Key Lime Pie Bars

I lost these pictures for a while amongst the other things I baked this summer- but I'm glad to find them again, because these are really delicious. I made them with what was left in the pantry just before departing on vacation as a gift for the family watching our cats, and they were extremely popular from the reviews I got.

You need very few ingredients to put these together, provided you can find key limes- but I think they'd probably be pretty good made with regular Persian limes (or maybe meyer lemons!) instead. Another garnish idea is toasted shredded coconut, seeing as coconut and lime go so well together.

Key Lime Pie Bars
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

For the Crust:
1- 1 1/4 C. Graham cracker crumbs
5 TBSP Butter, melted
2 TBSP Sugar

Mix all in a food processor until the consistency is that of wet sand. Pat onto the base and sides of a greased and parchment-lined 8"x8" baking tray. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until set firmly.

For the Filling:
1/2 C. Key lime juice
Zest of 6 key limes
4 Egg yolks
14 Oz. Sweetened condensed milk

Mix juice, zest and yolks with a whisk. Stir in milk and keep whisking until thickened. Pour onto the cooled crust and bake at 170℃ until set but still wobbly when poked, about 15-18 minutes.

For the Topping:
1 C. Sour cream
1/4 C. Powder sugar

Mix well and spread on top of the cooled bars.

Seven Layer Magic Cookie Bars

I made these over-the-top dessert bars with a bit of everything that I had left over in the pantry that was at risk of going stale- some graham crackers, nuts, coconut and chocolate chips. In fact, I think I might have gone overboard... the nuts had a hard time sticking to the bars because of how many toppings there were! I would definitely recommend sticking to the amounts in the recipe and not going nuts (literally and figuratively) like I did- chopping the nuts would have probably made them stick better, but I liked how the whole pecans looked.

They're loaded and tricky to cut, unless frozen for a bit, but definitely delicious. How can you go wrong with graham crackers, coconut, and loads of chocolate and nuts? You can add any kind of toppings you want, as long as you've got the seven that the name entitles. Graham crackers, coconut, sweetened condensed milk... the other four are up to you. I used white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, pecans, and walnuts (and a bit of flaked coconut as a garnish...). So, they're kind of eight layer bars in my case. Why not?

These bars keep well in the freezer, and don't need to be all thawed out for consumption- I like 'em chilled. These are best eaten with tea or coffee while catching up on old TV shows that everyone else has already seen, while complaining about shoddily introduced plot points. 

Just give them about half an hour at room temperature if you aren't so inclined to them cold. Whatever temperature they are, you'll be glad to have a few in the freezer for a quick bit of something sweet and rich.

Magic Seven Layer Cookie Bars
Adapted from Viet World Kitchen

120 g. (1 1/3 C.) Desiccated unsweetened coconut
180 g.  (8-10 sheets) Graham crackers
113 g. (1/2 C.) Butter, melted
1/2 Tsp. Salt
2 TBSP Sugar
1 C. Mixed chocolate chunks (dark, milk, white- should be at least half dark so it isn't too sweet)
1 C. Chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts, roasted almonds)
1/2 C. Flaked unsweetened coconut, optional
14-15 Oz. Sweetened condensed milk (One large can)

Preheat the oven to 180℃. Grease a 9"x13" pan and line with baking parchment.

Soak the coconut in boiling-hot water for 2 minutes and strain well in a sieve, squeezing out excess water. Mix with half of the salt and the sugar. Set aside.

Grind the graham crackers into crumbs with the remaining salt. Add the melted butter and mix well. Press onto the bottom and sides of the pan to form a crust.

Spread the coconut mixture evenly onto the crust. Add the chocolate chunks and nuts. Top with the sweetened condensed milk, and sprinkle on the flaked coconut (if using).

Bake for 30 minutes, covering with aluminium foil if it browns too quickly. Freeze for 15 minutes before cutting (refrigerating won't make it cold enough)

Graham Crackers

These are some of the most useful things for the aspiring American-style baker. Commercially available almost everywhere are boxes and bags of crackers and crumbs, used to make crusts for pies and tarts, bases for bars, all manner of no-bake sweets, not to mention s'mores. However, a brief look at the ingredients list and you'd never guess that these were originally meant to be a sort of pure, all-natural food created by a reverend to help stave off lustful urges (well, if you say so...). Mind you, the original crackers didn't contain nearly so much sugar either, but that's an adjustment that I certainly don't mind. Otherwise they wouldn't be nearly so good for baking with.

