Cookie Bookie: Maple Bars and the Macabre

Welcome back to another edition of Cookie Bookie, the week long celebration of nail-biting stories and mouth-watering treats. If you weren't here yesterday, scroll down for Agatha Christie's Suprise, Surprise and some suprisingly delicious chocolate cookies.
Today, I'm sharing a book from another of the world's most celebrated authors. Jane Austen wrote about love, romance, and class distinction...but did she write about anything frightening enough to be included in Cookie Bookie? Well, yes. And no. And maybe so. Let's get started with the slightly frightening and work our way up to the downright eerie. Northanger Abbey has all of the rosy charm that readers have come to expect of Jane Austen. Heroine Catherine Morland is torn between the demands of her heart and the demands of her family's pocketbook in the form of two potential suitors. Typical Austen fare. But Northanger Abbey is also a spoof on the chilling gothic novels that had become so popular during the Regency Period. Our heroine spends a good portion of the day with her nose stuck in a spooky novel, and then superimposes eerie gothic mystery into everyday situations, to the point of suspecting her lover's father of being a murderer. Think Walter Mitty with a death wish. Catherine craves the horror and suspense, the drama and the intrigue that are standard fare in her favorite books. As Catherine wanders the dark halls of Northanger Abbey, you won't be immune to her spine-tingling perspective. Before Catherine can give herself over to true love, she must learn to respect the boundaries between truth and fiction. It's the perfect read for those who are looking for a mild case of the shivers. But look what they've done to dear Jane now. (Don't look, Mom.)
Can this pulp fiction even count as our proper Jane Austen now? I'm not sure. Have you read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies yet? It's gruesome, but I couldn't resist. Elizabeth Bennett stretches beyond proud and witty literary heroine to become bonafide bad-mama zombie fighter. The notion is amusing. If you think you enjoyed her pithy banter with Mr. Darcy, wait until she uses her muscles to express her annoyance. Hi-ya! But...after awhile I got a bit bored with the slash um' up gimmick. It just couldn't hold my attention in the effortless way that a true Austen can. Still, I did get more than one good chuckle out of it. Listen to the first line...."It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." Fans of Austen will remember the first line of the true Pride and Prejudice as "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man inpossession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is not for the squeamish, but it will do well enough for those who want to be scared silly.
Whichever Austen (or Austen-ish) book you choose to devour this October, I've got the perfect treat as a companion: A tender brown sugar bar cookie, studded with toasted pecans and tempered with a slightly salty maple glaze. It's a little fancy, a bit on the high brow side, since Austen deserves our utmost respect (tut, tut). But it's also playful, with a little touch of salt thrown over the top, to ward off superstition. Just in case the macabre really is lurking around the darkest corner of your attic. Mwah, ha, ha. Until tomorrow.
Maple Glazed Brown Sugar Bars
adapted from Taste of Home Baking Book
Estimated Cost: $5.00 for 12 squares
1 and 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons maple flavoring
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
For Frosting:
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tablespoons cream
1 and 1/2 teaspoons maple extract
1/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, and maple flavoring. Add eggs and mix until well combined. add baking powder and salt. Stir in flour, then nuts. Pour into greased 9 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Prepare glaze by combining butter and powdered sugar. (Mixture will be a little lumpy.) Slowly stir in cream, as needed. Stir until smooth. Add maple flavoring. Pour glaze over almost cool bars. Sprinkle with pecans and salt. Serves nine.

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Last Minute Maple Brown Sugar Popcorn and Bonus Toffee Popcorn

You know someone is going to stop by your house this evening. Someone you completely forgot about it. They'll bring you a gift and you will stammer and tell them that you will be by later to bring a little something by; you haven't forgotten-just haven't had a chance to whip up that little something, uh..because the holidays are just so busy. This somebody is probably on the way to your house RIGHT NOW, but don't panic. All you have to do is whip up some last minute candied popcorn. And you know something? It's sweet, crunchy, and completely addictive and it couldn't be cheaper-or easier to make, thanks to a new method I tried out this morning.

Pop a couple of bags of microwave popcorn, low fat if possible, since you really don't need any added butter. Or pop you own out of about 1 cup kernels. Pour it into a large brown bag, the one you have sitting around waiting to make the brown bag apple with.

In the microwave, boil some butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup for two minutes. Stir in some vanilla (or maple extract-my favorite) and some baking soda.

Pour it over the popcorn in the bag...and give it to the most hyperactive person in your house. Let them shake it and boogie down, baby.

Voila! You've got enough to share. Phew, just in time, because wasn't that the doorbell?

Maple and Brown Sugar Candied Popcorn

Estimated Cost: $2.00 for about 2 gallon bag fulls

1 cup popcorn kernels, popped, or two bags microwave popcorn

10 tablespoons butter

1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon maple extract (or sub vanilla)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pour popcorn into brown bag. In a LARGE (mixture will expand) microwaveable bowl, melt butter in microwave. Stir in brown sugar and syrup. Bring to a boil in the microwave and continue to microwave for two minutes. Stir in extract and soda, mixing well. Pour over popcorn in bag. Close bag and shake well. Return to microwave for one minutes. Stir inside the bag with a wooden spoon to distribute coating well. Rip open bag and devour, or be a saint and package some up for friends.

Toffee Popcorn....

Now, I'm also very partial to rich and crunchy toffee popcorn. Sailor just took some to a holiday party this weekend. (Get a load of her candy cane tights in the shadows.)

Here's how to make it:

Toffee Popcorn

Estimated Cost: $1.50 for about 8 cups

1 bag low fat micro popcorn, popped (or 1/2 cup kernels, popped)

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn syrup

1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon baking soda
Butter a medium saucepan. Melt butter in pan over low heat. Stir in sugar over low heat until completely dissolved. Add corn syrup and water. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Boil for about three minutes, OR until mixture JUST begins to turn tan, almost like the color of chino pants. Add vanilla and soda and mix well. Pour over popcorn and stir. (I would recommend the bag method above for even distribution.)

Next Up:

What we gave the Neighbors this year....

Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup

Another mouthwatering use for your homemade Strawberry Jam....I know. I promised you peanut butter and jam bars today. (Coming tomorrow instead.) I hope you'll forgive me. This morning I felt inspired to make a more obvious use of the strawberry jam by pouring it over piping hot buttermilk pancakes, surrounded by fresh berries. The syrup, one part maple and three parts strawberry, tastes like spring and fall, like Vermont and California, like the old west and back east, like elementary school and graduate school. My husband, a man of very few words, hence the nickname "The Quiet Man," was practically verbose in lauding this syrup. Practically. "This is so much better than anything you could ever get at a restaurant." I wish I could add an exlamation point, but that really isn't his style.

I had to give you this recipe in time to make Sunday breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. Or midnight snack. It's really that good. Exclamation point!
Buttermilk Pancakes with Strawberry Maple Syrup for Four

Estimated Cost: $3.50

Notes: I usually make my pancakes with oil, simply because I'm too lazy to melt butter and I'd rather slather it on top of my pancakes where I get the full benefit of its flavor.

3/4 cup strawberry jam

1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup (Grade B works best here)

1 cup flour (I use half whole wheat)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1-2 tablespoons canola oil or melted butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium microwaveable bowl, combine strawberry jam and syrup. Heat until just simmering. Keep warm until serving time.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, powder, soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together buttemilk, oil, egg and vanilla. Pour into flour mixture and stir GENTLY until just combined. (You'll have some lumps-it's OK.) Grease a no-stick skillet and cook pancakes on medium low for about 90 seconds per side. Serve with lots of butter and syrup.