Alternative names | Bar, square |
---|---|
Type | Dessert |
Place of origin | United States, Canada |
Region or state | Midwestern United States |
Main ingredients | Sugar, eggs, butter, flour, milk |
Dessert bars or simply bars or squares are a type of American "bar cookie" that has the texture of a firm cake or softer than usual cookie. [1] They are prepared in a pan and then baked in the oven. They are cut into squares or rectangles. [2] They are staples of bake sales and are often made for birthdays. They are especially popular during the holidays, but many people eat them all year. Many coffee shops and bakeries also offer the treats. Popular flavors include peanut butter bars, lemon bars, chocolate coconut bars, [3] pineapple bars, apple bars, almond bars, toffee bars, [4] chocolate cheesecake bars [1] and the "famous" [2] seven-layer bar. In addition to sugar, eggs, butter, flour and milk, common ingredients are chocolate chips, nuts, raspberry jam, coconut, cocoa powder, graham cracker, pudding, mini-marshmallows and peanut butter. [4] More exotic bars can be made with ingredients including sour cream, rhubarb, pretzels, candies, vanilla, raisins, and pumpkin. The Nanaimo bar is a bar dessert that requires no baking and is named after the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia.
In parts of Canada, dessert bars are called "dainties" [5] and typically include unique staples of Canadian cuisine such as Nanaimo bars, butter tarts, and confetti squares.
Popular belief holds that lemon squares originated in Trinidad and Tobago. [6]
In 1993, Betty Crocker added two new varieties to the four existing Supreme Dessert Bar line of baking mixes it introduced in 1992. The two new flavors, M&Ms Cookie Bars and Raspberry Bars, joined lemon bars, chocolate peanut butter bars and caramel oatmeal bars. In 2004, Krusteaz added a line of dessert bars to its selection of quick and easy baked goods. [7] The U.S. Navy SEAL Guide to Fitness and Nutrition includes numerous bars in its "lightweight menus". [8]
A cookie or biscuit is a baked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat, and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, or nuts.
Dessert is a course that concludes a meal. The course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine and liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts. In some parts of the world there is no tradition of a dessert course to conclude a meal.
A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies are claimed to have originated in the United States in 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bar and added the chopped chocolate to a cookie recipe; however, historical recipes for grated or chopped chocolate cookies exist prior to 1938 by various other authors.
Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually refrigerated.
The Nanaimo bar is a bar dessert that requires no baking and is named after the Canadian city of Nanaimo in British Columbia. It consists of three layers: a wafer, nut, and coconut crumb base; custard icing in the middle; and a layer of chocolate ganache on top. Many varieties exist, consisting of various types of crumb, various flavours of icing, and various types of chocolate.
Chocolate chips or chocolate morsels are small chunks of sweetened chocolate, used as an ingredient in a number of desserts, in trail mix and less commonly in some breakfast foods such as pancakes. They are often manufactured as teardrop-shaped volumes with flat circular bases; another variety of chocolate chips have the shape of rectangular or square blocks. They are available in various sizes, usually less than 10 millimetres (0.39 in) in diameter.
Entenmann's is an American company that manufactures baked goods and delivers them throughout the United States to supermarkets and other retailers for public sales. Often, they are known to have display cases at the end of store aisles. The company offers dessert, cup, loaf, and crumb cakes, and donuts, cookies, pies, cereal bars, muffins, Danish pastries, and among other baked goods, buns. In the past several years, they have added designer coffee flavors along with scented candles to their product line in an effort to broaden its appeal.
LUNA Bars is a brand of nutrition bars created by Clif Bar & Company in 1999. The initial product introduced was one of the first energy bars primarily targeted at women. Over time, the brand has expanded to encompass a range of drinks, protein bars, and the philanthropic initiative known as LUNAFEST, a women's film festival.
Jumbles are simple butter cookies made with a basic recipe of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. They can be flavored with vanilla, anise, caraway seed, or other flavoring like almond. They were formerly often made in the form of rings or rolls.
Lärabar is a brand of energy bars produced by General Mills. The bars come in a variety of flavors such as Apple Pie, Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Roll, and Mint Chip Brownie.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to chocolate:
A sandwich cookie, also known as a sandwich biscuit, is a type of cookie made from two thin cookies or medium cookies with a filling between them. Many types of fillings are used, such as cream, ganache, buttercream, chocolate, cream cheese, jam, peanut butter, lemon curd, or ice cream.
A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. A snack is often less than 200 calories, but this can vary. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home.
The peanut butter blossom cookie originated in 1957, is made with a peanut butter cookie dough, and is topped with a piece of chocolate candy. The cookie is considered a snack or dessert and is often served at events or during holidays in the United States.
Pie in American cuisine has roots in English cuisine and has evolved over centuries to adapt to American cultural tastes and ingredients. The creation of flaky pie crust shortened with lard is credited to American innovation.
The lemon bar, also called lemon square, is a popular type of dessert bar in the United States consisting of a thin shortbread crust and a lemon curd filling.
The first season of Top Chef: Just Desserts was broadcast on Bravo. It featured 12 pastry chefs fighting to win the title of Top Chef.
They've been staples of bake sales and school birthday treats for years. Technically they are cookies baked in a pan, but most people call them 'bars'.