Though the original recipe used only white sugar, some of the distinctive graham flavour comes from molasses and/or honey, so a bit of brown sugar and honey is called for. You also need whole wheat pastry flour (or alternatively, white whole wheat flour) since the whole wheat content is one of the hallmarks of graham crackers. One might not be familiar with the leavener- baker's ammonia. Baker's ammonia usually refers to ammonium carbonate, but I used ammonium bicarbonate (a.k.a Hirschhornsalz or hartshorn), which works just as well - it's sold more and more commonly at well-stocked grocery stores, especially those with lots of Italian or North European products (as the ingredient is used extensively in biscuits there). You need to dissolve the ammonia in water to prevent any lumps from being left in the dough- you really don't want to bite into that. But mixing it with the liquid portion is all you need to do. 

The cinnamon is a matter of taste, but I don't think it'd taste like a proper graham cracker to me without it. Likewise, you don't need to sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar, but it does add a nice touch of flavour and texture.

This recipe is remarkably easy to make vegan- egg replacers won't work everywhere, but since you only need one egg here as a binding agent, an equivalent amount of egg replacer works just as well. This was very handy when I was making these for my Jain friend, so that she could also enjoy some campfire s'mores (along with vegan marshmallows). That also means you don't need any fresh ingredients whatsoever, so you can whip these up whenever. With such an untemperamental and easy to work dough, the only caveat is letting them dry properly for full crispiness- but that's completely effortless, just switch off the oven and let the door stay open a while. Think about how cool you'll look when you tell everyone you make your own graham crackers. It's some domestic goddess level stuff right there.

If you need any more motivation to make these cheap, delicious, preservative-free biscuits in lieu of shifty, extra ingredient-laden, and often expensive storebought ones, consider that they last weeks in a well-sealed container, and months in the freezer. You can keep them on the ready for whenever you feel like making a cheesecake base, an oven-broiler emergency s'more, or something decadent like a seven-layer bar. I have a boxful in my freezer right now! Go for it.


Graham Crackers (easily vegan!)
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

2 C. Whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Honey
1/2 Tsp. Baker's ammonia (ammonium carbonate) or ammonium bicarbonate
1/4 C. Vegetable oil (or melted butter)
1/4 C. Water (or orange juice)
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Egg, or egg replacer equivalent (I used Ener-G Egg Replacer)
Additional cinnamon sugar (optional)

Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and sugar. Add the egg (or replacer), honey, and oil. Dissolve the baker's ammonia thoroughly in the water (make sure there's no clumps, lest they burn your mouth if you bite into them) and add. Mix well until a cohesive dough forms, and chill for about 15 minutes to make it easier to work with.

Preheat the oven to 160℃. Divide the dough into two halves. Between sheets of baking parchment, roll out the first piece of dough as thin as possible without tearing it. Remove the upper sheet of parchment, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (if desired). Poke with a fork all over and repeat with the second piece of dough. Bake both sheets of dough for 10 minutes. 

Remove from the oven briefly and score lines with a sharp knife to make rectangles of the desired size of your crackers- don't separate them, you can snap them apart later. Place back in the oven for an additional 20-25 minutes, switching the positions of the trays in your oven halfway through for even baking. The crackers will be slightly browned when done, but still soft to the touch- don't keep baking, as they get crisp during the cooling process.

Turn off the oven and let the crackers cool gradually with the oven door ajar. When the air in the oven is at ambient temperature (hover your hand in front of it to see how warm it is) remove the crackers. When completely cool they can be snapped along the lines you cut earlier into individual crackers, or you can leave them as sheets. Keep in a well-sealed container for about 3 weeks in a dry place, or freeze for several months.

Nanaimo Bars for Canada Day

Happy Canada day!

Even if you aren't Canadian, it's the beginning of July, and thus high summer. That's enough reason to celebrate! Still, these bars are a Canadian classic worthy of making in honour of the land of maple syrup and a Tim Horton's on every corner. I've got plenty of beefs with my nation, but those definitely aren't it. 

