I want to marry this mousse. Sorry, Kenny.
The other day, I was really worn out. But since I’m not a coffee drinker, I did the next best thing: I gave myself a shot of this mousse. It’s not alcoholic, but it sure is caffeinated. Be still my heart. Nope, it’s beating too fast for that.
Not only is this the epitome of coffee and chocolate goodness, but there are also chocolate Heath bits through and through. Mousse has never tasted so incredible!
I almost called this “Banoffee Cake,” but then I remembered that we’re not in England.
Across the pond, “banoffee” refers to the combination of bananas and toffee, typically in the form of a creamy pie. I must be honest: it’s not my favorite way to do pie. I’d rather hang out with key lime any day.
But then I got to thinking: what if the flavors got put into a different textural context? It turns out that I love banoffee when it’s in a cake. Or to be more specific, a cake I can’t stop eating. Which is fine, because it’s pretty healthy!
Yay for beautiful bars. Yay for holidays to bake them for. And yay for toffee most of all!
Everyone’s busy making holiday toffee, but I didn’t feel like taking out my candy thermometer and dusting it off. Dusting is boring. Instead, I cheated with these amazing cookie bars. You will not want to stop eating them, but that’s not really a problem.
Covered in butterscotch goodness and crushed toffee, I can’t imagine a better holiday cookie offering. I mean, I’ve made a lot of different bars this season, but this one is above the ordinary bar.
I’m posting on a Thursday night, I know. It’s all Passover’s fault.
Have I mentioned that Passover is eight days long?
Yep. It started last Friday night and will end this Saturday night. I will be off all digital devices for the next couple of days in observance of the holiday, so I can’t wait to catch up with everyone Saturday night! I also can’t wait to eat sushi again on Saturday night. Back to normal food.
I’m finally doing it, kids. It’s browned butter week on JAB!
Yep, JAB is my super-cool acronym for Just About Baked. Feel free to use it with all of your friends. Make it a thing.
After posting last week’s browned butter sandwich cookies, I kind of got into the flavor so much that I decided to create a whole week around the stuff. Why not? Remember, never answer that question. Just go with it. And first up today are these incredible, rich (Kenny’s word because all desserts are rich to him, the weirdo), yeast-free rolls.
Beach Week is winding down, everyone. Big sighs. But everything must end. And I say, go out with a bang, not a whimper! I didn’t make that up. Some really great poet did.
The cookies and bars at beach town bake shops are so wonderfully homemade. No, I’m not counting Starbucks. These shops are owned independently, and you can taste the singularity of each baker’s products. It’s like they’ve baked their souls into their treats.
I’d like to believe that I do that, too. So these Heath Blondies represent the heart of what I love best in baking: caramelly, chewy amazingness. Because what else is there? Oh, except Reese’s.
Some recipes are more special than others, and there are always reasons behind that. Food ties in strongly to childhood and nostalgia, and that’s why these bars strike a particularly deep chord within me.
Along with Entenmann’s chocolate frosted donuts. Man, do I yearn for those on an almost daily basis. But we’ll get into that one another day!
One of the reasons that I love to bake is that people find homemade goods to be really special. Though my mother didn’t bake super frequently when I was growing up, I loved everything she baked. My favorite recipe was her toffee bars, and I always associate those cookies with feeling happy and nurtured.
So as part of my Passover quest to bake desserts that taste as though they contain flour, I make these toffee bars annually as a tribute to my mother and as an excuse to eat one of my favorite cookies. They’re classic and the base is mainly ground almonds. Yay protein!
