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Beat the
Bake Sale Blues!
Three
No-fuss, No-fail Bake Sale Winners
by
Cynthia Stevens Graubart and Catherine Fliegel
 Does the thought of the next school bake sale
send you running to the bakery counter at the
grocery store? Fear not. You can enhance your
reputation as a cook, delight your kids, and
swell the coffers of the PTA with these three
easy recipes.
Baking an entire pan of cookie bars is far
less labor-intensive than sheet after sheet of
individual cookies. After the bars cool, cut and
package them as requested by the school. We have
portioned the finished bars into regular serving
sizes, but you may wish to cut them larger for a
greater value and higher ticket price. Each
recipe takes only 10 minutes to prepare and all
three freeze well after baking, so bake these
when your schedule permits and take them out of
the freezer the morning of the sale.
Copyright
2006 by Cynthia Stevens Graubart and Catherine
Fliegel, RN, CCE, authors of “The One-Armed
Cook: Quick and Easy Recipes, Smart Meal Plans,
and Savvy Advice for New (and not-so-new) Moms.”
Meet Cynthia in person at the American Baby
Faire at the Cobb Galleria September 23-24,
2006. Visit them online at
www.theonearmedcook.com.
Layered Cookie Bars
Servings: 24 / Preparation Time: 10 minutes /
Start to Finish Time: 40 minutes
The Layered Cookie Bars are an old-fashioned
classic. The sweet and chewy nutty crunch
quickly melts into a chocolate swath across your
tongue. No one has to know that all you did was
layer the ingredients right in the baking pan –
no mixing bowl needed!
 Although the recipe calls for walnuts, you can
substitute an equal amount of any nut you
prefer. Also, the chocolate chips can be
semisweet, milk chocolate, or for an upscale
twist, try white chocolate chips.
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a 9x13-inch glass baking dish, melt the
butter or margarine in the microwave.
Sprinkle the graham cracker crumbs evenly over
the melted butter or margarine.
Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over
the crumbs. Sprinkle the shredded coconut,
chocolate chips and walnuts or pecans evenly
over the sweetened condensed milk layer; press
down gently with your hand or the back of a
rubber spatula.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly
browned. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for
30 minutes. Cut into 24 bars.
The Perfect Brownie
Servings: 16 / Preparation Time: 10
minutes / Start to Finish Time: 40 minutes
The Perfect Brownie has that name for a
reason. We have experimented with many brownie
recipes over the years in pursuit of perfection
and believe we have found it! Chocolate
connoisseurs will appreciate their deep color,
rich aroma, succulent flavor, lush texture and
lip-smacking finish.
1½ sticks butter or margarine
1 cup finest quality unsweetened
cocoa powder
1¾ cups dark brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking
spray.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the
butter or margarine. Remove from heat.
Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar, salt, vanilla
and eggs, stirring well until mixed and smooth.
Add the flour, stirring well to mix.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is dry but
the center looks moist. Do not overbake.
Let cool in the dish on a wire rack for at least
30 minutes, or until firm. Cut into 16 squares.
White Chocolate Blondies with Macadamia Nuts
Servings: 16 / Preparation Time: 10 minutes /
Start to Finish Time: 45 minutes
These will be the first to sell out at any
bake sale and are well worth the hassle of
getting out the mixer. You won’t be sorry! You
can substitute semisweet chocolate chips or milk
chocolate chips for a nice variation. When we
really want to go all out, we substitute 2 (3½ ounces) gourmet white chocolate candy bars,
broken into coarse chunks in place of the white
chocolate chips.
 1 stick butter or margarine
1¼ cups brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 (3¼ ounce) jar macadamia nuts
1 cup white chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking
spray.
In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a
standing mixer, combine the butter or margarine,
brown sugar and vanilla. Mix on high for 1
minute, until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, mixing on low until fully
incorporated, then increase the speed to high
and continue mixing for 2 minutes, until light
and fluffy.
Reduce the speed to low, add the flour and
continue mixing until fully incorporated.
Fold in the nuts and chocolate with a spoon,
until just blended.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake
for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in
the center comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least
30 minutes. Cut into 16 squares.
Freezing:
All three cookie bars freeze very well. Place
them between layers of wax paper in an airtight
freezer container. They will remain fresh up to
one month.
Packaging:
Wrap bars in clear plastic wrap or resealable
plastic bags in quantities of 2 or 3 bars. Some
customers will want to buy in larger quantities,
so place 6 to 12 bars on a decorative paper
plate and wrap in plastic wrap. Curling ribbon
adds festive color.
Consider printing out small labels listing the
ingredients to alert customers to any potential
allergens. Colorful stickers add a fun
decorative touch to the outside of the packages
– it is also a great way to use up any extra
stickers.
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