I saw some pictures of Fourth-of-July themed Nanaimo bars on social media recently, and the irony wasn't lost on me. It seems a bit like making Independence Day clotted cream scones or something. Nah, for me these will always be iconic to Canada, no matter how far away I live from the West coast and the actual city of Nanaimo in British Columbia thereover. 

I've seen these being called New York Squares, but I guess sharing is caring... it wouldn't be fair to deprive the States of these delicious classics, but just remember that you've got Canada to thank for 'em!

As for the actual recipe writer in question, the city of Nanaimo (yes, these bars warrant mention on the official municipal website) traces them back to the early '50s, though the actual inventor is unknown. The earliest mention by name seems to be a recipe from a Nanaimo church-led compilation of housewives' recipes in 1957, where it is submitted strangely enough by an American... yet even before that, a very similar version under the name of London Fog Bars was published in a Vancouver newspaper in 1953, and appeared in a cookbook soon after. The recipe also popped up in New Brunswick, hence some people calling them New Brunswick bars (hey, as long as they're Canadian...)

I'll leave it to you to decide how much of that Wikipedia-gleaned information can be trusted. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm just glad that these delicious bars made their spread into nearly every corner of the nation. I first met them at Loblaw's as a kid, where I was right away smitten with the fusion of subtle toasty graham crumbs, nutty coconut and almonds, vanillaey custard icing and fudgy chocolate topping. I never would've guessed that something so good could be so easily replicated at home, but then again, this recipe was borne from the new '50s genre of easy, nearly instant recipes assembled from newly available commercial components. You don't even need to bake these bars, and most of the ingredients would likely have already been in a Canadian or American housewife's pantry. 

A somewhat neater-looking batch from a previous year.

For the modern baker, the only things that might be tricky to find are the custard powder and, in some places, graham crumbs. For the custard powder, I'd recommend replacing it with full fat powdered milk and a dash of vanilla extract, with some yellow food colouring or turmeric for the signature colour. You aren't missing out if you can't find graham crumbs- they're one of those things that gets excessively modified to stay unstale and nonrancid for months on shelves despite the whole wheat content. I used homemade graham crackers pulverized in a food processor, which I'd highly recommend- yes, making your own graham crackers is an extra step, but it's highly impressive to be able to tell people you made these completely for scratch. And you can keep the leftover crackers or crumbs for future baking in the freezer for several months. They aren't hard to make- I'll put up the recipe soon. You can also use digestive biscuits that have been processed to crumbs if those are available.

One last note- these bars are always  unrepentantly sweet, but a little less so than the originals since I reduced the sugar in the icing. That makes them a bit softer and more sensitive to warmth, but they still hold together nicely. If you want the real thing, add another half cup of powdered sugar to the icing and reduce the cream by a little less than two tablespoons- you can also skip the cream-beating step in that case. Cut these into small pieces if you like, a little goes a long way. Take a bite of chocolatey-custardey-coconutty goodness and think of the ol' Land of the Maple Leaf.

Nanaimo Bars
Adapted from the original Nanaimo bar recipe on the City of Nanaimo website
Makes about 18 bars, or 24 small ones

For the Base:
1/2 C Butter
1/4 C. Sugar
5 TBSP Cocoa
1 Egg
1 1/4 C. Graham cracker crumbs
1 C. Shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 C. Slivered or flaked almonds
1/2 C. Walnut pieces, optional

Grease and line a 8"x8" or 9"x13" pan with baking parchment. Set aside.

Set a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water as a bain-marie. Melt the butter and mix in the sugar and cocoa, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Quickly mix in the egg. Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients.

Press the mixture into the greased and lined pan in a relatively even layer. Refrigerate until cool.

For the Icing:
1/2 C. Butter, softened
1 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar
2 TBSP Custard Powder
2 Tsp. Vanilla extract, optional
1/4 C. Whipping cream

Beat all of the ingredients together either on high speed in a mixer or in a food processor. If using the mixer, first use the whisk attachment to beat the cream with 2 TBSP of the sugar, then scrape it out and set it aside. Switch to a paddle attachment and cream everything else together, adding the whipped cream last and mixing it in until smooth.

Spread the icing over the cooled base layer with a knife or offset spatula in an even layer. Refrigerate until cold.

