chocolate (I used a combo of both.)


Stir the oil and the sugar together well in a large bowl. Beat in the bananas, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Add in the egg, stirring vigorously. Stop to scrape the bowl with a spatula now and then.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add to the liquid mixture and blend thoroughly. Pour the batter into the greased pan. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes (this direction allows the flour to absorb some of the moisture a thicken a bit). Sprinkle your chocolate evenly over the top. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Cool the finished bars in their pan on a rack. They're best when allowed to rest overnight, in the pan, covered. (They stay fresh for at least two days and I actually thought the flavor had improved the second day.)

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Cranberry Snowdrift Bars . . .

Along with producing way too many rolls and whipping up about three times the amount of mashed potatoes actually needed for Thanksgiving dinner, did you also happen to make a hefty surplus of cranberry sauce? You did? Me too. We have a mountain of mashed spuds left. What could I possibly have been thinking as I peeled my millionth potato on Thursday morning? That the Waltons might turn up uninvited on our front porch, with John Boy in the lead?

It's All Gravy . . .

The only thing we never seem to make too much of is gravy, a vital substance. Not unlike human plasma in its importance, it ties the whole feast together. Most folks can't live without it on their turkey, though I've heard that a few can. My two sons, along with a couple of their friends, descended on our kitchen this afternoon after they'd all been out  power-shopping (teenage-boy style power shopping, that is). Clearly ravenous, they attacked the leftover provisions with a vengeance, each plate piled higher than the next. I was grateful that the absence of gravy, which I assume they found startling, didn't dampen their enthusiasm.

About this recipe . . .

In light of the cranberry sauce surplus, I was happy to have an opportunity to try out this surprisingly different recipe that hails from Dede Wilson's book, A Baker's Field Guide to Christmas Cookies. I don't know which appeals to me more, the bars themselves or their cute name. Both are delightful.

These bars start out with a tender-crunchy base, kind of like a shortbread crust. That's baked, and then topped with cranberry sauce, then a meringue is spread over the top of that and it all goes back into the oven. The end result is delicately crisp, sweet, and just tart enough.

I stuck pretty closely to the original formula, just reworded it.

Cranberry Snowdrift Bars
(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8" x 8" square pan with vegetable spray. 

Ingredients for Crust:
1 and 1/4 cups All Purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Ingredients for filling and topping:
1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce (homemade or canned; needs to be thick and not watery)
whites from 2 large eggs (about 2 oz. of egg whites, total; whites at room temperature whip up best)
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

To make the crust:
Whisk together the flour and salt in a bowl. In the large bowl of your mixer, on medium-high speed, beat the butter for a few minutes, until it's creamy. Gradually add in the sugar, beating now on high speed, until the mixture is light and fluffy; this may take several minutes. Add in the vanilla. In thirds, pour in the dry ingredients gradually, beating just until blended.

Pat the crust firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes, or in the freezer for about 15 minutes, before baking.

Bake until dry to the touch and light golden brown, with darker golden areas around the edges--about 30 to 40 minutes. Don't turn off the oven when you take the pan out.

Cool the pan on a rack for five minutes, then spread the cranberry sauce over it.

Make the meringue topping:
In a smaller mixer bowl, using the whip attachment, whip the egg whites on high speed until foamy. Add in the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form. Then, gradually add in the sugar, beating on high until stiff--but not dry--peaks form. Add in the vanilla.

Spread the meringue evenly over the cranberry filling, using the back of a spoon to push it out to the edges. Make some cute swirls in the top of the meringue.

Put the pan back into the oven, and bake for about 25 minutes, until the meringue is just very lightly browned.

Cool the bars, in their pan, on a cooling rack.
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Did He Just Ask for Brownies? . . . (Dark Chocolate Brownies, Two Ways!)

Last Sunday afternoon I was busy at the kitchen sink, scrubbing away at an encrusted pan, when my 17-year old son, Charlie, called to me from his comfy perch on the living room couch. "Mommm! Will you make some brownies??"

