Decadent Krispies Bar Food

DECADENT KRISPIES BAR

Steps:

• This bar comes together rather quickly. Begin by preparing a 9 by 9 inch pan with a good coating of cooking spray and set aside. Also apply a bit of spray to your cooking spoon (preferably wooden).
• If your almonds are not already toasted, place them in a dry non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, routinely tossing the almonds around the pan. The almonds should add just a small amount of color and become slightly aromatic.
• To make the bars, begin by adding the butter and brown sugar together in a large sauce pan over medium to low heat. Stir while the both the butter and sugar melt for 2 minutes or so. The result is smooth to the feel with a wooden spoon. In addition, you should be able to move it about the bottom of the pan with the spoon (sort of a blob).
• Add in the 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and stir.
• Add the miniature marshmallows and stir continuously helping the puffs to melt. Continue mixing until you have a pale brown mixture that is still rather loose.
• This is where things begin to move fast. Once the marshmallows are fully melted and mixed with the sugar, add in the Rice Krispies, almonds and apricots. Stir quickly to get all of the ingredients incorporated.
• Turn the mixture out into the 9 by 9 inch pan, distributing as much as possible using your spoon.
• To level the bars in the pan, give your palms a quick shot of cooking spray and pat down.
• Place the bars in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.
• Invert pan and give the pan a good whack to release the Krispies bar. Slice into 12 pieces (4 by 3).
• Melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler over very low heat. (If you do not have a double boiler, you can fashion one using a large bowl over a smaller saucepan. Just be certain the fit is tight and no steam is being released).
• Add the oil to the chocolate and stir while the the chips continue to melt. If the chocolate begins to harden, this is sign the heat is too high and you should lower the flame or remove the top half of the double boiler from the bottom.
• Stir the Grand Marnier into the melted chocolate and use a spoon to stripe the bars on the diagonal allowing the melted chocolate to drip down the side. If you are a big fan of white chocolate, you can skip the drizzling and just dunk the bars into the white chocolate and place on waxed paper to cool.
• (Timesaver tip: If you want to speed things up a bit. You can melt the chocolate after placing the bars in the pan and drizzle over the entire pan before cooling and cutting. Not quite as pretty, but just as tasty).

DECADENT DATE BARS

Steps:

• Date Filling: Mix 3 cups chopped dates (1 lb.) with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cups water in saucepan.
• Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or until thickened; Cool.
• Grease 13x9 baking pan.
• Crust Mixture: Cream butter, shortening, and brown sugar.
• Mix in remaining ingredients.
• Press half the mixture in bottom of pan.
• Spread with filling.
• Top with remaining crumble mixture, pressing lightly.
• Bake at 400°F 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown.
• While warm, cut into bars about 2 inches X 1 1/2 inches.
• VARIATION: You can omit date filling and substitute 1 cup of your favorite jam.