For the Topping:
8 Oz. Dark or semisweet chocolate
2 TBSP Butter

In a bain-marie set up as for the base, melt together the butter and chocolate until homogeneous. Take off the heat and let cool until not hot, but still relatively fluid. Spread onto the cold icing layer quickly to avoid the butter in it melting, then refrigerate the finished bars for at least 2 hours before cutting.

When cutting, use a warm knife (rinse it in hot water, then dry it, just before use).

New York Cheesecake with Cherry Topping

As a kid, my favourite cake was American-style cheesecake. I especially loved it when there was a fruity topping to contrast the tart, creamy cheese and slightly spiced graham cracker crust. I always thought it must be healthy (I was raised in a very pro-cheese household, and cream cheese was still kind of cheese)- at about ten years of age I was scandalized to find that was not the case. It's still delicious, though.

 I've long been cautious about making my own cheesecake, because of the price of the ingredients, but since organic cream cheese went on sale at my grocery store last week I decided it was time to attempt my dearly beloved dessert at home. I decided to use a sour cherry topping, because it's not only delicious but also covers up the brownness (and potentially, cracks) of the cake's top. I used homemade graham crackers to max out the homemadeness of this cake, as well as because I don't trust storebought graham crackers- had I been a bit lazier, I would've used good quality whole grain biscuits like digestive biscuits with cinnamon and sugar to taste.

Though I didn't use a water bath (I didn't have a container larger than my springform) the cake still didn't crack, to my great surprise and glee. It did get a bit too brown on top, but I just skimmed that layer off with a sharp knife and doused the whole thing in cherries anyways.

In any case, the cheesecake was a success. I made it for a get-together and it was wildly popular- later my family had some, and even those who normally only like the lighter European-style cheesecakes thought it was great. I think it comes down to the simplicity of the recipe, tasting fresh and bright, mainly consisting of cream cheese and high fat sour cream with no flour to thicken it. The lemon and vanilla add an extra bit of flavour without too many frills, so that the main centre of attention is still the tangy cheesy goodness.

It wasn't nearly as hard to make a good cheesecake as I previously thought- I hope that organic cream cheese goes on sale more often. One of the best parts of being an adult is having your favourite cake on demand (and one of the greatest tribulations is learning restraint...)

I didn't have time to take a picture of the cake when it was whole, but take that as a testament to its irresistability. Mmmm.


New York Cheesecake with Cherry Topping
Adapted from Moje Wypieki

For the Bottom:
100 g. Butter, melted
200 g. Graham crackers or digestive biscuits

Grind the graham crackers into crumbs using a food processor. Add the butter and blend until the mixture has the consistency of wet sand.

Press the mixture firmly onto the base of a 9" or 10" springform pan. If using a water bath, double-wrap the bottom of the springform securely in two layers of aluminium foil. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

For the Cheesecake:
750 g. Cream cheese, not reduced fat
180 g. Sour cream, 18% (I used 19%. A mixture of 14% sour cream and creme frâiche in a 3:1 ratio might also work well.)
220 g. Extrafine caster sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon
60 ml. Lemon juice
3 Eggs

Preheat the oven to 170℃.

Make sure that all the ingredients are about the same temperature to prevent lumpiness.

Blend all with a paddle attachment on medium-low until well-combined. Take care not to incorporate air into the mixture.

Pour onto the chilled base. If using a water bath, place the springform into a larger heatproof vessel and surround it with water. Bake for 75-90 minutes, until firm. Cover with aluminium foil if it is browning too quickly. Let cool gradually inside the oven, with its door wide open.

Refrigerate the cheesecake, without removing the springform or foil, overnight.

For the Topping:
1/2 Jar of sour cherries in light syrup, about 2 cups
2 TBSP Sugar
1 TBSP Cornstarch
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 Tsp. Almond extract, optional

Mix the cornstarch and sugar. Dissolve in some of the light syrup from the cherries, then mix it back in with the rest. In a small saucepan, bring to a boil. Cook until thickened- the cloudiness of the starch will go away and the mixture will be translucent.

Let cool while stirring off heat. Add the lemon juice and Almond extract. Pour onto the cheesecake while still warm and refrigerate 30 minutes to set.