Now, Charlie very rarely makes specific baking-related requests of me. The one predictable exception to this being his birthday cherry pie which, naturally, is required only once a year. The rest of the time, he's not under the mystical spell of sweets like the rest of us seem to be, and it shows. He's the skinniest one in the family. You know, the kind of boy who's so busy he forgets to eat? (Yeah. That's a rare talent I've never managed to develop.)

So, you'll understand when I say that his spontaneous brownie query startled me to the extent that I ceased my scrubbing, gazed out the window a moment to gain my bearings, and replied in all seriousness, "What for?"

What for, indeed . . . 

My simple response, translated, actually meant: "Are you asking for brownies right now because you need them for some sort of official function for which you will be rushing off very soon? Are you asking me to whip up homemade baked goods at the absolute last minute because of an event about which you have neglected to inform me, dude?" The fact is, Charlie and his friends--all high school seniors--have more events to attend than you can possibly shake a stick at and, sometimes, it's just better to surrender to it like an incoming tidal wave.

Anyway, Charlie caught my suspicious tone. He righteously replied, "For us to EAT!"

Well, that was that. As you can see, I did indeed comply. I made brownies that afternoon. And here they are. One recipe, finished two ways--half the batter with toasted walnuts, baked in a round cake pan, and the other half with semi-sweet chocolate chips, baked in a square pan.

About this recipe . . .

This formula is adapted from The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook, a shiny and appealing book by John Barricelli. My little changes included doubling the recipe; adding in a smidgen of coffee flavor, not too much; using Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for two-thirds of the cocoa powder; and adding in nuts to half the brownies. These are soft, with a semi-chewy, semi-cakey texture and they're not-overwhelmingly sweet like some brownies tend to be. And, luckily, they satisfied Charlie's rare craving for a treat.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush with softened butter, or spray with baking spray, one 9" x 13" pan, or two smaller pans (I used one 9" round cake pan, and one 8" square pan).

1 cup All Purpose flour (I used unbleached)
1 cup cocoa powder (I used 2/3 cup Hershey's Special Dark, and 1/3 cup natural cocoa powder)
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 pinches baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. instant coffee, or 1/2 tsp. (or less) espresso powder (omit if you don't like coffee!)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional; I put these in half of the batter, into one pan)
2/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts (optional; I put these in the other half of the batter, into the other pan)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the sugar and corn syrup. Add in the eggs one at a time, whisking until well combined. In a very small bowl, stir together the vanilla extract and the coffee/espresso powder until it dissolves. Stir this into the liquid mixture in the pan. Add the dry ingredients into the pan as well, and fold with a spatula until the flour has been incorporated.

If you're making the brownies "two ways," now is the time to divide the batter equally into two parts, pouring one half into the bowl you used for the dry ingredients. Into one half of the batter, stir in the chocolate chips. Into the other half of the batter stir the walnut pieces.

Pour the batter into the pans, smooth the tops with your spatula, and bake them on the middle rack of your oven for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out pretty clean. (If you're making one large pan, you may need to bake them longer as they'll probably be a little thicker.) Let the brownies cool on a rack before cutting them.

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Chewy, Gooey, Sweet & Sticky S'more Cookie Bars . . .

 

Buzz Lightyear:  " . . . in just a few hours you'll be sitting around a campfire with Andy making nice hot shmoes." 
Woody:  "They're called s'mores, Buzz."     
  -- Toy Story

So, now that it's winding down, let's do a little recap of our summer, shall we? Have a seat and we'll begin.
 
Did you go to the beach? Yes? Okay, good, check that one off.
Did you watch fireworks for the Fourth of July? Great, check that one too.
Did you eat watermelon outside and spit out the seeds? Check.
Did you pick fresh fruit or veggies at a farm, or from a garden? Check.
Did you take a lot of nice walks? Check.
Did you read at least a couple frivolous and/or trashy novels? Check. Check. Check.
Did you take about a zillion photos of your family and/or kids frolicking in the sun? Check.
Did you assemble and  enjoy your fair share of nice hot shmoes this summer?  . . . What?! You didn't??

