Recipe - Improbable Almond Bars

1 One half cup Unblanched almonds; (or
hazelnuts, or pecans)
toasted in a 350 degree
oven and cooled (Sorry, I
did not wait for them to
cool)
1 cup Packed brown sugar (light;
dark, or mixed)
1 Egg; large or extra large
One fourth teaspoon Almond extract or 3 drops
oil of bitter almonds

Hi there. As a longtime lurker, I decided to move the archives towards
4,000 by sharing a recipe that I just made out of a cookbook that I just
received: "The Good Stuff Cookbook" by Helen Witty. It is more a collection
of fromscratch recipes for prepared items (sausages, pates, breads
(including rolls, pretzels hard and soft, crackers, etc.), sauces, pickles,
jellies (FINALLY a recipe for ginger marmalade!), cookies (amaretti!),
etc.) rather than dishes that you serve if you know what I mean. It looks
really great!

This recipe attracted me by its simplicity and the fact that it has no
flour or dairy, so it can be used for Passover, it's pareve, and I can make
it for loved ones with allergies.

Source: The Good Stuff Cookbook, by Helen Witty (paraphrased too much
typing) attributed to Cathy Lipkin's grandmother.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. (If you just toasted the almonds no problem!)

2. Combine nuts and sugar in food processor. Pulse the machine just until
the nuts are coarsely chopped. Take care of any whole or overlarge chunks
with a knife.

3. Stir in the egg by hand (mixture will be stiff). (NOTE: the recipe fails
to mention the extract I assume it gets mixed in at this point.) Spread
the nut batter in an ungreased 8" square baking pan; if there are a few
gaps in coverage, they won't matter. (NOTE: I used 9" pan, it worked out
fine.)

4. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, then check; the top
should have deepened to a rich caramel color and become crusty. If this is
true only of the edges, lower the oven to 300 and bake another 5 minutes or
so until the top is crusty over a soft inside and edges have begun to
shrink from the pan a little. If in doubt, choose to underbake; otherwise,
the bars will be dry. Remove from the oven.

5. Cool for 3 to 5 minutes, then loosen the edges with a metal spatula and
cut to mark out 18 bars. (Don't worry if edges are raggedy.) Let cool until
comfortable to handle, cut through, and move bars to cooling rack. If
necessary, smooth the edges with fingers and attach loose bits.

6. When cold and crisp, store in airtight container at room temperature.
For longer storage, they can be freezerwrapped and frozen up to 3 months.
Thaw in the wrappings.

Posted to JEWISHFOOD digest V97 #316 by Henry hbg@world.std.com on Dec
4, 1997