Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook (27 page)

This was the first recipe I ever developed. I took it to my writers' critique group, and they said I had to put the recipe into whatever book I ended up writing.

1.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

2.
Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

3.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Turn the mixer to low and beat in the eggs and vanilla until well combined. Carefully stir in the flour mixture, oats, and raisins until well combined.

4.
Spread in the baking pan. (The batter will be thick.) Smooth the top. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the batter has puffed and flattened, is browned around the edges, no longer appears wet in the center, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly, but while still warm, cut into 32 bars. Allow to cool completely in the pan on a rack.

5.
Serve with best-quality vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

Makes 32 bars

These easy-to-make chocolate-chip bars feature a crust. I was playing around with cookies with crusts, and came up with this recipe, which proved to be not only easy, but an instant hit with the kids.

For the crust:

1.
Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

2.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine the crust ingredients and process until crumbly. This can also be done with 2 knives or a pastry cutter. Pat the mixture into the baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

For the filling:

1.
When the crust is cool, preheat the oven to 375˚F. Spread the pecans evenly over the surface of the crust. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the brown sugar until thick. Add the vanilla. Put the salt and baking powder in the bottom of a ¼-cup measure; fill the rest of the measure with flour. Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Pour this mixture over the crust. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly over the top.

2.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until checking with a toothpick reveals the center is cooked through. Cool in the pan, then cut into 32 pieces.

Makes 32 bars

Raspberry and chocolate: That's a marriage made in heaven. Add some cream cheese, and you're way up there in the celestial realms. This recipe drew inspiration from a dessert made by a wonderful man who won a “dessert recipe” contest for which I, unfortunately, was the sole judge. I wish I could remember his name, so I could give him credit for the original idea. Sorry. But I was in such a sugar stupor by the time the contest was over that all I can remember is that the marvelous bookstore where the competition took place was Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego.

1.
In a large skillet, toast the nuts, stirring, until they are slightly browned and give off a nutty scent, about 10 minutes. Remove them from the pan to cool, then coarsely chop.

2.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

3.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is very soft and creamy. Keeping the mixer on medium speed, beat in the brown sugar. Remove the beaters from the bowl and scrape it. Stir in the flour, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the nuts until very well combined.

4.
Measure out 2¼ cups of the butter-nut mixture and press into the bottom of the baking pan. (Set the rest of the butter-nut mixture aside.) Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

5.
Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the condensed milk and 2 cups of the chocolate chips. Cook, stirring, over low heat until the chocolate is melted.

6.
Remove the crust from the oven and immediately pour the chocolate mixture over the hot crust. Set on a rack to cool slightly. Leave the oven on.

7.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until it is very smooth. Add the granulated sugar and beat once more until smooth. Finally, add the egg, vanilla, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and beat until very smooth.

8.
In a small bowl, stir the jam until it is smooth.

9.
Now you are ready to make the rest of the layers. Sprinkle the remaining butter-nut mixture over the chocolate. Using a soup spoon, ladle the jam evenly over the butter-nut mixture. Using another soup spoon, ladle the cream-cheese mixture over the jam layer. Finally, sprinkle the remaining 1 cup chocolate chips over the cream cheese.

10.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cream-cheese layer is set and no longer liquid in the middle. Cool on a rack before cutting into bars.

Makes 32 bars

In my unending desire to use toffee bits and chocolate chips in dessert, I came up with this recipe, which I took with me when I went to visit bookstores for
Sweet Revenge.

1.
In a large skillet, toast the pecans over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until they begin to turn a darker brown and give off a nutty scent, about 10 minutes. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and turn the pecans out onto paper towels. When they are just cool enough to touch, roughly chop them. Set aside.

2.
In a small saucepan, combine the dates, raisins, and buttermilk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then immediately remove the pan from the heat and scrape the date mixture into a shallow bowl to cool. Set aside.

3.
Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325˚F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

4.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is very creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat well, until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix in the vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture, date mixture, nuts, chocolate chips, and toffee chips, stirring only until combined. Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

5.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack before cutting into 24 bars.

Makes 24 bars

I worked on
Dying for Chocolate
for most of 1991. (When it was published in 1992, a bookstore owner laughingly announced that with the title
Dying for Chocolate,
I could put the Yellow Pages in the middle, and people would read it.) Anyway, during that year, a fellow who'd read
Catering to Nobody
wrote and said Goldy definitely needed a cat.

As often happens with these things, not long afterward, a terrified stray cat took up residence inside a cardboard construction drum in our yard. It took us exactly one night to figure out where the horrible yowling was coming from.

Jim (a dog person) looked me square in the eye after I'd coaxed the cat out with a dish of milk. He said, “We are not keeping that cat.”

So after he left for work, I brought the literally skin-and-bones feline inside and snuggled him inside a blanket. I called our local veterinarians and checked with the paper to see if anyone had reported a cat that was missing or had run away. Nobody had.

I called Jim at work and told him we
at least
had to take the poor, starving cat to the veterinarian. There was a long silence, because he really loves all animals, no matter what he claims about the superiority of dogs.

The veterinarian said “my cat” (you see how these things work?) was so thin, she couldn't even give him shots. So Jim, the kids, and I fattened him up for a while, then took him back to the vet and got the shots. And then we had a cat. (I named him Cappuccino. He has since died, but not until he'd lived a long life, much of it spent twining through my legs while I worked in the kitchen.)

After that, Jim said, “No more cats.” And we have remained steadfast dog people, but Goldy has Scout, and she named the brownies after him.

1.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking pan.

2.
In the top of a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter with the bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool.

3.
Sift together the cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt.

4.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the eggs until creamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, beating constantly. Stir in the vanilla and the cooled chocolate-butter mixture. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined.

5.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the chips over the surface.

6.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, watching carefully. Check the center with a wooden toothpick for doneness, and if the center has not cooked, bake for an additional 5 minutes. If the toothpick emerges with only a crumb or two adhering to the surface, the brownies are done.

7.
Cool in the pan on a rack, then cut into 32 pieces.

Makes 32 brownies

Despite the fact that adding chili powder to any type of chocolate is in vogue now, my tasters pronounced every experiment weird. But ginger proved a winner. You add it to these brownies in both crystallized and ground form. Serve with best-quality vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!

1.
Preheat the oven to 325˚F for dark or nonstick pans, 350˚F for glass pans. Butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or pan.

2.
In the top of a double boiler, over simmering water, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is melted, stir in the crystallized ginger or ginger chips and set aside to cool slightly.

3.
Sift together the cocoa, flour, ground ginger, baking powder, and salt.

4.
In a bowl, beat the eggs until thoroughly combined. Beat in the sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and the extracts and stir until thoroughly combined. Gently stir in the cocoa-flour mixture, stirring only until thoroughly combined, 30 to 40 strokes.

5.
Spread the batter in the baking pan. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the edge of the pan comes out clean. (Check after 25 minutes; brownies may take longer at high altitude.)

6.
Cool completely in the pan on a rack. To serve, place the pan in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Using a sharp knife, gently slice the brownies and lever out of the pan with a spatula.

Makes 16 large brownies

Variations:
To make even spicier brownies, add 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger to the chocolate mixture. To make Chile-Flavored Brownies, omit all the ginger ingredients and add 1 to 1½ teaspoons ground chipotle chile powder to the dry ingredients.

Note:
  
Check that you are using the full 4 ounces, which may involve using a digital scale to weigh it.