Well, don't despair--all is not lost. The fact is, you don't need a campfire or a flaming grill to achieve a reasonable facsimile of the s'mores experience, and you don't even need summertime, truth be told. You can get that ooey, gooey, sticky, chewy vibe any time of year with cookie bars like these. All the requisite ingredients are in there to help replicate the total s'mores taste experience--milk chocolate Hershey bars, graham cracker crumbs, and marshmallow creme.

Just close your eyes as you bite into one of these bars and you'll see what I mean. Wiggle your toes in the imaginary sand while you're munching and listen to the gentle waves lapping the pretend shore . . . just ignore those nonexistent kids who keep whining over there by the invisible picnic table. (Ahh, yes . . .  isn't creative visualization fun?) While it's true s'mores are a critical component of a well rounded summer, it's comforting to know that they can be enjoyed--albeit in a slightly altered incarnation--all year long.

About this recipe . . . 

Of course, if s'mores were never really your thing, you might want to fiddle around with this recipe and do some tweaking. I love s'mores, but I fiddled just a little bit anyway. My main tweak involved the addition of a small amount of coarsely chopped honey-roasted peanuts, and a reduction in the amount of marshmallow creme. But, tweaked or untweaked, these are pretty darn good. Were I to make them again, I think I might ponder using dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate to dial down the sweetness factor just a smidgen.

This quick recipe came from the latest issue (September 2010) of Disney Family Fun magazine. Though my kids are not so young anymore, whenever I happen to get my hands on a copy of this, I still flip through it prowling for ideas, and I always look for the recipes. I liked the looks of these bars right away. S'more cookie bars aren't an original concept by any means, but not all formulas are created equal and this was the first one I've seen that I was motivated to make.

I decided to double the recipe and, as I mentioned above, I added in chopped honey-roasted peanuts, sprinkling them over the chocolate layer (just a half cup). I also halved the amount of marshmallow creme indicated, but if you're a maniacal marshmallow lover, go to town and double what I've written in the recipe below; your bars will be insanely gooey, in a good way. I increased the amount of salt slightly (I used kosher salt). I used a 9" x 13" pan, which probably made the bars a little thicker than the original recipe. My batter was too soft to handle in the way that the original recipe indicated (it was a hot day and the butter I used was awfully soft), so I had to adjust accordingly. As usual, I reworded most of the directions.

All in all, these babies were a hit in my house. And, unlike genuine "nice hot shmoes," these can travel quite safely in a lunchbox. (As Buzz Lightyear would say, "To infinity, and beyond!")


S'more Cookie Bars

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
1 egg, large
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (I used plain honey grahams)
1 and 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour (I used unbleached)
3/4 tsp. salt (I recommend kosher)
2 tsp. baking powder
6 - 1.55 oz. Hershey milk chocolate bars (this is six standard size bars)
1 (7 oz.) jar of marshmallow creme (I used Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme, what I had on hand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9" x 13" baking pan.

In a large mixer bowl, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla extract, and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder, and salt. Pour all of this into the butter mixture and beat until well mixed.

Spread two-thirds of the batter into the bottom of the pan. If the batter is quite soft, wet your hands with cold water, shake off the excess water, and pat the batter into place. Over this layer, break up the chocolate bars into small pieces and scatter them evenly. Sprinkle the nuts evenly over the chocolate. Spread all of the marshmallow creme on top of this, again using wet hands to urge the creme into place as best you can. (Overall, this will be a messy procedure, but don't worry about it. It doesn't have to look neat.) Spoon dabs of the remaining batter over the top, and spread them out as best you can to cover as much of the marshmallow as possible. Don't worry about gaps.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and the sides of the bars start to pull away from the pan. Let the bars cool in the pan, on a rack, for at least 20 minutes before you attempt to cut into them.

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