Cashew Macadamia Butterscotch Bars

It's my Dad's birthday and I'm so excited... I have been itching to make this dessert ever since I first saw the recipe.  It originally called only for cashews, but I just happened to have those and some macs lying around (I know, that sounds nuts - pun intended - who the heck has such luxurious nuts just chilling in their pantry?) and so was excited to make this luxurious treat for my ever-nut-loving father.  I tweaked the recipe a bit - and next time will follow the recommendation of using toasted, salted cashews, but here is my adapted version:

CASHEW MACADAMIA BUTTERSCOTCH BARS

(Adapted from those by Amy Scherber, Amy’s Bread, NYC)

Simple Ingredients: 

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 3 T. unsalted butter, softened, divided, plus extra butter for greasing pan 

¾  cup packed light brown sugar 

1 ¾ tsp. kosher salt 

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 

10 ounces butterscotch chips

½ cup light corn syrup

1 ¼ cups salted cashews pieces

1 ¼ cups macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Center a rack in the oven; preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-18-inch jellyroll pan, including sides, and line with buttered parchment paper.

To prepare the crust: Beat 1 cup butter and the brown sugar together until smooth. Stir salt into flour, then add flour to butter mixture. Mix until dough is well combined but still crumbly (if dough is mixed until a ball forms, crust will be tough.) 

Pat dough evenly along bottom of buttered pan, taking care not to pack dough down. Prick dough with a fork all over.  Bake about 12 minutes (until dough is lightly browned, dry and no longer soft to the touch.)  Transfer to a cooling rack and make sure to leave oven on. 

To prepare butterscotch topping: In a large saucepan, combine remaining 3 T. butter, butterscotch chips, corn syrup and 1 ½ T. water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter and butterscotch chips are melted, using a whisk as needed, about 5 minutes. Pour topping over crust, using a rubber spatula to spread evenly all the way to the corners. Sprinkle cashew pieces on top, pressing down lightly.

Bake until topping is bubbly and cashews are lightly browned, ~11 to 13 minutes. Transfer to a rack; let cool completely before cutting into 2-by-3-inch bars.

Yield: ~36 bars. 

As I always say: "mise en place" like the French say and pre-gather your ingredients.  (As you can see, I didn't mess around and made a double batch to cover for my sister's boyfriend's birthday, mother-in-law's birthday, and our own personal freezer for those sweet-tooth emergencies...)

I was so excited to break out my brand-new, sparkling, self-scraping beaterblade - this new design is specifically for KitchenAid mixers to finally get that pesky batter that sticks on the bottom and sides of the bowl.  This windshield wiper mechanism is pretty brilliant - (KitchenAid, where have you been for us all this time? ha).  I bought mine here, from the ever-wonderful Sur La Table.

(So. Cashews. Yeah...as scrumptious and these guys look...I am definitely using salted next time!)

Aww, macadamia nuttttts ...manna of the islands!

Make sure to use parchment paper and fork-prick your dough before cooking.

As your butterscotch starts to melt, you can use a nice whisk like this one (my favorite) to help smooth out the lumps without having to turn up the heat any higher.  Butterscotch chips can be a little bit touchy with heat (kind of like white chocolate.)

The butterscotch/butter mixture can then be poured right on top of the dough and nuts assembled right on top.

Done and baked!

The delicious butterscotchiness is like a caramel that hardens to the perfect consistency as it cools - slightly firm but not at all tooth busting (!)

For cutting bars evenly, you really can't beat a good bench scraper/chopper like this one. It works spendidly for fudge, divinity, RKsquares, marshmallows, etc. - anything that a knife or spatula just can't make quick enough work of for same-sized squares.  I love this one, too, because it has a handy measuring tool right on it.

When it comes to serving bar cookies/desserts right out of the pan, I always whip out this little mini-spatula - my very favorite from Pampered Chef.  (These make awesome gifts, too - to go along with your dessert, of course!)

Evenly sized bars fit perfect in little cupcake liners and a pretty box :)

Ready for gifting!  :-D