Best Laid Plans

I recently saw an old Eddie Izzard sketch about the best laid plans of mice and men.  (You can see it here; skip to the 4:00 mark.  While you're at it, you should look up Cake or Death, my single most favorite Eddie bit.)  While neither mouse nor man, I am quite fond of making plans.  Much like mice and men, my plans gang aft agley.  (Really, that's what Robert Burns said; look it up.) 

Anyway, I do have a point.  Or at least a story.  Sort of.  On, Mondays, my best laid plans generally include getting a lot of work done and eat in a much healthier way than I did over the weekend.  Dear readers, I am seriously agley.

I am currently chucking in the dream bar/hello dolly/seven-layer bar pictured above while attempting to wrangle the spring class schedule and my inbox.  I'm sure regret will set in shortly.  At the moment, it's cloyingly sweet gooeyness is making the day just a bit more manageable.  And that's good enough for me.

If you'd like to try your hand at these, here is a classic recipe from Eagle Brand:

• Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped nuts

HEAT oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
 
COMBINE graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork.
 
BAKE 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds.   For perfectly cut cookie bars, line entire pan with foil, extending foil over edge of pan. Coat lightly with no-stick cooking spray. After bars have baked and cooled, lift up with edges of foil to remove from pan. Cut into individual bars.
 
VARIATIONS
SUBSTITUTE chocolate chips or nuts with candy coated pieces, dried cranberries, raisins, mini-marshmallows or butterscotch chips.

I don't think these should ever be made without butterscotch chips.  I'm also fond of the chocolate cookie crumbs used in the crust of my current specimen.  Personally, I could do without the coconut.

I suppose the moral of today's story is to go with the flow.  (This is more uplifting than the alternative: Don't kid yourself, just bring the cake scraps to work with you.)  Either way, I'd better get back to work.  Given the sugar high I feel coming on, it should be quite a bit easier to...


Keep it sweet. Pin It