Passing the Bar Cookies

Bar cookies are perfect for summer. They’re simple to make (no painstaking shaping of sticky dough), good enough to provide a complete ending to a meal and tough enough to take along on picnics (you can carry them right in the pan).

But it’s difficult to find really good recipes for bar cookies. Here are three. You’ll notice that the recipes specify unsalted butter or margarine, which has less moisture than salted--an advantage in baking.

Some practical notes: Cutting bar cookies into neat squares may present a challenge. Other than the most gooey bars (which includes Rocky Road Brownies and Lemon Bars), the rule of thumb is to let them rest in the pan for 10 minutes on a cooling rack. Then use a pizza cutter to cut the bars, completing with a sharp knife around the edges of the pan.

Sticky, gooey bar cookies should be completely cool before you cut into them. To form neat squares, they require a sharp knife dipped frequently into hot water.

Some of these recipes use a 9x9-inch pan and yield about 25 (1 3/4-inch) squares. Should you need more, roughly 1 1/2 times each recipe fits into a 13x9-inch pan.

These brownies are rich and candy-like. To keep the marshmallows from melting, they are sprinkled onto the brownies after they are baked and popped back into the oven for only one minute to seal them to the surface of the brownies.

ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES

1/2 cup sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened

2 large eggs

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons water

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup flour

Dash salt

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

3 milk chocolate bars, about 1.5 ounces each (or 4 1/2 ounces milk chocolate), broken into pieces

2 1/4 cups miniature marshmallows

Use mixer or processor fitted with metal blade to cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and mix until thick and flowing. Add melted chocolate, cocoa, water and vanilla. Mix well to combine. Transfer to mixing bowl if using processor. Stir in flour, salt, walnuts and milk chocolate pieces until well combined. Transfer batter to lightly greased and floured 9-inch square aluminum pan.

Bake on center rack of 325-degree oven until wood pick inserted in center comes out without uncooked dough sticking to it, about 20 minutes. Do not overbake. Brownies will not have pulled away from sides of pan. Remove from oven.

Immediately arrange marshmallows in single layer over hot brownies. Bake 1 minute longer. Let cool on rack. To cut brownies into neat squares, dip sharp knife often into hot water. Makes 16 (2 1/4-inch) brownies.

Each brownie contains about:

221 calories; 34 mg sodium; 40 mg cholesterol; 13 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams protein; 0.37 gram fiber.

The crispness comes from Rice Krispies, which are mixed into the dough (instead of nuts), and from the brickle topping that hardens once it’s cool.

KRISPY BUTTERSCOTCH SQUARES

1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened

1 cup light-brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring

1 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup Rice Krispies

1 cup Bits o’ Brickle or chopped toffee

Cream butter and brown sugar in mixer or food processor. Add egg and maple flavoring. Stir in flour and salt. Mix until thick and smooth. Transfer to mixing bowl if using processor. Stir in Rice Krispies. Turn into lightly greased 9-inch-square pan. Spread smooth with spatula. Evenly sprinkle Bits o’ Brickle over surface.

Bake on center rack of 350-degree oven until browned around edges and also (although somewhat lighter) over entire surface, about 25 to 28 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on rack. Using pizza cutter, divide into squares. Use sharp knife along edges to complete cutting squares. Can be stored in airtight container up to 1 week. Makes 25 (1 3/4-inch) squares.

Each square contains about:

109 calories; 30 mg sodium; 22 mg cholesterol; 5 grams fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.04 gram fiber.

Letting the baked crust cool for 20 minutes before spreading on the topping keeps the bars as crisp as possible. When removing the rind of a lemon with a zester or fine grater, use a light hand so that you do not get any of the white pith, which has an unpleasant bitter taste.

LEMON BARS

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened

1 cup flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon Topping

2 teaspoons powdered sugar

Mix lemon zest, sugar, butter, flour and salt until well combined in processor or mixer. Pat mixture evenly into lightly greased 9-inch-square pan. Bake on center rack of 350-degree oven until surface is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Let cool on rack 20 minutes.

Spread Lemon Topping on baked crust. Bake until lightly colored, 20 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into squares with sharp knife, dipped often into hot water, to ease cutting. Sieve powdered sugar onto bars. Makes 25 (1 3/4-inch) squares.

Each square contains about:

93 calories; 21 mg sodium; 27 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram protein; 0.01 gram fiber.

Lemon Topping

2 large eggs

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

Grated zest of 1 lemon

3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

Beat eggs with mixer until thick and light in color, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually. Beat until very thick and light, 1 minute. Add lemon zest and juice, salt and flour. Mix well to combine.