How do you feel when you are reading a recipe and in the intro it warns “These are rich, so cut small” Do you think to yourself “Okay, good to know.” or do you feel a twinge of defensiveness? I confess, my gut reaction is “You’re not the boss of me. I can cut them as big as I want!” But logically I know, the ladies of whatever ladies’ auxiliary cookbook are just trying to be helpful, as am I, when I say “Cut these small because they are rich!”
They are and I don’t want you to get a stomachache. Really.
With that aside, these are super good! The recipe below is almost identical to the one in The Recipe Hall of Fame Cookbook, but I cut it in half and baked it in an 8 inch square pan. If you want to make a bigger batch, just double what’s below and bake it in a 13×9 inch pan. These remind me of that famous butter “cracker candy”, but with a crumbly shorbread crust and the deliciousness of toasted (don’t forget to to toast!) pecans.
Small Batch Chattanooga Chew Chews
(Adapted from the Recipe Hall of Fame Cookbook )
4 tablespoons softened butter, salted – if you use unsalted, throw in some salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans
Topping
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) butter, salted, if you use unsalted, throw in some salt
6 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper or Reynolds “Release” foil. Or don’t line it with anything. The bottoms aren’t that sticky but the sides are so you’ll have to pry them a bit if you don’t.
In a mixing bowl, stir together softened butter and brown sugar until well mixed. Stir in flour. Mixture will be very dry and bordering on sand-like. Pour it into the pan and press down as much as possible. Sprinkle pecans over top. Don’t bake it yet, just set it aside.
Prepare topping. Place butter in a saucepan and heat over medium; When butter is mostly melted, stir in sugar. Continue heating until mixture begins to boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour hot mixture over pecans.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle chips over top. Let chips sit for a few minutes to melt, then gently spread them with a spatula to coat.
Allow bars to cool for at least 5 hours. If you want to speed things up, let them cool for about half hour at room temperature, then put them in the refrigerator for another half hour to set the chocolate. When chocolate is firm but still soft, cut them into bars.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
yum. looks and sounds delish! I hear you about the “cut small because they’re rich…” I’m always tempted to make them extra large!
I know what you mean. remember that Jingle Bars recipe posted on the CLBB. a jelly roll pan was supposed to make 50 squares and I said to myself, “not likely!” as it turns out, that wasn’t too far off base because they were pretty rich.
these look good. thanks for the recipe. my mom has that cookbook if it is the one I am thinking of. the butterfinger cookies in there look so simple, but they are 5 star (for me).
Thanks you two! I was thinking perhaps I was the only one in the world who felt a tad bit bothered by people telling me I should “cut things small”. It’s completely irrational, but I like to think I am the judge of how rich something is
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Val, so far I’ve had really great results with that particular cookbook. When I saw this recipe last night, I thought “Wow, I have to try that — it’s unique and everything is on hand.”.
oh my, these look yummy!!
Anna, these look so good. I ordered the cookbook after seeing these as I know I’ll make these and I looked in the index and there are so many other recipes in it I want to try. Thank you for inspiring me to bake more.
Hi Anna,
These look awesome! I am definitely going to try this recipe out (esp. since I like in Vermont and am trapped inside due to snow). I recently just started my own food blog. Check it out if you like:
http://jennyshomefoods.blogspot.com/